Article marketing is the process of writing an article about a subject related to your business. The article includes a reference to your business. While you don't get paid for what you write, publishers will publish it, allowing you to get free advertising for your business. These days, article marketing is growing in popularity, especially on the internet.

There are many websites available that publish free articles, pictures and other content. Visitors to those sites may use the articles on their own websites, thereby assuring fresh content on a regular basis. By using free article or free web content sites, you may find you're published all over the globe.

While the various free article and free web content sites have their own guidelines, these involve formatting, decency rules and other matters. Quite often the guidelines don't include how to write well. An article will not do your business any good if it is not well written.

Don't be afraid: We're not talking about writing in Shakespearean couplets. But if your eyes have ever glazed over while reading an article, you know how poor writing can drive readers away.

Here are some simple rules to follow:

1. Be sure you know something about the topic. You don't have to be world's greatest expert but you have to know something about a subject to write about it. So do your research and make sure you have your facts straight.

2. When you sit down to write your article, think about the main point you are trying to convey. That will be your lead paragraph. For example: Many people about tooth whitening products. Here are the products available, their approximate costs and the pros and cons of each one.

3. When you write your lead paragraph, try to answer these basic questions: Who? What Where? When? Why? How? This will give the reader a clear idea of what your article will talk about.

4. Try to arrange the information in your article with the most important information at the top and the least important at the bottom. Newspaper reporters call this the inverted pyramid style. It allows publications to shorten articles for space considerations by merely taking off the bottom paragraphs. This way, only the least important information is deleted. (Of course, the information about your article will remain intact as it will be contained in a text box or italicized paragraph.)

5. Try to write as you talk. While grammar is important, it is better to sound natural. If in doubt, read a sentence out loud: If it sounds stilted to you, it will sound stilted to others too. Also, avoid jargon and "buzzwords". Does anyone really know what a "paradigm" is, for example?

6. Don't worry too much about length. Your article is done when you feel that you have included all the information your readers will want. If you feel your article is too long, you can leave out some information but mention that, "for more detailed information about tooth veneers, visit my website (see information at the bottom.") This, of course, is the whole point of your article.

7. When you've written your article, be sure to proofread it yourself. You may discover you left out something or you didn't write something correctly. Also be sure to use a spellchecker. In addition, make sure someone else reads the article before you submit it. Never rely on just your own eyes. If you've spent a lot of time on your article, it is easy for your eyes to skim over a glaring error. It is better to have a spouse, a friend or a colleague read your article and point out your mistakes than to have them spread out over the internet.

By following these easy tips, you will be well on your way to publishing a really great atricle, one that can lead to more visits to your website and more sales for your business.