Each one or two weeks, I monitor my article syndication via Google Alerts sent to my email. You can set up your Google Alerts here: http://www.google.com/alerts .
To set up a Google Alert for your article, see the example below:

SEARCH TERMS: “title of your article” + “author’s name”
TYPE: select comprehensive from the pull down menu
HOW OFTEN: Once a week
YOUR EMAIL: xxxxxx@email.com

As content is created, I run the articles through http://www.copyscape.com or http://www.plagiarismchecker.com or http://www.plagiarism.org to make sure my outsourced articles aren’t just copies of someone else’s work.

Once they come back as unique content, I am ready to start submitting to the article directories. I use an excel spreadsheet to keep up with my article submissions and the keywords that I am trying to rank for. Currently, my goal is to submit 40 new articles per month. Why did I choose that number? Because I tested it and that is what works with my budget and linking goals, you’ll need to decide what works for you.

Article Submission
Once you have your articles written, you need to get them out there on the net. That is where articles directories come into play. This is where you take your content and take advantage of a powerful internet marketing tool.

Here are some of the many article directories I submit my articles to:

http://www.buzzle.com

http://www.enzinearticles.com

http://www.goarticles.com

http://www.isnare.com

http://www.trcb.com

In successfully using these services, first, you must read their terms of service and follow their submission guidelines as they vary from one to another. Next, make a decision if you will use your own name as the author, a pen name or both. Now you are ready to set up your accounts with the article directories of your choice. Hint, I use a tool called RoboForm as my password manager, so I can login with a single click.

Bam, that is what I am talking about. The blog post reference in an earlier comment is now gone. The only problem I have now is that they are using another one of my articles:

http://rhonson-ng.com/the-meaning-of-auburn-tigers-football

and have also removed the link. They actually have done this on all of their content and I am quite surprised their hosting company, Bluhost, has not given them the boot.

So, maybe they are reading this post too and were just nice enough to follow the rules. Maybe they did not know the rules?

Now I am faced with another dilemma. Shall I report them again, to their hosting company for the other article? I would love for them to keep my content up but they took out my link. We work every hard to produce content and get links. Why should someone else be allowed to?? Feel free to make a comment and let me know what you think…yes, I should report them once again to their hosting company or no, I should not?

One last point here is from time to time you will find people copying your article and not giving you credit for the articles with a link. Worrying about this for the most part is a waste of time. What can you really do about it? I have found a much better use of my time to not worry about these deadbeat article thieves and continue to get more links through articles and out other methods for getting links.

On the other hand, if you chose to fight the battle there is a process. Once you discover someone has ripped-off your content, which is easily revealed by setting up a Google Alert for each article published, you can set up a spreadsheet with the url , the copied article title, when and where the article was originally published and the date that you sent the "letter" describing the copyrighting infringement and request with instructions to rectify the infringement.

I have developed a form letter to use. I search for an email address attached to the website under "Contact Us" or use their form if one is provided. Sometimes you will hit a dead end here as spammers usually fly under the radar. Plan B is to check the "Who Is" data for the domain registration and sometimes you can find an email address there.

If you hit a dead end here, you can always refer to Google's terms of service, which requires submitting the proof of the infringement. Google will eventually ban or blacklist the site if you can prove copyright violation and report them to their hosting company.

Below is an actual letter that I send out to someone in violation of copyrighting infringement:

10/24/2009 copyright infringement post to the following website that is using our article without giving credit to the author.

http://rhonson-ng.com/green-bay-packers-the-glory-that-once-roared-in-lambeau-field#comment-9676

Freddie Brister Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.

October 24th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
This article was orginally published at http://ezinearticles.com/?Green-Bay-Packers—The-Glory-That-Once-Roared-in-Lambeau-Field&id=1610213
and it is against the publishers TOS to remove the bio and links. Please make amends as I am sure this must have been an oversight on your behalf and are not aware of the copyright infringement laws and other hosting and google penalties for doing this.

http://ezinearticles.com/terms-of-service.html

http://en.wordpress.com/tos/

http://www.copyright.gov/

Thanks for your prompt compliance.

Freddie Brister
Author

***In my next post, I will share the results of the letter.

Remember the goal of these articles is not just to get one link from the article directory but to get many links from all the different places it could come from when the article syndicates. Syndication is when people come to the directories and copy these articles and place them on their own sites or blogs. And most of the time they will also copy your link that you have included in the bio and carry it with them too. Bonus!!

You can check out your stats from the dashboard in Ezine articles and look for trends of what type of articles are getting picked up by publishers the most. I always look at headlines and topic. If I see a greater response for a specific topic, I ramp up by submitting more articles on the most popular topics.

Another method for writing articles that I use quite often when I have writers block is getting other people to write articles for me. I go to elance.com and submit a job. The job posting will say something like this:

“I am looking for someone to write 10 original 500 word articles in context about 10 different subjects of which I will provide. I am willing to pay $50.00 for these 10 articles.”

The response I get from that ad is great and even if I don’t use the 10 articles, I get some great ideas on what other people have said. This $50.00 helps me get over my block and I get some articles that will help me earn back my $50.00 and much more.

The key part of this job post is that I want it to be simple. I don’t want it to be complicated for the writer. I want it to look like a fairly simple thing for the writer to do. I don’t want to complicate it with a lot of keywords or research requirements. I include the article subjects in the post to attract the writers with that expertise.

It is not important for the keywords I am trying to optimize for to be in the articles itself. I include them in the bio that with the article when I post it. The only thing I really want is a simple, interesting article about the subject matter. I am most interested in it being a good article to my market place. In other words, if I sell to sports fans I want the article to appeal to sports fans. If the article is successful, then it will syndicate and that is what I am ultimately after.

SUPPORTING IDEAS

“S” reminds you to develop supporting ideas that back up the main idea statement. Yes it is obvious to say that but don’t forget to do this. The supporting points of a good article reinforce the main idea such that the reader continually wants more information.

Can writing articles for Internet Marketing possibly apply here? Well, it has worked for me in writing many 400-500-word articles. For example, creating article content for submission to top ranked article directories- is one of my main strategies for getting back links to my money site.

MAIN IDEA

“M” represents the main idea. What is the one thing you want the reader to get out of reading your article? You want your main idea in the opening paragraph or often in the first sentence. Be direct, be concise, tell them what it is about then use the rest of the article to support your main idea.

PURPOSE

“P” stands for purpose. What is the purpose of the article? What is the emotional impact you want to evoke in your reader? What action do you want the reader to take? Focusing on the intent of your article will allow you to write more specifically and not try to do too much. Remember how articles work on the internet is not the same as a school report. Your purpose is to enhance the search engine power to your key words while at the same time generating reader interest enough to want to know more about your product.
Looking at the dashboard (analytics) in Ezine Articles allows you to see which articles are most popular, most viewed and get syndicated the most. In conclusion, this gives the author a development pathway to create more content in these specific areas.
The more subscribers to your content, the more success you will have in getting your content pages indexed and staying indexed by Google.