Yes, the time is probably better spent elsewhere if you are in this for the long haul. But article submission is so popular in some circles because the bar of entry is basically laying on the ground. If someone doesn't have the ability to really develop their own sites, then they can submit articles and link to what little they were able to do instead of relying on the 1 hit a day from page 437 of Google.
There are lots of article directories online such as Ideamarketers.com, ezinearticles.com, isnare.com, articlebase.com and more.
Make sure the articles are really informative so that the reader an actually gain insight and knowledge when reading them. Articles with bulletin points and sub-headers tend to do well because they are easy to read, and still provide valuable information. For instance, you can write a "top 10 tips" list and provide readers with pointers. Submit to Ezine Articles, Go Articles, & Articles Base.
Outsource the work to someone and get your article written dirt cheap and get them to submit for you to ezinearticles and the many other article sites. It will make your job a whole lot easier in the long run.
I guess that is the way that most people doing to get articles. It save your time and you only pay a small bucks to get the articles.
ezinearticles appears to be the best, also try submitting to articlebase, they are easier to publish and get on there quicker.
I used free-press-release.com, and in a couple of days I had an article listed on the first page search of the related topic. Just use good keywords and make it informative. Good luck.
Here's a good strategy for you to follow: 1. Create a blog, with a good review of the product you're promoting, and maybe even a review of a secondary product which is good. Include links to your affiliate product. Keep it brief, and get them to click for more information. 2. On the blog, have a opt-in box, to try to capture names into a mailing list, make sure you're offering them a great free report or a multi-email course on the topic, to get them interested in signing up. (GetResponse and Aweber are the two best services.) You can write your own, have it written, or even use PLR for the giveaway. 3. Now, start writing articles, and directing them to your blog. You'll be creating a blog which is your own property, and increasing it's value by building its authority, and creating sales using the blog. (This makes the blog valuable, and potentially could be sold at a later date.) 4. Start creating backlinks and socialbookmarking of ALL YOUR CONTENT. Make sure to build links for the articles, the blog posts, and any other content you create for promotion. 5. Extend your web of influence by creating Squidoo, Hubpages, Weebly, Blogger, and other web 2.0 sites. Again get those bookmarked. Point the outgoing links to your blog, to help it climb in the rankings. You can leverage this strategy even further by using automation tools like ArticleBot for article submission to more directories, OnlyWire for submitting the social bookmarking, etc. Use quality content on all your sites. If people don't read all the way through the article to your resource box, you've just wasted your time, money, and effort. Make sure the resource box is quick to the point, and appears to be a continuation of the article and sends them off to your blog for further information. Tweak your resource boxes, your blog, and your offerings to work on your conversion rates, to increase your sales. Occasionally add an additional post to the blog to keep it fresh and relevant. I'd use a sticky post to keep my primary offer post at the top. Move onto the next project... I've probably missed a few things you can add in or other people would modify, but that will get you a long way down the road. Your big article directories should be EzineArticles, GoArticles, ArticlesBase
Ezinearticles is the only one worth putting any effort towards. You can see how people use articles simply by going there, and following some of the article links back to their personal websites.
i agree on it, but ensure you submit to quality article directories and not quantity "Content is the King" so it work