I wrote my first ezine article in December 2001. I titled it 'The Power of Online Friendship'. It was five paragraphs long and contained 3 typos. I used it to promote 'The Free Promotion Tips Ezine', an ezine of mine that has long since faded into the Great Void of Cyberspace. I still think it's one of my most moving articles.

I danced around the house, riverdance-style, for about 10 minutes when I read the email from Chuck Bowden, the editor of Your Ad Space Ezine, who promised to use my article. That was quite possibly one of the happiest days of my adult life.

I'm aware that most of you have more thrilling lives than me and, therefore, would not find getting an article published online to be a crowning achievement in your life. I, however, live a life of loneliness and solitude and would thank you not to rub your lives in my face.

I've written many more ezine articles since then and have had most of them used by various ezines and websites. Sometimes when I'm tired of sorting out spam or signing up for free promotional programs just to get 50 free visitors to my site, I like to type my name, followed by the word 'articles' into Yahoo or Google. I take a few moments to go throught the results and see where some of my articles have been used.

Sometimes I find that my articles are being used in some very interesting places. For instance a few of my articles have turned up on religious websites, even though I have never written an article with a religious theme. I guess the Good Lord really does work in mysterious ways.

I find that a lot of my articles get published on Work At Home Mom websites. I find this interesting (1) because as a male I cannot, technically, be a mom and (2) as a poor, blue collar, working class stiff I do not, technically, work at home. But my message still carries weight with all those housewives. They must be despaerate...

My overall point is: Writing ezine articles is a great way to get your name, website, product, etc. plastered all over the World Wide Web. No matter how well you promote and advertise there are just some dark corners of Cyberspace that you will not reach. You articles, however, over time, can find their way to these nooks and crannies and illuminate them with your words.

So my advice to everyone? Keep writing ezine articles! Not only do you get the satisfaction of writing them but you also get the joy of seeing your name (and you words) all over the Net. And then it'll be your turn to riverdance...