Submitting articles to an article directory is a decision more and more people are making everyday. With the great increase in blogging sites and personal websites promoting articles the need for new written material increases by the minute.

Article directories enable website owners' easy access to hundreds and thousands of articles they can add to their website pages. With new articles comes new viewer interest and reader traffic. These owners are smart and are already using affiliate advertising programs to generate money.

So why should you submit an article to a directory? One might wonder why one would want to submit a writing piece for free; it is after all one's hard work. But there are many different reasons and surprisingly the outcome can be quite lucrative!

Some of these reasons follow:

1. If you are trying to break into the writing world what better way to get exposure than to submit articles to a directory that is targeted for website owners' who want traffic to their sites and will use your article as a means to do so. This means your writing will be read and seen by hundreds, maybe even thousands of people. This is one sure way to get your name at least out in the public eye.

2. Sending your articles to directories is also a good idea because you can always add a direct link to your blogging sites and other websites. The more exposure your article experiences, the more hits to your other sites. If you are using affiliate programs on those sites, the money making potential can increase exponentially!

3. Some people choose to submit articles for more personal reasons. For the person who has never felt listened to, this might be a great safe avenue to be 'heard' in. This can boost one's self-confidence especially if many websites decide to use your articles. This boost of confidence can then help lift you up to other possible writing pursuits.

4. Another reason to send your articles to an article directory is simply for the self-gratifying feeling of seeing your name in print. For some people this accomplishment alone is enough.

5. Writing articles can simply be a fun hobby for someone else and they do not need the recognition nor do they need any monetary compensation. They simply want to have something in the world that represents who they are, what they think, and what they believe without having to face the tough, discerning and sometimes rejecting scrutiny of publishers and editors.

6. And, for some it is a great way to practice one's writing skills. Writing every single day is one of the most beneficial practices for any writer. It is like a basketball player who goes to the court everyday to shoot some hoops and run some court plays. Practice sharpens one's skill level in any endeavor.

So, as you can see, there are many great reasons why one submitting articles to article directories can not only be a lucrative and self-validating tool, but it can also be a powerful outlet and way to increase one's intrinsic writing skills!