If you want to make money online a good strategy that won't cost you a dime is to write articles that relate to your product or service.

Search Engines are constantly on the "look out" for freshly written content that has been submitted online. So how do you come up with ideas for your next article? Here are several suggestions that may help...

• Hang out in online forums. Watch what people are talking about. Look at the questions they are asking. The topics that are bringing the greatest number of visitors would make for an excellent article.

• Take a look at what information is being broadcast on TV, radio, newspapers, and online. This information is usually a hot topic.

• Read blogs. What are people posting about? What kind of comments are they leaving? What questions do they have? Blogs are the hot internet marketing medium right now and you can literally find them everywhere on any topic. This is an excellent source for your next article idea.

• Survey your current customers or website visitors. Ask them what kind of article they would like to see in your next ezine or published on your website.

• Check bookstores online. What are the top sellers? This can be a good way to come up with an article that catches the attention of what people are reading.

• Be seasonal. Write about what is going on that time of year. Holidays, festivals, sports, graduations, etc. all make for an article that someone will want to read.

• Write an article about a current fad. There is always something that is hot at the time and could make for interesting reading from you.

• Keep track of what your customers and prospects are asking you. If you get an email or phone call with a question this may make for a good article. Others may have the same question, but are afraid to ask it.

• Start a swipe file on what others are writing about. If it is of interest to you it will probably be of interest to others. Never plagiarize the work of others, but you can certainly get good ideas this way. The biggest benefit of a swipe file is having it handy to refer back to over and over whenever you are ready to write your article and are not sure what you want to write about.