Two words: Research, research, research.

Bad joke, sure, but it’s true. Research will tell you all you need to know.

And yes, chances are your topic HAS been written about before, but that’s not to say you can’t write about it again and put your own spin on it.

If you sell used cars, for example, chances are that no one sells used cars quite like you do. So simply write an article about, say, a few of your more memorable sales; or some of your favorite and/or most effective sales techniques; or even your favorite cars and publish it.

In other words, the sky’s the limit. No topic is ever really “taken.” So just start scribbling, then weave in a few keywords and phrases and -- voila! -- You’re article marketing, and that’s whether your business has been written about to the point of saturation, or not written about at all.

But where to look

To find out for sure if your business topic has been written about before -- or to find out to what extent it has been written about -- simply visit a few of the larger article directories. These are the huge, online article repositories that are the engine of the article marketing industry.

Some of these directories contain databases of articles that number into the six figures. If you don’t find your area of business in these massive article emporiums, it’s pretty safe to say there just aren’t many people doing what you do. And if there are, then they are definitely not writing about it.

Do the same on the major search engines. Check out some blogs, too. Do some searches, do some reading. It’s as easy as that. You’ll find out pretty quick just how popular your area of business is, and what’s been written about it and what hasn’t.

Let someone else do the writing

Your need to know if your area of business has been written about may have an effect on your approach to article marketing. So, don’t take it lightly.

If, for example, your topic really has been written about to the point of saturation, and you are unable to come up with any original angles or ideas on it that you could put to paper, then just post articles by other writers. In fact, whether you plan to write articles yourself, or select articles from the article directories to post on your site, finding out how much has been written about your business is a wise thing to do.

By the same token, you might pour through the directories and conclude, “Wow, I can’t believe how few articles there are on used car salesmen!”

If that’s the case, your writing job just became a bit easier, because you’re one of the first ones out of the gate and you’d have little competition.

Either way -- whether the writing side of your marketing mix will be difficult or not – you’ll find it helpful to know this before you undertake the work.