I thought I'd let you and your readers know that I have a free resource page specifically useful for your suggestion #5 – submitting articles to article directories…

My resource page – linked via my name on this comment – has a ton of article directory sites ranked by category (ecommerce, niche, and multiple/varied).

If there isn't enough time or gumption to submit to ALL relevant directories there, then I'd suggest simply choosing a few of the very highest (Google PR) ranked directories *and* any in the Niche directory category that relates to the theme of your article.

From what I know, Google ranks links best if they are linked from a page with a similar theme (to the article's content), and better yet if the entire website has the same theme. So being able to submit to a well ranked website with the same topic as your article is gold, imo.

Hope that helps!

- Steve Gerard