"Content is King" - that's a given, there's no debate. But how do you get content? Like most projects, breaking into bite-size, easily digestable chunks makes the process realistically achievable. By creating articles, you build and develop that content.
So how do you profit from articles?
I, personally, find the best way to approach the 'process' of making mony from articles is to work backwards! That is, to determine what your ultimate goal is and then figure out each preceeding step that leads to it.

Example: Ultimate goal - sell an ebook
preceeding step - subscriber reads recommendation in 5-part mini series
preceeding step - article reader visits name squeeze page and signs up for mini series
preceeding step - prosepct reads your article on someone elses website/blog/ezine
preceeding step - publisher picks up your article from directory
preceeding step - article submitted to directory
preceeding step - you produce article

And try to keep a single focus for each step. For example, you want people to sign up for the mini series -- then the email capture/name squeeze page should only give them that option! Don't put tons of other links on that webpage which would give the visitor alternatives to signing up for the mini series. Keep it tightly focused -- keep the objective in mind.

So the tasks would be (for the above example), in this order:
1] Create the ebook - research and write - or outsource it through elance.com, guru.com, etc. - your product to make money on. If you're not sure of how to write an ebook, just write it in MSWord or your wp of choice and convert it to a .pdf document with a password protection. Upload that to your web server.
2] Create a single webpage introducing, recommending and soliciting orders for your ebook. Include a PayPal, StormPay or some other shopping cart link to order the book.
3] Write 5 short emails as a mini series (which include a link to your ebook order page) and put them into an autoresponder.
4] Create the single webpage with a compelling copy for why the visitor should sign up for your 5-part mini series and include the webform which links to your autoresponder.
5] Having got those 3 things above in place, now you need to write the article(s) that include a link in the resource box to your name capture webpage.
6] Finally, use 'article submission software' to submit your article to the directories (see resource box for link).

Important note: You do NOT need big, flashy, complex websites to profit from articles! A simple compelling page that directs them to an autoresponder. From the email messages in the a/r, you can send them to a simple order page for your own ebook or you can send them to an affiliate product page. Bottom line - Keep it simple!

If you're sending them straight to an affiliate page (I think capturing their email first is better but I include this as an option) from the article resource box, you won't need to do step 1, 2, 3 or 4 above.

If you're sending the reader to an affiliate page after capturing their email, miss out step 1 and 2. Step 3 could be a 5-part mini series, or you might just want to send them to an ezine you publish (which recommends your affiliate product) or send them to another great article (or part 2 of the article) stored in an autoresponder. But you'll need to give them some reason for them to give you their email address!

Articles are a very powerful method of attracting visitors to a webpage and ultimately to generating 'sales'. Readers of your article have already established a 'know, like and trust' relationship with you and are therefore much more predisposed to buying from you. They are the ultimate targetted traffic - and therefore the most profitable visitor! Get your articles out there and let them silently, effortlessly do their work.