SEO Companies
Articles and Ezines
The Internet is full of so-called Ezines that allow authors to get published. SEO companies sometimes play up their benefits.
The approach can have merit if the community you contribute to has policies in place that reward you with visibility.
In other words, I wouldn't just send in articles
to get links to influence natural search engine results. Some locations may be using the No Follow tag and it's also questionable how much influence any one page will have anyway.
Two tips:
1. Stick with one or two article places and beef up your reputation there so at least the community of readers comes across your material regardless of impact on links.
2. Don't sweat the duplicate content concern. In proportion to your website and your presence among massive articles by others on Ezines, it shouldn't be a huge cause for alarm. You're better off targeting publications in your own industry in the long run.