The amazing part of this thread is that many are focused on
PR which means nothing because your articles are not on a
PR 5, 6, or 7 - They are on a PR0 which is loaded down with ads and other links which means no link juice for you.
People seem to be focused more on
PR and so called popularity over and above what the actual article directory does for you. Some even seem to think building links to these sites help them as the author of the articles, in fact it helps the site far more than you because they get ad revenues off your link building - What do you get ??
Ever wonder why your competition outranks you in the search engines ? Well, re-read some of your post and you will understand why. When you stop following what the so called gurus say and actually start marketing your sites the proper way, is when you will start to see your competition fall.