Maybe look into promoting affiliate offers? Article submission directories are still popular but I think the best way to go about making money with your writing skills is by making a blog and focusing on a particular niche. Write at least 15 or so articles (blog posts) and start doing some SEO, you need to be getting traffic from Google as soon as you can.
Avoid the saturated niches too, things like hosting and weight loss are way too competitive. You'll make more with a blog + adsense + affiliate banners / links than you would by writing articles for people, the income is passive too so you can rinse and repeat after you get some initial success with your blog.