Know-How Exchange : Strategy

I know that getting published in various reputable blogs and high traffic websites is a good way to build reputation and be recognized for expertise. I did some freelancing in the 90's for print publications. My question: is getting published online now any different from getting published in print 10 or 15 years ago, and if so, in what ways? My purpose then was just to get a paycheck, now it would be to build reputation for me and traffic to my site and of course business for my professional services. On the simplest level, I can see making a list of sites I want to target because I think my potential clients can be reached there; finding out their writer’s guidelines / submission policies, and pitching, much as I would in print 10 years ago. Is that enough? What am I overlooking, not taking into consideration, etc? Should I only expect to offer original/exclusive content, not something I posted elsewhere already? By implication I am not talking about posting something on user generated sites since those are open to anyone regardless of expertise, but I don’t mean to suggest I won’t be doing that also.

What do you think of the value / credibility of posting content to article websites like ezine, findarticles, allbusiness, suite101, etc?

Does anyone seriously talk about "north american serial rights" in the online market? If not, is there an online equivalent? I read on a blog while researching this about First World Serial Rights, but I don’t know that this is widely accepted or even applicable to what I am trying to do.

Finally, a related issue is getting recognized in the media as an expert. How do I get them to find or come looking for me when an issue within my expertise comes up? I just looked into profnet - $950/yr for a solo practitioner like myself - yikes! But is it worth it?