Marketing Strategies for the Extraordinarily Successful

Phi Kappa Phi Forum, Winter 2006 by Chambers, Larry

One of the best ways I have found to improve your personal economic picture is to raise your visibility by getting your ideas or thoughts published in the form of a trade-magazine article. A third-party endorsement in a reputable magazine or newspaper lends credibility that is difficult for a paid advertisement to match. The following is my high-value article-writing process for the nonwriter to help raise your visibility.

WHAT SHOULD YOU WRITE ABOUT?

Write articles that educate or solve an industry or customer problem. When you solve a problem or present meaningful information in a new light, you are regarded with high esteem.

When preparing your articles, write them as though you are speaking to a friend. The secret is to create and deliver a consistent message of value. Jot down thoughts about points that you would emphasize to get your friend to order your product or to become a client. Use these points in your article.

Published articles that educate, solve a problem, or convey a successful or advantageous situation can generate higher visibility. Success sells success - and highly educated professionals are always looking for timely information that will make them more money, make their life easier, or save them time. Business readers are much more likely to respond favorably to a solution to a problem from someone who communicates expertise than from someone who is boasting about his or her firm. Write to educate.

Make your article concise and to the point, concentrating on getting all the facts. Trade-magazine editors seek out articles that show readers how to save money and time and to improve their lives. Trade-journal readers are very busy people. They read not for entertainment, but for information that can help them. Be specific. Introduce a particular problem and describe its solution and results or discuss the latest developments in the industry and reasons for them, and finally, organize the structure so that it is easy for the reader to understand and follow.

Support claims and statements with statistical examples, studies, or explanations. Double-check your facts. If in doubt, leave it out. Be thorough. People who read your articles may make decisions or procedural changes based on what you have written. They require accurate and complete information. Keep your notes and source materials for at least six months after the article has been published.

Be objective. Your article should contain useful, accurate, and unbiased advice, not rewritten corporate bulletins and press releases. If you do a story on money management, talk to several different money managers, not just one. If you are giving a new management perspective, give the pros as well as the cons. One-sidedness does not interest editors. They want the disadvantages spelled out, as well as the advantages. Do not write advertisements. An editor will see through such an obvious ploy, and the article will not get past his or her desk.

Never write about something that will be out of date within a few weeks. Sometimes it takes three, four, or up to six months before your article may appear. Write in a timeless style. That means subjects that do not depend on current events or yesterday's news. A timeless article is as relevant and marketable three years from now as it was the day it was written.

Most importantly, make sure your solution answers the problem or point that you stated at the beginning.

THE CARD GAME

Now you are ready to write your first magazine article. You have never written before? You do not have to be a writer, journalist, or media expert. Not to worry; we have this down to a process!

If you follow the next six steps, you cannot help but produce a complete article. Guaranteed. And it will be your article. There are no hypothetical examples here to copy. You can use this blueprint many times, creating a variety of how-to articles. Work at your own pace and at your own level, and as you improve, challenge yourself. But first you will need a pen and paper. So let's begin!

Number a set of index cards and jot down the following information on the cards. This way, you can spot inconsistencies or change the content before you begin to write.

Card 1. State the title and the premise, the point of the article.

Card 2. Identify problems or concerns that your target readers have in common. In this article the problem is writing.

Card 3. Write a short anecdote at the beginning of the article that can be used to illustrate the problem. Use any relevant discoveries or recent developments that the reader would be unlikely to have yet heard.

Card 4. The middle, or guts, of the article is the part where you deliver on your promise to explain how to solve the problem.

Card 5. Decide how you would solve the problem, and provide steps/ action to correct the problem and do so.

Card 6. Write the conclusion. Create a pathway that leads hack to you by writing a short bio that clearly and concisely captures the essence of what differentiates you from the competition.