There are many benefits to writing articles. In today's content-sharing marketing world, your ability to provide value through the written word is a huge asset. Articles document knowledge that can be segmented into blog posts and also be the basis of best practices checklists which you can use as offers when you speak or network.
Articles published in journals and magazines provide third-party validation. There is a presumption that your article has been vetted by others and determined to be of value.
An article on a topic of interest will be much more meaningful to a prospect than your brochure, which simply describes your knowledge. In addition, you can subsequently offer a reprint of your articles as a way to obtain contact information of your prospects. For example, when you give a speech, you could offer to send reprints of articles you had mentioned to those who give you their contact info - instead of providing the reprint as a part of your handouts.
One of the greatest benefits of writing and article is that it forces your to think about a topic. When you write clearly, you not only help your readers with valuable information, but also you enhance your ability to talk about the topic. This enhances your ability to demonstrate your ability to be of value. In other words, writing articles scripts your sales dialogue.
To publish an article, you need to identify the outlet for it. One of the best outlets is trade journals. They are often looking for content that is interesting to their members. You should become familiar with the publications that your targets read. There is a place to document that on your Target Worksheets.
Once you have identified a topic of interest, you can write the article and then reach out to the editors of the outlets that might be interested. You could also contact publishers before you write an article so that you can see if there might be interest in it. But it usually makes sense to write the article and just send it to interested editors. Even if you don't get it published, you can put it on your website.
You also have the option of hiring a public relations professional who is familiar with the process of getting published.
One of the biggest obstacles to writing an article is the lack of a topic. It is common to assume that if a topic has already been addressed by someone else, there is no place for your article. Of course, this is not the case. Any topic can be addressed by numerous authors.
It is a good idea to list article topics in the For the Future section BizDevCoach. Then every time you solve a client problem, you could list the issue as a possible topic.
Another obstacle is you may not be a good writer. The solution is to give it a try. You may find that your preconceived notions about your writing are based on a time in your life where you did not have interest in the topic. Start by writing down key elements of the article i.e. Why is it important to the reader? What is the history of the problem? What are the possible solutions? What are the obstacles to implementing the solutions?
As you collect key elements, you may be inspired to write more. You may find writing articles not only effective in your biz dev effort, but also extremely fulfilling.
