In This Issue

Feature article:
High-Impact, Low-Budget Publicity with Bylined Feature Articles

Guest author article:
You Need a Plan!

The guest author for this issue is Pat Molloy, who I met at Digital in the mid 1990s when we both worked on a big corporate project. We reconnected thanks to the Mass Women in Technology (MassWit) group.

I'd like to extend my ongoing thanks to Nancy Witting for editing my articles. If you need a great freelance editor, see the Contributors page for her contact information.

Wondering what topics you could cover and how much you would save? Here are some real titles from industry magazines, along with their costs for full-page, 4-color ads.

CEOs and the Health Care Challenge, Chief Executive, (ad: $21,855)

A Wake-up Call to Senior Management, Target Marketing (ad, $8,320)

Time to Talk Business, Corporate Meetings & Incentives, (ad: $9,385)

Your Seven Responsibilities, On Wall Street, (ad: $12,700)

Got Sludge?, Pollution Engineering, (ad: $6,820)

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Rising Statistic Among Laboratory Workers, Bioscience Technology, (ad: $10,400)

Titles and prices taken from publications websites, June 2003.

High-Impact, Low-Budget Publicity with Bylined Feature Articles
by Andrea Harris

Are you aware of one of the most effective, yet inexpensive ways to get exposure for your business? To get in front of your most valuable customers and prospects? And gain a lot of respect in the process?

Bylined articles in magazines and newspapers can be a goldmine of free publicity—if you do them right. By partnering with an experienced ghostwriter you and your business can benefit from professionally-written articles, placed in industry publications with your own byline.

It costs nothing to place a bylined article in a respected publication. Buying that much advertising space in the same publication will set you back thousands of dollars (see sidebar for examples). And because an ad must be viewed several times before it "registers" with a customer, multiply that cost times several months.

People read publications for the articles, not the ads. Get your exposure where it's going to be seen, not where it might be skipped over.

Enhances Your Credibility

A well-written article will have much more impact on your audience than an ad, which everyone knows you paid the publication to run. An article presents you as an expert in your field—someone with important ideas worth reading. The magazine's editor wouldn't run an article by someone who wasn't an expert, right? That's the impression the magazine's readers get, not just from what the article says, but also from the fact that the article exists.

There's one big "gotcha" that will blow away all the credibility you've worked so hard to achieve. Self-promotion. Don't try to push your own products and services in an article. It's not the appropriate place. Chances are, self-promotion won't even make it past the publication's editor, anyway.

Saves Precious Time

Have you ever wondered how an important executive found the time to write a thoughtful, well-researched article? It's a little-known fact that many of the articles you see in professional publications are actually ghostwritten by professional business writers. You might think that magazine editors seek out executives and get them to write articles. In fact, busy executives work with business writers to choose an appropriate topic, target a publication, get the editor's approval, and research and write the article.

Lets You Focus on Your Strengths

Perhaps you've had some great ideas for articles over the years, but never thought you were a good enough writer to follow through with them. Or you read an article bylined by someone else in your industry and thought, "I could have said all that; I'm as smart as that person."

A lack of writing ability doesn't have to hold you back. You're an expert in your area; you're not expected to be a great writer, too. When you use ghostwriters, you do what you do best and the writers do what they do best. The end result is that your ideas and expertise are presented in a clear, compelling article that makes you look like the expert you are.

Sets You Apart from the Competition

Publishing bylined articles sets you apart from the crowd. Lots of companies have glossy literature, but how many companies employ published authors?

And if you've got some higher-ups to impress within your own organization, think of how good a published article is going to look on your next performance review!

Allows Follow-on Marketing

Want to get repeat exposure and impact from your bylined article? Many publications offer official reprints of articles, along with their cover artwork and your photo. Adding reprints to your corporate marketing or press kit will reinforce the effectiveness of your corporate literature and show customers that you're well-respected in your industry.

Makes Things Easy

The writer does all the work. You get all the publicity and exposure. How much better does it get?

Guest author article:

You Need a Plan!
Ten essential steps to achieving business success
by Pat Molloy

Consider the following scenarios:

• You have a great idea for a business, but do not know where to begin.
• You have started a business, but it is not getting the results you anticipated.
• You have been running your business for some time, but want to expand.

In any of the above cases, the most important thing you can do is to develop a plan.

Complete article >>>