Branding yourself through articles
Jan 26th, 2009 by Vikram Rajan
Stories where you’re quoted helps promote your “expertise brand” - as is my case with the Wall Street Journal’s Startup Journal & Entrepreneur magazine some time ago. But I prefer to help my clients create on-going columns and other articles, as is my case with Long Island Business News and Financial Advisor magazine.
While being quoted helps get your name out there, regular articles helps to get your expertise out there. Getting your articles regularly published in professional journals, local newspapers, and colleagues’ newsletters is actually easier than being in the right place at the right time for journalists (as PR agents do).
My latest articles can be found in Personal Branding magazine, where I interviewed “G” from FOX’s Secret Millionaire - about his own personal branding success tips. You can also read my latest column in the New York Real Estate Journal in this week’s issue.
The first step is to write… which is why blogging is a great start. Having a cache of 2 or 3 articles enables editors/publishers to take a look at your work. Many times they can will publish it as-is, or request a new (unpublished) topic. The traditional column length is 700 words.
The second step is to mine your relationships for media contacts… which is why LinkedIn, etc. is a great start. Ask your centers of influence and other colleagues about writing for their newsletters, contacts at local/regional newspapers, and trade journals.
The third step is to a) learn more about these publications & b) develop a relationship with these contacts. Like any business relationship, don’t begin with a pitch. Rather, start with questions. You should already know if they’ve covered the kind of topics you want to write about. (Avoid a foot in mouth response: “Umm… actually… we published something like that last month.”)
Yes, it takes more time than simply “cold e-mailing” your articles… but relationships are more valuable than transactions. For example, last January, one of my clients had introduced me to the publisher of the New York Real Estate Journal. She was overwhelmed with professional and personal pressures that prevented us from developing our relationship. Now exactly a year later, we’ve begun to add value to one another - and to her readers. Likewise, I’ve since been quoted by Long Island Business News several times since ending my series of business columns.
With due diligence and diligent efforts, you too will develop a long list of media quotes and better yet, published articles. Have you been quoted some place? Do your articles appear regularly in publications? Comment below; we get about a 1,000 readers every week.
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This is a great article and something I know I need to address persue putting articles out side of my blog.
Recently I found a community webstite that invited articles. This can be a great way to publish additional copies of your articles that could lead to people following through to your website not to mention additional incoming links.
Make sure your articles are reworded to avoid duplicate content though…
There are bound to be other sites out there that will be ideal for realy driving targeted traffic to your site.
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Yes, articles is definitely a way to brand your expertise. I find blogs to be useful ways to brand as well. As an online marketer, I decided to put up a blog a few months back entitled A Journey To Independence. I’ve put out a couple of articles as well and look forward to adding more articles in the process. I hope to be able to share good advices to online marketers out there like you do in your blog
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Andy Michaels http://www.andy-michaels.com/