Before you start tapping things out on the ‘ole keyboard or [gasp!] penning prose on a pad, consider finding your area of specialty, first. Having a specialty or niche doesn’t necessarily mean that’s all you do. It simply means that’s what you promote.

Face it. You can’t be all things to all people, nor should you try. It’s better to be a master at one or two things, than mediocre at a bunch. You need a niche. What that is depends on your personality and experience, along with what you enjoy doing all the live long day. That last point is important. If you hate doing something, odds are you’ll put it off or not do it at all.

For example, after coming on board in April, 2007, I’ve begun to carve out a niche at Odell Advertising/Marketing, Inc. I looked over our stuff. I talked with the designers and art director, along with other account folks. I yapped with our financial manager. My goal was to find out what the art gang enjoyed doing, which clients were good to work with and what sort of gigs were profitable. As it turns out, we really shine when it comes to packaging and branding. In particular, we’re good (and profitable) when it comes to packaging for the food and beverage industry. On the heels of that is collateral materials for the healthcare industry. The best part is that people need to eat and tend to get sick (hopefully not quickly in that order). So, both are stable and/or growth markets.

Look over what you’ve done or would like to do. Fire up Quickbooks or what ever financial app you use. Do you really make money doing what you enjoy? Is there a leaning toward a particular industry or type of project?

Once you find your niche, it becomes a lot easier to write about and it also helps reporters and editors pigeonhole you. That’s okay. The goal is to position yourself as an expert for a very specific topic.

Writing articles isn’t rocket science. Well, I guess it could be if you happen to actually be a rocket scientist. Writing an article is simply a matter of picking a topic you know something about, then creating an outline with broad based topics. Do a bit of research on the Net or with books and magazines. Find a few relevant quotes to pop in. Add in sub-topics within your outline. The next thing you know, your article has pretty much written itself.

Articles can be published both online and off. Research target publications to learn their style and tone. Also, check the magazine’s site or contact them directly for their writers’ guidelines and editorial calendar. The calendar will help you appropriately time your submissions.

Contact the editors with your story idea. A quick phone call will help you find the right editor and learn their preference for contact. Make sure to get the correct spelling of their name. In your ‘pitch” give the highlights of your article, describe any art, photos or illustrations and how the article will be helpful to their readers.

Never submit an article to more than one print publication at a time. Editors want exclusive material. Only after an idea is rejected are you clear to submit to another editor. As a side note, read the contract’s fine print. Depending on the usage rights you negotiate, you might be able to re-sell your article elsewhere.

Some publications will pay you for your efforts, so writing can become another revenue stream for you. These are usually mainstream consumer pubs or high profile trade publications. Trade journals don’t usually pay, but they will put you right in front of your target audience. They’ll also often include your contact info, site address and/or email address. That exposure to your target audience can be payment enough.

Articles submitted to web sites don’t normally pay, but they have other benefits (read: exposure). There are also syndication sites like e-zinearticles.com and articleworld.net. The neat thing about web-based articles is linking. Most sites will include your site address. That increases the number of sites linking to yours, which can increase your link popularity. That’s a big factor these days in search engine ranking.

In the end, don’t be afraid to write. It’s really not that tough. You have two things going for you. Unless you’re speech-impaired, you can talk. If you can talk (and even if you can’t), you can likely think. If you can talk and think, you can write. Simply write like you talk. Getting over the initial hurdle is the big step. After that, it’s all downhill.

Go ye forth and write your hind quarter off. You’ll do just fine, Hemingway.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt