If your small business or startup isn’t well known (yet), getting your technical articles published in an industry magazine is a valuable reputation building strategy.
Contributing original technical, how-to, or opinion articles to industry publications is a smart way to boost your company’s visibility.
You’ll enhance your reputation by sharing your expertise with potential customers/readers of the publication. By generously sharing your expertise, you’ll become known as an expert in your niche, the go-to-company for answers, and a thought leader.
Note: Wikipedia’s current definition of a Thought Leader is ”…used for an entity that is recognized for having innovative ideas.”
DIY Industry Public Relations. Companies with larger marketing budgets often work with a public relations agency to get their contributed articles placed in industry publications. Don’t have room for a PR firm in your business-marketing budget? No problem.
Here are some steps that will make it easier for you to get the word out about how well your business solves problems.
Build credibility by documenting how your products solve customer problems. Prepare a how-to article or document a successful case study of how one of your customers solved a problem using your products/services. You’ll benefit from the “third party credibility” that comes from having your original content appear in an industry publication. As the author, editors will publish your name, company and contact info along with your article. You’ll most likely generate interest and leads from prospects. Like-minded people will be interested in finding out more about the tools, products, and solutions your company used to solve those pesky problems.
Limit mentions of your product name. Magazine and website editors publish well-written articles that educate, inform and problem-solve for readers (your prospective buyers). You’ll want to develop a non-salesy, non-self-promotional article. Be sure your product name isn’t mentioned too many times. By doing more educating than selling in your articles, you’ll position your business as an industry expert. And you will build trust with readers because you’re sharing your knowledge, experience and expertise.
Zero in on your customers’ top problems. Dig deep and itemize every issue. Prioritize the problems by how much each one typically costs your customers in time or money. Then develop ideas for contributed articles that highlight your best strengths.
Determine which industry publications your customers can’t live without. Prioritize the industry publications, magazines, print, online or both, that are good candidates for your contributed articles. Find out in which industry sources your competition’s contributed articles appear. Search online for where your competitors’ names and content appear, outside of their websites.
Photo: istock
Make it a habit to ask your customers, prospects, and partners for their 3-5 most trusted information sources. Ask for the names of both print and digital publications. Where do they go when they need help solving a problem or researching a purchase? Who are the industry leaders that they trust for information to help them solve a problem?
Do you have other ways to position your startup or small business as an industry expert? Do share here in the nifty comments section.
Wikimedia Image (top): Thomas Friedman, Pulitzer prize winning author and journalist. By Charles Haynes (Charles Haynes’ flickr account)
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