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Are you an entrepreneur? Financial advisor? Graphic designer? Business consultant? Freelance speechwriter?
Do you run a small accounting firm? A one-person legal office? An independent medical services business?
Do you want to get more visibility for your business – but you don’t have a large marketing budget?
Well, here’s your very best marketing option:
At least 4 times a year, write a short bylined piece. It doesn’t have to be a major article (although that’s a brilliant option – more on this publishing option in a moment).
Consider: A simple letter to the editor … an op-ed piece … a contribution to your college’s alum section … a how-to piece for a trade publication … 10 tips to share via your professional organization … helpful online advice … a short piece for a civic organization’s forum.
Bylines garner attention. And bylines build business.
Cite your credentials in the author note at the end of your piece. Be sure to include your Twitter handle. (Please – please – tell me: You are on Twitter, right? If you’re not on Twitter in 2015, you are missing many/many business opportunities.) For example, my credit line might be, “Joan Detz is the author of How To Write & Give A Speech, ‘A how-to classic’ (The Washington Post), now in its 31st year of continuous publication. @JoanDetz”
Change your credit line each time, depending on the topic of your piece, the audience, current events, geography, etc.
Wonder how I’ve learned so much about bylines? I’ve been an active member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors for a couple of decades. I attend their annual conference in NYC every year – and volunteer as a speaker most years. (Check @ASJAhq to learn more about this outstanding professional organization.)
If you’d like to publish a major article, read on:
On August 28, ASJA is bringing their stellar writing conference program to Washington DC. I’ll be there – learning and networking. Will you? The sessions are not to be missed. The networking is in a class of its own.
Attend – and learn how to get the bylines you need to boost your own career.