Writing for high-visibility publications is one of the most effective ways to build your reputation as an authoritative expert. It allows you to share your ideas with a well-established audience, demonstrates your credibility, and opens the doors to new opportunities and coveted speaking engagements.
Building your reputation as an authoritative expert takes time and a consistent, focused effort. The options and advice can feel overwhelming. Even if you know that you want to write articles for publication, you still have to figure out which publications accept contributed content, how to choose the right publication, and what goes into a pitch. The good news? There's a recipe for writing for high-visibility publications.
The PEACEFUL Publishing Method™
The PEACEFUL Publishing Method is a step-by-step approach to help you identify, pitch, and write for the right high-visibility publications and get results as quickly as possible in a way that minimizes the risks and the time, money, and energy you invest.
Building your reputation as an authoritative expert requires you to play the long game. There are no shortcuts. But the eight steps of my PEACEFUL Publishing Method will keep you focused and moving forward. It will save you a tremendous amount of time and help you develop a plan that fits into your workflow.
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Prepare Your Roadmap. The publication roadmap identifies and prioritizes your business goals, specifies your intended audience and their desired outcomes, and determines how writing for publication will fit into your existing workflow.
- Elucidate Your Idea. Clearly define your BIG idea and point of view (the things you want to be known for in your industry), identify the major themes you will write about, develop your article ideas, and establish an editorial calendar.
- Assess the Options. The assessment requires you to choose a strategy, compile a list of publications, evaluate each against the roadmap, and select a publication that helps you reach your goals while complementing your voice and style.
- Craft the Case. To make the case, you need to get to know the publication so you can persuade the editors to publish your work. You’ll need a contributor bio, writing samples, and article ideas that demonstrate how you will add value.
- Examine the Structure. Analyze the structure of the publication’s articles so you can write a compelling headline, craft the lede, and align your writing style with that of the publication. Tailor your writing samples to the publication’s structure.
- Fashion the Article. Commit to a writing practice, outline your ideas to minimize writer’s block, write the first draft quickly, rewrite and revise your article, and edit and fact-check your article before submitting it for publication.
- Understand Your Role. Understand the publication's guidelines so you can craft a perfect pitch and tailor your articles to the publication’s readers. Understand when to follow up and what makes an article work or why the editor rejected it.
- Leverage Your Success. To leverage your success, you must review your goals, promote your work, foster your relationships, expand your opportunities, and repurpose your article for maximum exposure.
If you want to increase your income, expand your influence, and magnify your impact, you must invest in building your reputation as an authoritative expert. Writing articles for publication is one way to accomplish that goal. As a strategy, it is most effective if you already know your audience, have experience working with them and getting them the results they seek, and feel compelled to share your message so you can make an impact as well as a living.
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Erica Holthausen is the founder of Catchline Communications and a strategic thought partner to consultants who wish to build their authority and increase their visibility by publishing articles in industry trade journals and business magazines like Inc., Entrepreneur, and Fast Company. To learn how to raise your profile, register for Pitched to Published, a free monthly Q+A focused on writing, pitching, and publishing articles.
