The Society of Professional Consultants

When you started out as an independent consultant, your business boomed! You felt confident that your decision to go out on your own was the right move.

But now, well, the story is different. Despite your experience, expertise, and commitment, you’re struggling. New clients aren’t coming in consistently, revenue is unpredictable, and the strategies that once worked no longer seem effective. You’ve tried different approaches, yet you’re not connecting with the right people. Simply, you’ve hit a plateau.

The worst part? You’re exhausted, frustrated, and know you can’t continue down the same path. Something needs to change.

­­­­­­­Does the story sound familiar? How about this story?

While searching for a new position, a former employer reached out with a problem they knew you could solve. Although they couldn’t offer you a full-time role, they could bring you on as a consultant. You agreed, thinking it was just a temporary solution. Then something unexpected happened.

You realized you enjoyed the freedom of being your own boss and taking charge of your own future. However, as the engagement wrapped up, you faced a new challenge: finding your next client. You knew that if you wanted to succeed, you had to figure it out that next step—fast.

If either of these stories sound familiar,  you’re not alone. I’ve been there. I know many other independent consultants have been faced with the similar challenges.

But all of us had one common driving force. We all wanted to be successful and that meant we needed to change if we wanted to not only survive but become known as the “go-to” expert in our field.

Change meant each of us needed to simplify what we were doing and eliminate or stop doing anything that was not absolutely necessary. It required following a “less is more” approach and implementing realistic, repeatable techniques and tactics that fit each of us and met the needs of our ideal client.

Change also meant we each needed to take a step back and find a consulting framework that worked for us. Then we needed to adapt that framework to work for us and our clients.

When I started my own business years in 2002, I used a framework that I knew. It was a big four consulting framework that really didn’t work for an independent consultant or smaller consulting business. It was too much. Oh, make no mistake. To this day, I use numerous aspects of that big four framework in my business.  

What ended up happening is a several years ago I create a framework known as The Consultant’s Blueprint^©.  The Consultant’s Blueprint is my Point of View, my approach, to helping independent consultants and smaller consulting businesses.  

The Consultant’s Blueprint is a framework that is based not only on my years of consulting experiences, but on the feedback and advice received from numerous successful consultants, struggling consultants, and consultants who simply gave up. Since its initial publication, the  framework has also evolved thanks to feedback from my clients to where it is today.

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The Consultant’s Blueprint^©

Pillar 1: Clarify Your Business Core (The Foundation for Success)

Pillar 2: Build Awareness (The Marketing of You)

Pillar 3: Develop Trusted Relationships (Become Known as the Expert)

Pillar 4: Obtain Engagement Commitment (Turn Interest In You into Clients)

Pillar 5: Deliver with Excellence (Client Satisfaction Transforms into Long-Term Trusted Relationships and Repeat Business)

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It is great to have a framework that I can personally use and one that helps my clients, but in an effort to help anyone who can relate to either of the two stories mentioned in this article, I recently created The Ultimate Guide to Building a Successful Consulting Business. This guide is a 12-page resource that explains the five pillars of the Consultant’s Blueprint. Included is an overview diagram, short explanations of each pillar, and an “ingredient list” for each pillar to help you focus on what truly matters to succeed.

The philosophy behind the Consultant’s Blueprint and this guide is simple:

>The best consulting businesses follow a “less is more” approach.

​>You don’t need to try everything or chase every recommendation that comes your way. Instead, you keep to the fundamentals. You refine, add, and eliminate as needed to build a business that fits you and your ideal clients—leading to the right clients for you, consistent revenue, and more freedom.

Here is a download link to the guide: The Ultimate Guide to Building a Successful Consulting Business.

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Laura Burford helps independent consultants and smaller consulting businesses create the right clients leading to consistent revenue and time to enjoy life on their terms.  She is the founder of Laura’s Consulting Guide, host of a YouTube channel, and is known for her Consulting Mastery program.  

Published articles are valuable business assets, especially for consultants, but few people use them to their advantage. Instead, most people write and publish an article, promote it on LinkedIn and through their email newsletter, and then let the piece sit in an obscure corner of the internet gathering dust.

Writing for well-known publications like Harvard Business Review, Inc., or TD Magazine is a valuable and effective authority building tactic. But publication alone is unlikely to result in a flood of phone calls and inquiries. In the rare cases where an article does get a lot of attention, that attention is short-lived.

The true value of published articles is realized over the long term. Published articles are tools that help you build awareness, increase visibility, establish trust, and differentiate yourself from your peers. But how you use those tools depends on the type of article you’ve written and your business goals.

Categorize your articles by purpose.

Different types of articles serve different purposes. A mix of all three types of articles gives you access to a multipurpose toolbox designed to help you build your authority, differentiate yourself from your peers, and attract more of the right-fit clients.

Every article you write should provide the reader with actionable insights, but how you use each article depends on which type it is. Before you make a plan for using your articles, review each one and put it into one of the following three categories:

1. General Articles. The purpose of general articles is to raise awareness about you and the work you do. These articles are informational, widely applicable, and stay relevant over time (evergreen). They explore topics that are frequently discussed in your field and offer practical advice.
2. Foundational Articles. The purpose of foundational articles is to generate interest in working with you. These articles are narrow, deep, and evergreen — they offer the reader insights into the work you do, how you do that work, and the values that shape your work. They explore topics directly related to the reputation you are building and make your position crystal clear. These articles often allow readers to determine whether your worldview is aligned with their own.
3. Specialty Articles. The purpose of specialty articles is to nurture a particular lead. These articles are nuanced, deep, and situation-specific. Sometimes written in response to a conversation with a potential client, they demonstrate your understanding of the prospect’s industry by exploring a current challenge and offering keen insights to help address that challenge.

After you categorize your articles, make a plan for each category. You will create an awareness plan that applies to every article you write. In addition, you will create an interest-generating plan for foundational articles and a lead-nurturing plan for each specialty article. In some cases, an article may be categorized as both a specialty article and a foundational article. That’s okay; the label you assign to a particular article is much less important than the way you use it.

Build awareness with general articles.

The vast majority of the pieces you write will be general articles. These are the bread and butter of your awareness, visibility, and authority-building initiatives. To make the most of these articles, create an awareness plan that includes a mix of promotion, repurposing, and syndication.

Debra Roberts does this quite well. A columnist for Inc.com, she regularly shares practical tips to help business leaders have more productive conversations. In “Master the Art of Definitive Communication,” Debra demonstrates how leaders use ambiguous language and offers scripts to help them make more decisive statements. This practical, broadly applicable piece is a perfect example of a general article. Examining how she might use this piece offers insights into what your awareness plan might look like:

• Promoting articles allows you to expand your reach. In addition to promoting articles on social media, Debra can share links to her articles with her email subscribers and online communities. She might also keep a list of articles (with links) on her desktop so she can quickly share relevant pieces with people she speaks with at networking events and during speaking engagements.
• Repurposing articles allows you to share your ideas in more ways. Every article can be repurposed to create additional marketing assets. For example, Debra might review this article and come up with a series of ambiguous statements and their more definitive counterparts and share that series as a carousel on LinkedIn.
• Syndicating articles allows you to republish your articles elsewhere. Because Inc.com allows contributing experts to syndicate their articles, Debra can republish the same piece (with a different headline) on her company blog. In fact, she can republish this piece on any platform that accepts syndicated content.

Once an article is published and your repurposed assets are created, plan to promote your articles again and again, for as long as they are relevant. Start with a three-month rotation schedule and expand it to six and then twelve months as you build your library.

Generate interest with foundational articles.

Foundational articles are workhorses that offer the reader a deep dive into the work you do and how you do it. To get the most value from these pieces, write your foundational articles after you test and refine your ideas because you will cite them frequently. You only need a handful of foundational articles, so expect to invest extra time to enhance the editorial quality of each one.

Chloé Nwangwu’s first foundational article appears in Harvard Business Review. "Why We Should Stop Saying 'Underrepresented'" makes the case for abandoning the oft-used but imprecise term “underrepresented” in favor of a more accurate term: underrecognized. She sites this article as often as possible — in her blog posts, newsletters, and when she appears as a guest expert on podcasts.

Incorporate your foundational articles into the awareness plan you create for your general articles. Make sure at least one asset from one foundational article is in the rotation schedule every month. These articles provide your audience with the context they need to understand the work you do and how you can serve them. You want to share that message repeatedly because repetition is your reputation.

In addition to incorporating your foundational articles into your awareness plan, create an interest-generating plan. These articles are valuable business assets and should be used to generate interest from prospective clients and partners.

Chloé shares her foundational article anytime she introduces herself to a new contact and references the piece in her professional bio, proposals, and pitches. When her friends and colleagues introduce her to a prospective client or speaking opportunity, they also include a link to this article.

Foundational articles give people a sense of who you are, how you think, and what you do. And that helps you build trust with others before you even meet them.

If a foundational article is gated or only available in print, make sure you have a digital copy you can share with others. Many publications will provide you with a PDF of your article, making it easy to share with prospective clients and partners. Just make sure you double-check the terms of your copyright transfer agreement to make sure you aren’t violating the publication’s copyrights.

Nurture leads with specialty articles.

Specialty articles are often written in response to a conversation with a client, prospective client, or colleague about a specific situation. These pieces aren’t applicable at all times to all clients, but they are still incredibly valuable. Not only do specialty articles build your relationship with the individual who inspired the piece, but they speak to anyone who has grappled with the issue in the past.

When Raman Shah wrote “Starting Simple in Performance Measurement” for the International City/County Management Association, he was responding to an oft-repeated rebuttal to his recommendation that a prospective client implement operational reporting as a management tool. It is a compelling piece that makes the case for measuring output, not just impact.

Like all the other articles you write, specialty articles should be incorporated into the awareness plan you create for your general articles. You will also want to create a lead-nurturing plan for each specialty article. Who was this piece written in response to? How and when will you share it with them? Who else might benefit from reading this piece? Would any past clients see a past version of themselves in the piece?

Raman’s article was written in response to objections brought up by prospective clients, so it is a specialty article. It is also core to his work as a consultant on performance measurement and operational improvement for local governments. So, it may well be both a specialty article and a foundational article.

Your articles are assets. Don’t let them gather dust.

Published articles are appreciating business assets, but those assets only increase in value if you use them as such. While you may worry that you’re promoting your articles too often, the truth is that nobody is paying as much attention to your content as you are, and repeating your message over and over again helps people remember you.

While it is possible for a published article to result in a great deal of attention, leads, and even new opportunities, that possibility is the exception, not the rule. The true value of your published articles is realized over time.

When shared with the right people and in the right ways, published articles not only help you build awareness and increase visibility, but they also help you establish trust with prospective clients and partners.

And that opens the door to new opportunities.

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Erica Holthausen is the founder of Catchline Communications, where she equips consultants with the tools they need to develop a body of work that builds their authority, increases their visibility, and opens the door to new opportunities. A strategic thought partner, she guides her clients through selecting and pitching the right publication, writing and publishing articles in industry trade journals and business magazines like Harvard Business Review, and using those articles to achieve their business goals. To learn how to raise your profile, register for Pitched to Published, a free monthly Q+A focused on writing, pitching, and publishing articles.

Should you write a book? Or focus on your blog? What about your email newsletter? Should you focus on that next? Do you need a lead magnet? Or should you write for high-visibility publications? What about social media? How does that fit into the mix?

If you’ve ever asked yourself these questions, then you already know writing helps you build your reputation, increase your visibility, and reach the right audience. It is an exceptional authority-building technique that showcases your perspective, insights, and approaches to solving problems. It allows readers to get to know, like, and trust you.

It also differentiates you from your peers.

Over the course of your consulting career, you will use various forms of writing, such as social media posts, email newsletters, blog posts, articles for third-party publications, and books, to share your perspective and demonstrate your expertise. Each form of writing serves a distinct purpose. Understanding how they work together is essential to knowing which to use at each stage of your consulting career. Here, I offer a step-by-step approach to help you focus your writing efforts.

First, write to develop your perspective.

You must develop your perspective before you can share your perspective. If you are an early-stage consultant, or you have recently shifted your focus to serve a new industry or offer a new service, start by posting on LinkedIn and writing for your blog and email newsletter.

Use this time to learn about your audience’s biggest challenges, how they’ve tried to address those challenges, why those attempts failed, and where they turn for guidance. Understand the counsel your audience is receiving and where other experts in your field are oversimplifying or overcomplicating the solutions they offer. Note where you can add some nuance, fill a gap, or offer a different perspective.

According to data on the lifespan of online content compiled by Scott Graffius, a post on LinkedIn receives half of its total engagement within 24.3 hours while a blog post receives half of its total engagement within 1.95 years. GetResponse reports that the lifespan of email newsletters is even shorter than that of social media posts, with half of all opens occurring within the first 8 hours.

Writing helps you interrogate your own thinking, and when you share your writing, you invite others to offer their perspective so you can refine your thinking. These vehicles are perfectly suited to experimentation and the development of your perspective:

• LinkedIn. LinkedIn posts have a short lifespan. However, they also have a high likelihood of engagement and great potential for building your network. This makes LinkedIn an excellent place to offer up ideas even when they aren’t fully formed, and to invite and actively engage in discussion. Those types of posts have the potential to help you see your idea from a new perspective, thus refining your thinking, and are great ways to build relationships with others in your field.

• Newsletter. Email newsletters have a much shorter lifespan than LinkedIn posts, but go directly to people who have opted-in to receive your newsletter and are interested in what you have to say. You may choose to share ideas in which you have a great deal of confidence, or you may invite the recipients to test developing ideas with you. Because your newsletter community is easy to reach, you have plenty of opportunities to share your thinking as it evolves.

• Blog. As is the case with email newsletters, your blog is a platform you own and control, so it is more secure than sharing your ideas on social media. Blog posts have the longest lifespan and greatest flexibility because they can be revised, updated, or deleted at any time. You can also expand the lifespan of a blog post by repurposing it and intentionally sharing it over and over again. Because your blog can be accessed by anyone, you want to have confidence in the ideas you present at the time you present them. Think of each blog post as a snapshot of your thinking at a particular point in time.

Your blog and email newsletter serve as the foundation of your authority-building efforts and are enhanced by your presence on LinkedIn. Regardless of what other forms of writing you employ, make sure your foundation is solid and reinforced throughout your consulting career. A solid foundation will position you for future growth.

Second, write to build your network and authority.

As a mid-stage consultant, you have a strong point of view and experience-based expertise to share. You have an excellent reputation, a strong network, and a steady(ish) stream of projects. However, you may find that your reputation is confined to a small circle of clients and colleagues and your network lacks focus. You may also find that you are doing too much of the wrong kind of work.

This is when you want to consider writing for high-visibility publications.

A high-visibility publication is any publication that allows you to share your ideas with an already-established audience populated by the people you most want to reach. Writing for these publications helps you share your message with more of the right people and expand your audience. It also provides social proof — the publication vetted you and decided you have something important to share with their readers. They recognized you as an expert in your field.

In most cases, your articles will be published online. These articles are similar to a blog post, with a long lifespan that can be expanded by promoting and repurposing the article again and again. It is rarely possible to update these articles, so you want to have confidence in the ideas you present. That being said, these articles are dated, and you can always stop sharing them when they no longer accurately reflect your thinking, and they will fade into obscurity.

Articles written for third-party publications are remarkably flexible marketing assets that offer readers a detailed examination of a very specific topic in a format that is easy to digest. In most cases, you can syndicate these articles, publishing the same piece on your blog with a link back to the original, thus reinforcing the foundation of your reputation-building effort. Unlike your blog and email newsletter, however, writing articles for high-visibility publications provides you with access to an already-established audience, making it easier to build your network.

Third, write to share your hard-earned wisdom.

As an established consultant, you have a strong point of view, extensive experience, and a reputation as an authoritative expert and leading thinker in your field. Your sphere of influence is vast, and your network includes other recognized experts, clients, and emerging leaders. As you start to transition from a mid-stage consultant to an established consultant, consider writing a book to share your hard-earned wisdom.

While you may choose to write a book earlier in this process, keep in mind that writing and promoting a book requires a significant investment of time, money, and effort. You want to undertake that effort when you can afford to focus your attention on your book — when your pipeline is full and you don’t need to worry about where your next project will come. Writing a book can be a fun distraction, when what you really need to do is the hard work of business development.

You don’t need to write a book to build a successful consultancy.

If you do write a book, the return on your investment will probably not come in the form of book sales. Your book is much more valuable as a marketing asset than as a stream of income.

As a published author, you will be seen as an authoritative expert simply by virtue of the fact that you have published a book. If that book stands on its own merits, your reputation as an authoritative expert will be confirmed. If the book lacks insight or is poorly written, it could damage your reputation — at least with those who read it.

A book is a stable marketing asset, and it must stay relevant and resonant over time to be valuable. You have a better chance of writing a book that holds up over time and opens the door to more opportunities if you have an established audience and a solid reputation. Use articles — published on your blog or in high-visibility publications — to test and refine your ideas and make sure they stand the test of time.

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To learn more about how articles and books work together, download my infographic on The Relationship Between Articles and Books.

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Articles and books work very well together. Don’t be afraid to start with articles and use the articles you’ve written as a foundation for your book. Not only is it easier to write a 750 to 1,250 word article than it is to write a 35,000 to 65,000 word book, but those articles can help you build your audience for the book you intend to write.

Once your book is published, you can repurpose your research and writing into published articles that continue to build your audience and generate further excitement for your book. Breaking each chapter of your book into articles is a great way to repurpose your book and reinforce the foundation of your reputation-building effort.

The first step is simple.

No matter where you are in your consulting career, writing will help you build your authority, increase your visibility, and reach the right audience. Whether you focus on your blog, write for high-visibility publications, or start work on a book depends in large part on your current priorities and whether you have a solid foundation in place.

Writing never goes to waste. Even when your writing is not published, writing helps you think deeply and improves your ability to communicate highly complex ideas. Sharing those ideas allows you to refine them even further.

Are you ready to take the first step?

Just write.

And if you’d like some extra support, consider joining the Writing Practice community.

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Erica Holthausen is the founder of Catchline Communications, where she equips consultants with the tools they need to develop a body of work that builds their authority, increases their visibility, and opens the door to new opportunities. A strategic thought partner, she guides her clients through selecting and pitching the right publication, writing and publishing articles in industry trade journals and business magazines like Harvard Business Review, and using those articles to achieve their business goals. To learn how to raise your profile, register for Pitched to Published, a free monthly Q+A focused on writing, pitching, and publishing articles.

Your expertise is the foundation of your business. When you fix that expertise in a tangible form of expression, such as a book, article, or podcast, it becomes a valuable asset and a type of intellectual property. As Erin Austin of Think Beyond IP says, “Owning and controlling intellectual property is the prerequisite to scaling your B2B expertise-based business.”

As a consultant, it is essential to protect your intellectual property.

But how do you protect your intellectual property when you’re writing and publishing articles? Doesn’t that put your intellectual property at risk? And what should you do if the publication you write for wants to own the articles you write? Doesn’t that mean you are giving up control of your intellectual property?

A primer on copyright law.

To be eligible for copyright protection, a work must be creative, original, and authored by a human (which means articles generated by AI are not eligible). It also must be in a form that allows the work to be consumed and reproduced. Written, audio, visual, and video works are all eligible for copyright protection.

Copyright protection attaches to a work as soon as it takes tangible form. So, as soon as you write an article, that article is copyrighted and you are the copyright owner. You don’t need to register the work with the U.S. Copyright Office. Registering the work provides you with additional protections and makes enforcement easier, but it is not required.

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For information about the legal remedies available when someone infringes upon your copyrights, review Copyright Infringement Damages by Erin Austin.

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As the copyright owner, you have the exclusive right to display the article, reproduce it, distribute copies, and create derivative versions. You may also transfer these rights to others, either permanently or for a defined period or purpose.

Copyright protection attaches to the work — in this case to the article. It does not protect the ideas presented in the article. Copyright protects the expression of your ideas, not the ideas themselves.

You cannot protect your ideas. You can, however, become known for your ideas.

Transferring ownership of your intellectual property.

Copyright law permits you to transfer some or all of your rights to display, reproduce, distribute copies, and create derivative versions of your article. Some publications ask you to sign a copyright transfer agreement, which transfers some or all of your copyrights to the publication.

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Important Note: In the absence of a written agreement, submitting your article grants a publication a non-exclusive license to publish your work. An exclusive license is a transfer of your copyrights, which requires a written agreement.

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Publications seek the copyrights to your article so they can control when, where, and to whom they distribute the article. Many association publications request the copyrights to limit distribution of the article to their members. Your article is a benefit of membership. That benefit isn’t terribly valuable if the article can easily be accessed elsewhere.

Often you will be asked to sign a copyright transfer agreement shortly before the article is published. If you’re not expecting it, this practice may feel manipulative; you may feel you have no choice but to sign the agreement.

Most reputable publications operate in good faith. The practice of requesting a transfer of copyright at the last minute is fairly standard. It is a holdover from the publication’s work with freelance writers. Freelance writers are paid upon publication, and publication is not guaranteed. There is no reason or incentive for a freelance writer to transfer their copyrights to the publication until they know the piece will be published and they will be compensated.

A copyright transfer agreement is a contract. But few people (authors and publishers alike) take the time to read and understand the terms of these contracts. Publications often see these contracts are mere formalities — something that is done because it’s always been done.

It is essential that you read and understand the copyright transfer agreement before you sign it. If the agreement transfers all your rights to the publication, the publication owns your article and can rewrite it or publish it without crediting you as the author.

Determining your next steps.

Before you decide how to proceed, you must first review the contract carefully. These agreements are typically quite short, so take the time to determine which copyrights are reserved to the author and which are claimed by the publication. And remember that the terms of the copyright transfer agreement are negotiable.

One of the most important rights to retain is the right to be credited as the author. If your article includes a chart or infographic, you want to make sure it is identified as a separate copyright owned entirely by you. Finally, understand what rights you have to distribute the article. Many publications will provide you with a PDF of your article that clearly identifies the publisher.

Before negotiating the contract, keep in mind that copyright protects the expression of an idea, not the idea itself. Also, there are real benefits to transferring your copyrights to the publication. If someone steals your article and claims it as their own, they have infringed upon the publication’s copyright, not yours. So it is the publication that will have to take action to enforce those rights.

Once you have reviewed the contract and determined which rights you want to retain, it’s time to negotiate. If your editor sent you the transfer of copyright agreement, give them the benefit of the doubt that they are acting in good faith. Frankly, the chances are good that they haven’t read the contract in a long time — they send it out as a matter of course, paying it little attention until someone raises the issue.

Your editor is your advocate. They have invested time and energy into you and the article you’ve written, so they don’t want to see this fall apart any more than you do! If there’s anything you don’t understand about the contract, ask for clarification. Share your concerns and seek a solution that serves both you and the publication.

As the copyright holder, you must take the time to understand your rights and the rights you are giving up when you sign a copyright transfer agreement. You also need to know which rights you want to retain so you can negotiate the terms of the agreement.

This is your intellectual property.

Protect it.

 

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DISCLAIMER: This article offers general information about copyright protection, and I made every effort to ensure its accuracy. However, I am not an intellectual property attorney. Please consult with a lawyer who specializes in copyright law before making any decisions that will affect your rights. To learn more about what you can and cannot copyright and license to others, take Erin Austin’s free quiz.

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Erica Holthausen is the founder of Catchline Communications, where she equips consultants with the tools they need to develop a body of work that builds their authority, increases their visibility, and opens the door to new opportunities. A strategic thought partner, she guides her clients through selecting and pitching the right publication, writing and publishing articles in industry trade journals and business magazines like Harvard Business Review, and using those articles to achieve their business goals. To learn how to raise your profile, register for Pitched to Published, a free monthly Q+A focused on writing, pitching, and publishing articles.

I am dyslexic. I was diagnosed in grade school in the 198os, and no one knew quite what to do with me. I was a smart kid, but a painfully slow reader, and I’d often reverse my letters and numbers or make simple spelling mistakes.

Word searches were nearly impossible for me to complete.

I am still a slow reader, and when I’m tired, I reverse letters and numbers and make simple spelling mistakes. I often can’t spell “of” correctly — even though “o.v.” doesn’t look right. Acronyms don’t stick in my head, and it is ‌difficult for me to process written information when it is poorly formatted.

The websites of the early 90s were a nightmare.

But dyslexia also comes with a few gifts, one of which is a remarkable ability to identify and recognize complex patterns, including language patterns and article structure.

The power of pattern recognition.

In high school, I wanted to be a journalist or a lawyer. Because of my diagnosis, my academic advisor told me neither option was realistic.

That was the last time I spoke with my advisor.

I’ve always enjoyed reading and writing, even though I was much slower than my peers. But slow reading helped me study the structure of everything I read. Over time, I understood what made a collection of words stick together. As I discovered writers whose work I admired, I studied their writing more closely. It felt like a game — like a giant jigsaw puzzle of words.

In law school, I picked apart legal briefs, Supreme Court decisions, and journal articles. The structure differed from the novels and National Geographic articles I was used to, but it was there. Because of my understanding of the structure of legal writing, I was awarded a Dillard Fellowship, a teaching assistant position in the legal research and writing program at the University of Virginia School of Law. The following year, I served on the editorial board of one of the law journals.

The first time I wrote for a magazine, I read every article the publication put out in the last year so I could find the patterns. They all followed a similar structure, with slight variations depending on who wrote the piece.

Once I understood the structure, I could mimic it.

As I developed my writing voice, I experimented with the structure, adding my own variations. Once I found a few structures that worked well for me, I rotated between them.

The structure of an article is largely hidden. When no one noticed I was using the same few structures repeatedly, I got nervous.

I felt like I had pulled a fast one over on my editor!

But structure is built into every kind of writing, and my editor was well aware of my preferred variations. But because they fit within the standard structure, my preferences were part of my voice and style, not a trick.

Your reader expects a certain structure, even if they can’t identify each of the elements. And structure helps you, as the writer, get your point across.

Using structure to become a better writer.

Every non-fiction article follows a variation of the same basic structure: there’s an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. The introduction works with the headline to tell the reader what you’re going to tell them while providing the necessary context. The body goes into the details, telling the reader what you want to tell them. The conclusion wraps it all up in a nice bow and tells the reader what you just told them.

Variations exist within that basic structure, but that structure is always there. It provides a solid container for your writing.

Because I am dyslexic, I struggle to write in a logical order. Having an outline helps, but when I’m writing a longer piece, or a piece with a lot of research, my process looks chaotic.

I capture quotes and notes and miscellaneous ideas in one big document. I don’t bother looking for a rhyme or reason. I throw everything into the mix. At this stage, the point is to capture my ideas and anything else that might make it into the piece.

Then, I print out the document and grab a pair of scissors. I cut each snippet of text from the page and group similar ideas together. I order the notes within each group, and write one section at a time. I rarely start at the beginning. I like to start with the section that sparks my interest and curiosity.

It’s a messy process, but it works for me. It allows me to honor the way my brain works.

I don’t think linearly, which can be a bit of a challenge. But it can also help me make connections that other people miss. And those connections — those surprising insights — make for good reading (and fun writing)!

It is because of my dyslexia that I understand the patterns inherent in article-writing.

These patterns are things you can learn, and they can help you become a better writer, regardless of whether you have dyslexia.

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Erica Holthausen is the founder of Catchline Communications, where she equips consultants with the tools they need to develop a body of work that builds their authority, increases their visibility, and opens the door to new opportunities. A strategic thought partner, she guides her clients through selecting and pitching the right publication, writing and publishing articles in industry trade journals and business magazines like Harvard Business Review, and using those articles to achieve their business goals. To learn how to raise your profile, register for Pitched to Published, a free monthly Q+A focused on writing, pitching, and publishing articles.

Sharing your perspective with your audience is essential to differentiate yourself from your peers. But how do you know if you are clearly conveying your perspective and if it is resonating with the intended audience?

Building your reputation is a long game, but staying attuned to other people’s reactions to your work can help you determine if you’re on the right path.

What if you share your perspective and no one responds?

Everyone who publishes articles, blog posts, social media posts, or an email newsletter is familiar with the experience of sharing something they believe is particularly important and insightful, eagerly awaiting the crowd’s response, and hearing nothing but silence.

And one lonely cricket in the distance.

What does that mean? Does it mean no one cares what you have to say? Or that your perspective isn’t resonating with your audience? Or does it mean the piece you spent a lot of time crafting wasn’t clear?

Most of the time, you won’t receive any material feedback. Silence is the standard response.

Participation inequality is a well-studied phenomenon. According to the Nielsen Norman Group, user participation in social media and online communities (including blogs) generally follows a 90-9-1 rule where the vast majority of users do not engage with the content — they may read and observe, but they do not like, comment, or post. Approximately 9% of users engage to some extent on occasion. But it’s the 1% who post, like, comment, and stay engaged. And even then, the response they provide may not be valuable.

How can you improve the quality (and quantity) of responses?

Sharing your work on a social media platform or through your email newsletter is unlikely to elicit many responses, and the responses you do get will probably not be terribly valuable. The key to increasing the number of responses is to ask for a response and make it easy for people to respond.

Most people won’t take the time to read your article closely, especially when you share it on social media. To increase engagement, write the post so the reader can comment intelligently even if they don’t read the article. Give them the context they need and ask a specific question that they can answer without further research.

Yes, your goal is to get people to read your work. But that only happens if the right people know about it. When it comes to social media, the only way to get more people to know about your work is to increase engagement on your post. The more comments you get, the more people you reach.

To receive high-quality feedback, you need to make a specific request of specific individuals — and I don’t mean tagging them in a social media post.

If you want someone to put time and energy into responding to what you’ve written, you must put time and energy into crafting your request.

Be clear about the type of feedback you want. Only you know what kind of feedback is valuable to you. A general request, such as “I’d love your thoughts on this piece,” is a big ask. It not only requires the recipient to read the article but forces them to either ignore your request or spend time trying to guess which kinds of “thoughts” you want them to share with you.

If you want good feedback, ask good questions.

In your request, give the recipient a bit of context about the article and why you are asking for their opinion. Then, ask a few specific questions. For example, “This article was inspired by the conversation we had at the conference last month. One of the points you made was that you don’t feel like you have a deep enough understanding of how artificial intelligence works, how it might be deployed in a manufacturing facility, or what red flags you should be aware of as you adopt this technology. I address each of these issues in this article. Did I provide you with the information you need? Does it raise any new questions for you? What do you wish I had addressed but didn’t? I’d be happy to receive your response by email or, if you’d prefer, we could hop on a call.”

Keep in mind that just because their feedback is important to you doesn’t mean it’s important to them. Give them the benefit of the doubt that they have good intentions. Giving meaningful feedback takes effort, so the recipient of your request may not respond immediately. Even with the best intentions, they may forget about your request as they focus on more urgent matters.

Don’t take it personally.

What if the only accolades are from your peers?

It is not uncommon for the article you publish to garner a lot of attention from your peers but absolutely no attention from your intended audience. Your peers know you and have a deep understanding of the topic you wrote about, so it isn’t surprising that they would respond to your writing.

That’s great news!

It means you are adding to the conversation and not to the noise. And it positions you as an expert among experts.

Remember the 90-9-1 rule? Just because your prospective clients aren’t engaging in the conversation doesn’t mean they aren’t listening to it.

Keep that in mind as you respond to your colleagues. Look for opportunities to add more depth to the article and showcase your understanding.

What if prospective clients disagree?

What if a prospective client vehemently (and publicly) disagrees with something you wrote?

Depending on how your client expresses themselves, your reaction can range from defensiveness to anger to curiosity. The most important thing is to remember that even though this one person is the one engaging with you, others are listening.

So, read negative comments carefully. Are you sure you are interpreting them correctly? Might you be misinterpreting something they said? If so, ask a clarifying question. Similarly, if they have a point, acknowledge it. Take this as an opportunity to dig in deeper together.

You can often turn a negative into a positive simply by the way you engage with criticism. Even if you don’t persuade the person you are in conversation with, remember that others are watching, and you may persuade them! Most people online do not engage — they lurk. Sometimes your primary audience isn’t the person engaging with you; it’s the lurkers.

If you’re engaging with someone criticizing your work and they become combative or disrespectful, remember that you don’t have to respond. You don’t owe them anything, and your ability to maintain your composure will be noted by others. An argument requires both people to fuel the fire. You have the right to disengage.

If you are engaging with someone criticizing your work and you decide that they are right — that what you wrote either wasn’t accurate or was missing a bit of nuance, that’s okay. Acknowledge it, and thank your interlocutor for engaging in the conversation with you and sharing their perspective. This will further your relationship with the person engaging with you and show others that you are open to other people’s perspectives and willing to change your mind when warranted.

If the argument stops being productive, simply don’t engage in it. It’s okay to agree to disagree. Again, others will be watching and respect the way you handle it.

Finally, if you lose this prospective client because they disagree with you, they probably weren’t a very good prospect to begin with.

Keep sharing your perspective.

Sharing your perspective with your audience is essential to differentiate yourself from your peers. Your perspective is valuable as long as you add to the conversation and not the noise. Adding to the conversation sometimes means people will voice their agreement. And it sometimes means they will voice their disagreement.

A complete lack of response does not mean that your writing adds to the noise. Most people don’t engage with online content — they read it but don’t necessarily reach out to the author or comment on a social media post. The best way to get a sense of whether your article is valuable is to share it with a specific person and ask that person a specific and relevant question.

Building your reputation is a long game.

Keep going.

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Erica Holthausen is the founder of Catchline Communications, where she equips consultants with the tools they need to develop a body of work that builds their authority, increases their visibility, and opens the door to new opportunities. A strategic thought partner, she guides her clients through selecting and pitching the right publication, writing and publishing articles in industry trade journals and business magazines like Harvard Business Review, and using those articles to achieve their business goals. To learn how to raise your profile, register for Pitched to Published, a free monthly Q+A focused on writing, pitching, and publishing articles.

Independent consulting is an increasingly competitive industry. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, from 2022 to 2032, the number of consultants is projected to grow significantly faster than other occupations. Demand for consulting services is also expected to increase, particularly for smaller consulting companies specializing in specific industries or business functions.

The opportunity is clear, but many consultants struggle to differentiate themselves from their peers, and prospective clients often view consultants within a particular practice area as interchangeable.

When prospective clients can’t see the difference between the consultants who can serve them, they make their hiring decision on the one difference they can quantify: price.

Blending in with your peers may be comfortable, but competing on price is not conducive to doing your best work. If you are willing to share your perspective and participate in the conversation around your expertise, you will stand out from the competition and give prospective clients a reason to work with you — regardless of your pricing structure.

The benefits of standing out.

Human beings are hard-wired to belong. As a result, most people (and, indeed, most companies) want to blend in with the crowd. Blending in is not only more comfortable for those whose insights could rock the boat, but it is also more comfortable for the rest of us. We all find comfort in the familiar.

As a consultant, however, you must be willing to rock the boat.

Your work focuses on helping your clients solve sticky business problems. Solving those sticky business problems requires your clients to embrace change.

Your clients can only create the change they seek by taking some risks.

The same is true for you.

The only way to differentiate yourself from your competition is to take a risk — to stand up and share your message, even if some people disagree with you.

Standing out is scary, which is why so few people try. But if you are willing to take the risk and share your insights with a larger audience, more people will hear your message. Some will disagree with you or simply ignore you. But those who see value in your ideas will adopt them, and your ideas will have a much greater impact.

Your business is built on your reputation, which is enhanced every time you provide real value to the people you serve. You deliver that value directly when you work with a client on a specific project or indirectly by sharing your ideas publicly through writing or speaking. When you consistently provide value, the people you serve will go to great lengths to have you on their team.

Developing your distinctive perspective.

Your experiences, insights, and education inform your perspective  — the way you think about and approach your work. Your perspective is not carved in stone but will continue to evolve and change as you have new experiences, develop new insights, and gain new skills.

Your perspective, or point of view, must align with your BIG idea — the bold, insightful, and galvanizing idea that serves as the foundation of your business and your reputation.

If your perspective is not aligned with your BIG idea, you will diminish your reputation because your audience (including prospective clients and partners) will be confused about who you are, what you do, and how you can help them.

The first step in developing your perspective is to define your BIG idea.

What do you most want for your clients? If you’re not sure how to answer this question, consider a freewriting exercise. Write the question at the top of a page, set the timer for 10 minutes, and then answer without stopping or editing. When the timer goes off, review what you wrote and try to condense it into one sentence.

The answer you come up with might feel too simple. But if you know it to be true and can feel its truth in your body, you’re probably onto something.

Your BIG idea doesn’t have to be new or provocative. It may not even require a paradigm shift. When it comes to BIG ideas, small can be BIG.

Evaluate your BIG idea by asking yourself if it boldly states your position in favor of a particular outcome, is based on your insights, and will galvanize your clients to create the future they now know is possible.

Once you’ve defined your BIG idea, list the steps your clients will need to take to realize that envisioned future. Your list of steps and guidance about executing each step demonstrate your perspective.

Your perspective is more than just your opinion. Your perspective offers a viable alternative based on your experience, education, and insights.

Sharing your perspective with the right audience.

Your perspective is only a compelling differentiator if you share it with the right audience. When you do, you stand out from your peers because you deliver real value to your prospective clients and partners before you even meet them.

So, who is your audience? Who are the people you serve? How can you reach them? What associations do they belong to? What events do they attend? Who do they follow for inspiration? What publications do they read?

One of the best ways to build your audience is to get in front of well-established audiences of the exact people you want to reach. Writing for high-visibility publications and speaking at conferences are two of the most effective ways to do this so you can share your message with the right people.

These tactics also provide social proof. The publication or event organizer vetted you and decided you have something important to share with their audience. That borrowed credibility helps you break through the natural skepticism we all have when we meet someone new.

Writing and speaking work very well together. One benefit of writing for high-visibility publications is that you can share your published article with prospective clients and partners as long as it remains relevant. The reach of your message isn’t limited to the people in the room as it is with speaking, or to the publication’s readers.

Consulting is an increasingly competitive field, and it’s more important than ever to differentiate yourself from your peers and position yourself as the obvious choice. One of the best ways to do this is to write articles for a high-visibility publication with a well-established, targeted audience. When you share your perspective and participate in the conversations around your area of expertise, you stand out as someone with valuable insights to share. If you do this consistently, people start to remember you, see the value you deliver, and identify you as the consultant who can help them become a better version of themselves.

* * *

Erica Holthausen is the founder of Catchline Communications, where she equips consultants with the tools they need to develop a body of work that builds their authority, increases their visibility, and opens the door to new opportunities. A strategic thought partner, she guides her clients through selecting and pitching the right publication, writing and publishing articles in industry trade journals and business magazines like Harvard Business Review, and using those articles to achieve their business goals. To learn how to raise your profile, register for Pitched to Published, a free monthly Q+A focused on writing, pitching, and publishing articles.

As a consultant, you often have to share hard truths with your clients — truths about the underlying cause of a problem they are struggling with or how they are exacerbating it. Sometimes, the client already knows the hard truth but doesn’t want to face it. But sometimes, you catch them off guard, and they must wrestle with your observations and recommendations. If you’ve been in business for a few years, you’ve probably gotten quite good at sharing hard truths with your clients.

Why is it, then, that so many consultants struggle to write about hard truths?

Articles that tackle hard truths directly and unflinchingly are extremely popular with readers and editors alike. Why? Because these types of articles, by their very nature, add to the conversation instead of the noise. They spark discussion and encourage people to think more deeply.

Many consultants want to avoid courting controversy by writing about a hard truth for fear of hurting the feelings of a current client or turning off a prospective client. Stating a hard truth in writing feels uncomfortable, so many equivocate and over-explain to soften the blow. But doing so simply dilutes the message.

When you share your observations boldly, you will provoke a negative response from those who benefit from the status quo. Sometimes, they will respond publicly and attack not only your argument but also your credibility.

But if you want to work with clients who value your perspective and are willing to work with you to tackle the challenges they face, writing about hard truths will enhance your reputation and directly benefit your business.

Hard truths are born of hard experience.

Your clients hire you to solve problems. Even before you start a new project, you ask questions about the problems your client is facing, what they have done to try to solve them, and where they think the source of the problem lies. This phase of a prospective project gives you a good deal of information — only some of which is accurate.

Once the project starts, you can observe your client in action. Your observations and further questioning help you understand how your client operates and what might be contributing to the problem they hired you to solve. You may also discover problems your client wasn’t even aware of that need to be solved. This process of inquiry and observation is crucial. Only after you understand the challenges at play can you diagnose and treat the problem.

This diagnosis and treatment often require hard conversations with your client.

Years ago, when I worked for a boutique nonprofit consulting firm, we were conducting a feasibility study for a capital campaign. As we spent more and more time with the board and staff, we realized that the executive director’s poor leadership was one of the organization’s biggest challenges. The staff did not trust him (with good reason). Neither did several influential community members. While these community members did intend to maintain their membership, they had no intentions of making a more significant gift so long as the current executive director ran the organization.

My colleague and I had to break the news to the board. Not only was a capital campaign to the tune of several million dollars not feasible, but the organization was at risk of losing several valued staff members and even more of its donor base if they didn’t take action. Quickly.

These difficult conversations took place in private meetings, but they brought to light several challenges faced by nonprofit organizations throughout the United States. And we wrote about those challenges publicly. Through our blog and articles written for the Association of Fundraising Professionals, we clarified the purpose of a feasibility study. We stated that if a study revealed a successful capital campaign was not feasible, we let our clients know. Even though it means we lost the opportunity to manage a capital campaign. Moreover, we gave them recommendations that, if followed, would strengthen their organization and put all the pieces in place so they could launch a successful capital campaign.

The benefits of writing about hard truths.

When you write about hard truths, your colleagues, prospective clients, and partners get a ringside seat to your thinking, approach, and willingness to say what needs to be said.

Writing about hard truths also differentiates you from your peers. You will attract attention if you write about challenges in your industry that few people address publicly. That is a crucial first step to building your business and positioning yourself as the obvious choice for specific types of projects.

By being bold enough to say what others want to ignore, prospective clients and partners who value your perspective will identify themselves. They will also feel validated and understood, which will help them see you as someone they can trust, someone who has similar values to their own.

Those with no interest in tackling complex issues honestly, who are unwilling to have a hard conversation or do the work required to address challenges within their organization, will distance themselves from you. And that’s great because you want to work with the people who value you, your approach, and your perspective. You don’t want to work with people who frustrate you.

How to write about hard truths.

As an established consultant, your experience-based expertise is invaluable. But your perspective can only enhance your reputation and help you build your business if you share it. But how? Here are five concepts to keep in mind to help you write about hard truths without damaging your reputation:

• Be you. You aren’t trying to provoke the reader. Instead, you are writing about a challenging situation you see regularly and offering your insights. You don’t need to use inflammatory language if that isn’t your style, nor do you need to cushion your message. Show up on the page as you show up at your client’s office.

• Bring the receipts. Back up your statements with research, facts, and illustrative examples whenever possible. When that is not possible (and there are plenty of times when that is the case), appeal to reason. Help the reader understand your perspective without making it personal.

• Show empathy. Demonstrate that you understand how people came to be dealing with the challenge they are facing. Consider incorporating your experiences, and don’t be afraid to dive into the nuances. Exploring the nuances is a great way to show that you understand their challenges are complicated. Let your readers know that they aren’t alone.

• Be bold. While it is essential to show empathy, you don’t want to shy away from the truth. Be clear, definitive, and respectful. If you try to soften the blow, your message may be lost (and that doesn’t help anyone).

• Offer actionable insights. Don’t simply point out the problem. Offer a solution or tools the reader can use to start addressing the problem. You might provide a diagnostic tool, a list of questions to ask, or a script. You want your reader to be able to take action toward a resolution, even if the action is small.

To serve your readers, you need to be clear and offer up the hard truths with a dose of empathy and some practical advice. While you might turn some readers off, you will also fire some readers up. Those who agree with your perspective will appreciate that you were bold enough to address the hard truths and go against prevailing wisdom (or the current fad). These readers will see themselves in you and want to engage with you further.

* * *

Erica Holthausen is the founder of Catchline Communications, where she equips consultants with the tools they need to develop a body of work that builds their authority, increases their visibility, and opens the door to new opportunities. A strategic thought partner, she guides her clients through selecting and pitching the right publication writing and publishing articles in industry trade journals and business magazines like Harvard Business Review, and using those articles to achieve their business goals. To learn how to raise your profile, register for Pitched to Published, a free monthly Q+A focused on writing, pitching, and publishing articles.

Before undertaking any authority-building tactic, such as writing articles for high-visibility publications, speaking, starting a podcast, or writing a book, you must clearly identify the business case for doing so. As is true for every authority-building tactic, you are unlikely to be paid to write for high-visibility publications. (Indeed, you should expect to invest your time and possibly your money.) You need a reason to engage in authority-building that goes deeper than financial compensation.

Your contributions are crucial to most publications’ business models.

Business magazines profit from your expertise whether you are interviewed by one of their writers to serve as a subject-matter expert for an article or you write for the publication as a contributing expert.

The opportunity to write for publications as a contributing expert arose to satisfy a specific need.

Business magazines rely heavily on advertising revenue. Today, a great deal of that advertising happens online. Online advertising revenue is driven by website traffic. The more traffic the business publication’s website gets, the more advertising revenue it earns. Website traffic relies on search engine optimization (SEO), which is driven by a steady influx of original, high-quality content.

The magazine’s need for content far outpaces its capacity to produce that content.

We may be moving into a post-SEO world. If that is the case, original, high-quality content will be even more important.

The articles you write as a contributing expert help the publication reach its advertising revenue goals, which helps pay for the freelance writers, staff writers, editors, and countless other staff who keep the publication running. But more importantly, your articles help the publication serve its readers.

Today, readers can read articles written by professional writers who incorporate independent research and the perspectives of several subject-matter experts and articles written by working consultants with boots-on-the-ground experience. That’s a potent combination.

You receive real value in exchange for your expertise.

The value you provide to these publications is significant. The value you receive is equally significant — provided you use it wisely.

By writing for a high-visibility publication, you can build your authority and stand out from your peers. Writing for these publications lets you present your ideas and perspective to a well-established, targeted audience interested in your area of expertise. Other authority-building tactics, like writing a book or hosting a podcast, require you to build your own audience.

Writing for high-visibility publications also allows you to enjoy the imprimatur of the publication — their editorial team vetted you, and by publishing your work, they are signaling to their audience that you are an authority in your field. You are effectively borrowing the publication’s reputation and relationship with its audience and using that social proof to build your own reputation and relationships.

If you treat your articles as appreciating assets, you can translate the intangible benefits of reputation and relationships into tangible benefits to your business.

Chloé Nwangwu is the founder of NobiWorks. She has done extensive research on visibility biases and coined the term “underrecognized.” A graduate of my Pathway to Publication program, she published “Why We Should Stop Saying ‘Underrepresented’” in Harvard Business Review in April 2023. As a result of this article and her ongoing promotion thereof, she has been invited to speak at conferences and summits and serve as a guest expert on podcasts. She uses the article to expand her network and start conversations with prospective clients and partners.

Fair compensation is a value-for-value exchange.

A value-for-value exchange only works when both parties value what is being exchanged. The value exchange you engage in when you write for a high-visibility publication is quite different from the value exchange freelance writers engage in when they write for a publication.

Freelance writers provide a different type of value to high-visibility publications than contributing experts. Their ability to find a good story, identify all the angles of that story, conduct interviews, and craft that story so the reader understands every nuanced detail is a valuable skill. They also have the freedom to present a variety of perspectives in one article. They dive deep into the nuances, are skilled at sniffing out misinformation (and disinformation), and don’t shy away from asking difficult questions. They are exceptional researchers and interviewers. And, of course, they are excellent writers.

Freelance writers write about a variety of topics. Writing for a publication isn’t about building authority or connecting with a specific audience. It’s their job.

Freelance writers don’t write to support their business; writing is their business.

It is the craft they have dedicated years of their lives to learning and improving. Unlike consultants and other expert contributors, however, freelance writers only need to know who the audience is to ensure their piece is relevant to that audience. But they write for several publications, which means they write for several different audiences. Access to a well-established and well-defined audience isn’t valuable for freelance writers.

As a consultant, you undoubtedly write a lot. But writing isn’t your profession — it is a tool that helps you convey your ideas to your audience, differentiate yourself from your peers, and build your authority.

Only two authority-building tactics give you access to a tailor-made audience interested in your perspective: writing for high-visibility publications and speaking, whether at industry events, as a guest on a podcast, or at another gathering.

You’re not writing articles to get published; you’re getting published to achieve specific business goals. Whether you are looking to secure more speaking engagements, connect with fellow leaders in your industry, or get more meetings with the right prospects on the books, being invited to engage with an already-established, well-defined audience is significantly more valuable than the small sum offered by the few publications that pay their expert contributors.

Before investing your time in any authority-building tactic, make sure you have a clear and compelling business case for doing so.

* * *

Erica Holthausen is the founder of Catchline Communications, where she equips consultants with the tools they need to develop a body of work that builds their authority, increases their visibility, and opens the door to new opportunities. A strategic thought partner, she guides her clients through selecting and pitching the right publication writing and publishing articles in industry trade journals and business magazines like Harvard Business Review, and using those articles to achieve their business goals. To learn how to raise your profile, register for Pitched to Published, a free monthly Q+A focused on writing, pitching, and publishing articles.

If you’ve never worked with a publication’s editor before, navigating the relationship can feel a bit tricky. Every editor has a different communication style, and every publication has different editorial guidelines. What passes muster with one editor may not satisfy another. In fact, the same editor can sometimes send conflicting messages. While they might quickly approve an article featuring one expert, they might cut several paragraphs from a similar article about another.

What should you do if you disagree with your editor? When can you push back? When should you just let it go? And what will happen if you do push back?

Even professional writers get upset when their work is heavily edited and nervous when they have to push back. If an editor has already invested their time and energy into your work, they are unlikely to pull the piece simply because you respectfully disagree. Give your editor the benefit of the doubt and look at your writing from their perspective so you know the best way to address the issue.

Remember that your editor is your partner.

Editors are working with you, not against you. They want your article to be as strong and compelling as possible; most edits are made to accomplish those goals.

That doesn’t mean it’s easy to see your article marked up and torn apart.

The first time I wrote an article for a magazine, you could barely see the words for all the red ink! Sitting in a coffee shop across from my editor, I was mortified. My writing career was over before it even got started. I was also angry. I told her I wasn’t a writer when she first mentioned the idea. Why didn’t she listen?

Before I could spin out further, she told me I did an excellent job with my piece and asked if I would keep writing for the magazine.

I took a deep breath and a closer look at the article. There was a lot of red ink. But by looking at each edit and comment individually, I started to see my piece from her perspective. I realized how a little bit of restructuring would make the piece a lot stronger.

When an editor asks a question, they really do want to know what you think. They are opening a dialogue with you and want to understand your perspective. Their goal is to make sure your piece is crafted well and will reach the intended audience.

The more closely you can work with your editor, the better your article will be. Good editors appreciate a healthy and productive back-and-forth, so be forthcoming with your thoughts, and if you disagree with your editor, let them know why. If you understand the editor’s concerns but disagree with their proposed resolution, offer an alternative.

Understand the competing interests at play.

An editor’s first loyalty is to the reader. Publications exist to serve their readers, and editors will review every article from that perspective. Readers are the lifeblood of every publication. Annoy, confuse, or belittle them, and they will go elsewhere.

One of the quickest ways to annoy your readers is to treat them like walking wallets and publish articles that are nothing more than thinly disguised marketing collateral. If your editor thinks something you wrote is overly promotional, they will cut it (and you should let them). If what they cut changes the tone of the piece, offer an alternative paragraph or two so you still make your point but aren’t promoting your work or someone else’s work.

Knowing what is and what is not overly promotional is more of an art than a science. What is approved and published today might be cut from your next article. Don’t feel bad if you cross the line; keep learning so you can become a more and more valuable contributor.

An editor’s second loyalty is to the publication, which can get tricky.

There’s always been a bit of tension between the advertising and editorial departments of magazines. Magazines have always relied heavily on advertising revenue, so keeping advertisers happy was in the best interest of the publication and the primary interest of the advertising department.

When I wrote for a now-defunct print magazine, some of my assignments were first proposed by advertisers. If they had a good project that fit into the magazine’s editorial calendar, we’d write a piece about it. The problem arose when the advertising department asked the editor to promote the advertiser in the article. In those cases, the editor had to negotiate with the advertising department and the writer.

You aren’t likely to run into this exact scenario, but you will still feel the tension between advertising and editorial.

Traditional business publications with an online presence still depend on advertising revenue. Online advertising revenue, however, is driven by the amount of traffic the website receives. Traffic is driven by search engine optimization (SEO), which is driven by a never-ending stream of high-quality content.

Because SEO is crucial to the publication’s business model, editors may change an article’s title, subtitle, first few lines, and subheadings to make it more compelling. So long as they don’t change the tone of your piece, understand that they are doing it to entice more people to read it. If you can’t stomach a change, contact your editor. Explain your position and offer an alternative solution.

Protect your reputation.

While you want to have a good relationship with your editor, at the end of the day, your name is on the piece, and you have to be able to stand by it. In other words, you are responsible for what gets published under your name.

Choose your battles. Not every edit you disagree with is critical, and editors are busy. If you can let it go, do so. Speak up if a name is misspelled or a factual error has been incorporated into the piece. Editors want your article to be accurate as much as you do, so they will likely rectify the mistake quickly.

When you raise a concern, be polite and respectful. If that means you have to walk around the block before responding to your editor, do it. You want a good working relationship with your editor, and polite disagreement is a sign of respect and shows that you take your work seriously. Be clear about why the edit doesn’t work, and offer an alternative solution.

As a freelance writer, I vehemently disagreed with an editor on only a handful of occasions. Generally, I want to offer my editor as much support as possible because they know I only object when it’s important.

Anytime my editor asked me to promote an advertiser in an article I wrote for the home and garden magazine, I would do my best to help my editor appease the advertising department. But I refused to write an advertorial (an advertisement that looks like an editorial article). As the person with her name on the piece, I got to decide what was overly promotional and what was acceptable.

Only once did I have to stand firm and flat-out refuse to make a requested change. I told my editor that I understood where she was coming from and that the changes could be made to the article so long as my name was taken off the piece. I wasn’t privy to the conversations my editor had, but I know she fought like hell for me. My article was published as written — with my name as the byline.

As a freelance writer, I could take my name off a piece because I would still be paid for it, and my articles weren’t about me. As an expert, however, you always want your work published with your name because it is about you, your expertise, and your perspective. So, while you may not have the option to take your name off a piece, you can pull a piece if you and your editor can’t reach an agreement. Most editors will respect your decision. And once you’ve pulled a piece, you are free to publish it on your blog, as a LinkedIn article, or on another third-party publication.

Navigating disagreements with your editor can feel uncomfortable, but remember that this is a conversation with a colleague, and the publication wants your content as much as you want to write for the publication. A good editor will welcome your questions and concerns and do their best to address them. Before you push back, seek to understand your editor’s perspective. Stay curious, polite, and respectful. And always offer an alternative solution.

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Erica Holthausen is the founder of Catchline Communications, where she equips consultants with the tools they need to develop a body of work that builds their authority, increases their visibility, and opens the door to new opportunities. A strategic thought partner, she guides her clients through selecting and pitching the right publication writing and publishing articles in industry trade journals and business magazines like Harvard Business Review, and using those articles to achieve their business goals. To learn how to raise your profile, register for Pitched to Published, a free monthly Q+A focused on writing, pitching, and publishing articles.