Who needs an article in the media and why
Publishing an article on a reputable portal can be part of your brand development strategy. The article will emphasize and strengthen the expertise: you are worth it if a serious publication publishes you. The competition is huge now. If you want to stand-out, you have to become recognizable. One of the options for solving this problem is regular publications in the media.
Mentioning you as an expert with links to your blog or website adds additional visibility and new leads. It is also important that articles are well indexed. They will start appearing in search engines when you search for them with your first and last name.
An article posted on the portal is an indicator of your professional growth. If you’re already blogging, great. But in your account, you can post anything you want, and in the media, the material is subject to mandatory verification by the editor.
You can even make money by writing such materials. Resources are willing to pay royalties to authors. Do you want to move in this direction? Start by posting your article for free. Gradually fill your hand, prepare a portfolio – and off you go.
Which online portal to choose for placement
We are interested in online publications that are ready to collaborate with external authors.
I call some media “editorial” – these are portals where the editor is in charge of the content, whose role is decisive. It is difficult or even impossible for an external author to publish in such media unless you are a professional journalist, editorial staff, or a well-known figure.
There are other media outlets where a professional author-journalist associated with the editorial office can potentially post material and anyone who wishes. The probability of “hitting” here is much higher, and in general, the editorial board welcomes the appearance of new authors.
Examples of such media: ebizz.co.uk etc.
There also brand media – portals associated with a specific brand. For example, in-flight magazines of airlines or the same Tinkoff magazine. They also collaborate with authors.
How to search and analyze media for publication
Formulate the topics
Think – what are you a specialist in? This will help identify the range of possible topics. Prepare a list of niches in which you consider yourself an expert and are ready to share experience, cases, analytics, and forecasts.
To frame your article topics, ask yourself three questions: what can you want, and are you ready to write about?
“You can” is about expertise. Formulate a list of topics for which you, as a specialist, could prepare the material. “Want” is about your desires. There may be areas that you are good at, but you don’t want to write about this topic. “Ready” is about your determination. Do you feel strong? Do you have enough experience and competence? Maybe there are other reasons why you are still (or never at all) ready to make materials on some topics.
By answering these three questions, you will find your first ideas. Fix them. It is advisable to prepare a list of ten options. Pick one to start with, and use the rest later.
Find media relevant to your topic.
You have identified the niche in which you will write. It is important to understand where the target audience “lives” and, more specifically – what it reads. Choose the media that are relevant to you from the variety of portals.
How to find them? On the Internet. There are sites where all or almost all possible online media carefully collected and classified.
You can use a search engine: add your topic to the query “online magazine” or “online media” and find practical resources on the first or even two or three subsequent pages of search results.
For example, on the query “how to work with negative on the Internet, an online portal” in Google, the results will show potential sites for cooperation:
Identify the media you plan to interact with
After picking up several portals, study them. Read up on published articles, especially those found in the Recommended Materials section, if available.
Check if the media is collaborating with new authors. If yes, the site may contain rules for authors, recommendations for writing articles, editorial contacts, and the address where the material can send.
Usually, on the media website, you will see a special button for self-posting an article or contact the editorial office:
Explore how authors and information about them presented
Most likely, you will write an article to introduce yourself, expand your circle of contacts, and find new clients or subscribers. It is important that the media not only teach you as an author, writing your first and last name but also post a photo, as well as additional information: who you are, what you do, what services you provide, how to contact you.
I recommend analyzing the style and manner of other authors of articles on the portal and their presentation. Are you satisfied with the completeness of the information? Do you want the same? If yes, go ahead.
Create a personal media map
For the convenience of working with the selected media, I recommend drawing up a media map (media map). In this table, you will record all the important and necessary information about the selected resources. Not only will you fix it, but you will also periodically update the data.
What kind of data it can be:
- name of the media;
- link;
- sections and possible topics;
- circulation, coverage, attendance;
- the difficulty of “hitting”;
- requirements for authors;
- contacts of the editor;
- notes and comments on the design of materials.
Review the editorial requirements for articles
If there are such requirements on the portal, they are invisible access and are spelled out in some detail. Sometimes even with humor.
The special section for authors will most likely indicate where the materials should be sent or where they should be posted, what requirements they must meet, what publication formats the editorial office accepts, and so on.
For example, on ebizz, a fairly detailed section has been prepared for authors, which describes how to write a free article for the portal and what formats the editorial board welcomes.
If the portal refused to publish
This means that you have not completed the previous points or worked them out incorrectly. Don’t be discouraged. It happens.
To prevent this from happening again in the future, I recommend that you always contact the editorial board and suggest topics for which you are ready to prepare new materials. Yes, this is exactly the sequence: first agree on the topic and compose the text.
If the portal does not respond to you or refuses to post without offering an opportunity to improve the article, you can send the material to another publication. But keep in mind that the text, most likely, will have to be corrected, taking into account the requirements of the new portal.
The sequence of actions will be the same: open a media card, choose another resource, study the requirements for authors. Sooner or later, luck will smile on you, and the material will be released. If, of course, you did everything correctly – as written in this article.