When you place a call to a prospective client, does the person you are calling already know your name, even if you have never met? When new clients are referred to you, do they often say that they've heard of you from several different sources? Are you frequently contacted by people who are ready to work with you and don't question your qualifications? These are just some of the results you can expect when you make publishing part of your marketing plan.
In the academic world, the phrase "publish or perish" reflects the common knowledge that people must know who you are in order to hire you, promote you, or fund your research. No matter what niche you do business in, experts agree that publishing your work accelerates your ability to gain clients. According to Tom Lambert, author of "High Income Consulting," winning some level of fame is the surest way to higher earnings as a professional.
Here are some guidelines to help you start getting published or expand your publishing efforts:
1. Publishing is easier than ever before. In the pre-Internet age, most publishing took the form of articles in newspapers and magazines, or full-length books. Getting your work published usually required a lengthy process of approaching (and being rejected by) numerous editors. Now it's possible to write an article in the morning and have it in the hands of thousands by afternoon, often with no editor's stamp of approval.
You can publish your own articles on the Web via e-mail broadcasts to your own mailing list, posting them on your Web site or Weblog, or submitting them to the thousands of independent Web sites and e-zines eager for fresh content to inform their visitors. In addition, many print magazines and newsletters accept completed articles sent by e-mail. Just check the submission guidelines of any publication that interests you to see if they require queries before sending.
Electronic publishing also makes it possible to easily publish shorter-length books as e-books, Web-based manuals, e-courses, or short-run printings of workbooks, booklets and white papers. If you can put together 10 pages of material, you have enough to publish in one of these shorter forms, and begin referring to yourself as "the author of…"
2. Write what you do. The best articles or workbooks are not those describing the type of work you do; they are the ones that actually help the reader do that work. Instead of writing how life coaching can help people complete important projects, a coach should write his best tips on ending procrastination. A professional organizer could write about dealing with junk mail, and a sales trainer could write about motivating salespeople when business is slow.
