Having a bylined article in your name is one of the most effective ways to establish credibility in your industry and to position yourself as the go-to expert in your area of expertise. It also makes you a magnet for podcast producers, speaker bureaus and conference organizers seeking articulate experts.
In fact, the annual CPA | Wealth Advisor Confidence Survey™ found bylined articles are among the Top-5 thought leadership tactics that financial advisors can use (82% of respondents agreed). Our last post (Getting Your Bylined Articles Published) walked you through best practices for building relationships with busy editors. Today, let’s talk a closer look at the types of bylined articles most likely to get you the green light from busy editors.
Without being arrogant or self-serving, you want to help your peers learn a strategy, skill, or technique; solve a problem; or provide information or analysis to readers (or listeners or viewers) that helps them earn more money, become more efficient and stay in compliance. In media-speak we call this “service journalism.” Here are some examples:
- An interpretation or explanation of a market trend, and how to adjust to it or exploit it.
- An analysis of a new law or regulation, with tips on compliance.
- Case studies, and the lessons learned from them.
- Problem-solution stories.
- Common mistakes and how to avoid them.
- Using new technology to gain a competitive advantage
- How to work more efficiently, use time more effectively Building and nurturing professional relationships
A service piece often provides analysis and interpretation of hard news. That means following a breaking news story with discussion of how it affects a particular audience and what action they can take to adapt, accommodate, comply, or exploit the new development.
Here are five suggested angles to consider for your next bylined column:
1) How to. Give the reader clear, step-by-step instructions for accomplishing a difficult task, or an ingenious solution to a common problem. For example: “10 steps to helping your client exit their business and get crystal clear about what’s next.”
2) Trend/ “You’re Not Alone.” Whenever an emerging trend sweeps a profession or industry, articles explaining the trend to different audiences appear everywhere. “If you think more and more advisory firms are merging than ever before, you’re not alone…..The latest research from {source] shows that ……. But what you might not realize is that ………”.
3) Survey Results. These articles report findings of a survey or other authoritative study (See first paragraph of this post). One key is to summarize the conclusions at the beginning of the article, and then support the conclusions by elaborating on who conducted the survey, how it was conducted, who were the respondents, what questions were asked, and what were the responses (using tables instead of prose whenever possible).
4) The Contentious Premise. If you have an idea that is novel, contrarian, or challenging to readers’ sensibilities, don’t hesitate to put it out there – you might become known as an innovator or pioneer. For instance: “Why more and more retirees still have an 80/20 allocation of stocks to bonds.” It’s great to be provocative, but you must support your contrarian premise with hard facts, data, cases, experience, and/or authority.
5) Tie in to current news trends, important deadline or significant date. Suggest a piece about “The Top Five 529 Plan Mistakes” leading up to a publisher’s May 29th issue.
Conclusion
As a guest columnist, you have two jobs:
1) To inform readers and advance your profession (not sell your services).
2) Make the editor’s life easier, not harder.
You probably won’t earn as much as a writer as you do for your “day job” – but the value of name recognition and high quality client leads your bylined column generates can give you a 10X to 100X multiplier for your efforts.
Ping me any time to discuss further.
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