Rarely a week goes by when someone doesn’t send me a link to an article in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Business Insider or Barron’s that’s written by someone they know – often a competitor. “What do I have to do to get in there?” they ask me with exasperation. “I know more about [topic X] than he/she does!”

Okay. Prove it.

You may know more about topic X than your competitor does, but he or she seems to know more about working the press. Here’s the good news. With today’s shrinking newsrooms, you’re likely to see more content bylined by people who don’t seem to have the words “staff writer” or “staff reporter” after their names. So it shouldn’t be that hard to get a byline in a prestigious national media outlet that’s read by millions, right?

Not so fast. Here are three important considerations.

1. Don’t wait by the phone. Media outlets aren’t likely to call you unsolicited unless you’re an A-list celebrity, a superstar athlete or a university professor who’s an expert in a very arcane area that just happens to be in the news due to a recent catastrophe, natural disaster or astronomical phenomenon.

2. Open your wallet. If you’re willing to pay for advertising space, sponsor a related conference, or pay a fee to be listed as an “Advisory Council” member (sorry Forbes), the editors will find a way to get you some space to be heard.3. Become a trusted source. In media jargon we call this “earned media” as opposed to “paid media” see #2 above. Earned media will take some legwork, since most journalists, editors and bloggers don’t have time for lunch, golf or drinks these days. But it’s worth the effort. I’ll explain in a minute.

Steps to becoming a trusted source:

1. Isolate a half dozen media outlets in which you’d like to be seen. Ask a team member to see which journalists are covering areas of your expertise regularly. Review recent articles they’ve published and get familiar with their style and publishing frequency.

2. Send the targeted journalist/blogger a brief email or voicemail thanking them for covering Topic X. Cite a brief excerpt from a recent story to show you’ve read their work. Let them know you’re available for comment when they do their next follow-up story on Topic X. Include links to recent articles or presentations you’ve done about Topic X to show you know your stuff.

NOTE: You may notice many journalists don’t make their email addresses publicly available. You can usually reach them by phone by calling the media outlet phone directory. You can also approach many on their Twitter feeds, LinkedIn profiles or personal websites. You can also subscribe to journalist databases, but I have a few other legal and ethical ways to reach busy journalists for free….Ping me for tips.

3. Be ready to respond quickly. After you’ve proven yourself a reliable source who understands a targeted media outlet’s audience (i.e., your peers), they will start calling you eventually for background. Just know the journalist won’t be sending a camera crew to your home or office for a lengthy sit-down interview. The questions often come in on tight deadline and you’ll often have to respond within 48 hours to be included in the article. NOTE: Always have someone on your team proof your comments before sending. Don’t make a time-pressed journalist do any more work than they already have on their plate.

NOTE: We have an economical service here at HB Publishing that alerts you to breaking stories that journalists with tight deadlines are working on.

4. Confirm the writing policies before pitching story ideas. Once you’ve identified possible guest column opportunities, call or e-mail the editor to confirm the writing policies, potential opportunities and specifications for the article. Most media outlets have strict rules about what should (and shouldn’t) be included in guest columns. Word count, style and format, use of source materials and attribution will be spelled out as well as the rights they’ll need to your work (i.e., exclusivity vs. first rights, etc.).

Most media outlets will discourage you from referencing your company or product overtly in the article. Doing so could cause the story to be killed or heavily edited. To avoid such penalties, it’s best to err on the side of caution. Keep it above board, just as you would when speaking at an industry conference.

5. Pitch a concise story outline. Don’t send the full manuscript. Before an editor accepts your pitch, he or she will likely ask you to submit an outline and a one-paragraph abstract summarizing your proposal. Even if such materials aren’t required, it’s good practice to prepare an outline before you get started.

Power of your byline

According to our annual CPA | Wealth Advisor Confidence Survey, publishing a bylined article is one of the five most effective thought leadership tactics out of nearly two dozen choices we surveyed (82% of respondents agreed). Media outlets are always looking for new content with a fresh outlook to appeal to their audience.

The key benefits of bylines include:

• Establishing credibility in your area of expertise, and to your target audiences.
• Creating relationships with publications for future engagement.
• Starting conversations about issues for which you’re passionate.
• Positioning you as a trustworthy, go-to expert on a particular area that impacts your industry/profession and clients.
• Great platform for obtaining speaking engagements, radio interviews and podcast appearances. Speaker bureaus and producers are always scouring the web and the media for fresh voices and points of view. Having a byline in a prestigious media outlet makes you instantly “vetted.”

Conclusion

You may not win a Pulitzer, but bylined articles are one of the most effective tools available for establishing credibility with a target audience. If nothing else, they showcase you and your organization as a thought leader in your field. The article will draw attention to the stature and strength of your company which helps differentiate it from competitors. We have plenty of ways to make the process less daunting and time-consuming.

Ping me any time to discuss.

*** Take our weekly instaPoll (How many rate hikes do your expect in 2022?)

 #thoughtleadership, #bylinedarticle, #credibilitymarketing

Don’t worry if your first draft sucks

You’d think after all the texting, tweeting and TikTok-ing we do in our limited attention-span society, we’d be better at getting straight to the point. But we don’t.

We waffle, we hedge, we tiptoe around the edges in our conversations and Zoom calls. It’s even worse in our writing. Sometimes you have to tell your team about budget cutbacks or give bad news to a high-maintenance client or tell the board why their big audacious goal for the year is not all that original–and unlikely to work. Sometimes you have to put yourself out there to try to win the business. Sometimes we just need to tell our spouses we’re running late (again).

So why don’t we just come out and say it?

Because in the back of our minds, we’re afraid of being rejected, mocked, marginalized, ignored or not taken seriously. So, we hem and haw for a few sentences sprinkling in low ROI words such as:

• Actually
• Basically
• Rather
• Just
• As a matter of fact
• At all times
• Studies show

And like, um, you know, we get too far out in front of our skis. So, at the end of the day, when it’s all said and done, when you’re thinking outside the box and doing a deep dive into the issues, it is what it is. But it’s not. You haven’t said anything yet!

My high school English teacher, Mr. Hallowell, used to scribble in all caps: “STOP CLEARING YOUR THROAT!” when grading our papers. Journalistic throat-clearing is like sharing a cross-country flight with a seatmate who is constantly hacking, sniffling and harrumphing. Pretty annoying, right?

More than once I saw Mr. Hallowell tear up a student’s paper BEFORE he even started reading it. Why? “I could tell by the look in your eyes, it wasn’t your best work,” he’d tell the devastated student (disclosure: sometimes it was me). “So, I’m not going to read it, until it’s ready. Do it again!”

Mr. Hallowell’s message: Just get to the point! State your case and then make corrections if needed. Silicon Valley tech companies do this all the time with new products. Why can’t you? You might get rejected. So, what. At least you know where you stand with the reader and where you need to improve your message or your offering.

Another reason high-striving professionals have trouble getting started is because they’re perfectionists. They’re constantly burnishing their personal brands. They want everything picture perfect before they put it out there. Never a hair (or a comma) out of place. But we’re talking about a short article, blog post or client memo, here. You’re not submitting your work for a Pulitzer Prize.

As Voltaire liked to say: “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.” Just get to the point and move on with your day. There will be plenty of time for revising later (see below).

Here are some other techniques our clients have found helpful for eliminating brain fog and throat clearing in their communications:

1. Write quickly. Just let it flow. Don’t worry about grammar, sentence structure and punctuation. Let it rip! Don’t be a writer—be a storyteller—then revise, revise and revise. Blogger Hannah Heath explains why you should let your first draft suck and Vaibhav Vardhan explains why your first draft is supposed to suck

2. Read your work out loud or better yet, dictate it into your smartphone voice recorder and play it back. You may not like what you sound like, but this technique will prevent from straying too far from your point and from falling into the run-on-sentence rabbit hole.

3. Walk away for at least an hour. What looked so brilliant before you took your break suddenly stinks like a garbage dump on a hot summer day when you get back to your desk. Don’t despair, that’s what first drafts are supposed to do anyway

4. Start with the end in mind. Write the conclusion first, then three or four summary bullet points (i.e., Key Takeaways). What do you really want readers to take away from your article or post? Then play around with the headline (or the cover of your book). You have no choice but to be concise and on point.

5. Give it the relevance check. We all have a mental picture of our core audience when we write. We know who our biggest fans (and critics) are. Imagine them looking over your shoulder before you hit the post, send or publish button. What would their reaction be? If it stings, give your piece another tune-up. There’s no charge for parts, just for the labor.

Conclusion

E.B. White said, “writing is hard work and bad for the health.” Perhaps it is, but it’s an essential part of communicating with your clients, prospects, employees and stakeholders. Set a deadline. Go with your best effort, and then revise, revise and revise even after it’s been published. That’s one thing that’s great about publishing in today’s electronic age. It’s never been easier to fix things and make them better in v2.0 (or v3.0).

What’s your take? I’d like to hear from you.

#writingbestpractices, #effectivecommunication, #, #credibilitymarketing, #thoughtleadership

I was a financial journalist for many years before starting HB Publishing. You know how you feel when telemarketers call you just after you’ve sat down for dinner? Well that’s how I used to feel when a rookie PR person or fledgling entrepreneur would pitch me a completely off base story—typically when I was crashing on deadline.

I know this may come as a shocker, but the financial media does NOT exist to promote your firm or your personal brand. Time-pressed journalists are charged with informing their readers/viewers about the most important news, trends and best practices that impact their readers every day. Do their readers really care if you just opened a branch office, hired a new partner or now offer a new service? Not likely. It might be a big deal for you and your team, but is that news going to make the journalist’s readers more successful, more efficient or better informed? As President Biden would say: “C’mon man!”

But, these are the kinds of questions you (and your agency) should be asking yourself before you pitch. So, how do some advisors keep getting quoted, published and cited by the popular press?

Hint: they’re not buying their way in or taking out big advertising schedules in those media. Instead, they’ve learned to be a “Go-To” guy or gal for busy journalists—a reliable source the journalist can count on time and time again to explain complex topics to their audience in concise soundbites—without dumbing it down or pitching their firm’s services.

That’s actually the easy part.

The hard part is getting on the journalist’s radar in the first place. You can hire an expensive PR firm; you can spend lots of money blasting out press releases on a wire service. But “spray and pray PR” rarely works.

Instead, you and your team have to do some old-fashioned legwork. It doesn’t mean making cold calls (or e-blasts). You simply have to isolate 10-20 media outlets in which you’d most like to appear. Hint: these are the outlets where your clients, prospects and strategic partners spend their time keeping abreast of your industry. Next, familiarize yourself with the specific editors, writers, producers and bloggers who are most often covering the areas that map to your expertise.

Next reach out by phone, email, snail mail and social media with a brief, but carefully targeted “pitch” that shows you are familiar with the writer’s work (i.e. their beat) and why featuring you or your firm in an upcoming article can shed new light on a topic they frequently cover—or should be covering. It doesn’t hurt to cite references to recent stories the journalist has written about a topic on which you’re an expert.

Hint: Use a few of those keywords in the subject line of your pitch email.
Hint2: Don’t give up if your first attempt goes answered. You may need follow up three or four time before getting a response.

Better yet, let the journalist know you have research, presentations or articles that could enhance their coverage of a topic and to consider you a source the next time they cover that subject. While it’s hard to get journalists to have lunch, drinks or golf, if they like your angle, they will be receptive to a Zoom call, or at least an email exchange to discuss further.

Finally, don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and call. More often than not you’ll get a voice mail. That’s fine. Even with many journalists working from home, they check their voicemail regularly because heck, they don’t get many legit voice messages anymore, and when they do, it’s usually important.

For more about getting media attention that matters, see our recent posts:

• Don’t ‘Pitch’ Stories to the Media; Be a Problem Solver
• Getting Quoted in The Journal Is Not Impossible, But……

Conclusion

Newsrooms are a lot thinner than they used to be and the news cycle moves faster. While journalists can be cranky at times, they’re still human. They love a good story—and even better—a good story teller. You’re a pro. Why shouldn’t you be on of them?

What’s your take? I’d like to hear from you.

#practicemanagement, #wealthmanagement, #PR, #credibilitymarketing, #thoughtleadership

Quality over quantity to build longstanding relationships

As our 5th annual CPA/Wealth Advisor Confidence Survey  draws to a close, several data points stand out. More than four out of five surveyed advisors (81%) told us they expect their practices to grow over the next 12 months. Even more encouraging, nearly two in five respondents (38%) expect their practices to grow by more than 10 percent in the year ahead—up from 21 percent who felt this buoyant in March of 2020.

What are high-growth firms doing differently in 2021?

For one, they’re working the press. They’re not just garnering press mentions; they’re leveraging those interviews into guest columns, background interviews and podcast appearances. Nearly half of respondents (47%), told us they find press mentions to be “very” or “extremely” effective for enhancing their status as thought leaders. And 46 percent said publishing bylined columns was a “very” or “extremely” effective thought leadership tactic. In fact, press mentions and bylined articles both ranked among the top 5 leadership tactics out of nearly 20 we asked respondents to rate.

The firms most optimistic about their growth prospects in 2021 were even more likely than average firms to seek press mentions and publishing opportunities. High growth firms were 5 percentage points more likely than average firms to rate press mentions a “very” or “extremely” effective thought leadership tactic (51% vs. 46%). They were 4 percentage points more likely than average firms to rate bylined articles “very” or “extremely” effective (50% vs. 46%).

Here are recent examples from our clients:

• Tax specialists BLAKE CHRISTIAN @taxcredits_CPA  and JAY DARBY  (HCVT, LLP) were published in Bloomberg Tax (O-Zone Alchemy: Turning Net 1231 Gains Into Gross 1231 Gains (and Losses)), which led to an appearance in the Millionacres/Motely Fool magazine and podcast (Bitcoin Boom Got You Facing Tax Hit? Consider Opportunity Zone Investing).

• Estate planner RANDY FOX (Two Hawks Consulting) @randyafox1 was published in WealthManagement.com (Why Are Aging Rockers Cashing Out Their Music Catalogs?) and featured in Medium.com/ Authority Magazine (Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Randy A. Fox of Two Hawks Consulting Is Helping To Change Our World). 

• Tax-centric wealth advisor @KYLEWALTERS (L&H CPAs) has earned a twice-monthly guest column spot in Accounting Today. Don’t miss his latest Tiered huddles help firms manage busy season 
• Wealth advisor DR. GUY BAKER, Ph.D (Insight Wealth Solutions) was featured in U.S News & World Report (When Do You Become a Senior Citizen?), Money Geek (Expert Insight on Conventional Loans) and Bank Rate.com (With rates so low, are CDs worth it in 2021?)
• Tax specialist RANDY CRABTREE (Tri Merit) was published in Accounting Today Down Economy Offers Great Opportunity for CPAs to Hit Restart

By the way, our clients don’t have to resort to “pay for play” (sorry Forbes Advisory Council) or “spray and pray” press releases. They take a highly targeted approach to becoming trusted go-to sources for top journalists on tight deadline. Next time, I’ll tell you more about how they do it.

*** NOTE: We’re keeping the survey open for another week. Give us five minutes of your time and we’ll send you a 20-page pre-publication summary of the findings. See how you stack up to your peers.

Conclusion

Our 2021 survey is a joint initiative of CPA Trendlines, Elite Resource Team, The Financial Awareness Foundation, the Investments & Wealth Institute and HB Publishing & Marketing Company. We don’t make money from the survey or share email addresses or individual responses of participants. We’re just trying to give back to the profession.

What’s your take? I’d like to hear from you.

 #practicemanagement, #wealthmanagement, #PR, #credibilitymarketing, #thoughtleadership