We’re all about helping you reach out to your ideal customers and clients, and then showing them that you have what it takes to help them reach their goals. Much of that involves helping you demonstrate thought leadership in your field.
Here are some of the ways we do that:
Widen your reach through articles in targeted periodicals
Your business needs to keep filling the top of the sales funnel, or said another way, reaching out to customers at the start of their buying journey. They may not have heard of your company, so the best way to reach them is by having your message where they’re already looking – in their niche industry and professional media. There is a huge array of these periodicals, often with a strong print as well as online presence.
Their editors are eager to get well-written, informative content prepared with their readers in mind. Generally, if it meets their editorial needs, they’ll publish it free of charge. Note that many of these publications normally charge well over US$5,000 per page for advertising. An informative article will be more effective than an ad, from a marketing point of view. Having your information in a credible, recognized national or international publication gives a ring of authority to your message. You’ll walk taller!
To make this happen, we’ll work with you to select an appropriate publication, and to develop the article concept. I’ll present the idea to the editor. If they’re interested, I’ll do an interview with the author or authors of the article, and ghost-write a first draft of the article for review and correction. I’ll then work with the editor on getting it published.
The result is third-party credibility and wider reach into organizations you’ll want to work with.
A regular blog that works for you
Marketing theory says you need to show up in front of your ideal customers multiple times before they’ll buy. That’s what blogging is all about – repeated, regular appearances, providing useful information so your company stays top of mind for when they need what you offer.
This isn’t easy. It’s hard to think up topics to write about, hard to find the time to do the writing, and if you’re working with several authors, it can be hard to get them to clear the time to do it. And writing interesting text for a blog may not be anyone’s strong point.
That’s where I can help. I’ll work with your team to brainstorm some ideas and develop an “editorial calendar” – the topic of each post, a schedule with deadlines, and an assigned author. Then I’ll make it happen – contact each author when the time comes, interview them, determine what keywords need to be in the post, ghost-write a first draft for their review and correction, and work with your web and social media people to get it published.
News releases that boost your profile
Creating buzz about new products, new key hires and other developments can show that your organization is vibrant and growing. News releases are one way to do this. They increase your search engine rankings, they can cause journalists to reach out to you, and they may get published in influential print and online media.
But it can be difficult to think of how to write the news release in a way that highlights the news value in what you’re reporting, finding the theme that will attract the attention of journalists, editors and readers.
I can work with you to develop a news release that meets those needs, through interviews and existing information. I’ll ghost-write a text that will work from a marketing and news point of view.
I can also work with you on distribution – creating and implementing a customized list of media if you want, or helping you distribute it on wire services.
Long-form content – books, e-books and White Papers
For some kinds of thought leadership, demonstrating a full grasp of your subject matter is essential. That can be done through what’s called “long form” content – otherwise known as a “long read.”
Printed books
This can include printed books. There’s nothing that says “I’ve arrived” in terms of your expertise, quite as well as a printed book. Publishing a book used to be a difficult thing involving publishers, printers, binderies, agents, bookstores, book tours and way too many hotel rooms.
Now, almost anyone who has a good grasp of their subject matter can publish a book. It’s done through “Print on Demand” – a technology basket made up of e-commerce, photocopying, production automation and social media. I’ve helped several of my clients publish their own books, as well as five for myself. I can help you develop the concept, ghost-write the content, and work with you to get it published.
E-books and White Papers
Maybe what you have to say about your subject matter is part way between a tweet and a book. It could be that you’re best served by showing in-depth knowledge through a mid-length piece of content, the e-book or the White Paper. White Papers used to be government policy papers; the tech sector uses them as extended sales documents to help close deals.
In thought leadership content marketing, this type of content shows the author’s understanding of their subject matter, maybe with some case studies included, along with graphics. I can help you develop the concept, ghost-write the content, and provide ideas for graphic presentation. I don’t think that anyone should rely on me for graphics, so I subcontract that sort of work, or my clients keep it in-house.
