Write Your Way to Success: A Workshop for Marketing Your Business

Here's last week's meeting presentation outline (co-authored by attorney-mediator Lisa Klerman)

Why Write Articles As A Marketing Tool?

1. A reminder to your existing clients that you still exist
2. Exposure to potential clients who don’t yet know you exist
3. Become recognized as an expert in your niche
4. Increase your prominence and credibility within the field
5. Improve traffic with increased links to your website
6. Expand your geographic reach
7. Inexpensive
8. No face to face selling
9. You will master a known topic or perhaps even learn something new
10. Writing can help you clarify your personal vision and goals

“Yes, But I’m Not A Great Writer”

If you can talk about an interesting topic or idea in your practice, then you can write about it.

Tips to Get Started Writing

1. Determine your target market – who do you want to reach?
2. Ask yourself: “What do I know that my target market would like to know?”
3. Pick a topic; one you find appealing and exciting.
4. Ask: how would my target market prefer to receive information? Blog, newsletter, print, electronic? Short and punchy, or detailed and well-researched?
5. Ask: what about my articles will attract my market to me as a result of reading those articles? voice ? expertise ? creativity ? credentials ? knowledge of industry ?
6. Write an outline of the points you want to make.
7. Decide on three to five main points within your chosen topic that you want to share with the reader. Do not overload the reader with too much information.
8. Write it. Put it aside for a day or so.
9. Return to it with a fresh perspective. Edit it, and send it out!

Blogs: What’s All The Fuss About?

1. Benefits of your own blog (a very short and incomplete list)
2. you can write about and link to people in your market (rule of reciprocity)
3. you can publish at will
4. you can generate subscribers
5. you can become an indispensable source of information your market needs to have but doesn't have time to read, summarize, locate, etc.
6. Types: Aggregator; Opinion; Expertise; Narrative; Sales

YOUR OWN PERSONAL MARKETING PLAN

Within the next month, I will:

1. identify my target market
2. identify areas of interest to that market
3. write at least one article for publication in ___________
4. gather information about __________
5. subscribe to the following sources ____________ to generate article and blog posting ideas begin to read blogs in your area and post comments on them to get a feel for how they work.

Within the next ___ months, I will:

1. write at least ___ pieces for publication in ____ publications
2. gather information about __________
3. post entries in the following blogs: ____________
4. interview one person in my market for a short article about an area of interest to him/her for publication in _____.