Enhance Your Career by Writing Articles

Dr. Thomas Stanley says you can enhance your career by writing articles. He talks about an investment advisor who was published (of all things) in Medical Economics.  His thoughts:

Once you are published in a prestige journal you are no longer just one of the more than 200,000 registered representatives in America.  No longer are you just Roger or Bill or Barbara.  You are now Roger, the writer.  One of the great advantages of being a writer is that more and more prospective clients will take the initiative of calling you instead of the other way around.  Writers tend to be viewed as experts, and by definition experts have high credibility.

Mr. Balser's article is indeed an implied endorsement from Medical Economics.  Endorsements from highly credible, prestigious third parties can make one's career. In my career, I have conducted research for more than half of the top 50 financial institutions in America. Yet I never initially made contact with them.  As a professor, to get promoted and obtain tenure, one had to write a lot, and I did.  Prospective clients called me and asked me to do research.   Eventually I turned much of this research into more articles and a series of books.

Is it difficult to get published?  As discussed in my first book, Marketing to the Affluent, it depends upon which of the more than 10,000 trade and professional journals, including newsletters, you target.

I love this idea! It's a way an employee can show expertise, credibility, and influence -- three things that employers LOVE. And when employers love something about an employee it tends to help out that employee's bottom line significantly. ;-)

I've previously shared how I turned my hobby of writing into an income. It started with a chance request where I was asked to write my thoughts on our industry for a top trade magazine. When I found out they actually paid for it, I wrote business pieces for two different trade publications (I actually had a monthly column in one) for several years as well as expanded my writing to personal finances in other periodicals. I made a very nice side income those years doing something I enjoyed.

But what I haven't shared is the impact writing those pieces had on my career. Because I was writing for trusted industry publications and did a decent job with my pieces, I was viewed as an industry expert. As a result, I was invited to speak at industry events. I was asked to visit many of our customers and they sought my advice. I was invited to sit on several industry committees where I networked with even more of our customers. And the more I wrote, the more these opportunities presented themselves.

The climax of these events was when I was given an award (at the annual convention) for the person who most impacted the industry in a given year (note: this was not an award I applied for, like I suggested we all do in trying to get a career award, but one I was selected for.) In addition, my company was named the industry's "Supplier of the Year" two years in a row -- the first time our company had received this award ONCE, not to mention twice. Getting the company award was not only because of my efforts (there were other factors, of course), but it was certainly part of the equation.

The writing benefited my career and compensation as well. A couple years into this process, I actually had part of my bonus tied to writing a certain number of industry trade articles. So I not only got paid from the publications for writing the pieces, but also received a nice bonus once I reached the required number of articles. In addition, I was ultimately hired for a higher-level (and better paying) position by our top customer and ended up working for them for five years. Overall, writing articles for trade publications was a win all the way around.

But it wasn't easy. I had to network to get them to take the initial articles. I had to write most of the pieces on my own time -- at nights or on the weekends. And I had to continually have interesting ideas/topics that the readers would enjoy/use -- otherwise they would stop reading. And I was ALWAYS on a deadline. So don't get me wrong, it was a lot of hard work. But was it worth the effort? It sure was!

I know that this idea is not for everyone. Not everyone is a writer. Not everyone has trade publications they can write for. Not everyone works in a field where others are seeking advice (I wrote on marketing, which was highly sought after advice, but "accounting" might not have had the same appeal.)

But for those who do like to write, have an area of expertise where people want ideas, have trade journals that cover those ideas, and are willing to do the extra work required, writing articles is a GREAT way to both earn and extra income as well as grow your career as an industry expert.

Comments

[Felicia]

This certainly gives an interesting and great suggestion for anyone who loves to write and could use more income.

Very inspirational! Thanks!

[doug]

Really enjoyed this one, I started teaching classes in my profession (project management) a couple of years ago.

Now I get so many requests for teaching and speaking that I have to turn many of them down due to lack of time.

Once you are viewed as an expert in a certain area, the number of opportunities you create begins to snowball.

[Steve Mertz]

Great article Free Money! I'd love to see you take your content and pump out some eBooks!

[Ruth]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! This is a great idea for anyone who has a proclivity for writing and who has the opportunity to get some works published. What are your thoughts on starting a blog--does this gain similar credibility in the eyes of most employers? Thanks for your advice!