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How To Use Your Articles...
To Become The Most Trusted Advisor In Your Community!
By Forrest Wallace Cato

 Published articles in magazines, newspapers, local newsletters and on the internet is one of the most effective ways for you to increase your credibility and to position yourself as the expert in your local community.  It’s free advertising.  It's how you get more people to respond to your sales letters, ads and invitations.  In fact, several presentations at the recent ICCA National Conference in New York mentioned article writing as a key step in achieving success as a consultant. 

But, it’s of little use if you don’t merchandise those articles.

 A Persistent Myth Among Financial Advisors

There is a harmful myth I forever witness among lots of insurance agents, financial advisors and financial planners.  (All of them should know better.)  They believe, if they get an article written by them, or written about them, and then published -- in a financial magazine or on the internet, -- then their phone will ring off the hook, prospects in large numbers will line-up to enter their office, and their invitations to speak will soar.  This “wish-list” rational is contrary to reality.  This is totally incorrect thinking.  But this myth prevails.  

Published articles do not stimulate massive and immediate results like this! 

Published articles in magazines, newspapers, newsletters, or e-zines usually have little, or none of the desired effect, unless they are merchandised.  You must merchandise your articles if you want to get any of your “wish-list” results from them.  You have to add the necessary marketing and promotion efforts that make published articles work for you.  Do nothing and your articles do nothing for you! 

Do you know how to make your published articles work effectively for you?   

Can you skillfully merchandise your published articles?  

If you are not sure about how to accomplish this, then please read on.  Not doing this is like seeing a small fire break out in your home and having a powerful fire extinguisher nearby but being unable to turn it on.  

How To Merchandise (Or Exploit) Your Articles

After your article is published, you have specific ways you can merchandise or “use” your article to make it work more effectively for you.  Assuming that your article contains content that is interesting or helpful for your prospects and not talking about a subject like ‘how to get more money from your clients,’ then you should merchandise your article as indicated in the following. 

·        Mail copies of your articles to your clients.  This reassures them.  This reveals that you are intelligent, etc.

·        Mail or send copies to your prospects.  Ask for their opinion on some point or points in your article.  Your objective is to begin a dialogue.

·        Place copies of your article (s) in your Press Kit, Fact-File or Info Folder.  This makes these more effective and more impressive.  This reflects your professionalism.

·        Use copies of your article, when appropriate, as hand-outs or “leave behinds” when you make platform presentation, conduct seminars, speak to the Rotary Club in your area, or make visits.

·        Use copies of your articles as enclosures when you do direct Mailings, or use your article as your Direct Marketing piece.

·        Make stacks of your articles available at your dentist’s office, doctor’s office, etc.

·        Attach copies of your article (s) when you submit something to others who can be useful for you, convention directors, club presidents, etc.

·        Place your article (s) on your Web Site, or offer free copies of your article to anyone who asks for it.

·        Include your article (s) on your on your blog, or e-zine, or announce that it’s availability from there.

·        Send out a news release about your article to publications within your local or regional market area and enclose a copy of your article.  (National media will not publish such a news release, as they do not want to acknowledge the existence of other competing media.)

·        Make copies of your articles available to appropriate organizations in your market area, i.e., civic, social, fraternal, business, religious, -- groups that are appropriate for you.

·        Make copies available to your building association members, your country club members, hospital waiting rooms, community colleges, the Elks Lodge in your market area, etc.

·        If you are an Elk then send the article to the editor of the Elks magazine and propose to the editor an original and exclusive version on this subject created especially for his Elks readers.  Do this with other appropriate sources.

·        Remember that it is OK to send an e-mail attachment of your article, and then follow-up by mailing a hard copy of your article, both to the same person.  Or do this in the reverse order.

·        Frame and display your article (s) in your office, on walls, in your conference room, lobby, or hall.

·        Carry extra copies around with you, possibly in your briefcase, pouch, or in a file, and recognize when it is appropriate to “place them” or give them away.

·        Send copies to appropriate contacts in your greater market area and invite the recipients to use you as an information and reference source.  Include the “correct person” at your local radio, newspaper, TV, etc.  You find out who is your “correct person” by phoning and asking.  Address this correctly and to the right person.  

·        Always seek opportunities to further distribute your article (s).  Some planners even place them on bulletin boards in supermarkets, bowling allies, golf course facilities, etc.  If you have access to places that sell “big ticket” items, like airplanes, yachts, expensive cars, etc., then see if they will allow you to make available copies of your article (s) at their places of business.

·        After you have enough articles published, extract or condense from them and assemble these sections into what becomes a client information booklet.  If appropriate indicate where your copy originally appeared.  Now you have an impressive quality booklet that can be used for booklet marketing.  Size your booklet so it will fit within a regular business size envelope. 

·        Over time, you can compile your articles and this can become a book for you.  Many books are created this way.  If possible, you need a theme running throughout all of your articles.  Make inserts or rewrite so that you have a beginning, middle, and end. 

·        You should be able to think of at least three additional “useful” ways that you can merchandise or “use” your article (s) in your local market area to make them work more effectively for you. I just gave you twenty ways to do this. 

I have often been guilty of assuming that it was obvious that everyone knew they should merchandise their articles.  I further assumed that everyone knew how to merchandise articles.  There have been countless articles on Article Marketing.  What a mistake I have made by not explaining this more thoroughly in the past.   

Above all, don’t get published and then forget about this exposure, and do nothing about the opportunity this presents for you.  Time and again I have watched financial advisors get on magazine covers in glorious color, and have large-space feature articles inside, including many photos of them, but they totally wasted all the major opportunities to benefit from this exposure.  This amount of print space would have cost them $50,000.00 or more, if they had purchased this at existing advertising rates.  This magazine exposure is more believable than advertising, and much more creditable.  Unlike an advertisement, the ulterior motive of a magazine exposure, if any, is not obvious.  And being on the cover is priceless.  Imagine a fiduciary totally wasting a value like this, and then thinking, “I got nothing from this article.  The article did not translate into any business for me.”   

I hope you never make the mistake of not having your article (s) merchandised by yourself or others.  The reality is that you must merchandise any article if you want results from it.  Avoid the belief promoted by magazines that “good things will happen” if you only appear in their pages.  If you do nothing to merchandise your article then you will get little or nothing.

Forrest Wallace Cato, RFMA, FMM, RTIC, RFC, has over 30-years of successful experience as a multinational media advocate for financial professionals.  Through image-branding he creates, establishes, and maintains their desired image as leaders in their market areas. http://www.catomakesyoufamous.com 

P.S.  Need help writing articles, or getting an article written about you, and then getting the article published... call Mr. Cato!  770-516-9395