Many of your customers subscribe to a variety of business journals. You've probably advertised in these journals, but have you considered writing in them? If you haven't, you should. Journals welcome articles from industry experts. Publishing articles is a great way to establish yourself as an expert and gain publicity for your company.

Why are published articles effective?

Articles are more credible than advertising - plus, your audience actually reads them! When a prospect sees an ad, he scans the headline. IF it grabs him, he might read further. Your ad usually enjoys an attention span of three seconds - max. In contrast, your prospects set out to read informational articles. Instead of three seconds, you often will enjoy 15 minutes of your readers' attention. Wow - what a difference! Then, there's the credibility factor. Readers skeptically review information contained in ads. They thoughtfully process information contained in articles. Clients tell me that the leads generated through articles tend to be of higher quality than those generated by ads.

What do you need to know?

• Forget the sales pitch. Editors sniff out and reject "promotional" articles in a heartbeat. Editors want articles that are newsworthy.
• Demonstrate your value by tackling industry pain points and offering relevant solutions.
• Never pay to have an article published and avoid advertising for the sole purpose of seeing your article in print. Reputable magazines publish articles that are newsworthy for their readers - regardless of the author's advertising status.
• There's a big difference between self-publishing articles online for search engine optimization purposes and publishing articles in printed journals to bolster publicity. This information pertains only to publishing in printed journals.

How can you get started?

• Identify the magazines that your prospects are reading. You'll want to target these magazines for publication.
• Work with a ghostwriter to brainstorm and write-up a list of potential article topics.
• Pitch your topic list to editors of the magazines on your target list.
• When an editor shows interest, hire the ghostwriter to write the requested article to that editor's specifications, using a variety of sources and subject matter experts. If you hire a ghostwriter, you will be the named author.
• Once the article is published, gain reprint permission and reprint the article to use in sales presentations and as tradeshow handouts. Hang a framed copy of your article in the lobby of your office and post the article on your Web site.

A well-planned article placement campaign can double your in-print exposure. Magazines don't charge placement fees for articles. With advertising, you pay for writing, design and ad placement. With articles, you only pay for writing. If your ad budget is shrinking, articles are an easy antidote.