Getting some of your articles published in an industry newsletter, blog or publication has a number of benefits.
For one, it helps position you as a thought leader—as an expert in your industry, niche or domain.
It also helps expose you to prospects who may not have heard about you otherwise.
Yet I find that most freelance business writer shy away from this strategy. Some don’t understand the benefits of writing these pieces without direct compensation. Others think they’re not qualified. And many of those who try give up way too early.
In this week’s podcast I interview Julia Borgini, a freelance writer and web content specialist who writes for technology companies. Julia recently landed a huge publicity win which has given her great exposure.
And in this discussion, she explains how she went about it, what it took to get her article accepted, and what she’s learned from the experience.
The notes that follow are a very basic, unedited summary of the show. There’s a lot more detail in the audio version. You can listen to the show using the audio player below. Or you can subscribe in iTunes or on Stitcher to get this show delivered straight to the Podcasts app on your smart phone, tablet or iPod.
Tell us about yourself
Julia is a freelance writer and web content specialist. She writes for technology companies, especially B2B. She does web content, corporate blogging, social media, case studies, etc.
How have you traditionally found your clients?
- Referrals through her writing network.
- Her website blog. Her blog is syndicated through Business 2 Community and Social Media Today.
- Online connections, such as job boards and LinkedIn.
Because she targets technology companies, she focuses on online marketing.
Why did you decide to get into guest blogging?
Julia wants her prospects to come to her instead of having to chase them. Anything that gets her name in front of prospects is a good thing.
Walk us through how you went about it
Julia decided to try and get a guest blog post in Social Media Examiner. She was already very familiar with its content. She also knew that her potential clients read it.
She checked to see if they accept guest posts. She completed their online form and included samples of her writing on topics related to social media. In about five or seven business days, the editor invited her to submit queries. Julia emailed the editor three or four topics with a brief outline.
Julia ended up submitting more queries, about eight or 10 in total. Any topics the editor didn’t choose, Julia used for her own business blog.
It took about one month to six weeks to get the editor’s approval to write the article. Julia was given about four or five weeks to write it.
The whole process, from submission to publication, took about three or four months. She was careful to follow the publication’s submission process and author guidelines.
These kinds of publications have a continuing need for quality content.
Have any inquiries come out of this guest post?
Julia has had a lot of social media shares of the article and some comments. The article garnered over 1600 re-tweets and just over 1000 LinkedIn shares. It also received over 700 Facebook likes and over 300 +1s on Google+. She made a lot of new contacts and gained more followers.
She hasn’t landed any projects directly from the article yet, but that wasn’t her goal. The goal was name recognition.
Is there anything you would have done differently?
Now that she knows how long the process takes, she would have sent out more queries sooner.
What other publications are you approaching?
Julia is in the process of selecting her next guest blogging target. She’s also working on influencer marketing and how to bring more people to her blog.
She’s also considering writing exclusive content for Business 2 Community and Social Media Today. Exclusive content is featured more prominently on their sites than syndicated content.
Any parting advice for listeners?
- Reach out to publications. They might say no, but they might say yes. And if they say no, they may give you tips to get a yes next time.
- Watch for guest writing opportunities. If you’re curating a lot of content from any publication, start looking there.
- Keep an ongoing list of topic ideas you can use for queries. You need to respond quickly if the publication wants more ideas. (Julia uses Evernote for this.)
Where can listeners learn more about you?
Julia Borgini’s website: Spacebarpress.com
Blog: Spacebarpress.com/blog
Twitter: @spacebarpress
Want More of This Stuff?
Want to get more tips and strategies for boosting your writing income? There are three ways you can enjoy these tips and strategies, share them with friends and help me grow this movement to banish the starving writer syndrome:
- Sign up for this podcast on iTunes. Click here to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.
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- Leave a review — Share an honest sentence or two about the show on
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Finally, if you have a question you’d potentially like answered on a future show —or if you’d like to be considered as a guest for a future episode — please let me know: ed at b2blauncher dot com.
Thanks again for your support!
Till next time,
-Ed
