Write for Entrepreneur.com, Fortune.com, Inc.com & Huffington Post to Establish Credibility & Build Your Email List With Lain Ehmann

Welcome to yet another edition of the Real Fast Results
podcast!  Today you’ll have the chance to learn more about how
you can further build your platform and your fan base as an author,
speaker, content provider, coach, or even a consultant.  No
matter what it is that you do, it’s important for you to have a
community of people that know, like, and trust you. People
aren’t going to buy from you unless they have faith that you know
what you are talking about and that you can help
them.  Something that you can do, in order to
establish more credibility and a bigger audience base, is to start
writing for major business-related publications, such as
Entrepreneur.com, Inc.com, Huffington Post, etc.  Today, our
special guest is Lain Ehmann.  Let’s see what she has to say.
Today's Promise: Stand Out To Editors I would say that our promise
today is to give you the best possible chance of getting a piece of
your own submitted, and hopefully picked up, by the editors of
these publications.  We can’t guarantee anything because it’s
in someone else’s hands, but we’ll help you cut through the masses
and make your pitch or submission stand out to these editors.
Authority Bling: Establishing Credibility If you are a coach,
a consultant, an author, a speaker, and you want to raise your
visibility, you want to build your platform up higher, having that
“seal of approval” from Entrepreneur.com, from Fortune, from
Success, that helps establish you and helps your audience trust
you.  I call it “Authority Bling," when they go to
your website and they see “As Seen on Huffington Post” or “As Seen
on…” whatever the magazine would be for your particular
industry.  It conveys authority to you, based on the
trust that the viewer might have with these other magazines. If you
can say, “I’ve been on Oprah,” that right there is like your
“Golden Ticket”.  Also, you can bring in new viewers because
if your piece is on one of these publications, websites, or print
editions, people can find you that way as well.  So, there’s a
“double bang for your buck” there when you have that authority
conveyed upon you. People will see that and come back to you. 
In my experience, the ones that I write for, do give you the
opportunity to plug yourself in somehow, whether it’s saying
“Bestselling Author of…” or “Find out more at…”. The Process Of
Getting Published The process of getting published now has
never been easier; when we’re talking about getting published in a
publication like Entrepreneur or Inc.  When
I started, I actually was a journalist for many, many years, before
I established my online business, and before that time, you had to
send in a pitch. You had to type it up on, sometimes a real
typewriter, print it out, propose your article, send it to the
editor in an envelope, with a self-addressed stamped envelope, and
they usually would just say, “Not interested,” stick it back in and
send it back to you. This was a process of 6, or 8, or 12 weeks,
and it was excruciating!  The idea now that I can email
someone and get a response in a matter of minutes, sometimes, is
just incredible.  Also, they aren’t limited by the print
publication.  Most of the publications that we see now on the
newsstand at Barnes & Noble, or we subscribe to in the mail,
have print editions, but they also have unlimited space
online.  So, it’s so much easier now than it was 10 years
ago.  I just want to tell people that this is the
Golden Age of being able to be published in these publications
because they do need this endless stream of fresh content.
I was a journalist. I established an online business. Now my
specialty is in content strategy, particularly focusing on launch
periods, so helping people gear up for launching a class, or
product, or membership site, or whatever it might be.  In
order to provide more value to my clients, I wanted to get
published in these magazines, so that I could tell them how to do
it.  Also, to raise my visibility as well. Step 1 - Referral
There are five steps, and I’m an author, so I love alliteration.
 The five steps all begin with “R." The first
step is to get a referral if you can. Just like anything
else, if you can get a referral, if you can get somebody’s name,
that’s going to put you a step up. It’s not
necessary, but just like with anything else in business, if you can
open that door before you step through, it helps a little bit.
  Step 2 - Research The second step is to do your
research. This is a great opportunity, and you don’t want to
just throw something at it to see if it sticks.  You
want to practice due diligence to make sure that you’re leveraging
the opportunity correctly.  That’s why I suggest that
people do research. Know that if you’re in the business market, how
Inc.com differs from Entrepreneur, differs from Fortune,
differs from Forbes.  How do those interact with each
other?  They each have their own angle.  What is
it?  What kind of piece would belong in Entrepreneur versus
Inc.?  You look at them, and they look very similar,
but there are nuances, and knowing that is really going to give you
a step up. Step 3 - Relevant After you’ve gotten a
referral, if you can, and you’ve done a little research to know
where you fit well and what the differences are among those
publications, you want to make sure that you propose
something that’s relevant to that publication.  For
instance, Business Insider is an online publication that’s pretty
high-profile.  They have a very specific spin on things, and
something that would go in Business Insider probably would not
appear in Fortune Magazine. Or, if it were the same topic, it would
be a completely different angle. You want to make sure, if they
cover from A-K in the alphabet, you don’t want to suggest something
that is RST.  You want to keep it within their area,
and you want to make sure that what you propose is relevant to them
and to their readers.  What I suggest, also, is when
you’re contacting them, you let them know that you have done your
research, and you can even say, “I have a piece that’s similar to
the piece that you published on [XXX Date], but it’s different
because I took this angle on it.” Step 4 - Remarkable That leads
into the fourth “R”, which is remarkable.  It’s got to be
relevant, but it’s also got to be remarkable.  You
don’t want to propose something that they’ve already covered, and
you don’t want to propose something that’s just
“ho-hum”.  You know, it’s just another article on “10
Ways to XYZ”.  You want it to be very different.  You
want it to be remarkable in some way, but still relevant. Let’s say
that you’re a triplet, and you’re in business with your
siblings.  That would be remarkable.  Not only could you
talk about how family dynamics work within the business world, or
the entrepreneurial world, but how you would do that when you’re a
triplet.  That’s a little bit unusual, but I think it shows
you what I’m talking about.  You’re looking for a unique
spin.  You want to find something that only you could
write about for whatever reason. There’s a really popular
author who has written several books on what it’s like to be a
doctor.  He’s got a unique spin on it because he’s not just
talking about the medical world from 10,000 feet.  He’s
talking about it like a guy who is actually talking about people.
That’s just another example of finding a unique spin.  What is
the book, what is the article, what is the blog post? What is the
one that only you can write and make yourself stand out that way?
Step 5 - Respected You have the referral, the research, making it
relevant, making it remarkable, and then the fifth piece is to make
sure that you present yourself as a respected expert. 
They want to know that you know what you’re talking
about.  When an editor gets an inquiry, or a pitch,
or an email from you, whatever you want to call it, he or she
knows, “Oh my gosh! Dan Hall has been in business for X number of
years and has produced 16 different podcasts, and he’s interviewed
people like this, this, and this.”  He or she, reading that,
already knows, “Hey, this guy knows what he’s talking about.” So if
you see these as hurdles that you need to jump, it’s just one
more.  The question is going to be in their mind, “Okay, this
is a great story, but does this person have the authority that our
readers are going to want to see.”  You’re going to position
yourself that way. If you’re writing about business, you’re going
to talk about how you’re experienced in the business.  If
you’re writing about health and fitness, you want to talk about
that you ran a gym for ‘X number’ of years, or you’re a personal
trainer, or you’re certified in whatever it might be. 
Again, you’re just showing your expertise. How To
Get A Referral Ask People.  If you’re in a mastermind group or
some kind of networking group, ask people, “Hey, do you know anyone
who has written for these publications,” or “Have you written for
them,” or “Do you know anybody that works for this magazine,” or
“Do you know anybody who has experience with publications?” 
The person you know might not know anything about it, but they
might know someone who does.  You know how interconnected we
are now.  Everyone is just a few steps away from
everybody, so ask within your network about that.
Find out who is working at that site via LinkedIn and see
if there’s any connection that they have. LinkedIn shows
you graphically.  If you type in “Arianna Huffington,” it will
tell you if you have connections with Arianna Huffington, and if
so, how many steps are within the two of you. That is invaluable
because you can actually see the connection. And, even if you don’t
have a direct connection, maybe you have someone who works in
advertising at Entrepreneur. You have to dig into it a little
bit, but there’s always the connections there. You might have to
take more steps between than someone else might have to, but
they’re there.  Also, a lot of journalists and editors
are on Twitter.  That seems to be their preferred
social media platform.  So, track them down and start to
follow them and create your own connection.  That’s always the
best.  I think if you could directly connect with this person,
and they know who you are without a referral, that’s even
better.  There’s always ways to establish that. Tips: Research
And Relevant I think that #2 and #3 really go together. The
‘research’ and the ‘relevant.' Based on the research,
you’re going to figure out what’s relevant and what
isn’t.  It’s not complicated because you can go on
their websites and see what’s there.  Entrepreneur.com shows
you the top 50 most popular posts. So ,you can see right there, not
only what they’re covering, but what people are reading. They are
going to want you to emulate exactly what their success formula is.
If you know any post that is about financing gets a lot of views,
and any post about business etiquette isn’t very popular, then you
don’t want to submit the business etiquette piece, you want to
submit the financing piece.  That’s because you want them to
say, “This is exactly what we use.  This is exactly what I
need.” It also helps a ton, when you are proposing your topics. I
actually propose them as an article with a headline, and if I see
that 9 out of the 10 top posts are, “16 Ways to,” or “14 Steps to,”
or “6 People Who,” I propose them with a number.  Or they all
have a name of somebody important, or they all have to do with
contrast.  It’s like becoming a detective. 
You’re solving a puzzle, “What do these have in
common?”  And, “Can I do that similarly, yet pivot it
a little bit?” Also, look at the sections that they
have.  Maybe they have a section on business
start-ups.  Maybe they have a section on relationships in the
workplace.  If it’s health and fitness, maybe there’s a
section on weight loss, strength training, or whatever it might
be.  Look at how they set up their publication. The more they
know about it, the more you can say, “This is going to fit here.”
The more they are going to pay attention because a lot of people
won’t go through that process. They will just blindly send the same
piece to 40 different magazines.  This is what
distinguishes you as somebody that’s really serious about winning,
about getting the assignment or having your
material published. Some people have recommended
sending in ideas.  I have not gone that route. 
Throughout my career, I have had much more success by saying, “This
is something that’s ready to go.”  I’m confident in the
research I’ve done, and the writing style.  I know they
publish pieces 500-600 words long, and I’m not sending them a
1,000-word piece. I’m looking at all of those things, so I know
that it fits, and it’s so much easier for them to say, “Yes, I want
that.”  Instead, they would say “Okay, send it back in," and
you go through this other loop of writing it.  That just
delays the whole process.  I would rather have them give me a
yes or no, and I’ll try again if it doesn’t fit. You should
also understand that if they do say no, you still have a piece of
brilliant content that you can use in any way.  You
can put it on your own blog.  Maybe do a little tinkering and
ship it to another site.  So, it’s all about leveraging and
thinking about re-purposing and repackaging if your first attempt
doesn’t work out.  That pretty much covers it.  You just
want to make sure that it fits within the scope of what they’re
covering. That covers the relevance step too, because
through your research you’ll see what they’re covering, how long
their articles are, and the sections.  Then, you can
just make sure it fits.  If you can’t figure out which section
of their website your article would fit into, that would be a good
indication that your article isn’t right for that
publication.  You should also try to make sure that the
article you publish is relevant to your business.  You don’t
want to propose something that fits their site, but has very little
to do with your business either. You will want to be able
to benefit from someone reading your work and actually taking
action on it.  I could probably get something placed
on a health and fitness website, but is that going to benefit my
business?  It possibly could, but I would be much better off
spending that time and energy where my target market is hanging out
and talking about the topic and the pain points of that target
market versus just trying to write for anybody and everybody. How
Can I Establish Myself as Someone Worth Listening to? One of the
things that I’ve noticed, as I’ve worked with some of my clients to
help them place articles, is that you can be a respected expert,
but if you don’t have publishing experience as well, sometimes that
is the missing piece.  Just like I was saying, it’s like, “If
I can’t get published in Entrepreneur, do I just give up?” 
No.  Get published in a smaller magazine, or post it on your
blog, because being able to say, “I have a blog, and I’ve written
it for 16 years.  I get 10,000 views per month,” or whatever
it might be, it shows that you are a person of authority and
established in terms of having this history behind you. The
editors are going to go through a lot of effort to work with you
and teach you how to submit to them, and once your piece is
accepted, they get you into their content management
system.  They want to see stuff from you again. 
They don’t want the “one hit wonders”.  They’ll take them
because they do have a need for content, but I think they’re much
more interested in establishing a relationship with someone that’s
going to send them something every month or two.  If you just
come out of nowhere, give them one piece, and disappear, that’s
okay, but they would much rather work with someone they know they
can depend upon and develop that relationship. Showing that you
have a history of publication, whether it’s in big names, or on
your own blog. Just showing that you have that history of
writing as well, will also help make you stand out from the
crowd.  I think they have limited expectations when
it comes from wanting content from you on a regular basis.  At
this point in my career, none of the ones that I’ve written for so
far have said, “We want a piece from you every week to stay in our
system,” or anything like that.  What I have seen, with both
Huffington Post and Entrepreneur, I am now an approved writer for
them, so I can put whatever I want, whenever I want into their
content management system. If I have an idea today, I can have that
in Entrepreneur’s system waiting to see. I asked the editor, “Do
you want to see my ideas before I put them in?”  He’s like,
“No, once you’re accepted, just go ahead and put them in
there.”  That’s fantastic.  That’s wonderful to have this
opportunity and the door’s wide open.  Other magazines
do it differently.  Success.com still wants to see an
article idea, but now that I’ve had several pieces accepted by
them, the door is definitely more open.  You know, I get to
use my key versus having to wait in line and that kind of thing as
well.  So, it differs from publication to publication. I know
that Ramit Sethi, who is a very big name online, who does the Zero
to Launch and I Will Teach You to be Rich, has a new site coming
out.  I can’t remember the name of it, but,  I was
talking to one of my clients, and they wanted a commitment to be
one of their featured bloggers.  You would have to provide X
number of articles, in a certain format, over X period of
time.  So, it varies from publication to publication. It’s not
an easy process, and it is going to take some time, but it is
pretty straightforward.  Just like anything else, if
you’re willing to do that background research, it’s really going to
set you apart from everybody else that’s not doing
it.  Just make sure it’s worth it for your business,
and make sure it’s something that you’re not doing just for ego and
really think that it’s going to benefit moving your business
forward.  There are so many opportunities for us to get our
names out there.  Make sure it matches your skills, and your
interest, and your audience, and I think you’ll be good. Check Out
This Step By Step Video That Lain Originally Made For Me But Gave
Me Permission To Post Here [youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w6oZBc0SAU?rel=0&showinfo=0&w=640&h=480]
Connecting with Lain The best way is through my blog.  It’s
Lainehmann.com.  Then, on Facebook, it’s
Facebook.com/LifeWithLain.  On Twitter it’s @Lainehmann, and I
use #FastLain. Resources Publications:
Entrepreneur.com Inc.com Huffington Post Business Insider
Fortune.com Success Real Fast Results Community If you are diggin’
on this stuff and really love what we’re doing here at Real Fast
Results, would you please do me a favor? Head on over to iTunes,
and make sure that you subscribe to this show, download it, and
rate & review it. That would be an awesome thing. Of course, we
also want to know your results. Please share those results with us
at http://www.realfastresults.com/results. As always, go make
results happen!