I’ve received a few queries from one of the students on glorifying your profile with articles writing, a technique that many could use to help build up your reputation within your desired industry.
The questions were as follows:
1) How did you manage to find those websites which are willing to publish articles written by you?
2) How do you manage to raise your reputation such as the editor for certain magazine and being author of certain articles?
3) How does employer view the ability to have your articles published?
4) Is it really helpful?
I thought it would be good to answer these queries and make it into a posting, so that it can benefit more people who are looking to use this strategy to heighten your profile.
But, before we address each question above, you must first understand how this strategy works.
The key is not articles. It is your article CONTENT. If you have great content, and it attracted the attention of the media, such as publications from magazines and newspapers, companies’ newsletters, news coverage, hopefully, your potential employers too, then your article writing is working.
Thus, if you are worrying which websites or magazines will publish your content, how to be an editor for those publications, and how your employers will view your articles, you are probably looking at the wrong end of your telescope.
To exercise this strategy well, you must understand how positioning works. Focus and be good at one thing. Not everything. Thus, you need to first decide what subject you wish to be an expert on that will give you the best mileage to glorifying your profile.
Say for instance, cloud computing is going to be the next big thing. If you have an opinion about this topic and you have an idea on how you could bring this cloud computing to a new level, make yourself the subject matter expect on this topic. Write articles about it, share your thoughts and opinions with IT related publications and websites. If it is interesting enough, they will cover it. If they publish your articles, imagine if Steve Jobs happened to come across your articles, and were impress by it, who knows he might approach you to join Apple. You get the idea? This same concept applies for all industries.
Let’s now take a look at each question:
1) How did you manage to find those websites which are willing to publish articles written by you?
Answer: It depends on which industry you are talking about. In S’pore for example, if you are very interested in marketing, marketing interactive magazine and website, media section on Straits Times, and those marketing related magazines will be your appropriate publications you should be gunning for to have your articles published by them. Go for publications where a lot of high level executives and people from your industry will read, so that chances of your articles (if they are being published) will be read by them.
It would be good to have a relationship with the editors of the publications as it open doors to have your articles being read and considered by them.
2) How do you manage to raise your reputation such as the editor for certain magazine and being author of certain articles?
Answer: You do not market yourself as an editor of the magazine or any publications. You are not an editor. You are not aiming to be an editor for your career. You simply have a very strong and good point of view about a hot topic. Even better, a solution to a problem that is concern by many in your industry. If many people look up to you on those areas or topic, hence, you would have raised your profile.
3) How does employer view the ability to have your articles published?
Answer: If your employers see that you have written numerous articles and they are being published by famous and renowned publications, I believe he or she will be impressed because it is not an easy thing to achieve to begin with. It would be better if the topics you have written interest your potential employers.
4) Is it really helpful?
Answer: Article writing is no guarantee that you will be hired by your potential employers. There are no guarantees in life. It is just like when you send out a resume, can you guarantee that your potential employer will call you back? When an interview is being carried out with your potential employers, does that mean that you will be guaranteed a place in their company? If not, why do you even bother sending your resume and going for the interview? The answer is simple, if you have all these activities in place, it increase your chances of being hired.
Furthermore, imagine you are the director or CEO of a company, and if you want to hire someone, would it be great to hire someone with a good reputation? Just like if you are the manager of a football club, wouldn’t it be great to have David Beckham or Christiano Ronaldo to be playing for your club?
Usually, for entry level positions, this might not be required. This strategy is especially useful for C-level positions. But hey, imagine for as fresh grads or someone with only few years of experience, and you have already established yourself as a subject matter expert in your desired area, everyone is looking up to you for your opinion on that subject because they think you are BEST at that aspect, I think you are going to go very far.
Feel free to share your comments or drop me a note if you have further queries.
