How to Get an Article in an Industry Magazine
Publishing is a fast track to authority and credibility. It also helps you brand your business and reach a larger audience. If you’re not published yet, consider writing for an industry magazine. An industry magazine is one that either focuses on professionals in your industry or on consumers of that industry’s products and services. For example, Shape is a magazine for health and fitness consumers. The market for the magazine is young women who want to get in shape. In contrast, Fitness Trainer is an industry magazine for fitness trainers.
Choose Your Audience and Your Magazine.
There are pros to publishing in both types of magazines. The first step to getting an article published in an industry magazine is to choose your goals and your audience. Do you want to market to consumers, or do you want to build credibility and authority? This decision might be easy for you.
You may only have professional magazines in your industry; there may not be consumer periodicals to consider. Once you have a rough idea about your goals for your magazine article, research your options. There are thousands of magazines. Look for ones that are specific or relevant to your audience.
Research Your Choice
Once you’ve identified a few potential industry magazines to pitch to, buy the magazines and read the articles. What types of articles do they publish? What information do they need for an article? What’s the general tone and approach of the magazine? This information is important because when you pitch a story idea, you want to make sure it matches the goals and style of the magazine.
Research Submission Guidelines
You’ll also want to research their pitching or submission guidelines. Many magazines have active submissions. They want new writers and new ideas, and they make the process of pitching or submitting an article quick and easy. Others require a bit more digging. Learn the process and follow it to the letter. Make sure you send your pitch to the correct person in the correct format.
Plan Your Pitch
Depending on the guidelines you may need to send your completed article or you can send a pitch. A pitch is a plan of what you want to write about and why their audience will be interested. Any magazine editor is going to want to know who you are and why you’re qualified to write an article. More importantly, they’re going to want to know how your information and article idea will benefit their readers. What’s in it for them?
If you send a completed article, make sure it’s perfect. It needs to be well written and professionally edited. Plan for revisions. Most editors will want to make some changes to your piece, and that’s okay. If you’re sending a pitch, make sure that you include your contact information. Be ready when the editor gives you a call or sends you an email. Finally, don’t forget to publish a press release and let your audience and prospects know when your article hits the stands. It’s a great marketing tool to complement your publication.
