By Barbara Horwitz-Bennett

Now, with more resources at our fingertips than ever, the sometimes painful process of soliciting expert sources for that article… due yesterday, has become so much easier, and often quite interesting!

Drawing from my ongoing experiences of reaching out to dozens of experts and professionals on a monthly basis, here are a few useful strategies for tapping into new resources to bring more insight, depth and new perspectives to your publications.

1) Take advantage of industry-expert query resources such as Help a Reporter Out, PR Newswire’s Profnet and BusinessWire’s ExpertSource. With ever-eager PR folks looking to offer up their clients as experts, I’ve had much success connecting with new folks through these useful services.

2) Browse through specialty publications that cover the topic of your assigned article. There you will find a wealth of quoted sources who you can track down via their company websites.

3) Post a discussion thread on relevant LinkedIn groups, in addition to your profile’s status update, stating the topic/topics you are currently researching and the types of experts you are seeking.

4) Look through relevant seminar and association conferences and speaker lists to locate experts who are industry presenters on the topics you are researching.

5) Take a look at law-related expert-witness websites to tap into additional resources.

Once you’ve compiled your list of potential sources, when crafting your interview solicitations, be sure to keep it short, to the point and respectful. I’ve found phrases such as “lending your expertise to our readers,” “sharing your expert input,” and “taking advantage of this editorial opportunity” to be particularly effective in convincing these folks to agree to an interview. Good luck!

Barbara Horwitz-Bennett is an active free-lance writer, specializing in the building and construction industry, and recipient of an AZBEE National Award last year. She can be contacted at bbennett@bezeqint.net, or through her website, www.BHBennett.com.

Labels: Barbara Horwitz-Bennett, Writing

By Jim Romeo

We have all seen better days.

But could a new way of doing business in the trade press be a latent win-win? Could the bylined feature article, contributed Q-and-A article, or other contributed feature article be an unexploited pathway for advertisers, editors, publishers and freelance writers?

Freelancers are scraping. So are advertisers. And so are many editors. So is there anything that can be done besides sit and brood and hope that this dip in the road doesn't last forever?

Perhaps a new paradigm could emerge: contributed content by the would-be advertiser who hires a freelance writer to write it. Here's how it works. A firm that is tightening its belt just can't afford the same advertising budget until its orders improve and the overall economy improves. But it still wants to market its goods and services. So the firm pitches editors in the trade press, offering to author a feature article about a particular topic which may fit an editorial calendar or trending theme for the publication. The editor bites and says okay, but no sales puffery.

The firm hires the freelance writer at a fraction of the advertising page rate. The freelancer is happy, as even a fraction of the page rate is a decent rate — somewhere in the $1.25-to-$1.50-per-word rate. The writer researches and interviews the firm to create a feature that informs while providing the company a byline in a trade magazine for its industry.

The firm is happy. After all, it got two to three pages of space; even got photos of its business leader or product or service in action. The freelancer is happy, as they got a fatter check than the publication would have paid.

Now is the editor happy? While it's true the publication didn't get the advertising dollars, they did get free content and they didn't have to write it, or do much in the way of art direction for it. Readers get the benefit of the article right from the perspective of the firm that solved a problem, or managed some notable task that readers like to read about.

The above scenario is played out all the time. What I described, I have been a part of many times. It seems like it takes something away from true-blue editorial, but I'm sorry, it works.

Some editors might say "Hey, it's fine, as long as they don't puff it up and make it an advertorial." That can be easily done. A case study, or exposé of the product or service in action, sells itself without much sales puffery. The byline or bio at the end of the article is all that's needed. As for the foregone advertising dollars — well, that firm now has a relationship with the magazine. A new, very lucrative possibility has been created. The soil is well cultivated for the ad sales staff to court that firm for years down the road as a result of that article. The firm that touts the article that they placed and produced, for not that much money, is a good candidate to buy advertising in the future, or buy other media such as a webinar or podcast that can be used to build its brand, which was initially built in that contributed article. This is real value for the publication as well.

And let's not forget the reader. That reader gets to hear a case study. They get to read about somebody else's problems for a change. Everyone loves to read about how someone had this major undertaking and read in 1,500 words, how a firm built a team, and implemented the latest and greatest solution that looked so daunting. The reader gets first-hand information that can drive their own business model.

All of the above is not as clockwork as I may describe, but in tough times, there must be ways to make lemons out of lemonade, and this just may be worth a closer look. Contributed content via the bylined feature article, such as a case study or even a Q and A on a hot topic, adds value — to the firm, the freelancer, the publication, and, of course, the reader.

Jim Romeo is a freelance writer based in Chesapeake, Virginia. He is a mechanical engineer with and MBA and writes about business and technology. His new leaf in 2010 is to network more and start calling himself a technology evangelist because it sounds cool! www.JimRomeo.net, freelancewriting@yahoo.com.

Labels: Economy, Ethics, Freelancing, Jim Romeo, Management, Media Business, Writing

Enter Now. Deadline has been extended to Feb. 1.

It's that time of year again! ASBPE is now accepting entries for its 2010 Azbee Awards of Excellence competition. Don't miss your opportunity to enter one of the most competitive and prestigious award programs for business-to-business, trade, association, and professional publications.

A change to the divisions of the 2010 annual Print Azbee Awards of Excellence contest will make small publications more competitive. Instead of being circulation-based, as in prior years, the two divisions will be revenue-based to help ensure a fairer and more balanced awards program.

You have until January 25 to enter this competition, which is open to U.S.-based print magazines and newsletters. To make it easier for you to enter, ASBPE offers an online entry system. Simply fill out the online forms, upload a PDF of your entry, and enter your payment information, and you're done. You no longer have to spend hours searching for magazine issues, clipping out pages, and preparing to put your entries in the mail. While some categories, such as Magazine of the Year, require hard copies, most entries can be submitted electronically.

ASBPE membership is not required for entry, but members will receive a discount on entry fees. In addition, ASBPE is offering a discount to publications that enter completely online instead of submitting hard copies. With budgets tight at many publishing companies nationwide, we're doing everything we can to make it affordable and easy for you to enter.

To enter the competition, please visit our Web site at http://www.asbpe.org/. If you have any questions, please e-mail Holly Lundgren at asbpe.info@asbpe.org

Thank you for your support of ASBPE. We wish you the best of luck for the 2010 competition.

Labels: Azbee Awards

The ASBPE blog will take off a much needed day in honor of Martin Luther King Day. We'll be back with a great post on Thursday regarding how B2B editors may want to work with their advertisers.

Enter Now. Deadline is Jan. 25.

It’s that time of year again! ASBPE is now accepting entries for its 2010 Azbee Awards of Excellence competition. Don’t miss your opportunity to enter one of the most competitive and prestigious award programs for business-to-business, trade, association, and professional publications.

A change to the divisions of the 2010 annual Print Azbee Awards of Excellence contest will make small publications more competitive. Instead of being circulation-based, as in prior years, the two divisions will be revenue-based to help ensure a fairer and more balanced awards program.

You have until January 25 to enter this competition, which is open to U.S.-based print magazines and newsletters. To make it easier for you to enter, ASBPE offers an online entry system. Simply fill out the online forms, upload a PDF of your entry, and enter your payment information, and you’re done. You no longer have to spend hours searching for magazine issues, clipping out pages, and preparing to put your entries in the mail. While some categories, such as Magazine of the Year, require hard copies, most entries can be submitted electronically.

ASBPE membership is not required for entry, but members will receive a discount on entry fees. In addition, ASBPE is offering a discount to publications that enter completely online instead of submitting hard copies. With budgets tight at many publishing companies nationwide, we’re doing everything we can to make it affordable and easy for you to enter.

To enter the competition, please visit our Web site at www.aspbe.org. If you have any questions, please e-mail Holly Lundgren at hlundgren@integrated-solutions.com.

Thank you for your support of ASBPE. We wish you the best of luck for the 2010 competition.

Labels: Azbee Awards

By Steve Roll
Past President

The sluggish economy and profound changes taking place in the publishing industry make this a particularly difficult time for those working in the business press. One of the few bright spots on the horizon — especially for those of us who cater to a niche audience — appears to be the rise of social media. Wikipedia defines “social media” as “media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques.”

Previously, a magazine or a television station would produce the content and then disseminate it to its users. Social media turns this model on its head by giving a publication’s users the power to be content producers. This is a critical transformation for the business press because very often our readers are one of the best sources for practical insights regarding the industries we cover. With more opportunities to interact with the professionals in the industries we cover, it seems likely that we can increase the readership of our publications and become even more relevant to our existing subscribers.

Recognizing this, most publications have begun to embrace social media platforms such as blogs and networking communities like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Willingness to Experiment. This willingness to experiment with social media places the business press well ahead of several other industries. About 50 percent of companies prohibit their employees from using social media at work, according to a survey conducted by Robert Half Technology.

While social media presents opportunities, it’s important to consider its challenges. Chief among them is the risk that someone representing a publication will make an unscripted, unedited remark, could insult or alienate the readers or advertisers its trying to attract.

Most publications recognize this risk, but the conversations I've had with other business press editors suggest that many publications are just beginning to formulate a social policy. This is consistent with other types of companies that are using social media. More than one in three businesses have not adopted a social media policy, according to a survey released in July (PDF) by advertising firm Russell Herder and law firm Ethos Business Law.

Part of the reason for the delay probably stems from social media's early age. It’s difficult to formulate a policy about something you don't entirely understand.

Start with the Basics. But it’s never too early to adopt a policy, says Chris Boudreaux the creator of the Social Media Governance website. “I guarantee that your employees are already using social media,” Boudreaux said. “If you are still learning as an organization, then start with a basic policy that helps employees make smart decisions, as best you can. Then, as you learn, and as you expand your use of social media in the organization, update your policies accordingly.”

Not adopting guidelines for social media use has its own risks. It could inhibit staff members from making good use of social media applications. For instance, why should a reporter stick her neck out by communicating with industry professional on Twitter if her employer doesn’t sanction such communications? With no policy at all, it’s only too easy for an employee to imagine being terminated for a negative outcome.

“Clarifying boundaries for your employees helps them to conduct positive an constructive interactions in social spaces,” Boudreaux said. “As leaders of teams or organizations, we owe it to our people to think about the boundaries that make sense for our organizations, and make then clear to our people. If we wait until employees find and break those boundaries ahead of us, then we have only ourselves to blame as leaders.”

Of course, a formal policy is no panacea. People have been saying inappropriate and regrettable things for as long as they’ve been having interactions, and that’s not likely to change.

Risks. This makes it even more important to adopt policies aimed at reducing the likelihood of this risk and knowing what to do about it when it arises.

What I’ve learned from helping to establish rules for social media conduct for my company is that it makes sense to have two sets of policies: one addressing the staffs’ “private” use of social media, and another for messages sent out on behalf of their publication.

Policies addressing employees’ activities on their personal blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter accounts could, among other things:

• clarify that existing rules governing company use of electronic media such as e-mail (e.g., prohibitions against sending porn) apply to social media as well;


• address whether editorial staff may post messages offering an opinion about the particular area they cover — this can impact your publication's objectivity;


• prohibit the disclosure of the company's confidential information or violation of it’s intellectual property rights.

Guidelines. Other guidelines might state how the publication would like employees to disclose their employment in their private media (e.g., on their personal blog) and how employees should respond to press inquiries regarding their private use of social media, Boudreaux said.

The rules for social media interactions on behalf of a publication could establish things such as:

• participating in social media on behalf of the company is not a right, but an opportunity that should be treated respectfully and seriously;


• social media initiatives (i.e., blogs, LinkedIn groups, Facebook pages), are a collaborative endeavor that must be planned in advance with the appropriate editorial and marketing managers;


• content posted on company blogs or LinkedIn groups must be reviewed and approved by a managing editor;


• when using social media on behalf of the company use your own name and be clear about your job title etc.


• recognize that you are interacting with a sophisticated audience that can quickly spot inaccurate information. Limit your efforts to subjects with which you are familiar; and


• if you make a mistake, admit it and quickly correct it.

Another important thing to address is the expected response time to customers or prospects, Boudreaux added.

To be sure, having social media policies in place won’t prevent problems from arising from time to time. But they can help to ensure that everyone at your publication is reading from the same playbook. They are also likely to make employees think twice about sending out a bad tweet and encourage more staff to get into the social media game.

Labels: Social Media, Steven Roll

By Howard Rauch

Labels: Editing, Howard Rauch, Journalism, Management, Writing

By Tonie Auer
DFW Chapter President

Yes, 2010 has rolled around and in keeping with my traditions, I'm still writing 2009 on my checks and wondering what this year will hold for the B2B publishing industry. Instead of being ahead of the game and asking for responses from people a month ago, I thought about it today when I was thinking of this blog post. Uh, ok. My trend of procrastinating will definitely continue into 2010, unfortunately.

However, I did find where Folio and Joe Pulizzi were on the ball and quizzed industry experts for their take on things. Go give 'em a quick look. I wish the outlook was brighter, but there are a few silver linings in there.

Labels: Media Business, State of the Industry, Tonie Auer