Trade Magazine Article Pulls In Leads, Puts New Firm on the Map

PROBLEM

Wayne Averill was confident that his new company, ATM Solutions, had tremendous potential. The problem was that he lacked the capital to give it the jump start that it needed to really take off. He wanted some kind of "magic bullet" to score a breakthrough, without investing more than he could afford.  

SOLUTION

When Wayne approached me with this challenge, I thought back to my days working for a publication, when finding good content to fill our "news holes" was always a major concern. I asked Wayne where he thought he could get the biggest bang for his buck in terms of ATM placements, to which he answered without hesitation: parking garages! "Let's put together a great article and submit it to the major industry magazine. If they like it enough, they may just run it as a feature. You'll get the equivalent of many thousands in advertising, without paying anything for it." "I don't have enough content to fill a whole article," he replied despondently. "I think you do," I said. "Leave the writing to me."

During the next few days, I conducted research and interviews — some of them onsite, where I took photos — after which I did the write-up.

RESULT Within hours of receipt of the submission, the managing editor responded, saying enthusiastically that the article would be published in full, as written, along with the photos. That news was a thrill but what happened after the issue with the article was published was even more thrilling: Wayne's phone rang off the hook, with qualified leads coming to him, instead of the other way around. "'Pull' works so much better than 'push' — and is so much more enjoyable," he commented.

The article turned out to be the master stroke that got his business off the ground and sent it soaring. It was not the first time (or the last) that my journalistic training and experience paid off big time for a client.

If you're interested in seeing the article, you can either view the full spread, or page 1 and pages 2-3 of the piece separately, from the preceding hyperlinks.

The strategy was important but what ultimately made the article successful was its high degree of persuasiveness. THE SAME GUIDING PRINCIPLE PROBABLY APPLIES TO WHATEVER PROJECT YOU MAY HAVE IN MIND AT THIS TIME: Regardless of the nature of the project, success will hinge upon effective messaging — PERSUASION of your audience, in other words, into believing what you are telling them.