Enhance Your Image by Writing Articles

Medical Economics is one of the most respected periodicals read by physicians.  I was honored  to have several of my articles about physicians and how they rank among high income producers in terms of accumulating wealth published in that journal.  And the demand for my books has greatly benefitted from the exposure.  

You may recall the profile of Dr. North in The Millionaire Next Door.  His words of wisdom about accumulating wealth covered about eight percent of the entire manuscript.  How did I find Dr. North?  Actually he found me after reading one of my articles in Medical Economics.  I have often said that one published article can provide the foundation for a successful career.  Writers are considered to be experts.  That brings us to today's lesson.

One of the more notable articles in the March 2012 issue was written by Roger S. Balser, an investment advisor.  Why would an investment professional  have his ideas about selecting stocks published in Medical Economics?  Once you are published in a prestige journal you are no longer just one of the more than 200,000 registered representatives in America.  No longer are you just Roger or Bill or Barbara.  You are now Roger, the writer.  One of the great advantages of being a writer is that more and more prospective clients will take the initiative of calling you instead of the other way around.  Writers tend to be viewed as experts, and by definition experts have high credibility.

I first learned about the importance of credibility while teaching the honors capstone course for business seniors.  We all read 60 of the most important articles in the attitude change/credibility literature.  Mr. Balser's article is indeed an implied endorsement from Medical Economics.  Endorsements from highly credible, prestigious third parties can make one's career.  It's not my purpose to boast today but to educate.  In my career, I have conducted research for more than half of the top 50 financial institutions in America. Yet I never initially made contact with them.  As a professor, to get promoted and obtain tenure, one had to write a lot, and I did.  Prospective clients called me and asked me to do research.   Eventually I turned much of this research into more articles and a series of books.

Is it difficult to get published?  As discussed in my first book, Marketing to the Affluent, it depends upon which of the more than 10,000 trade and professional journals, including newsletters, you target. But the periodical with one of the highest levels of credibility in America is The Wall Street Journal.  It was not by accident that The Millionaire Next Door was first introduced via this publication.  I understand that The Wall Street Journal publishes one in six letters to the editor.  Reprints of your "letter to the editor" can make you much more distinctive than all of your competitiors who are all talking and hawking. But you are an expert because you have written ideas that are published.

Category: For Marketing and Sales Professionals
Tags: Medical Economics, The Millionaire Next Door, The Wall Street Journal, Roger Balser,