Becoming an Expert
by Allison Whitehead (Allison writes for Constant-Content.com, Learn how to buy articles like this)
Being an expert on a particular subject (maybe even two or three) is a great way to multiply your article sales fast. But how do you become an expert? How do you choose which subjects to become an authority on? And how does it save you time?
Gain knowledge first
When it comes to writers, knowledge is power. The more we know about, the more ideas and articles we can come up with. And being an expert on a given subject is an excellent way to develop your writing career and increase those sales.
If this is a new technique for you, try starting with your hobby. You’ll probably find that, given half an hour with a notebook and pen, you’ll have plenty of ideas for articles and illustrations, and a wealth of knowledge already at your fingertips. This is one advantage of being an expert - it limits the amount of time needed for research, as you already have a good grounding from which to start.
Diversify your expertise
Ideally, you should have two or three subjects you know a lot about, so if one falls out of favour for some reason, you can still continue with the others. Limiting yourself to a single subject can become restricting, and as you most likely have more than one main interest, why not make the most of all of them?
Being able to write about subjects you have a passion for will also improve your writing - your enthusiasm and knowledge will shine through, enhancing your writing and increasing your sales. You will also find it easier to come up with ideas on a subject you know a lot about, which again will give you more chances of making those sales.
To give you an idea, I have an interest in cats, and have two of my own. I have sold many articles on their escapades (and those of other cats I know), as well as pieces on the many common sayings they have inspired, their appearances in television and film, their history, and so on. I have also used two or three real life events as the basis for some short stories for a cat magazine - all of which have sold. So bear in mind you can use your expert knowledge to inspire fiction as well as factual pieces.
But perhaps the most important aspect to all those feline sales was that they required very little research - and this is where we can begin to see the advantages of being an expert in a particular area. As you develop your interest you will begin to create a home library on the subject. Books, magazines and newspaper articles can all be stored ready for use whenever you need them. Add to this the knowledge you will have inside your head, and you will soon be able to write an authoritative article on your specialist subject at a moment’s notice, with no need for a time consuming research session.
Keep your info up-to-date
When you have put together a home library in this way, it is important to make sure it is kept up to date. Add any new material as you come across it, and make sure any out of date information is kept in a separate folder, labelled appropriately. You might be wondering, why keep it at all? Well, how about an article on outdated methods and so on? We live and learn, and articles on how we used to do things can be fascinating, often amusing, and sometimes embarrassing! It’s good to keep outdated and sometimes incorrect material - providing you know it is outdated and incorrect, and only use it as such.
Lateral thinking
You may think being an expert on a subject limits you to markets dealing directly with it. But with a little lateral thinking you can sell articles far and wide. I managed to combine two of my favourite subjects (cats and the supernatural) by selling an article on ‘alien big cats’ to Prediction magazine. There may be opportunities for you to combine two of your subjects together like this.
There are also many other ideas you can gain from a single subject. Compare your speciality with every magazine you come across, and ask yourself if you can find an angle that would interest that magazine. For example, with my interest in the supernatural, I could offer articles on various ghostly pet stories to Cat World, Dog World, and so on; a light-hearted piece on how to spot a haunted house to a potential home buyers magazine; and numerous pieces on specific haunted locations to the county magazines. These are just three ideas which could produce many articles, all specifically slanted towards the appropriate magazines.
I’m sure you can see that, with three specialist subjects, you could soon have more ideas to write about than you have time for. And finally… when you have a selection of published articles on a chosen subject tucked away, have a think about producing a non-fiction book on it. Photocopies of published work in the same vein can help a book proposal enormously, so bear this in mind.
admin | June 7th, 2009
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