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When most people think of PR, they think it's all about sending out press releases—to as many media outlets as possible—in the hopes that an editor will bite.

That is one aspect of PR. And it's the most commonly practiced. But it's not necessarily the most strategic approach. Particularly for those who don't have a product to push, but do want to get across a way of thinking or the thought leadership that differentiates them, a more effective approach is to position that expertise via bylined articles.

Think about it: an article that's written under your name and is 100% the message you want to communicate. It's not an ad (and so should be written in an informational manner) and appears in the editorial pages of a publication you've targeted because its readers constitute your buying audience.

Between the extent of the message, which you're largely controlling, and the third-party endorsement value of the editorial coverage, you've got a PR tool of substantial value.

To tap into the power of the bylined article to help build your credibility and reputation, you need to understand the five Ws.

WHAT They Are

The most fundamental lesson is what byliners are. They are articles written under your name—or, in journalism parlance, your byline. Such articles are a vehicle for you to flex your industry-knowledge muscles. The material in the bylined articles should be presented in a way that demonstrates discreetly what makes you an expert in your particular field. Three of the most common types are Op-Ed contributions, trend articles, and "how-to" pieces.

Op-Ed Pieces

An op-ed is so named because it appears "opposite" the "editorial" page. Editorials are publications' official stance on issues affecting the industries they cover; op-ed pieces similarly position the author's point of view on an issue or trend. Strong opinions matter.

We have helped craft various op-ed articles for one of our clients, a consultancy specializing in brand and business strategy. One of our targeted publications for this client is BrandWeek, which accepts contributed op-ed pieces by its readers. We worked with one of this client's partners in creating a response to H.J. Heinz's discontinuation of flavored and blue-colored French fries.

In "Green Ketchup Works, but Not on Blue Fries," he argued that the intent to "stretch" its Ore-Ida brand was strategically well-grounded, explaining why it behooves companies to understand how far their brands will stretch to help drive better business results.

The article added to the consultant's reputation for his thinking on brand issues and also created a strong link between brand strategies and business results—a key underpinning to his firm's mission.

Trend Articles

A trend article, logically, discusses a current or burgeoning trend that has the potential to affect either the public or a specified field. It's generally more informational and less opinionated than an op-ed piece.

One of our clients, a book publisher, retained our firm to create a variety of trend-oriented bylined articles for three of its authors as a means of supporting book sales over the longer term. One author's book revolved around the current state of the practice of marketing.

Our aim was to develop several articles based off its contents that discussed current trends and issues—from the challenge of breaking out of the marketing silo to deficiencies in the planning process. These were created for a management journal and several leading marketing publications, and they further solidified the author's position as a leading authority on marketing, branding and management issues and trends.

How-to Pieces

A third type of bylined article is the how-to piece. Two of our publishing clients' authors wrote books on how to achieve sales improvement that were ideally suited to this type of bylined article approach. We created several dozen articles, based on each book's contents, for each author; they appeared in publications catering to sales professionals, including many that were industry-specific (e.g., real estate, insurance). These placements not only spurred further sales but also increased awareness of the authors among those in a wider sphere of influence.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sally Saville Hodge is president of Hodge Communications, Inc. (www.hodgecommunications.com), a strategic PR and marketing communications firm in Chicago. She can be reached at shodge@hodgecommunications.com.