Why write?

As an editor of a legal journal, the question I get asked the most is why it is worth the effort writing for us, or indeed any publication when your time could be better spent servicing your clients.

This post is about why you should be writing, why it’s worth the effort and why you should be doing it more when you don’t have the time.

To answer this requires an understanding of the way readers engage with content.

Engagement matters

Whenever your content appears in an external print publication, paywalled or not, subscribers to a publication make up only a small part of how your content will be read by the wider world.

It will be shared on the publication’s social media channels. If it’s a good it will be liked by anyone who is in any way engaging with those social media channels. Why is this important? Because it leads to further engagement. All the while you are building up your profile in the sector, and outside it.

Most publications will allow you as a contributor to reuse that content. It’s always worth checking what the requirements are when it comes to doing so. Sometimes a simple source acknowledgement is required, sometimes more may be involved. Always check what the publication’s specific requirements are.

So why not just write for our own channels?

So, why write for an external publication when I could just be writing for my own website?

The answer to this is simple. Engagement on one platform should not deter engagement on another. Or to put it in simple terms: writing for your own website should only form a small facet of your wider content marketing strategy. It cannot replace the credibility of content that has been edited and published by an external magazine, website with an established reputation. Now this is key when considering whether you should write at all. No matter how clever your digital marketeers, there is no substitute for having your opinions published on a reputable external platform. None.

Be a thought leader

There is still a huge amount of confusion around the importance of thought leadership and I will be doing a longer post on this soon.

For now, what’s important to know is that your thoughts and opinions matter and will make you stand out from a very crowded market.

Every time you write you are adding to your reputation as a thought leader and an expert in the sector.

If you’d like further help with your content do get in touch.