OFI 682: Why Write Articles To Promote Your Agricultural Business

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Why Write An Article

On my last Tuesday episode I talked all about using LinkedIn to grow your business. One of the functions that makes LinkedIn so valuable is the article writing function. Actually, if you want to write anything of substance on LinkedIn you need to write it as an article as there is a text limit on normal posts.

When it comes to marketing your business through writing there is kind of a progression or hierarchy of methods. I guess at the bottom would be a Twitter post. Not everybody uses Twitter, but those that do find some really big success with it, putting out information 140 characters at a time. Rob Sharkey of the Shark Farmer Podcast and SiriusXM satellite radio show is a really good example of this.

Next up would be a post on either LinkedIn or Facebook where you can share a bit more information but still cannot really get into the meat of a subject. After that would probably be a blog post. Blog posts are usually limited to 600-800 words but there is no rule. In this amount of words you can develop your ideas better but still have to omit quite a bit of detail.

After a blog post is probably an article. Articles can be relatively short to relatively long, depending on what you have to say and where you want to release them. After an article is probably a weekly column, followed by a white paper followed by a book.

I tend to stop at articles. Although I have a few thoughts about eventually writing a book, at this time in my life I seemed to be capped at writing articles due to time constraints, etc. I did actually propose a book to an agricultural publisher at the beginning of this year, but the idea was turned down. So, no books for me quite yet.

Each of these forms of writing can be used to market you, your service or your products. If there is a spectrum of usefulness I think something like Twitter would be one far end and article writing on the other. Twitter is great for delivering quick information while writing an article is much better for positioning yourself as an expert in your field.

That is all well and good, but if you are starting a relatively simple business why do you need to do this? It all comes down to marketing in my opinion. When I had my gopher business I wrote articles about gophers. While I was researching for the articles I did learn more about my craft, but that was secondary. My primary goal was more business.

For example, I wanted to market to horse people and become their go to person to get rid of gopher holes that could cause injuries to their horses. So, I researched, wrote and submitted articles. I submitted an article the magazine “The Horse” about burrowing rodents. You can find the link here. Then, when I pursued customers who had horses, I referenced this article on both my website and in the magazine. How many gopher exterminators do you think there were who were published in an industry trade magazine for horses?

Perspective

As we talk about using articles to market your business and to position yourself as an expert, it is important to keep the proper perspective. Remember that for so many people becoming an entrepreneur is the ultimate goal. They are doing so to create their business, and that is the end result.

For those of us in this audience that is not where it ends. Some of us are going to become entrepreneurs because we want to, and some of us are going to become entrepreneurs as a way in which we can support our farming endeavors. No matter which camp you come from, remember that our ultimate goal is to be able to farm, to be able to be on our farm when we need to be and to be able to live where we can farm.

If you are in this audience you know that entrepreneurship is a means to an end. The end is farming, not owning our own business. So naturally, we want our businesses to succeed because for many of us that gives us the best chance of achieving the farming lifestyle we are looking for.

Writing articles is something that is going to really help your business to succeed by positioning you as an expert and bringing your business to the attention of more people. Also, it might open up other doors for you, like public speaking, which is another form of entrepreneurial revenue that will help you to keep your farm going.

How Do You Do It

There are a lot of people in this world that are going to be more qualified to discuss this than me. But I do believe that I know enough to at least get you started. If you decide, after you write a couple of articles, that you want to turn this into your full-time business, that would be awesome. It would also be the time to seek better training from someone other than me.

Brainstorming

Let’s start first by brainstorming. What are the things that you have learned about your business that other people do not know? Anyone who has started a venture will be seeing so many different scenarios of the problem they are solving for people that they will instantly have more experience and credibility than others. So, what have you learned, that you possibly take for granted now, that you could give away to somebody else for free?

If you have a firewood business perhaps you know about the best types of wood to burn in certain stoves or fireplaces. Maybe you can talk about how long each type needs to season before it is ready for consumption? Or, maybe one type burns cleaner then another but is harder to come by.

It really does not matter what the information is. Just remember that by virtue of operating your own business you have become the expert, and you are further down the road than most other people when it comes to experience in your field. So, find one of these topics and share it for free.

Outlining

Outlining a topic is really easy if you just think chronologically. So, if you want to write an article about how next winter people can be heating their homes for very little cost with wonderful smelling cherry wood, just start at the start. If you were the person that wanted to make this switch, what would you do first?

Perhaps you would source the wood first and contract with the land owner to remove some of it. Next, you might purchase a chainsaw. Then a splitter. Then a trailer. You might touch on the new expenses but then remind the reader how the savings from heating with wood will pay them back for these things. You might think of why you do this business, and remind your readers of how it makes you feel good to work outside in the fresh air and to be self-reliant.

Next you might talk about how long to let the wood season before you start splitting. Then you could describe how to build the perfect firewood stack. Next might be the best type of stove to use to heat your home with. And what part of the house it would be beneficial to place the stove in.

You get the point. An outline is simply a chronological series of events that makes sense. So, when you are done writing your article it will flow together nicely for your reader. And, if your reader chooses to follow your advice, they can go step by step and accomplish something.

Writing

Now that you have outlined, it is time to write. I was at a wedding over the weekend. It was unconventional, and one of the facilitators read something that he had written about the bride and the groom. After the ceremony both Autumm and I talked about how good a writer that he was, and how he could really paint a picture with words. He could really put words together well.

I think that people like this very eloquent writer can really intimidate others from writing because they are so good at it. But don’t let that be you. There is all sorts of writing. I once met a gentleman who told me that his job was “technical writing”. I asked him what that meant, and he told me he wrote things like owner’s manuals and instruction guides. His writing was not eloquent at all.

I am not an eloquent writer, and I don’t try to be. I realize who I am, and my writing reflects that. I deliver information that people can use. The quality of my writing has to be in the content, not in the style or the beauty. So, trust in yourself that you can write something that people will find value in. You don’t have to be Shakespeare to put pen to paper and create value.

I try very hard to write like I talk. To me it seems like I can better communicate my knowledge that way. So, if I end a sentence with a preposition I don’t mind. I took my last English class a long, long time ago. The one thing that I am careful of when I write is the temptation to use $3 words. For example, I might say “I observed”. If I catch myself doing that, I will change it to “I saw” or “I watched” or “I looked at”. I like that better because there is no way for me to come across as pretentious that way.

Publishing

So, where will you get published? My answer is get published everywhere you can. Open up your LinkedIn account and publish yourself right there. Put in some good pictures and learn how to wrap the text around the photo. LinkedIn allows you to do this, and it looks really good. Then you can share that article right from the platform.

Find some magazines or newspapers that are related to your business and send the article off to them. They are always looking for content, and are usually more than happy to print something that is topical, relevant and useful to their readers.

If you are wondering where to find magazines that relate to your industry, start with your local library first. Speak with someone in research or at the reference desk and tell them that you want to know what publications there are in your field. They will help you find all sorts of magazines that you did not know existed. Frequently this can be done online through your libraries website.

You can also get books like Writer’s Market Deluxe Edition 2019: The Most Trusted Guide to Getting Published. These books will help you find publishers for articles and well as all the different trade publications that exist in your industry. And, you can frequently find them for free at the library.

One note about submitting articles. Some publications will pay you for your article. I would suggest if you are pursing pay for this that you give them exclusive access or at least a chance at exclusive access to your article before you move onto another magazine.

With that said, remember the point of this and try not to get distracted. You are writing to market your business and position yourself as an expert. In turn, you are hoping to grow your business. Don’t make everything about getting paid directly. If you have to submit articles for free, that is okay. You can leverage those publications and the internet search results for your name into more business down the road.