The following, from writing pro Terri Pilcher, is really for just about anyone, not just writers.  Good way to add some supplemental income and get your name out there.

Why would anyone want to write for trade journals? Aren’t the topics are dry? Don’t they require specialized knowledge? Not necessarily. You may want to consider trade journals to increase the potential market for your articles – and for the money. Trade publications make up a significant portion of the hidden source of funds for professional writers. Breaking in can be surprisingly easy – when you know the tricks.

What Can You Write?
Use a brainstorming list to begin your search for a specialty. To write for a trade publication, you will need in depth knowledge of a topic. Don’t force yourself to learn the inner workings of gravel mines when you love the elegant designs of classic furniture. Trade publications require professional knowledge of a topic, so make sure it’s a subject you’ll want to spend a lot of time with. Start your list by including things you enjoy and love. Whether you volunteer for a non-profit organization or have a degree in agricultural science, include all of the categories in which you have experience. Some trade publications accept articles of personal experience or interviews with recognized authorities in their field. Include your connections with professionals to make your list more complete. Keep this list handy and add to it regularly.

Where Can You Find Those Trade Journals?
Now that you have a list of specialty areas that you want to be immersed in, you need to find the journals that pay for your information. Almost every profession has a trade journal. The first place for you to look is with a professional organization related to your area of specialty. If you love elegant furniture, than perhaps you should consider “Interior Decorators of America”, “American Furniture Manufacturers”, or “American Pine”. Join at least one of these major professional organizations. Membership rates are often cheaper for affiliate members (those not practicing professionals in the field). Marketing companies buy the organization’s list and send free publications and resources to members. These items may include “throw-away journals”, free journals paid for by advertising. Even if you join the organization only one time, the professional materials will appear in your mailbox for years. This information will keep you on the cutting edge of your chosen industry.

Online resources are helpful in finding associations, but they include only a few of the possibilities. The most complete resource available is the Encyclopedia of Associations found in your local library. It contains the most complete list of organizations, many of which produce magazines specific to their members. It may take days for you to wade through this tome, but when you find ten journals that correspond to your qualifications, it will be worth the effort.

How Do I Start?
Begin by researching past issues of the magazine. Editors always recommend that potential writers analyze at least six months of back issues and a copy of their writer’s guidelines. This is essential with trade journals. Articles seen in the trades are far different in style than those seen in consumer magazines. Pay attention to the complexity of sentences, commonly used terms, and the assumed knowledge of the readers. Style is often less conversational and more technical than what most people read. Many trade magazines use technical terms that are a foreign language to industry outsiders. Make sure you use their language, or you will sound amateurish.

Make a list of published topics. You want to know what not to do as well as the topics they prefer. Painting and Wallcovering Contractor focuses on the professional painting industry, while Walls and Ceilings focuses on plaster restorers and finishers. There is some crossover, but you increase your chances of selling the interview with the restorer of the Sistine Chapel to Walls and Ceilings because of the focus. In addition, Painting and Wallcovering Contractor likes articles on how-to meet regulatory standards. If you know of a regulation that has not been covered recently, send a query offering to update their readers on the topic. Trade journals often recycle subjects with fresh information on three to four year cycles. If you can approach old ideas in a new way, you can give them an article that they will buy.

Which Comes First, the Query or the Manuscript?
Query first, but if the editor does not know you then he or she will want to see a complete manuscript before making a commitment. Many writers despise writing on speculation, but in this case they should consider it. Most journals are in desperate need of good writers. They don’t have huge slush piles stacked around the office that your article will have to compete with. As long as you have a topic they can use and can match their style, your article will sell.

Where Can You Find That Professional Knowledge?
Begin with the Internet. Online searches enable you to find the title, author, and journal of the article you want, and request a copy of it from your local public or college library. Medical and health topics can be found on Pubmed at http://www.nih.gov/. For other journal searches, contact your local community or college librarian. Without charging you, most libraries will order the article from another library if they don’t have it in their collection. They’ll even call you when it’s ready.

Other useful sources of information include government regulators, local businesses, the business section of the phone directory, and professionals in the industry.

Can You See Your Byline in Trade Journals?
Most full-time professional magazine writers include trade journals in their portfolio. Trade journals need knowledgeable writers who can produce interesting and well-written copy specific to their magazine. Finding these writers is difficult, because most people don’t think writing for trade journals is interesting. You’ll know differently when you see the check in your mailbox. Many trade journals pay $200-$300 for a 1,000-word article, making it well worth the effort to learn to write for this large and diverse market.

Trade journals are not the flashiest places to publish. Your friends may not be amazed by your publication in Pit and Quarry but, as a writer trying to sell work, do not ignore the journals that want to find you.

Terri Pilcher publishes a free weekly e-ezine, Writers Guidelines Magazine. Sign up at http://www.terripilcher.com/. She also wrote “MONEY Markets 2005: 101 Publishers that Pay Writers in 6 Weeks or Less” and edits PowerPen Market Search (2-day free trial). Find both the book and the searchable database of writer’s guidelines at http://www.powerpenmarketsearch.com/.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Do you use mini-courses in your online marketing? If not then maybe you should. Mini-courses are an important part of Internet marketing. A mini-course is a tool that enables you to provide valuable content to your subscribers and promote your own or affiliate products at the same time.

A mini-course is free information on a specific topic. It is normally distributed as multiple articles in e-mail format over a defined period of time. The mini-course also goes by the name eCourse, free report, or autoresponder course.

Before attempting to write your mini-course, identify a “niche market” that has a unique need for information. A niche market is a small segment of the total general market. It is a group of individuals with a common interest that have specific wants and needs. Individuals in a niche market may also have a common problem that needs a solution.

Creating a mini-course is similar to creating an ebook but on a smaller scale. You need to select a “killer” topic that is of interest to your niche market and satisfies a want or need or solves a problem.

There is an unlimited amount of information that can be used in a mini-course. The key is to know what information to use. What information do most people want? Individuals look for informational products that satisfy their most important wants or needs. This includes information on: how to do something, money, time, work, health, self-improvement, entertainment, hobbies and sex.

How can you find your killer topic?

• Listen to your customers. Look for problems they are experiencing when they communicate with you.
• Conduct a survey of your customers and the visitors to your website and ask for comments.
• Join niche discussion boards and chat rooms. What items are discussed on a repeating basis?
• Subscribe to article announcement lists in your niche and identify the key topics being published.
• Next, look for common issues or problems in the information you have collected. Can you solve any of them? If not, locate an expert that can help you.

Identify creative and useful solutions to the issues or problems. Develop an outline to be used as a guide in writing your mini-course. Perform the necessary research to obtain the information you need for the mini-course. Present your information in a manner that satisfies the wants and needs or solves the common problem of your niche market.

You need to have a killer title to grab the interest of your visitors. Select a title that compels your visitor to want to see your report. You want your visitor to request the report, download it, read it and purchase your product offerings.

All of your work in creating the mini-course is of no use if nobody reads it. You want a title that reaches out and pulls the individual into downloading your course. Instead of using a title like “My Report on Golf” use something like “How to Take Strokes Off Your Golf Game.” Which title is more likely to grab the interest of the high handicap golfer?

Once you have the attention of your audience you want to be able to keep them. The opening paragraph must excite your reader and make them want to know more. Use an opening sentence that pulls them into your report like “Everything you ever wanted to know about improving your golf game and more!” Your opening paragraph also needs to define the main objective that will be presented in your mini-course.

The course content is the most critical part of your mini-course. Make certain your information is presented in an organized and meaningful manner. Content can be presented to your readers in many different writing formats.

Some of the most common formats include:

1. How-to-do something tutorial
2. List of ways or tips to accomplish a desired objective
3. Interview of one or more experts regarding your topic
4. Narrative discussion of the issues at hand.

Whatever format you select, it must be easy to read and understand. Do not use difficult words or long sentences and paragraphs. Write in a straightforward manner. Let your personality show in your writing. People that are comfortable with your writing are more likely to buy from you.

Be careful in promoting your own products or affiliate products in the mini-course. The products and services promoted need to relate to the content you are providing. Blend the product or service promotions into your content so that it supports the content. Find ways to weave your product or affiliate program information into your content in a low-key manner.

Avoid outright blatant advertising except in the top sponsor, bottom sponsor and other designated areas of your articles. Blatant advertising in the wrong section will be a quick turn-off. Your mini-course will be viewed as a sales letter and probably not read. Keep your audience in focus. They are reading your mini-course primarily for the valuable content you promised to deliver in the beginning.

The last segment of your mini-course needs to provide a conclusion or closing section. Pull together what you have presented in the course and present your findings. It should satisfy the original objective of your course or provide a solution to the stated problem. Finalize the mini-course with words of value to your readers. Direct your readers to utilize the information you provided. Instill in them the desire to get involved and follow through with your conclusions or implement your solutions.

Organize the information into article segments of roughly 700 to 1,500 words per segment. Keep the length of the mini-course in the range of 3 to 8 segments. Try to avoid information overload and unnecessary padding in your articles. Determine the distribution cycle of the articles. In general, one segment should be delivered each day or every two days. Personally, I prefer once every two days to avoid overloading the recipient with too much information if they don’t check their e-mail on a daily basis.

The best way to distribute your mini-course is by autoresponder. Set up the autoresponder to automatically distribute your articles according to your defined time schedule.

Use the mini-course to promote yourself, your business and your products. It is free advertising. You can use the following methods to promote your mini-course:

• Include in the resource box of an article you wrote
• Include in your newsletter
• Include in your signature file
• Provide as a free bonus on the purchase of your product
• Place in an advertisement
• Provide as a promotional tool for your affiliates to use

In conclusion, your mini-course should deliver valuable content to your audience with the side benefit of promoting your ezine and products. Create your mini-course with a clear picture of wants and needs of your audience. You have wasted your time and effort if the report has little or no value to your reader. Produce a quality mini-course and both you and your subscribers will benefit.

Best of success in your online business activities.

Author:  F. Terrence Markle has worked for over 20 years with public and private companies. He has an MBA in marketing and finance, and has been involved with Internet-related businesses for over 3 years. His primary focus is the marketing of affiliate programs. Check out his free 8-day Internet Business Mini-Course.

Source:  Wordpreneur

Popularity: 3% [?]

If you’re a teacher or a trainer, you’ll want to check this opportunity out at InfoSource, Inc.

Cool idea, neat timing . . . check ‘er out.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Just heard about Bizcomps and that they’re looking for some senior-level management help.

BizSummits is a fast-growing training company that organizes groups of business executives who meet monthly to exchange best practices, conferences and reports (i.e. CFO Summit, CIO Summit, etc). BizSummits offers monthly teleconference meetings, in-person leadership summits, and best practices reports to its members who pay annual dues. It is majority owned by VC South, a boutique private-equity company.

President Job Description
http://www.industryexperience.com/job.asp?id=73

Product Manager Job Description
http://www.industryexperience.com/job.asp?id=74
 

Popularity: 11% [?]

I’ve been spending more time lately on teaching-related activities, as over at InfoSource (my online learning company) we’re about to launch a nifty new service for teachers and students that will let them, from all over the world, share teaching and learning materials.  Cool stuff, and I’ll let you know more about it post-launch, in a few weeks.

So, it was through my stumbling around on that project that I came across a couple of free blogging services for teachers and students.

Learnerblogs.org for K-12 students
Edublogs.org for teachers and trainers
Uniblogs.org for university students
Eslblogs.org for ESL students

Cool stuff, all free.  You can set up a blog through these services, using WordPress (a great blogging tool, and the one I use here).

Check ‘em out.

Popularity: 8% [?]

I’m doing some market research for a new division we’re cooking up at InfoSource, Inc.

So, hoping you can help.  I’m looking for blogs or ezines written by teachers or trainers (any subject, any level).

Do you have something to recommend?

I appreciate your help.  Contact me via the Comments section here or send me an email at mwernerATInfoSourceLearning.com

Popularity: 6% [?]

I’ve been a fan of WordPress, the open-source free blogging tool ever since I started using it earlier in 2006.  If you’re thinking about setting up your own blog, or moving to a new one, I can’t say enough about WordPress.

What I really like most about WordPress is that, once you’ve set it up, it is just so eazy-peezy intuitive and fun to use.  It’s great for non-technical types, although there are a lot of custom tools you can use or add to a WordPress blog later on once you become more comfortable with it.  (Full confession:  I just call my techno-pal, Eldon Sarte, to give me a boost from time to time.)

Very bottom line?  WordPress is a Top5er.

I remember in the early 1980s when I moved from an IBM Selectric typewriter to my first computer (an Osborne II — great little machine in its own right, and from the company of the same name founded by Adam Osborne, one of the true luminaries in the early PC days — just loved the guy — funny, brash, innovative) and how I knew then and there that my work life had changed forever.

That same feeling came over me when I first started blogging with WordPress — I knew that my work life had changed.

Word Press has allowed me to become a very active and creative participant in the online and Web worlds without having to learn all sorts of new technologies.  (Yup, I do run technology companies, but because I’ve been managing people and operations for the last 20 years or so, my tech IQ stopped growing with the last version of DOS.  Really.)

So, check out WordPress.

And, along the way, check out a few free overview WordPress tutorials at Learnerblogs.org, a neat-o organization in its own right that supplies free WordPress blogs for teachers, students, writers, and other education-oriented souls.

Good stuff, check ‘er out.

 

Popularity: 9% [?]