First, consider what you like in a blog. You want information of value to you in a format and frequency that you like. Then, give your readers what you would like. In other words, be a Golden Rule blogger using the following guidelines.

• Provide good content, a mix of what readers need and what they want. They don’t always want what they really need. And keep your posts short and to the point. Example: I want to understand about the technical aspects of blogging, but I am overwhelmed if you give me too much information in one dose.
• Establish categories to make it easy for new visitors and regular readers to find posts of interest to them. On Blog4Writers, some categories are accessible from the menu at the top of the page, and all of them are listed in the drop-down menu in the sidebar. See the home page here.
• Provide a Search box. Blogger features a search box at the top of all blogs. However, in WordPress, you must add the search feature as a widget in the sidebar.
• Subscribe to other blogs. You can always unsubscribe if you decide the content is not for you. Most people have an e-mail subscription option. If they don’t, you can subscribe with Google Reader or other feed reader.
• Comment on other blogs. It takes a little time, but you will establish a connection with the blog author. On most blogs, the Comment link is either at the top near the title or at the very bottom of the post. My new design features a balloon to the right of the title with a number showing how many posts are there already. Click on it, and you will arrive at the comment box where you enter your message.
• Exchange links with other bloggers. Put their links in your blogroll, and ask them to include your URL in theirs. I’ve put my blogroll on a separate page rather than in the sidebar where most blogs show them.
• Invite other bloggers to guest post on your blog. You can use previously posted material if your subscriber base is different. However, do not use another blogger’s material without permission. See the guest posts on Blog4Writers.

Working together with other bloggers, you can build your subscriber base and make great friends in the process. Who knew that the Golden Rule would be so useful to bloggers?

Would you like to sell more of your writing? To get your work published in the Christian or secular market, you must give your customers, the editors, what they need when they need it. Editors know what their readers (customers) want, and they will not accept work that does not address their readers’ needs. Writers and editors apply the Golden Rule every day, not pursuing their own interests but the interests of their readers.

Marketing, a Required Activity

Yes, keeping abreast of your customers’ needs is time consuming. You’ve probably heard that writers often spend as much as eighty percent of their time on marketing activities and only twenty percent on their writing. Most successful freelancers will tell you that, if you aren’t willing to devote serious time to marketing, you will not likely get your work published.

At a marketing workshop, I asked participants to fill in the blank: “Marketing is ______.” I thought I would get a variety of definitions, but the first answer surprised me. “Marketing is a PAIN,” she said. Perhaps, if you think of marketing as a service you provide for your readers, you can have a better attitude about it. By discovering your potential readers’ needs, you are serving them as Jesus commanded in the Golden Rule.

Get a Plan

Once you’ve adjusted your attitude about marketing, you need a plan. Having taken a number of marketing courses for business, I apply the concept of the Marketing Mix, commonly called the “Four P’s” of marketing (product, promotion, place, and price). See a complete discussion of the concept on NetMBA (http://www.netmba.com/marketing/mix/).

A business owner or manager “mixes” the Four P’s to create a marketing plan that works for his or her market. As a writer, you need to determine what your product is, how you will promote it, how and where you will place it for the customer to access it, and how you will price it. Here’s the marketing mix I developed for myself as a beginning writer. It works for articles, devotionals, or books.

Product

• Be sure the target publication has a need for your subject matter.
• Always, always—follow writers’ guidelines to the letter.
• Check and double-check for typographical and usage errors.

Promotion

• Spend quality time on your query letters, cover letters, and e-mail communications.
• Assemble your best clips, both print and online, to send with your queries.
• Set up a Web site and post your resume and writing samples for all to see.

Place

• Go to conferences so that you can get to know editors, agents, and other writers personally.
• Use market guides to get your work to the right place at the right time.
• Turn your work in a couple of days before the deadline.

Price

• Your product may be free at first. Use non-paying markets to get published.
• Set up a blog and establish your expertise in a subject area.
• When you have published clips and online writing samples, it will be easier to attract attention in paying markets.

Start now by setting up four sheets of blank paper marked Product, Promotion, Place and Price. Use my general guidelines above, or develop your own.

Work the Plan

Begin work on your plan as soon as you have your general outline. You can make adjustments as you work it through. Don’t worry if you don’t completely understand everything about the individual components of the Four P’s. Keep in mind that you’re using this tool to help you identify markets that cater to readers who need the message you offer.

The Fifth P for Christian Writers

The Four P’s marketing mix concept was developed years ago, but it is still very adaptable to any type of business or service. Business students and teachers have added other P’s over the years. For the Christian writer, there’s one more P that is a necessary ingredient in your marketing mix—prayer. As you work your plan, pray for God’s guidance every step of the way so that your plan and God’s plan can work in sync.

Learn to Love Marketing

As you spend more time on marketing, you’ll learn what works for you. Your plan can be adjusted as needed, but don’t be tempted to tinker with it constantly. Whether you write for the sheer joy of disseminating the message of Jesus Christ or to make a living, your testimony will be heard only if it is published. That means you must spend as much as 80% of your time on marketing activities and apply the Golden Rule in your research. You may write less, but successful marketing will mean that you can realize your publishing dream.

Recently, I discovered a great Web site for writers at WritingtoServe.net. I submitted an article entitled “Golden Rule Marketing for Writers,” and it is online now.

http://writingtoserve.net/?p=920

This article was the inspiration for the creation of this blog and for the revision of my e-book.  Soon, I will post the article permanently on its own page here on Golden Rule Marketing for Writers. I invite you to subscribe by RSS feed or by e-mail using the link at the upper right of this page. I welcome comments by readers, although comments are moderated so that I approve them before they appear here.

Contact me by e-mail at akinemily(a)gmail.com with questions or suggestions.