Getting Wikipedia articles published on your top people

Steve Jobs was a notable example of a corporate executive who by becoming an industry guru transformed his company's new product introductions into media extravaganzas. While Jobs was a unique case, nearly every B2B market has technical gurus that frequently comment in publications and blogs on technology and market trends from their company's point of view.

You can help your company's executives achieve industry guru status by publishing articles in industry publications and blogs under their byline, quoting them in press releases, and arranging speaking engagements for them.

But the gold standard for an industry guru is a biographical article in Wikipedia. Wikipedia is the 6th most visited site on the Web so it usually comes up at or near the top of search results. Wikipedia is also used by editors to validate the expertise of people they are thinking of featuring in an article.

One of the reasons that a Wikipedia article on a person has so much value is that it is so difficult to obtain. Wikipedia demands that the notability of every article subject be proven by being written about numerous times by independent publications. Wikipedia also has many writing style requirements that are primarily intended to ensure that articles are not promotional.

We can help you achieve industry guru status for your company's executives. We can do an assessment at no charge as to whether your people have achieved the level of notability to merit a Wikipedia article. If they have, we can write and publish the article. If they have not achieved the required notability, we can provide a proposal to help them get there by writing and placing articles under their name and arranging for articles to be written about them.

We have written and published over 10,000 articles for technology companies including many articles on companies and people in Wikipedia and articles in over 3,000 publications and blogs covering the full spectrum of the technology industry. Our core competency is our experience with a wide range of technology subjects and our ability to communicate them to a B2B audience. Hope we can work together in the future!

How to generate topics for frequent press releases

There's nothing more discouraging than doing a generic online search for your product and having the page filled with news about your competitors. Likewise there are few things sweeter than seeing mostly news about your own company. Getting more news releases published than your competitors will help ensure that prospects searching for your product will call you first and the embedded links will increase your own website's page rank.

The simplest way to increase the number of news releases published on your company is to issue more press releases. There is usually no limit on the number of releases a publication will run on your company as long as each one has a valid news angle. The challenge for many companies is coming up with topics for press releases. The introduction of a new product is an obvious occasion for a press release but what can you write about when you don't have a new product to announce?

Have you added a new feature recently or produced a custom version for a vertical market or a single customer? How about features or custom versions or minor products you have introduced in the past but never announced? Customer success stories can also serve as topics for news releases. Even if the customer doesn't want to be involved you can issue an announcement about the application without using their name.

Also think about what's new in your company. Are there any business relationships that you have not announced? People who have joined your company at any executive level? Have you opened a new facility? Signed up a new distributor or reseller? Have you established a relationship with a major supplier? All of these and many other subjects can serve as topics for news releases.

I have written over a thousand news releases and generated tens of thousands of placements in print and online publications. I have the technical background to understand your product and communicate its advantages to customers and prospects in a style that will gain a high pickup rate. My placement team works daily with publications in all areas of technology all over the world. We can also help develop topics. I hope we can work together in the future.

How to interview customers for case studies

A recent survey by TechValidate found that case studies were ranked #2 among different types of marketing content in lead generation effectiveness and #1 in lead nurturing effectiveness by B2B marketing and sales professionals. The same study also found that case studies are the second least costly type of content to produce.

The most important ingredient of great case studies is the interview. During the interview the case study takes shape in the interviewer's mind. The interviewer should be someone who is familiar with the technology and experienced in writing case studies and thus is able to make quick decisions on what is most newsworthy about the application and get all the information necessary for a powerful story without a second call.

The crux of the story is normally the benefit achieved by the customer. Don't limit the customer with a list of questions but rather probe for the main point of the story and once they get to it let them talk for as long as they are willing. After the main point has been established, fill in the details such as how your product contributed to the benefit, details of the solution, background on the customer's company and product, etc.

The interviewer's experience in both the technical and communications domains will also help in filtering out things that may be on the customer's mind but won't look good in print. For example, the customer might talk about how a major problem was solved without thinking that management may not want to reveal that the problem existed in the first place. The writer can steer the customer to a less sensitive topic to expedite the approval process.

I have written over 3,000 case study articles in virtually every area of technology. Based on a short interview with your customer, I can produce an article that will require minimal revisions at a quality level that will allow it to be placed in top trade journals and blogs. Send me an email and I will send examples of articles I have written and placed for companies in your field. Hope we can work together in the future!

Case study article for DP Technology published in Aerotec magazine

A case study article that discusses how Aero Components, a contract-machining company, is maximizing its machine-tool lineup and ESPRIT computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software from DP Technology to save hours, even days, of production time was published in Aerotec magazine.  

Case study for Techno published in Modern Woodworking

A case study article that discusses how students in Colfax High School's "Design Tech" program are using a computer numerical control (CNC) router and a CNC plasma cutter from Techno to develop marketable skills as cabinetmakers, machinists, and auto mechanics was published in Modern Woodworking magazine.