If entrepreneurship is, as Harvard professor Howard Stevenson calls it, “the pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled,” then business builders have a lot in common with journalists. And whereas entrepreneurs can learn much from the journalism trade itself, some of today’s top business leaders are actually participating in journalism, with enterprise-worthy results.
The way they do it is through guest writing, and the point of attack is the Opinion section or other places where publications print expert commentary. Whether it’s the governor of New York guest writing a persuasive essay on climate change in a daily newspaper or this guest column you’re reading right now in Fast Company, most magazines, newspapers, and blogs allot space for industry experts to share their points of view.
But most publications won’t take just anyone. And they won’t print thinly veiled marketing messages with no takeaway. Here are four tips for getting printed and breaking through the full-to-bursting inboxes at your top-choice publications:
Establish Credibility
Editors are busy people who are constantly badgered by pitches that are far off the mark, and they are the gateway to publication through which you must pass. So don’t waste their time. Convince them to give you a shot through at least two of the following three:

1. Show you’ve got a track record of writing for legitimate places (the editor will infer you’re a good writer, and probably easy to edit). Your pitch email itself is another opportunity to show your writing ability, so let a little personality in. If your email bores them, why would they want to subject their readers to a longer version of it?
2. Write a concise story pitch that shows you can write well in few words. (I recommend keeping your story idea pitch to 300 characters or less.)
3. Tout relevant credentials or expertise in the subject matter (CEO of a relevant company, Albert Einstein’s apprentice).

These will make a wary editor’s leap of faith a little easier to make. Have Something To Contribute To A Larger Conversation
To get the gig--and the audience respect that comes with it--“you have to truly be a valuable source of information,” says Michael Lazerow, CEO of Buddy Media and frequent guest writer for Advertising Age and Fast Company.
A former journalist, Lazerow understands that his industry--social enterprise software--is full of people hungry for information and fearful of being left behind. His guest posts about Facebook, advertising, and social marketing help his audience make sense of the industry, while establishing Lazerow (and his company) as a thought leader.
“Think about who you are trying to reach, and then think about the top questions those people would ask about the topic you're writing about,” Lazerow says. “Try as best as you can to answer those questions.”
For the social media newspaper The Daily Dot, guest writing is a way to simply get on people’s radar.
“We wanted to find opportunities to tell our story to audiences we weren't already reaching,” says founder Nicholas White. White’s stories at places like PBS discuss the future of newspapers, using The Daily Dot’s experiences as conversation starters. To be successful, says White, “it has to be a real contribution to a conversation, not just an ad for your site.” Telling compelling stories about your personal experiences or citing case studies from your own company in some instances can help illustrate points about your industry or area of expertise and give you material that no one else has.
Use Journalistic Rigor
As the prestige of a publication increases, so does the credibility and rigor necessary to be published. For example, in a recent Op-Ed I wrote about America’s freelance economy for The Washington Post, I researched and interviewed economists, business professors, advocacy groups, and man-on-the-street freelancers, and pored over dozens of government reports in order to back up my point, that the growing number of freelancers in the U.S. is helping the economy and needs infrastructure.
Thorough research, reporting, and proper attribution of sources prevents writers from being dismissed as self-promotional gasbags. And with all information publishing--whether objective news or content marketing--be ethical. Never betray your readers with misleading material.
Take A Stance, If You Have One--And You Should
Guest writing, says White, often best succeeds when it’s opinionated. “It can't be like, no, duh,” he says.
In many cases, that’s exactly the reason publishers will print expert commentary; you’re bringing something to the discussion that a traditional news story can’t. Your business should stand for something anyway. Why not leverage your unique point of view?
Focus On What You Can Contribute, Not Self-Promotion
“Too many founders think about guest posting in terms of, ‘How can I translate my sales deck into a guest post?’” Lazerow says. “If you're just going to use a guest post to plug your widget, it's useless and people will see through it.”
Guest writing ought not to be thought of as marketing. The likelihood of directly tracking ROI (e.g. someone clicks on your byline in a guest post, then immediately buys something on your site) is very low, and not the best use of guest writing opportunities. For young companies with small footprints, or established organizations wishing to align with certain topics, guest writing raises awareness, builds brand equity, and cements the idea that a company cares about an industry, topic, or cause.
“Being a good source--through speaking with journalists and writing guest columns for publications--is one of the best ways to create value,” Lazerow says.
And in the long run, it can drive business. As White puts it, guest writing is like giving out samples in a grocery store. “You get a taste and hopefully you decide to buy a bottle.”

Real Estate Agents ?list? Properties. They Charge You A Commission To Sell Your Property. There Are No Guarantees If, When And How Much Your Property Will Sell For. The Average Property Takes Months To Sell. Some Properties Take Over A Year, Especially In Today?s Real Estate Market! This Uncertainty Causes Great Stress And Anxiety. Usually Not Until The Day Your Property Sells And You Get Your

Check, Do You Even Know Exactly How Much You?re Going To Receive. We Are A National Affiliation Of Professional Homebuyers. We Do Not ?list? Properties, We Buy Them. We Do Not Charge Any Fees Or Commissions. Often Within 24 To 48 Hours We Can Make You A Fast Cash Offer, And Usually Within Ten Days Or Sooner You Can Have Your Money! We Can Relieve Your Stress, And We Want You To Have A Hassle-free, Pain-free Sale! Call Us At 1-800-FAIR-OFFER 24 Hours/seven Days A Week Or Complete Our Online Form.. David Shell Chattanooga 423-883-4332

David Shell Chattanooga

Biden: Health care sign-ups may fall short of goal

AP Photo: Jim Mone

Vice President Joe Biden meets with women who have either signed up for coverage or have helped others sign up for insurance under the federal health care law during a stop at Moose and Sadie's coffee shop in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014. Biden was in town for a fundraiser.

3 hr ago By PATRICK CONDON of Associated Press

share

tweet

email

MINNEAPOLIS — Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that it would be a good start for the federal health care law if 5 million to 6 million people sign up by the end of March, an acknowledgement that enrollments might fall significantly short of the Obama administration's unofficial target of 7 million.

Biden, who was attending a private fundraiser in Minneapolis, made a brief unannounced stop at a coffee shop and visited with a handful of women who have signed up for coverage. Open enrollment under the federal law ends on March 31, after which people without insurance are subject to federal tax penalties.
Biden acknowledged the rocky rollout of the administration's Affordable Care Act website and the difficulty people have had in signing up. Minnesota has been among the numerous states, along with the federal Healthcare.gov site, to experience rampant technical problems that hampered enrollment.
"We didn't want this to start off as shaky as it did," he said. "But it's complicated."
Before the exchanges launched, the Obama administration projected monthly enrollment targets based on a congressional estimate that 7 million would sign up during the six-month open enrollment period. Signing up enough individuals — especially younger, healthier people — is critical for the insurance pool at the heart of the law to function properly, keeping premiums low for everyone.
Immediately, enrollment figures starting falling behind the targets. Although the pace of sign-ups has picked up substantially, there's still a lot of catching up to do from the initial months. About 1 million enrolled in January — the first time the administration met its monthly target.
Biden acknowledged that "we may not get to 7 million, but if we get to 5 or 6 million that's a hell of a start."
In total, nearly 3.3 million had enrolled through the end of January. That's about 75 percent of what the administration had hoped to achieve by that point in the open enrollment period.
Biden's office said the four women picked to meet with Biden either signed up for insurance under the federal law, or have worked as a navigator assisting others in the signup process. In the brief conversation, Biden related several health crises in his own life, including a serious car accident and a brain aneurysm, saying he appreciated the sense of security knowing he could count on his insurance.
Dressed in a dark suit with a dark scarf around his neck, Biden briefly worked the room at Moose and Sadie's, located in a trendy urban neighborhood near downtown Minneapolis. His voice was hoarse, and he was difficult to hear over the coffee shop's din. He did speak up when he spotted a woman with a San Francisco Giants cap.
"They allow you to wear that in Minnesota?" he said.
Biden was attending a private Democratic Party fundraiser at the restaurant Bachelor Farmer. Owned by the sons of Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton, the restaurant hosted a dinner for President Barack Obama in 2012.

The Mercedes-Benz dealership planned for Irondale will have something other dealerships don't have--a direct connection to Alabama head football coach Nick Saban.

"My partner and I have entered into a letter agreement with Mercedes Benz to open a new dealership in Irondale. We are honored to join the Mercedes family and are extremely excited about the benefits this dealership will bring to the citizens of Birmingham, Irondale and surrounding areas," Saban said in a statement via his attorney to AL.com. While Saban probably won't have time to run it, partner Joe Agresti has said that Saban could appear in television ads for the dealership as well as give motivational talks to the 75 expected employees.
According to a news report, the new business will not be known as "Nick Saban Mercedes-Benz," because the company doesn't allow it.
The dealership, as reported in December, is expected to bring in significant revenue for the city of Irondale. Saban's long-rumored partnership in the dealership was confirmed Monday.
For the time being, the dealership plans are on hold because of a lawsuit filed by Hoover's Crown Automobile against Mercedes-Benz USA claiming that a second dealership in the area would harm its business. Mercedes-Benz USA has said that it is within its rights to open another dealership in the area.

A large Jos. A. Bank Clothiers shareholder on Tuesday lambasted the retailer’s plans to buy outdoor apparel retailer Eddie Bauer as “desperate tactics” by the company’s executives and board to hold onto their jobs at the expense of shareholders.
Ricky Sandler, CEO of New York hedge fund Eminence Capital LLC, said in a letter to Jos. A. Bank’s board that the deal “to purchase a completely unrelated business” demonstrates “a total and complete disregard for your principal role: serving as a steward for shareholders in maximizing value.”
Jos. A. Bank announced Friday its deal to acquire Eddie Bauer for $825 million.
Sandler has been pushing Hampstead-based Jos. A. Bank to accept a $1.6 billion buyout offer from rival Men’s Wearhouse. Eminence is Men’s Wearhouse’s largest shareholder with a stake just under 10 percent. It also owns 4.9 percent of Jos. A. Bank, or more than 1.37 million shares.
Sandler, in his letter, said that Jos. A. Bank’s “bet the company” strategy to buy Eddie Bauer is risky because 40 percent of Eddie Bauer’s sales come from women’s clothing, an area that is “outside of Jos. A. Bank’s core men’s tailored clothing segment.” The deal also exposes Jos. A. Bank to more risk because Eddie Bauer’s clothing is also more of a discretionary purchase.
Jos. A. Bank said the acquisition would expand its offerings, bring in new customers, including women, and result in about $25 million in cost savings. A Jos. A. Bank spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.
Eminence filed a lawsuit in Chancery Court in Delaware in an attempt to block Jos. A. Bank from making an acquisition that would lessen the chances of Men’s Wearhouse buying the company. Eminence filed an amended complaint on Feb. 4 even before Jos. A. Bank announced a deal to buy Bellevue, Wash.-based Eddie Bauer.