Over the past two decades we’ve seen how the Internet revolutionized our ways of communications. This revolution, not only changed the way we live, work and play, but it also dramatically changed the marketplace.
No business, small or large, can succeed without using the Internet- and mobile-based marketing techniques.
We are witnessing, nearly daily, how the print media becomes the “has been” and as a result more and more are closing out.
The floodgates have opened
In the old world, large media corporations served not only as gatekeepers that control the flow of information but they were the source of information, as well.
In the Internet age, these media entities play less and less role in the information industry. This situation has opened up tremendous opportunities for independent writers/information providers and this opportunity is expanding at an exponential rate.
As the shift from old media to new continue, an ever-increasing percentage of businesses need their own qualified writers and consultants. Moreover, in some areas, this demand is significantly stronger as compared to others.
Take, for example the medical writing industry. As the medical and scientific fields advance and their discoveries grow exponentially, so does the need for qualified medical writers. Add to it the increasingly complex regulatory requirements for medical products and for clinical trials, and you can begin to see how the floodgates are opening wider and wider.
Between 2003 and 2008 the market for medical writing doubled, from approximately $345 million in 2003 to approximately $694 million in 2008. This trend is expected to continue, with the market growing at around 15% every year for at least the next decade. (That is the latest data online)
How to make this trend work for you
There’s a lot of money to be made out there. It’s up to you to get yourself in a position where you can claim a share of it. There are several things you need to do to make this happen:
1. Assess your current situation. If you want to get your slice of the writers’ pie, you need to identify your current assets. Perhaps you have a background in the medical field as a nurse, doctor, clinician, pharmacist, or in an administrative capacity. Maybe your area is technology, and you’ve worked with server administration, network infrastructure, user support or programming.
On either hand, your background could be in writing. Maybe you have a degree in English or have worked as a journalist in the old media. Your existing strengths should help guide you toward the writing field to which you’re best suited.
2. Choose your writing field. Not all writing markets are equal. As we noted above, medical writing is experiencing a huge increase in demand. Some areas, such as politics and entertainment, aren’t seeing that same exponential growth. You need to do a little bit of market research to figure out what area of writing can make you the best income.
3. Identify and acquire the necessary additional skills. By choosing a writing field that matches your background, you don’t entirely eliminate the learning curve; instead, you moderate. You’re still going to need to hone your craft and gain field specific knowledge and skills.
If you a medical writer, you have a great chance of succeeding, but still have to make sure that you are ready for this new challenge. Setting up an online business is more than just writing.
I am going to shamelessly plug in here that we can help in this area. We have nearly 30 years of experience in medical writing, nearly as many years in building and managing businesses offline and we have significant experience is setting up and running online businesses.
I’d like to add here, that I am sure we are not the only one that can assist you achieving your goals; all you have to do is conduct a thorough research online and you will come up with multiple options
Your next step would be is checking out the people/organizations you found through your research. By checking out I mean, hopefully there is nothing bad written about them online, check the Better Business Bureau (BB), or write-up an announcement on Social Media, asking information about the people and organization; you’ll always find people that are eager to help.
4. Consider working with a coach or mentor. Probably the quickest way to get a jump-start in your new writing field is to work with a coach in that field. You need to identify the coach that has the kind of skills and experience needed to succeed in that field, and who is willing to share that information with you readily.
Coaching is not inexpensive, but it is an investment that will pay for itself rapidly and many times over.
5. Shore up your business savvy. Unless you intend to work for somebody else (which is, of course, a valid option) you’re going to need to learn how to build your own business.
For some, that might mean taking the time to earn an MBA (but it is not a necessity).
Ideally, your writing coach will be willing to work with you, helping you understanding the ins and outs of the field, and offer advice not only about writing, but also about building a business in the industry.
6. Master content writing. Even if you are an accomplished medical writer, it does not mean you are a great content writer. To build a successful online business you must be mastering writing content, because that is what will grow your traffic and your business, concurrently. There are books, courses and “online leaders” as resources.
But there is no better teacher then time. What I mean by that? The more you will write the better you will be at it. I am sure you heard the saying: “Practice makes perfect.”
7. Don’t forget the all-important subject: “marketing.” Without marketing your business and promoting yourself you have very little chance in succeeding. In today’s technological advances, anybody can develop an effective marketing plan with limited budget.
You are one step ahead of others, by not needing to identify your target market: medical writers (but BTW you could promote your site for other online writers, as well)
Another, rather easy method of marketing is guest blogging. Try to write as many guest posts as you are able to, then throw as wide a net as you can to identify diversified groups of websites to publish your posts.
Try to find established websites, with large followers/readers, but make sure their readers are the people you are seeking to reach.
Getting even only a single post published on a “top of the line website” is a great way to drive traffic to your blog.
Let’s not forget social media.You must open accounts at least at the three top ones: Facebook, LinkedIn &Twitter. Every time you publish a new post to your blog, let your readers know about it by posting to these popular sites.
On LinkedIn, you need to talk about your business, on Facebook, you have to show a little bit about yourself, and on Twitter, tweet about your blog.
There are many other marketing tools that we can use, but I do not want to make this post into a chore, so we will come back to this topic through other posts.
The opportunity for writers today is more significant than it has ever been. It’s up to you to take the necessary steps and break into the “blogging” industry as medical writer specialist. Hard work, the right training, good business sense and a little bit of luck will let you turn fast opportunity into great personal success.