You're proud of your practice and are ready to share your credibility and expertise with more clients, prospects and, possibly, strategic partners. But how do you make the move to the next level? In the Internet era of the Information Age, tell your story in the media.

One way to establish your credibility is by offering your expertise to reporters working on stories. This approach can be effective - but it also means that you are at the whim of other writers.

A better option: Take control of the process by becoming the writer and getting an article published. Not only will clients and prospects see that a publication found your ideas valuable enough to print or post, but a published article can also serve as a powerful marketing tool, immortalized on the web.

"Being a published author creates great credibility and keeps me sharp on current trends and what's on the minds of the high-net-worth market," says Scott Mahoney, a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, who's had 12 articles published over the past two years in Worth, Business Owner and Management Today. "It's led to us getting calls from investors with significant wealth who would not have known about us otherwise, and to a national news appearance that resulted in a new client."

AUTHOR! AUTHOR!

Becoming an effective author doesn't have to be a painful experience. Editors are always looking for fresh angles or for experts to help them create great stories. The key is to understand what you need to do before you head to the keyboard, as well as what you need to do to navigate the publication process successfully.

You can divide your tasks into three steps:

• Turn your process into a story. In a world full of choices, the difference between one service or product and another may be its emotional appeal. Appealing to your clients and prospects means reaching them in an emotional way. One way to do that is by engaging them through a story about your process. This story communicates how valuable you are as a financial advisor and how your clients rely on your expertise to reach their goals. The story has to be told effectively to engage clients and attract prospects. And you, the storyteller, have to become the most important part of that strategy.

Those who create the best story - and those who tell their story the best - will prevail. Your stories should demonstrate your value by showing, not merely by telling. In other words, don't say that you are an effective financial advisor. Instead, show how you are an effective financial advisor through examples and details.

You should look for themes that help prove the value of your process, or some recurring events that helped define your work as a financial advisor. Recall particularly good or bad results of your past efforts and think about how they contributed to your process. "To create articles that are engaging, I regularly use client case studies and examples, and show how I served those clients' needs," Mahoney says.

• Write and edit an article. Your first step is to choose your topic. Start writing about something you know - for example, how to solve a particular problem or how working with a client led to an especially successful outcome. When you solve a problem or present meaningful information in a new light, you will be regarded with high esteem.

"Article ideas often come from experiences with clients, meetings I've attended and trends I'm seeing," Mahoney notes. "I try to stay with ideas that are evergreen and will have a long shelf life. For example, my most recent article came after I saw a speech on artificial intelligence and investing, which will be a growing trend for some time."

Try to keep it simple. Instead of tackling an entire complicated subject, target one specific area. Also, look for ways to connect with readers. Use dialogue and quotations when possible. Readers will identify or become involved in a story because they recognize parts of themselves or someone with whom they are familiar. (For additional perspective, check out my article on the Elite Advisor Forum about Larry Chambers and his "7-Minute Article" process at financial-planning.com/EliteAdvisorForum/news/-2668654-1.html.)

Once you've completed your article, go back to the beginning and edit. Editing will be just as important as the initial writing. Start with a quick review with an eye toward these questions: Does the piece lead logically to the point you intended to make? Does it have a clear story, problem or question? Do the steps relate in some way to the story, problem or question? Do the steps follow in logical order? If the answer is no to any of these questions, look for solutions to the problem.