Thread by @EddieWouldGrow

HOW TO WRITE FOR @HarvardBiz ✍🏼

Writing dozens of articles for HBR is one of the most valuable assets of my career.

Here’s how I did it and the ten key tips & tricks to help 🧵👇🏻

1. I faced my failures.

My @HarvardBiz writing career was born in failure.

A CMO of $4B food company chastised me for a recommendation I made that failed in the market. It made me want to throw up, quit my job, and change careers.

So I took stock of every project I worked on. I noted which ones had a killer insight, a clear/compelling strategy & a 100x marketplace impact (100x profit on what we charged)

Facing my failures helped me hone in on grand slams I helped my clients hit.

2. I became a storyteller.

My journal gave me a list of my ‘greatest hits’. I began sharing the stories my clients made public in other client meetings. It was a big hit, so I kept at it.

And like a comedian honing his material at a comedy club, I got better and better at telling those stories.

Sharpening my storytelling of those successes was insanely valuable prep for my writing.

3. I got help.

I knew I had something to say and share with the world. But I wasn’t a writer. So I got help.

@Tomehrenfeld was a ghost writer who worked with my prior consulting firm. I was fortunate my firm paid for him to help me attempt to craft my first piece for @HarvardBiz.

He wasn’t just a great writer. He had a personal relationship with one of the long-time editors at @HarvardBiz. That personal access was invaluable at getting feedback on what might or might not work.

I owe my @harvardbiz kickstart to @Tomehrenfeld. Mahalo!

4. I did my homework.

I got a lot of rejection, often because someone else had written something similar before.

There are a lot of great writers who have written a lot of great pieces for @HarvardBiz over the years. So I subscribed and started reading everything I could in my areas of expertise.

I compared what I read to my stories and prioritized a lane that was incremental to @HarvardBiz and reasonably unique to me.

Doing the homework helped me approach @HarvardBiz as a missionary, not a mercenary.

5. I celebrated success and acknowledged my limitations.

My first piece got in! Here it is. hbr.org/2009/11/surpri…

I was both happy and sad. Happy that it got in. Sad that I realized I wasn’t a very good writer.

So I changed my goal from being published in @HarvardBiz to becoming a writer worthy of @HarvardBiz. Failure became merely feedback. Rejection was less personal.

When it is easier for editors to say no, they are willing to consider more pitches.

6. I understood relationships matter.

Serendipity strikes again! I met my long-time editor, @danmcginn, for the 1st time.

He was new to @HarvardBiz, just like I was. He shared with me what areas of content Harvard Business Review wanted more of.

I understood that @HarvardBiz editors were inundated with pitches from writers they didn’t know. And that it was easier to edit 100 pieces from 10 of the same writers vs. 100 unique ones.

I wanted to earn Dan’s trust and respect to make his life easier all while delivering great content.

7. I stuck to a proven playbook for pitches.

Dan helped me hone a formula that would increase the odds my pitch would be accepted. I tried to answer 4 questions:

A. Does the premise overturn conventional wisdom?
B. Do you have a clear, compelling fact-base or case study that proves the point?
C. Is the premise broadly applicable to numerous industries?
D. Can you do all of the above in a 2-3 sentence opening paragraph as your pitch?

This kind of pitch is easier to review than bullet points or the fully fleshed-out piece.

8. I got some great counsel to focus on from a great mentor.

.@markleiter was the CEO of The Cambridge Group at the time. He was the former Chief Strategy Officer of @nielsen and a former partner at Bain and McKinsey.

He observed I was writing about a diverse set of topics. He suggested I focus on two areas. #superconsumers and #categorycreation. It was one of the best pieces of advice ever.

9. I invested in primary research/data science.

As a consultant, I had a lot of great case studies.

But to take my writing to the next level, I needed to invest in data. Thanks to @nielsen and @fortune’s lists, I was able to build robust data sets that took my theories to the next level.

Case studies are clear. Research/data is compelling. Having both is the best.

10. I wrote with friends who made me better.

Most of my articles were solo, but I began writing with co-authors.

Some of them were folks I was helping. But few wanted to hone their writing/thinking

But eventually @lochhead found my writing. We became great friends and thought partners.
That led me to @nicolascole77. Who took our writing to the next level.
Which led us to our pirate ship, @categorypirates!