Global Marketing and Online Writing Classes

by Mike Sedge

I'd like to talk to you about global marketing and online writing classes. Though seemingly unrelated topics, they, in reality, have much in common. For one thing, I am currently teaching an online class -- "Going Global with Your Writing Career" -- and find that one of the most difficult aspects is getting students to "think" globally. There are 22 students in "Going Global," dispersed from Japan to Canada and Kuwait to Holland. One would think, with such a wide geographical span, that writers would be broad-minded and open to the world of marketing opportunities. This, for the most part, is not the case.

During the first week of the course, students were required to produce a list of ten article ideas. Two of these were then developed into query letters. In one query, a student included the line, "On the southern shore of Button Lake, in Naples, retired mechanic Jack Simons set up his handcraft stand as he had each morning for the past five years. Today, however, was different." Based on this one line, I advised the author that: "This is not an international query. Can you tell me why? Try 'thinking' like an editor whose readers are, say, in Singapore."

Learning to "Think" Marketing
Many students of writing courses, whether online or in traditional classroom settings, believe that instructors should tell them how to do something. This, in my view, is not teaching. It does not make one "think" about how something should be done. I could simply have corrected the above student's query and said, "It should be done this way for global marketing appeal." That would not have helped her grow as a writer. It would not have achieved the goal of the course -- i.e, to turn one into a global marketer. I was pleased when she came back with, "People in Singapore wouldn't know where Button Lake is, and there are many places called Naples -- Italy, Florida, etc. -- in the world. Guess I should indicate the state and even the country so readers have an exact geographical bearing." She was correct, and I was pleased that she'd begun to "think" international marketing.

Too often writers are so familiar with their subject that they fail to consider the reader's lack of such knowledge. This is also true -- particularly in North America -- in the spoken word. During the past decade a rising trend of saying, "you know," has emerged. On television and radio talk shows, as well as daily conversations, people throughout America and Canada are saying, "you know." Sometimes I want to scream out, "No! I do NOT know!" The worse part is that this trend is creeping into the written words of many otherwise good writers. Not that they write, "you know." Rather they arbitrarily assume the reader has certain knowledge. Based on articles submitted to me by current and past students, it is my belief that this stems from writing for localized publications. Take, for example, a student living in Ontario. In one of her stories, she consistently talks about people and places as if I should know exactly who and where they are. "While this would be an excellent story for a local newspaper," I told her, "it is not suitable for the global marketplace in its current form." In her reply, she said, "It's funny you should say that. I actually wrote this for an Ontario newspaper."

Keep the Readers In Mind
In the early 1990s, I accompanied the country-music group, Pirates of the Mississippi, on a tour through Germany (as their marketing manager). A year later, they released their hit song, "Think Locally." They realized, after the tour, that many people, including themselves, were not in tune with the way individuals in other countries think. To sell your articles around the world, however, you must keep readers in mind. The best way to do this is to put yourself in the shoes of foreign editors or readers. Imagine you live in, say, Germany. You have never been outside your country and you have no knowledge of the subject covered in a particular query or article you've received. Then ask yourself: Does every line of your work make sense?

This is a good habit not only for international sales, but domestic markets as well. If you're a SCUBA diver, for instance, you might write, "The constant noise of the regular echoed in my ear." Naturally, you, and other divers, know what a "regular" is. If you are trying to sell your article to a general interest magazine or newspaper, though, there are probably thousands of readers who will ask, "What is that?" It would therefore be more complete to write, "The constant noise of the regular, which kept oxygen flowing from the tank and into my lungs, echoed in my ear."

You Know
The key is clarity. Never do a "you know" with your queries or articles, particularly if you are aiming for international markets. Students of "Going Global with Your Writing Career" are quickly learning this and other tips that will make their articles "travel well" abroad. During the eight-week course, they will develop the skills -- and hopefully maintain them throughout their writing careers -- that instinctively turn each effort into a contender for global publication.

In the course, I teach the multiple sales method of writing. That is, create one article and sell it over, and over, and over again. I stress operating like a business and controlling article rights. While many online classes are operated in a "virtual classroom" setting, whereby students bombard instructors and fellow students with a crossfire of questions, I prefer to pass out weekly assignments, via an undisclosed list of students, by e-mail. Each student, in turn, works one-on-one with me. This creates a personalized lesson that, for me, holds greater benefit to the students.

Keep in Mind
If you are thinking about taking an online writing course, you may want to keep this in mind. Additionally, ask yourself: Can you communicate directly, on a weekly, or even daily basis with the instructor, if need be? What are the goals of the instructor? Mine are not only to make students think globally, but to open their horizons to world markets by acting as their editor and agent, so to speak. Good online classes should also have a textbook or reading assignments as part of the package. Online classes can be an excellent stepping-stone for your writing career and, if you keep an open mind and think globally, they can launch you around the world.

-- MS
©1999 Michael Sedge