Interested in writing for the HUB? We’d love to connect with you!
The disciplines of business continuity, crisis management, emergency management, disaster recovery, IT availability & security, governance, risk and compliance FLOW through our six major categories. The same is true for the phases of mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. The HUB is organized in six categories or pillars. Click this link to learn more about the six pillars.
If you are a subject matter expert in one of the core disciplines or pillars, read on for more details. We eagerly seek relevant and meaty articles from thought leaders. Though we do not offer compensation for articles, we do provide spotlights to bring exposure to your expertise.
Guidelines for Authors
Article topics might include lessons learned from real events, emerging trends, technical issues & threats, as well as research and development. The priority for HUB content is to provide readers with actionable ideas.
Op-Ed pieces which pontificate or lament about the state of the world may allow the author to feel good by venting, but they usually fall into the “preaching to the choir” category and don’t offer the kind of value we are seeking to provide our readers. One classic example of this issue is C-Suite support, and funding, for the business continuity program. Rather than write about how life would be better “If only…”, a far more compelling article would state clear strategies to get appropriate C-Suite support.
The HUB has enjoyed building relationships with thought leaders over the past 25 years, and there are several key components of successful articles. The toughest challenge for authors is stopping long enough—taking adequate time—to address these key parts. Yet, if these issues are not addressed, the article will likely wander and be long on pontification but short on actionable strategies. Another frequent problem we see in article submissions is the tendency to write a basic “BCP 101” article that would not add value to more experienced pros. The HUB needs content for all levels of readers, but the preference is to challenge readers and offer them significant value.
Authors: ask yourselves…
1. Will the first paragraph make clear for whom the article is written, and what that person will gain by reading the article? If not answered in the first paragraph, readers should be expected to move on!
2. By answering these two questions in paragraph one, the structure of the rest of the article will become clear. If an author offers lessons learned from a recent event, those lessons might include certain strategies that worked well under fire, but will likely also include ideas for doing things differently in the future. Thus an author might have one paragraph for each strategy that WORKED and one paragraph for each issue that the author will do differently in the future. Then, within each paragraph, give examples of why something DID work (or DID NOT WORK) and make the case for doing the same, or differently, in the future. A concluding paragraph could briefly summarize what the article covered and encourage the reader to continue his/her professional growth.
3. The best test of an article’s merit would be whether or not the reader can make the following statement: “I am glad I read this article because I learned new ideas that will help me fulfill my responsibilities better than I could have before reading it, and those ideas are: ______, ______, and ______.” Because readers are coming from a wide range of experience, the bar for offering new ideas will be higher for those with many years as BC practitioners. However, even experienced professionals can gain by having concepts reinforced in a well-written article.
4. A final suggestion to authors will sound like something from our 9th grade English class! But our 9th grade teachers wanted us to do this for a good reason…outline your paper before writing it. Creating an outline is so important! The process of creating an outline will force you to put ideas into a logical place. An outline will force you to create paragraphs that are focused. An outline will help you see the entire article in a ‘big picture’ way that will help you stay on track and provide the reader optimal value. You may be tempted to see this as inefficient, but a solid outline will likely reduce the need for rewrites and revisions later.
Bullet Points to Keep in Mind
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- Please tell us: to whom is the article targeted? (i.e. those new to the industry, executives, etc.)
- In which of our six content categories does your article fit?
- What is the “big idea” of your article?
- What is your topic’s relevance to our readers?
- If possible, include statistics and research to support your ideas.
- Write in simple, straightforward English.
- Short, pithy, fact-filled articles are much better than long, wordy pieces.
- Remember the purpose of the first paragraph. See above.
- Stress “dos and don’ts” and “tips and techniques” that can be applied to readers’ situations.
- When you state problems, be sure to include practical solutions – be SURE to offer clear-cut take-aways and actions steps.
- Use examples to enhance the text; gather and include comments from colleagues or users when appropriate.
- Use subheads frequently to break up text (make them descriptive – not just a single word).
- We aim to publish content written in a practical, straightforward style characteristic of business-to-business periodicals (i.e., Forbes, CFO, CSO, etc.) versus articles published in educational journals.
- HUB blogs will be shorter than whitepapers and/or thought leadership pieces. Please aim for 1000 to 1500 words.
- You are invited to suggest (or provide) image ideas that best support your topic.
- Please include your bio, professional headshot (jpeg) and contact information with every article.
- DO NOT send graphs, pictures, or images embedded in a WORD doc or a PDF. You can include them in the document for placement, but ALWAYS send them to us also as separate attachments.