Several opportunities exist for submitting articles. IREM LA publishes a quarterly magazine, Inside IREM LA as well as an e-newsletter, the IREM LA e-News, eight times a year. Within these two publications, we feature the following different types of articles:

• Committee News – this type of article updates the general membership on the goings on within each IREM LA committee. This is an excellent opportunity for each Committee Chair to tout their accomplishments and recruit new committee members.
• Friends of IREM Articles – this type of article is an “expert column” written by a member of IREM LA’s Friends of IREM program.
• Industry News – this type of column features issues that are pertinent to the general membership of IREM LA. Example: Legislative Updates.
• Event Coverage – this type of article highlights an event produced by an IREM LA committee, i.e., Forecast Breakfast, Golf Tournament, etc.
• Market Updates – this type of article will feature statistics and trends within the commercial and multi-family markets.
• Best Practices – this is an opportunity to feature an expert CPM or CPM candidate and explores the how it is that they do what they do that makes them a success. This type of article is a question and answer interview with the subject written by a member of the Communications Committee.
• Feature Story – in every issue of the quarterly magazine, we will feature a major and timely story that is pertinent to the general membership. This type of article is usually an interview with the subject written by a professional resource of the Communications Committee.
• Industry Expert – in every issue of the quarterly magazine, we will feature an expert in a related field. Example: Chris Lee for customer service trends and Jack Kyser in macroeconomics.
• CPM®, ARM®, AMO® Feature –this type of article features an IREM member or members and their business and/or personal accomplishments. It can be written in paragraph form or interview style.

How to Get Started

If you are interested in writing an article, contact a member of the Communications Committee in advance so we can discuss the type of article, the topic, which publication, deadline and length of the piece.  This will increase the probability of it being included and will assist us in creating a balanced end-product.  Topics should be of general interest to the membership of IREM LA, which is comprised of:

• AMO firms
• ARM’s
• CPM’s
• CPM Candidates
• Commercial and Multi-Family Property Managers and Property Management Firms
• Friends of IREM

If you have committed to writing an article, please see your commitment through. We will reserve the space for your article and if you fail to come through, space will not be reserved for you in the future.

Guidelines

Please consider the following guidelines when writing your article:

1. An “expert column” is not an ad for your company.
   If you wish to promote your company, ads are available but an expert column is not the place to do it. Instead, think of this as an opportunity to earn the reader’s trust by sharing your expertise and teaching them something. Your company name should not be in the body of the piece, instead it will be in the ending attribution line (see below). This article is a chance to build your reputation as an expert in your field and the business will follow.
2. Don’t assume the reader knows what you are talking about.
   Introduce the topic with a bit of background. Then explain the issue/topic at hand. Explain all abbreviations, acronyms, industry jargon. Use real-life examples or “war stories” to verbally illustrate your point. Guide the reader to the conclusion.
3. Explain the impact.
   Industry news should explain the relevance of the issue to the reader. Why is this issue important to the reader? What is the impact of this issue to the reader’s business.
4. Make it visually interesting.
   Use short paragraphs. Use bulleted lists. Use sub-headings if it is a very lengthy article. Use charts, graphs, pictures, artist’s renderings whenever possible. Keep the reader’s eye interested.
5. All articles should be submitted as a Microsoft Word document and sent to me via e-mail.
   E-mail addresses are listed below.
6. The length allowed varies depending on the publication.
   e-News: The length of an article for the e-News is virtually unlimited. However, a long article (over 500 words) should have a table of contents at the top that once clicked, will take the reader to that section.
   Inside IREM LA: Currently, the magazine is running at 20 pages, therefore, we do have space restrictions. An expert column, event coverage, industry or committee news should be approximately 500 - 800 words. With all other types of articles, the length should be discussed in advance
7. The attribution line.
   The attribution line is the information about the author at the end of every article.   Two to three sentences describing who you are, your title and designations, your company, what your specialty is or what your company specializes in, website information if appropriate.
8. The headshot.
   As part of making each publication visually interesting, consider submitting a color headshot of the author.   It should be in a .tiff or .jpeg format and emailed along with the article.   It should not be already embedded in the Microsoft Word document.
9. Help is available.
   If you are having trouble getting your thoughts down on paper, please contact a member of the Communications Committee and we can work with you to help you write the article. We would rather help you and have your article rather than not have anything at all.

Thank you for your interest in IREM LA’s publications. We hope that you have found these guidelines helpful. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact a Communications Committee member or the Publications Chair as below.

Contact Information:
 
Publications Chair:
Jeffrey Fish
(213) 622-4442
jeff.fish@lausd.net