If you are a writer (or aspiring writer) with something to say and a unique point of view, advicesisters.com invites you to be a guest blogger. Advicesisters.com receives emails daily from people who say they’d like to write for us. Whether you are pitching advicesisters.com or another site, there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. Here are some tips to get a “yes” from an editor!
Guest Blogger The Right Way – Research!
What is the right way to approach a busy editor? If you want to write for someone’s publication, know something about it. There’s nothing less flattering to an editor than to get a pitch without any mention of the editor’s name or publication, or a salutation like HI, HEY, Yo, You Wanna… or even (Dear Editor {insert name}.
If you send me story ideas that are incredibly generic I know you never looked at my site at all. If your pitch isn’t personal, I know that you just pulled me off a list.
There are some other red flags that can send your request right to the circular file. Don’t say that your story will be high quality (who would take it if it wasn’t)? It’s pointless to tell me that you’re sure your story ideas will fascinate my readers. That is for me to judge. Seasonal stories have to be relevant to the season. Suggesting a Valentines’ Day or New Year’s Eve story when it’s Summertime makes no sense.
Even more importantly, use proper grammar. If I am mentally editing your email pitch and it’s full of mistakes, I’m not going to want to deal with a full article that isn’t grammatical or factual. So take the time to fashion a proper email pitch and double-check it.
No Babies?
Consider Your Interests:
Before you ever get an editor to be excited about your story ideas, you need to find blogs that are complementary to your own interests and that will work with theirs. Make notes! Your goal is to find sites (maybe AdviceSisters.com) with topics and demographics that are a good fit for your expertise and interests. Our guest writers are excited about their topics, and it shows in their writing. Consider what you already feel passionate about.
It’s nice to let the editor know something about why you want to write for their site. Mention an article or two that inspired you to pitch your story(s). Why will your story ideas be a good fit? If you can, add some links to other things you’ve written. On advicessisters.com for example, we will often accept a story that we think our readers will appreciate but we don’t currently have anyone who has the expertise in that area to write it.
Advicesisters.com doesn’t allow commercial links on guest editorial, but we will accept a link to your own website or social media.
What Are Their Needs?
Once you know which blog or website you want to write for, think about what is already on the site. Will your suggestions complement or compete with those? After all, there can only be so many reprises of “how to wash your face” or “cute trends” stories to keep content fresh. Let the editor know that while you are sending some story ideas, you’re open to what their current needs are.
Be Humble & Honest:
Please don’t say that you’re doing me a big favor to offer “free” content. Nothing is free. Even if I love your topic, I have to take time to edit and publish it. I’m also paying for the bandwidth, social media, my influence to promote you, etc. If you’re a writer working for a company just ask for a sponsored post and state a budget range.
Posting for Dollars?
If you are writing for a company seeking free promotion, you are asking me to use my time, influence, bandwidth, and reputation to do something for your employers who don’t want to compensate me for this. These requests are not guest posts. We offer advertising, advertorials, and sponsored guest posts but require compensation for it. If you’re getting paid, why would I post your content for free? It’s annoying and just dumb to pretend you’re offering guest posts. Be honest!
However, genuine guest posting is a great way to connect with quality publications to build a great reputation and create a portfolio. In return, the website or blog gets unique content that readers will find interesting. Many years ago when I was just starting out, I was also a guest poster.
Rejection is Part of the Process:
Editors can’t accept everything, and even if they do accept a story it might just not work out well with the editorial calendar they have. If you get a rejection, be nice about it. Editors may be fielding a lot of pitches. But nothing ventured, nothing gained. Just be aware that it might take a few pitches to find the right fit for your story(s).
One of the Worst Things You Can Do:
One of the worst things you can do is to pitch the same exact story to more than one editor at a time. Public Relations firms are always asking if I can post a story about a specific topic. But I won’t use a canned story unless it’s been substantially changed from the original article. Consider that if more than one site unknowingly posts the same story, Google’s bots (and other search engines) think it is plagiarism and will rank that page low. Worse, the entire website may be penalized. Publications don’t want their reputation and their SEO ruined by spammy, or copycat stories.
And remember, we talk to each other all of the time!
Follow Directions:
Once you’ve established a relationship with an editor, be professional, and also get your work in before or by the deadline. If the editor wants a draft in WORD with photos as attachments, don’t send a formatted article the way you think it should be. Just follow the requirements and directions.
After the story is live on the site, do help to promote it on social media. Be sure to follow up with more story ideas.
Go For the Win: 
The better you get at researching and pitching stories, the better known you will get. Your reputation and social media will also grow, and you might become a regular or a member of the staff.
For more information about how to write for advicesisters.com visit About Us/Write For Us
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