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The Game of Guest Blogging: Turning Your Pitch into a Home Run

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Yes, guest blogging is a great opportunity.  Yes, guest blogging is beneficial.  You know what else guest blogging is?  Popular.  As the popularity of guest posting has increased, so have the emails requesting consideration.  So how do you stand out as the MVB?  It’s all in how you play the game.

First things first, you must know the rules, and a lot of blog owners help by posting guidelines for submission.  What are their preferred word counts? How do they feel about affiliate links?  Being able to follow laid-out details is both as important and basic as tying up your laces. But the warm-up doesn’t stop there.  In order to score, your pitch is going to have to round the bases.

Get to first base by skipping the formalities

If your goal is to get your pitch glazed over, then by all means start your email with a lengthy introduction.

I am a huge fan of your blog; I’ve been reading ever since you posted that article about –blah- and it really got me thinking about -blah, blah, blah- and ever since then, I haven’t been able to       –white noise-. 

While it is important that you care about the site you’re pitching to, spare the webmaster all of the intimate details.  A lot of blog owners are flooded with inquires and they simply do not have the time to decode your well crafted letter for the actual pitch.  This is not to imply editors are robots, on the contrary they are very busy humans who are open to the idea of doing you a favor… just don’t make them work for it.

Instead, reach for personality in your greeting and be sure to address the editor by name.  From this point on, the body of your pitch emails should start with these 5 simple words: My guest blog idea is: (enter title).

Slide into 2nd as a title holder

If one thing is going to get your pitch noticed, it’s a well crafted title.  When blog owners read pitches of course your topic has to be relevant to their readers, but they also are trying to imagine your voice as a fit for their audience.  This is where research comes in.

Maybe the site you’re pitching to likes numbered/list blogs (4 Simple Ways to Increase Web Traffic), maybe they have an affinity for posing questions to their readers (What Makes Web Traffic Move?) or  maybe they like pop culture paired with an edge (Lessons on Driving Traffic from J-Lo’s Booty).

I’m not quite sure how that last one would work out, but you get the point.  Picking a pitch is like picking a mate.  Those in the editorial seat have to be both excited about what you’re offering and comfortable enough to introduce you to their friends.  Remember to also let editors in on your thought process by including subheadings or a one sentence summary of your piece.

Steal 3rd and prove the fit

Rather than gush over why you like the site, save your expository to explain why this will be something his/her readers will want to read.  For example:

I really enjoyed last week’s article “How to Manage Your Site’s Booming Traffic.”  I noticed some of your readers made comments/asked questions on how to get their traffic going in the first place.  My aim for this post would be to update readers on the latest traffic trends, and give them simple tips they can put into practice right away.

Bring it home with your bio

You’ve made the pitch and explained the fit, now is the time to introduce yourself – quickly.

To tell you a little bit about myself…   Follow up in one sentence summing up your writing/blogging experience.

Click to see a sample of my work…  Leave the editor a link that represents your best and most relevant work.

If you are interested in pursuing this post, I can get a draft to you by… Finish up with your turnaround rate, review your email for any typos and feel confident when clicking -send-.

Now, get out there guest bloggers and make us proud!

Hey, editors! What other tips do you have for securing a pitch?

Image © Markus Bormann – Fotolia.com

About

Kelly Gregorio writes about topics that affect small businesses and entrepreneurs while working at Advantage Capital Funds, a small businesses loan provider. You can read her daily blog at http://www.advantagecapitalfunds.com/blog/.

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{ 13 Responses }

  1. Sudipto says:
    Hey Kelly, Nice post with great information and I think this post really helps me about guest blogging. Thanks for sharing this post.
  2. Vikram says:
    I totally agree with the last point, an author bio is very important to make a person come to your site, mostly when you write an awesome article and the reader wants to know more about you, its all upto the author bio that attracts the user more
  3. Kumar Gauraw says:
    Kelley, I must say, "WOW!" This is a powerful post. The way you have explained step by step with examples, is just phenomenal. I am making a note from this post. Thank you for being so detailed. Regards, Kumar
  4. Naven says:
    Kelly, Excellent tips on how to pitch a blog for guest blogging, absolutely we should impress the blog owners by quality guest posts instead crappy one for building links.
  5. D. Dixon says:
    I love the way you wrote this, Kelly! I've never really had to pitch a guest post in the genre I'm mostly in right now and I was fortunate to find a great site that helped me generate a lot of traffic, promoted my guest post along with others and helped me establish some credibility. I will say that the game isn't over with publishing or promoting. There's money in the followup. I find that my guest posts are worth that much more when I visit the sites of other bloggers. So while you round it out with the bio, the game isn't over by a long shot. Thanks and I will be sharing!
    • Kelly Gregorio says:
      Thanks for sharing D--so glad to hear you enjoyed the post!
  6. David Leonhardt says:
    All this is very nice, but there are really only two things I want to know from a guest blog pitch. The main one is what amazingly original idea will you bring to my readers. If your pitch sounds cookie-cutter, you lose me right away. If the pitch is obviously one of a kind, I will read on until I determine if the article will be truly original or not. The second thing I want to know is how you plan to promote your guest post. When I guest post on someone else's blog, I'll gather tweets and some other social bookmarking links to the post. How will my blog get publicity as a result of you getting free links? These two things really are in order of importance for me; a truly original idea is tops by far.
    • Kelly says:
      David, you bring up an excellent point--cross promotion. Bloggers should mention how they plan to promote the post and their commitment to interacting with comments, etc. Thanks for your helpful tips!
    • Hesham Zebida says:
      Good points David, needless to mention quality, guest bloggers should take part of post promotion, I mean... 1) Hey, I've got a guest post by that person on my blog! 2) Hey, I've got my guest post published on that blog! Which one sounds better?!
  7. Ram Shengale says:
    Hey Kelly, great post. I really loved it. Thanks for the tips on pitching for guest blogging. Ram
    • Kelly says:
      Thanks Ram,I really enjoyed your Guest Blog piece too- both of our articles seem to compliment each other pretty well!
  8. Axel says:
    Hi Kelly. Great post! I am about to break all your rules, but time is of essence as is the need for a quality blogger. I visited your sites and read your blogs. I am looking for a guest blogger such as yourself to blog articles on my non-profit site regarding sm biz issues nationwide, as well as educational. We are offering a premium link to your biz and blog site in return for posting one unique article/wk, and will mention you as a premium sponsor. Your service for loans is something I've being looking for and perhaps we can work on the programs I mention in my site to help sm biz owners in the community. If you or anyone is interested for blogging serious articles and advice to sm biz owners and the issues in our educational system, please email me to discuss further. I have the health sector covered as I am a medical provider and have an educational blog. Hope to hear from you to make this opportunity a rewarding one.