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Is Your Guest Posting Pitch Preventing You from Getting Published?

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Guest Posting Pitch

We have seen an array of posts here on why you need to start guest blogging and how to get your post accepted. Most of them mention the actual email pitch but not as in-depth as it deserves to be.

The very first thing to remember about sending your first email is that this step is crucial: it will actually determine if you ever hear back and if ever have the chance to get your post published.

Therefore, a guest posting pitch requires special attention.

1. Bypass the Spam Filters

Before you even get down to writing that email suggesting your guest post idea, bear in mind that the spam filter is your first enemy. If your pitch is caught in it, chances are it will never be noticed.

So let’s imagine that the opportunity is killer and that the blog owner would potentially love your offer – would you like to screw your chance completely by letting it never happen? I bet you wouldn’t.

guest posting pitch

Of course, spam filters are often weird and it is too hard to say why some messages get caught – but let’s at least take care of the obvious things:

  1. Avoid sending your pitch using a free email service (@ gmail is no exception). Create an email address at your own domain and use it to send all your (guest blogging) pitches: it both looks professional and increases your chances to get past the spam filter.
  2. Avoid linking to0 much from your email: links are red flags. Of course, linking to your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn profiles as well as your blog might increase your following, get you closer connected to the author and let him know more about you (which is never a bad thing) – but remember if you link to everything you think is important, the blog owner might never even see your links (which make them absolutely useless). Keep your social media links for the second contact. For now just focus on your point.
  3. Avoid using CAPS LOCK or bold to emphasize your point. Avoid too much formatting overall.
  4. Always start with the name: even if the owner’s name is not clearly publicized on the site, spend a couple of minutes Googling, linking through Twitter and Facebook profile to find who you are emailing to.
  5. Avoid red-flag words even if you can’t do without them. A quick example here: I own a domain sexysocialmedia.com, and it’s a perfectly legit website. However, I avoid mentioning it in the first-time contact email for the fear of being spam-filtered.
  6. Avoid exclamation marks, especially in the email subject.

2. Make a Good First Impression

Remember, with most busy bloggers you have just a few seconds to make them read further. I, for one, receive 300 email messages a day (including automated notices like Google Alerts, Twitter notifications and Facebook friend requests, etc). This makes me scan emails rather than actually read them.

With that in mind, try to capture their attention within one second to make the blogger read further:

  • Again, personalize (see #6 above);
  • Make your email short and concise, yet don’t overdo: remember which details are worth adding.
  • Make your email easy to scan: your sentences and paragraphs should be short and clear.

3. Make the Blogger Want to Reply

Yes, I have already mentioned that the email should be short, but there are a few details that must be included:

  • Some personal details you managed to learn about the blogger (where you first heard about him; why you decided to email, etc). It can be a soft compliment, but avoid sounding too sugary.
  • Your suggested post idea (and maybe why you think it would fit the target blog);
  • A sample of your previous guest post (one link to a related post should be enough);
  • A question or a call to action o conclude.

Quick note: Be sure to also go through the target blog guest posting guidelines (if there are any) and include any details they require.

Here’s a quick sample:

            Dear (Andrew),

Congratulations on your blog anniversary. I learned that you have recently started accepting guest posts, and I decided to suggest my guest post idea.

I would like to write a guest post on the differences between Facebook “Like” button and “Share” button. It would be a great follow-up to your recent article on how to share web pages on Facebook.

Included is a post I did for Social Media Examiner a couple of weeks ago:

…

Please let me know what you think!

Sincerely

Ann Smarty

annsmarty.com

Note: I also often attach the actual guest post (if I have it already). But be sure to read through the guest post guidelines before you actually do: some bloggers prefer to see the idea first.

Over to You

I am sure you’ve been emailing back and forth for ages and have your own tricks! Let’s share ideas in the comments!

Image: pacman

About

Ann Smarty is an experienced blogger, search geek and a social media enthusiast. If you are serious about blogging, be sure to join Ann's community of guest bloggers My Blog Guest: there you will find bloggers for your site as well as guest posting opportunities to promote yourself

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{ 23 Responses }

  1. Crinel says:
    Hi Ann Nice post here about guest blogging. I do believe in contacting the poster and discussing the subject , with some choices of the poster. Relationship, and promotion is the key to your guest post at both ends, by the poster and by the guest both. Crinel
  2. Mark says:
    Great read, Ann. I personally like number three: Avoid using CAPS LOCK or bold to emphasize your point. Avoid too much formatting overall. I have a couple of article directories and I always love it when people submit articles that are stuffed to the top with keywords that are all bolded, italicized and underlined. The whole thing looks like a minefield. It is not very common, but every once in a while you get a hotshot that learned his or her SEO in the 90's and still uses the old spammy techniques. Great article. As an editor, it made me smile. Oh, great job on your formatting BTW. Mark :)
  3. Fran Aslam the Onlinewriter says:
    Hi Ann Nice post here about guest blogging. I do believe in contacting the poster and discussing the subject , with some choices of the poster. Relationship, and promotion is the key to your guest post at both ends, by the poster and by the guest both. Fran A
  4. Timothy Arends says:
    Good post. I mention in my email where I found out that they accept guest posts, such as MyBlogGuest or elsewhere, the fact that I always send 100% original content and give them exclusive access to it if they run my post, my special "twist" or "niche" such as the fact that I cover Macs even when submitting to PC-oriented blogs, and I request that they let me know if they are interested so I can free up the article to use elsewhere (this emphasizes the fact that I give exclusive content).
  5. TrafficColeman says:
    Make your post unique..because people always want to read real life stories..so these are accepted faster then anything else.. "Black Seo Guy "Signing Off"
  6. Moosa Hemani says:
    A very different and non discussed topic… and you provide some great information. I am in to guest blogging from couple of months and figure out few things. 1. For me the blog post attached with the email always work out for me! 2. Choose some good mail titles don’t go for ‘Hey, check this out!’ And I think email should be short and to the point. The idea of referring to any post by blogger is a good idea. Over all a nice article!
  7. The Bad Blogger says:
    Usually I do not write professionally in email when I contact big time blogger such as copyblogger or problogger for instance, I use title like... "I have some question about guest blogging on your blog" And follow by a "hi" don't need to cap the "h" and then ask... "Can I guest post on your blog? then "looking forward for your reply"... I did this with copyblogger and problogger and guess what they reply in within 6 hours after I send them the email.... But of course... the difficult part is you have to wait for nearly 3 weeks to get to know whether your guest post in approve... well my guest post is still under review... it's already 2 weeks.... Anyway, I prefer to write short sentence email rather then professionally written email because I believe in order for a big time blogger to notice your email... the best is write as though you are sending an email to a friend... I mean almost everyday those big time blogger always get professionally written email and they might just get sick of it.... I think...
    • Ann Smarty says:
      Short is always good. I am not sure about being too informal those. A golden middle is preferable, I'd say
  8. Alex says:
    Hello Ann, Sending an email before trying to submit a guest post is always a great idea, especially if you don't know the blogger at all. This can help you create a certain relation between you and the blogger which will definitely help your post be published faster. Now, with emails, it's a bit tricky, especially with overzealous spam filters which can flag your email even if you it's completely legit. I think the best way is to send an email with a confirmation when read, this way you can be sure that at least your email was seen and if you don't get an answer you can move on.
    • Ann Smarty says:
      Exactly: we should think about both the people and spam filters when creating an email and try to please both :)
  9. Mani Viswanathan says:
    Reading the Guest Posting Guidelines is probably the most imp. thing to do before writing a Guest Post. I had my written my first guest post @ SML & I had no problems because I didn't have to email and ask. But I will remember your tips if I find a blog which is closed to registrations & wherein I would need to drop-in an email.
  10. Tia Peterson says:
    Hey Ann! I like your sample. I think pitching the idea is a great way to get started. And linking to previous guest posts - that's a great touch, too. I'm about to start a guest posting campaign for a new blog, so this post has good reminders on how to get started! Cheers, Tia
    • Ann Smarty says:
      I have tweeted that already but will repeat here: "Congrats on the new blog launch!"
  11. Mr Daz says:
    I've posted a few guest posts on my blog from people who have axes to grind (and am always on the lookout for more) but haven't written any for other websites. What would be your advice on looking for sites to guest post on? Would you look for similar sites in terms of theme and content (sites which could be classed as direct competitors) or would you look for non related sites for which you could write a related post?
    • Ann Smarty says:
      My firm belief that guest posting is about cross-niche knowledge exchange: an artist can tell how he promotes his artworks online, for example.
  12. Nikunj says:
    nice tip on about guest blogging, the other thing you can include is link to any article previously posted to get the owner of the blog an idea how you write. whenever i approach for guest blogging i do mention some of the previous post I did, which really helps in getting you the job
    • Ann Smarty says:
      True, but like I said, don't overdo with links - your email risks being spammed!
  13. wasim ismail says:
    Ann thanks for the guidance, its all about giving the first impression, as you can imagine the blog admin probably has a huge list of things to go through, so keeping its short and sweet, and at the same time professional will always work in your favour. If the email is short and to the point, you are also more likely to get a quicker response back.
    • Ann Smarty says:
      Exactly: short and to the point!
  14. zezebel says:
    It is still too early for me to participate in guest post but will keep all this in mind when the time come. For people like me who never done any guest post before, what link should I put in there?
  15. Shiva says:
    Hi Ann, Those are some great tips on how to write a great guest posting pitch. I have never done guest posting till now but I plan to do so pretty soon in the future. You certainly mentioned about how to write a great email pitch but I think you missed about the "Subject" part. I think the "Subject" part of the email should also be properly frame and convey the message that the email is about a guest post. Some guest poster's miss out on that too. And like you said since most bloggers get innumerable amount of mail per day, the may certainly miss out the guest blogging pitch if the subject is not properly mentioned. None the less great post, I am sure this is going to help all the guest posters around here to come up with a great guest post pitch. Regards, Shiva
    • Ann Smarty says:
      Great point! I guess it deserves the whole new article!