I have such discomfort with the "approach and introduction" that I never get "guest writing" off the ground.
Before I dig into this (excellent) question, I'm going to share just one
of many guest post pitches that I've received:
*************************
Subject line: Need a guest post on your site
Email:
Hi there,
I have an article ready for guest post. your site looks relevant for my article. what I want to post is, about Tech support and email password
recovery. Please inform if you can post my article.
Thanks in advance.
*************************
Even if you're not a blog editor, you can probably see some instant red flags here:
- The blogger has a rather shaky grasp on grammar and punctuation.
- They are likely emailing lots of blogs (they haven't addressed me by name and they say "your site" rather than naming it).
- They haven't attached
the article or even given the title, despite implying it's already written ("I have an article ready for guest post").
- There's a certain sense of entitlement here ("Need a guest post" "your site looks relevant" ... I'd expect the post to be carefully tailored to my blog, actually)!
It's, frankly, a terrible pitch. I'm never going to accept a post form this blogger. And yet ... they sent it anyway, and I they probably didn't suffer
a moment's discomfort or anxiety about their pitch, because they were sending out dozens – perhaps hundreds – of identical pitches to other bloggers.
I'm not suggesting you emulate this approach, of course. I just want to show you how poor many guest post pitches are!
Reading the Guest Post Guidelines
Most large blogs that accept guest posts have some sort of guidelines about how
to approach them. (You can often find these linked to in the sidebar, or on the Contact or About page.)
Here are a couple of examples:
Requirements can vary quite widely and, while it's not necessarily a deal-breaker if you don't follow the guidelines, they are there to help you give your guest post a good
chance of success.
In particular, look out for:
- Whether the blog prefers an initial "pitch" (where you email them your proposed topic) or whether they'd rather you just send a finished blog post
- What format they'd like your blog post in (this varies a lot: common ones are Word document, Google document, HTML, or uploaded into their blog's dashboard)
- Any guidance on topics and word length: do stick to
this!
Pitching Guest Posts When No-One Knows Your Name
It's rare to be "head-hunted" for a guest post. It's started happening to me occasionally, and this is after eight years guest posting! Most bloggers are too busy – and have plenty of guest posts coming their way anyhow.
Bloggers expect you to ask; they expect you to approach them. While sending out a pitch can be
terrifying for the guest poster (it took me a whole week, once, to pluck up enough courage to pitch Copyblogger), it's just another email in the day of a busy blogger.
Even if you screw it up royally, it's unlikely they'll do anything except email back to say, "Sorry, not for us" or words to that effect. They probably won't even remember your name.
Chances are, though, you'll do a decent job of it (and you certainly don't need to be perfect).
Bloggers are generally looking for two things from your pitch:
- A good, on topic idea that would suit their blog
- The general impression that you can write well (your email doesn't need to be anything amazing, but do watch the grammar and punctuation)
Here's an example pitch that you could send, even if you've had no experience of guest blogging at all:
*************************************
Dear
[name],
Would you be interested in a guest post titled "Five Mistakes Writers Make with Dialogue ... and How to Fix Them"? This would cover mistakes like too much chit-chat, poor use of dialogue tags, and unrealistic-sounding conversations. It would also include "before and after" examples.
If that's not a good fit for you right now, perhaps one of these topics would suit you:
- How to Write Character Descriptions That Don't Bore Your
Reader
- Ten Ways to Liven Up a Dull-But-Necessary Scene
I blog at [name of blog] about [topic] and I've been writing fiction for several years. If you want to check out my writing, I suggest these two posts:
[title and link]
[title and link]
Thanks for your time, and all best wishes,
[your name]
*************************************
In
particular, note that:
- You don't need to give extensive biographical details. In fact, it's generally best to keep this short – just mention any relevant expertise /life experience, or places you've written for.
- If you're pitching a blog for the first time, it's often helpful to send them two or three links to samples of your writing. Some blogs explicitly ask for this. You don't normally need to do so if you're sending the whole blog post,
though.
- While not essential, it's useful to suggest a couple of alternative ideas – this can make the difference between a "not for us, sorry" and "not for us, but XYZ sounds interesting – could you send us a brief outline?"
Pitching your first guest post is daunting, and I know it can feel quite uncomfortable to email someone out of the blue to ask if they'll publish your post ... but do give it a try! The worst that can possibly happen
is that someone says "no, thanks" ... and there are plenty more blogs out there to try.
Good luck!
