Ask the Editors: How Do You Want to be Pitched and What Has Changed?
From Amanda DiSilvestro on Higher Visibility:
I talked with some of the best editors in the SEO and online marketing industry and asked them the following questions:
When a writer emails you about getting involved in your content marketing and contributing content, what is it that you look for in his/her email? Are there specific things you don’t like to see with this type of pitch? Have your standards and thoughts on this subject changed over the last several months?
This is my contribution to the post:
I started accepting guest posts on Basic Blog Tips over 4 years ago and during that time nearly 200 guest authors have contributed content the blog. Most of those bloggers were already on my radar before they approached me about guest posting. I’m active in a number of blogging communities like Blog Engage, Triberr and Social Buzz Club so it’s much easier for members of those communities to connect with me for guest posting outreach. I talk more about my process in this episode of my podcast.
When I get approached by people who use a template email—most of the time I’m not interested. I can always tell when the person hasn’t done their research about me or my blog based on the tone of the email. Of course any email that mentions a “team” of writers gets rejected. Then there are those that are going to provide an article at absolutely no charge or free of charge. I find that type of email very annoying and consider it spam or junk mail.
In the past, the only way I would consider a new guest author is if they left a voice mail for me through my Speakpipe account. That’s a great way to filter out the noise. And I always ask for examples from previous guest posts so I can check their interaction and responses to comments. Something I started doing recently is checking Buzzsumo to search for past articles of potential guests. Just type in “author:author name” to see the results and it does a great job of pulling in their portfolios.
Overall, I’m starting to see a lot more guest posting requests come through from more qualified authors and I find that very refreshing.
