My last blog post on “The Workings behind Guest Blogging” explained the process we go through when guest blogging – from coming up with the ideas to getting them placed on relevant blogs.
One of the most important parts of that process is the pitch; contacting the blog you hope to get your article on and asking them if they’d be interested in one of your articles. A lot relies on that first email or other form of contact made by you to the blog owner, yet many people have no hope of getting their articles up on good sites due to the bad first impression they leave.
Pitching it wrong
Here’s a link to a blog post on the iPullRank site with a fantastic example of how not to approach someone with a pitch.
And there are some more terrible pitching examples on the Koozai blog here.
There are a few common trends you might have noticed with these pitching examples. Badly worded and terribly spelt or just obviously impersonal and sent out to many sites at once – take your pick; the person receiving these emails isn’t going to be interested.
Pitching it right
So how do you go about getting it right? For starters, good spelling and sentence structure aren’t going to go amiss. At the very least, it shows that you’re good enough at writing to be posting articles and that you can proof read.
Make it personal! Each pitch should be unique – not look as if all you’ve done is changed the email it’s going too. Some mention of the blog’s name or preferably the blog owner’s name – if you can find it – will make them take a lot more notice of your email and not instantly hit delete. If it looks like you’ve taken a little bit of time looking around their site, then they’re more likely to take a bit more time reading your email.
Actually pitch your idea. A few of those bad examples I linked before had no mention of the article they wanted to post – only that they wanted to post one. Not every blogger is going to have the time to go backwards and forwards with emails until you’ve actually stated your idea. Send them the attractive looking title you’ve come up with for your post and see if they’re interested from the start.
And the best thing to remember when pitching: read the blog’s guest posting guidelines (if they have any). A lot of blogs have a specific way they want to be contacted and sometimes even a subject line they want you to use when emailing them. Missing this is a sure fire way to get ignored.
Don’t be disheartened!
Even if you do your best to make an awesome pitch you might still hear nothing back. Sometimes, bloggers just ignore your emails for whatever reason and it’s nothing personal.
But keep at it! The hard work is worth its rewards.
Here’s some more links to other useful resources on the subject, for those desperate to get pitching:
3 Guest Post Pitch Letters That Got The Gig
17 Foolish Mistakes To Avoid As A Guest Blogger
The Guest Blogging Fails: Again
Photo: Horia Varlan
