A study once looked at how many pitches online marketers send out for guest blogs on a monthly basis. Would you be surprised to find out that half usually send 1-10 pitches per month? Over another quarter send 11-25.

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That’s a lot of brands and services competing for an opportunity to be published on top-ranked online publications. If your business is looking to submit a guest post to these popular blogs you need to do it right. Here’s how:

1. Identify Your Target Blog or Publication and Understand Its Needs and Requirements

Guest blogs are a lot of work—perhaps even more than what you put into producing content for your own blog. When you’re writing for your own blog, you know exactly what it’s for, who you’re trying to engage, and what goals you’re trying to achieve. You’re at liberty to write in a style you’re comfortable with and know how to best communicate your message to your intended audience.

This isn’t the case with guest blogs. If you want to get published on a completely separate site, you have to understand that site has its own audience and niche. Sure, you may have some similarities, but at the end of the day, your guest post has to conform to their writing style and requirements.

Most sites publish these requirements so you can easily see if you can meet them. If a site does not, you’ll have to personally reach out and ask them for their requirements.

2. Write a Pitch

Most people are inclined to jump right into drafting a post once they find out what the requirements are. However, like I said, guest posts are a lot of work. To ensure your efforts won’t go to waste, I suggest that you create a pitch and send it out to your target blog.

Be sure to keep it brief—remember, it’s likely that they receive A LOT of pitches—and give a brief summary of what your post will be about. I often add a little snippet that says, “I’m happy to adjust my angle to better target your audience.” This is so the online publication knows I’m flexible and willing to accommodate any requested changes.

3. Write and Submit Your Guest Post

If your target publication replies and is interested, get started right away. As always, make sure that you craft a well-written post, follow their guidelines closely, and try not to write anything that’s too overtly sales-y. Focus on writing in a neutral, engaging way. Also make sure you offer solid advice or provide lots of useful, relevant information for their readers. Simply put, create a high-value post.

It may take a while for some sites to actually publish your post once you submit it to them. Give it a week or two, depending on your agreed-upon publication date, before you follow up.

There you have it. Hope my answer helps! If you have any more questions, just email me at Leadspanda and I’ll be happy to answer them.