How To Get Featured on Large Publications (Without Guest Posting) (2)
BuzzSumo filters out the most popular content on a website (sorted by social shares), so you can see what topics and type of content has performed well in the past.
Let's say I decided I wanted to be republished on Business Insider. When I type Businessinsider.com into BuzzSumo, here are my results:
Some of the results are celebrity and news stories, so I'll ignore those. The top evergreen article topics include unhealthy jobs, million-dollar retirement accounts, vocabulary and mentally strong people. Only one of the top posts is a list post (13 things mentally strong people avoid).
Armed with this knowledge, I would then go back into my archives to find a post that fits the bill. When you're doing the same research, look for content you've published previously in the same or similar topics and format as the high performing posts on the publication. Checklist
Did you choose the top publication you want to go after first? Did you use BuzzSumo to find the most popular posts on the publication? Did you go through your archives to find a previously published post that would fit in well? If you checked off all of the boxes, you can move onto the next step..
Step 3: Craft a Compelling Republishing Pitch
After you've identified your first target and found the perfect article for the website, it's pitch time! Since you likely already found the publication's guidelines when you were checking if they take republished content, take this time to read through their contribution guidelines. Often, you'll get information on how to pitch your content in these guidelines, which will be helpful in getting your pitch accepted. Aside from following direction, here are a few ways to ensure your content is accepted.
Pitch Original Content
First If you're pitching a site like Huffington Post or Elite Daily and you want to republish consistently, it's best to write one original article first. Remember that you have to rise above and stand out from the crowd. Pitching a unique piece of content tailored specific to the publication will help you get an author profile, which will give you a lot more freedom later on.
There are plenty of publications you can get away with pitching republished content to right off the bat, but avoid this with more “in demand” platforms.
Pitch to the Right Editor
To ensure your pitch will be accepted it's important to get the pitch in front of the right person. You can usually find contact information for the editorial team on their “team” or “contact” page, or even their contribution guidelines. For example, the Huffington Post has the contact information on their “About Us” page:
Often, the publication will have a generic email address for pitches, like the Huffington Post does:
I usually send the pitch to the editor of the section I'd like to see my work on, and copy the generic email address. Often that generic address becomes a wasteland of pitches.
Or you can make it easy on yourself and use our free spreadsheet.
If the publication doesn't list the email addresses of the editors, try the most common variations: firstname@example.com
firstname.lastname@example.com
firstinitiallastname@example.com
How to Craft the Perfect Pitch
I don't need to tell you that your pitch is the difference between having your content accepted and having it rejected. Right?
Editors get a constant barrage of generic pitches to their inbox. Whether you're pitching a guest post or your republished content, you need to make your pitch stand out and personalize it. This means no copy and pasting your last pitch!
The elements of a great pitch include:
A eye-catching subject-line
Addressing the editor by name
A personal connection point
A quick explanation of why and how your content will serve their audience
The content itself in the body of the email (many editors won't bother opening links and documents) A link to the content.
I wanted to make it super easy on you to execute this information, so just copy, paste, and change this pitch email:
Subject: [Something eye-catching and not generic]
“Hi [Editor name],
[Personal connection point]
I recently wrote an article about [topic] which my audience has enjoyed. I think [publication name's] audience would love the article as well, because [why? ].
I've included the article in the body of this email below, and if you'd rather check the original article out here is the link: [link].
If you enjoy the article and think it would be a good fit, I would love to have it republished on [publication name].
Let me know what you think.
[Your name]”
If I were pitching the editor for the Business section of The Good Men project, for example, I might send the following pitch:
“Hi Kimanzi!
I interviewed you for my podcast in 2015 and my listeners loved your episode. Thank you again for coming on the show!
I recently wrote an article about finding a business idea which my audience enjoyed. I think The Good Men Project's audience would love the article as well, because you've recently published an article about starting a business, and a few people who commented said they would love to start one but didn't have an idea. I've included the article in the body of this email below, and if you'd rather check the original article out here is the link: http://unsettle.org/example-link
If you enjoy the article and think it would be a good fit, I would love to have it republished on The Good Men Project.
Let me know what you think.
Sincerely, Sarah
[Body of article]”
Checklist
Did you find the section editor's name and contact information? Did you create a compelling pitch? Did you include the post in the body of the email? Once you've crafted the perfect pitch, you'll want to know how to... Step 4: Set Your Content Up for Massive Success
So you've pitched your content, and it's been accepted. Congratulations!
Now you just have to make sure the effort pays dividends. Here are a few best practices to follow to increase the clicks, likes, shares, and most importantly, traffic and conversions:
1. Set an Objective
It's impossible to know if something is effective if you don't have an objective. What are you hoping to achieve with your republished content?
If you're reading this, chances are you want more traffic to your website. Traffic could be your main objective for republishing.
But often email subscribers are the main goal, and people hope to convert their traffic - or, even better - convert directly from the republished post.
So before you begin republishing - as with anything you do - set an objective for it. What do you want to accomplish? The two most common and lucrative objectives are for traffic and email subscribers.
Once you have set your objective…
2. Get the Content Ready for Republishing
When you're republishing content, it's your responsibility to send the content to the publisher, who will usually request that you send them the content (don't expect that they'll pull it off your website for you). If you have an author profile where you can load the content directly, you'll have a bit more freedom over how you treat it, but sometimes that comes later. Don't just send the publisher the content as you have it on your website. Spend the time to ensure that it will meet your objectives.
Review links back to your other content: Usually, you'll have internal links within your content that refer back to other pieces of content. Most of the time when you republish your content those links will remain the same. However, it's a good idea to review them to see if they are the ones you want to remain in the republished version. Do NOT spam or go overboard with links. One or two links back to your website will be far more compelling for the reader to click than if every second sentence has a link. Make any changes to the content: If you want to take the approach of changing 20-25% of your content just in case, this is your opportunity to do it. Make any changes you want to before sending it to the publisher. Tweak the format to fit in with the publication: Even if you've already been accepted to republish your content, you still need to make sure it fits in with the publication. You did the research to pitch the content most likely to fit in already, but if it's still not a perfect fit, you can always rearrange the information and change the format. Follow the contributor guidelines: Most publications are pitched dozens of articles every day. To stand out and make sure you make your submission is accepted, follow the contributor guidelines, even if that means changing core points in your original piece. Be sure to follow the public guidelines the publication sets, as well as any guidelines they send you through email. Elephant Journal for example has specific guidelines for republishing, which I found out about through an email: Make it so easy the editor can't say no: You want to make it as easy as possible for the publisher to say “yes” to the post, so it should be something they can just load into their content management system and schedule. For example, if you want canonical tags, make sure to put the post into HTML and include the tags. Don't give the editor more to do than they already have. Checklist
Did you set your objective for republishing? Did you review your links back to other content on your website? Did you change a portion of the content? Did you change the format to fit in? Did you follow the contributor guidelines? Did you make it so easy the editor can't say no? When the content is ready for republishing, time to open up your email and...
3. Send the Publisher Your Content
Once you've made the content ready for republishing, it's time to send the content to the publisher. But don't just load the submission into email and press send. Go the extra mile to make the submission work double-time for you.
When you're sending the editor your submission, include a bio at the bottom of the post. Let them know in the body of your email that you've included it, and request that it remain at the end of your post instead of in an author box, like my article on Elite Daily: It's almost pointless to have an article republished otherwise - for example, Lifehack.org gives their authors very little credit for their work: When your bio is actually just an extension of your submission, people are far more likely to read it and take action on your call to action. Author boxes usually isolate your information from the post and most people don't read them. If your objective is to get more traffic, ensure your call to action is as benefits driven as possible. If they click the link to your website, what problem will your website solve for them?
If your objective is to get more email subscribers, create a content upgrade to use as an opt-in offer that compliments the content you are pitching to republish.
After you've created a bio, and made it so easy to accept your piece that the editor can hardly say no, get ready to capture the best possible results. Checklist
Did you create a compelling bio to go along with your submission? Did you request the bio remain directly under (and as part of) the content? Don't skip this step! It's one of the most important steps. Step 5: Set Your Website Up to Capture More Leads
While republishing your existing content is far easier than guest posting, there are still a few things you should be doing when your piece goes live on the other website to make sure your efforts pay off.
Create Related Content
Let's say you get your cherished piece of content up on the larger publication. A reader enjoys it enough to read to the end. They see your bio, follow your call to action and wind up on your website. Why let that forward-moving momentum with your website go waste?
You may have a new fan on your hands, but why not give them even more to do? Do this by complementing the topic of the republished content - the topic they originally found out about you from.
Schedule a piece of complementary content to go live on your own website for those who were interested enough to follow your call to action.
Optimize Your Calls to Action
Whether your objective through this republishing process is traffic or email subscribers, when the audience of the host publication lands on your website, it's still important to capture their information so you can continue to communicate with them. When the republish date comes along, optimize your Welcome Mat, List Builder andSmart Bar to capture those visitor's information. Make it even more enticing for the visitor to enter their information by creating an opt-in offer that compliments the topic of the republished post.
If you want to get really fancy, you can even create custom calls to action based on what site they're coming from.
