Tips On Pitching People To Guest Blog or Get an Article Posted.

When you’re trying to get your company’s name out there or to get backlinks, it seems almost impossible to get included on large blogs or sites that have a ton of PR; unless you are well known or have an authority site yourself.  The reality is that it is still easy to get backlinks and be included in blog posts, you just have to do one important thing, get over your own ego and add value to these sites.

Entrepreneurs and business owners are obsessed and enthusiastic about their own products and services.  They also tend to think that because they love it and think it is brilliant, everyone else in the world does to.  What they have a hard time getting over is that what is interesting and important to them is only interesting and important to them, not the masses, yet.  When they learn to put their own ego in check, and remember that it isn’t all about them, their pitches can become a lot more effective.

It is good to be excited an energetic about your company, products and services, but you also have to remember that for the blog or website it is about that site’s audience and how your information or post will benefit them.  Pitching your product or to buy your product isn’t beneficial.  Talking about or showing how it will make their lives easier is the first step and not trying to oversell it is the second.  Here are a few examples of how to put your obsession with your own products, company and services aside and get a better response rate with being able to get more guest blogging spots and being included on other sites.

Add value and know what the site is looking for. (Guest posts and article inclusion.)

You may have the best product or offer the best service in the world, the problem is that the Blogger or Website you are talking to doesn’t care.  What they do care about is giving their readers a reason to come back.  If you are pitching a Blogger or website, read a few of their most recent posts or find a few posts that are relevant to your product or service.  You then want to create your pitch around that.  Take Mommy Bloggers for an example.

You may think that you have the best coupon site in the world that offers the most amazing deals.  Its probably true in your eyes as it is your site.  Your insurance company may offer the most amazing insurance at the best prices or your one of a kind vacuum could cost 1/2 of the price of a regular vacuum and last 5 times longer.  The problem is that in everyone else’s mind you are the same as every other company pitching the same exact thing.  Instead of saying I have this amazing coupon site, try to talk about something else and then tie it in.  Here is an example of one way that I would pitch each of the above products, sites and services to a Mommy Blogger.

Coupon site pitch:

Instead of saying my coupon site will save your readers money with the most amazing coupons, try adding value to the reader and make it interesting.  Just saying you have coupon codes for them is not adding value.  Tell the Mommy Blogger that you have a unique article that will only appear on their site, and this has to be true, about 10 ways to save money.  Make the coupon site number 4 or 5 down the list and give other tips.  The whole 10 ways to save money is cliche at this point and tons of these articles are out there, so be creative with your list and pitch.  Talk about things that a Mom can use and do herself that other people aren’t talking about.  Do one paragraph about product substitutes with cooking.  Not generic products, but switching a red potatoe with a gold potatoe if one is on sale or using honey instead of simple syrup if one is cheaper.  Giving actual examples in the article instead of general thoughts is something that is normally missing from those articles and could possibly get the Mommy Blogger more excited to publish your article.

Insurance company pitch.

One article idea could be about 5 ways you may not have thought of to lower total household costs.  You can talk about the energy saving lightbulbs, boring but people love them, auto feeders for pets which measure the right amount of food as opposed to large scoops which over feed and waste extra food.  You can then talk about looking for a new insurance quote to lower total household costs by shopping around.  Give hints like if you have multiple policies with the same company then you can get additional discounts or talk about certain things to mention when on the phone like that you have had no car accidents in 5 years or that if you have a fire hydrant right out front of your house.  Give real examples of things people wouldn’t think about mentioning when they are shopping for insurance which can help them to get lower rates.  That adds value instead to the readers because it gives them something they can use.  It is also more effective than saying use coupons, shop around for insurance and buy generic pet food.  That is all obvious and boring.

Pitching a houseware like a vacuum.

One idea is to talk about general household cleaning tips and not mention the name of your vacuum.  Instead just link off of the keyword phrase you are trying to optimize for.  Another way is to talk about the advancement of vacuums and what you should and should not look for or be careful of when buying vacuums.  You can talk about what the types of filters are, which are best for people with allergies, what designs to look for for wood floors or carpeted floors or even solutions to use with wet/dry vacuums and vacuum/carpet cleaner combos.  By using all of those keywords, you’ll be able to give yourself a keyword rich backlink and be sharing something with the readers that they may not have known before.

Pitching a single product or product review. (Having press releases picked up as well.)

I get asked to review products at least once a week.  I’ll tell you that out of 50 requests maybe 5 will get my attention and 1 will make it onto one of my sites.  It’s important to remember when you are pitching a Blogger that you are the one looking for the favor and any legit Blogger is going to want to test the products you are asking them to review before they review them.  Here are the things you have to be ready or willing to do in order to get the most out of your pitch.

1.  Be ready to give a free sample, trial or amount of time with your product.  This is necessary in order to give an honest review.  The FTC is also cracking down on fake reviews right now.  If you are not willing to let the Blogger or person try your product, why would they want to review it?  Your word is nothing to anyone who doesn’t know you and chances are they have never heard of you so it doesn’t mean a thing yet.

2.  Don’t be to aggressive and remember it is their site.  If you aren’t happy with something in the review, you can always ask for them to change it or change the backlink.  The thing you need to be careful of is demanding things or thinking that because they reviewed your product or service that it is your site and your review.  Regardless if your products and services are on their site or not, it is still their site and they control what goes on it.  If you piss the person off they can easily switch out the link to amazon or a similar product.  You don’t own the site, the page or the review and you need to remember that.  It’s ok to ask for changes but watch your tone of voice and never demand that they do them.

3.  Be ready for backlash and negative reviews.  If the person doesn’t like the product or service, they may end up giving you a negative review.  Even if they do like it, their readers may have had a bad experience with your product or service.  If someone doesn’t like a product that I review, I don’t stop them from sharing their experiences either.  What does piss off Bloggers and Webmasters is if you come on and bash their readers for leaving negative feedback.  If someone doesn’t like your product or service and leaves a negative comment, be proactive and don’t attack that person.  Instead offer a way to help resolve the issue.  It is up to the Blogger to publish your comment and if they don’t like that you are yelling at their readers, they can keep you off their site and only negative reviews will show.

Guest Blogging and getting picked up by websites is a great way to get exposure and get backlinks.  You just have to remember a few things.  Be creative and offer value to their audience.  Make the articles or products relevant to their sites and interesting for their audience.  Use past articles that got a lot of attention to gain the Blogger’s interest and most importantly, be ready for negative feedback or to give out a free sample of the product or trial of your services.  These are things that help to get your articles and products picked up instead of ignored.