- I don't have time.
- I'm not that great at writing.
- What if they say, “no”?
- What if I do actually eek out 10 extra hours, create a killer post, get it accepted, and it only results in 5 new subscribers? What then?!
Have you been using these excuses to hold you back from making the pitch, getting a guest post accepted, and GROWING?
I know Sarah and I have!
This week, we're making the pitch. No more excuses. No more fears holding us back.
We're doing the work, taking the risk, and hopefully getting some stellar results.
In answer to that 4th excuse: if you follow best practices, pick a blog that jives well with yours, and give your very best, insanely helpful content, I'm fairly certain you'll find more than 5 new subscribers or loyal readers headed your way.
If you don't, then guess what?
You still stretched yourself, improved your writing, learned what not to do for next time, got an extra link to your site, increased your credibility, and the list goes on!
As for that pesky little hurdle called time, we have a great solution for you: Don't write the entire guest post out ahead of time.
Our challenge to you this week is to make the pitch! Find a blog that you love, whose niche and style jive well with yours, and pitch 3 killer guest post titles with summaries to the blog owner.
That's it!
When you get your first “yes” that's the time to start writing your best work yet.
As always, Sarah and I will be making the pitch right along with you. (Thank goodness we're NOT talking about baseball because I have about as much confidence in my fastball as I do in my dog laying golden eggs!)
Challenge Update
This week, I pitched 3 guest post ideas to the Etsy Seller Guidebook team. I haven't heard back yet, but I did wait until the end of the week to finalize my pitch. No worries, we'll be following up with them in a week either way.
FYI: If you want to submit a pitch to the Etsy Seller Blog, you'll have to jump through a few hoops. They require you to submit information to this form.
They'll ask you questions about your experience as an Etsy seller, what areas you feel you have expertise in, submit a writing sample, and submit your pitch with clear goals in mind for what you want the readers of your post to accomplish. Phew, and that's just naming a few things they asked for! In all honesty, it didn't take me too terribly long to submit the query. It's two pages long. Don't psych yourself out, just do your best and put yourself out there!
It took me much longer to actually formulate my 3 post ideas and ensure that I articulated them well. One thing I made sure to do was to reference other posts of theirs that related well to my current pitch. I wanted them to know I've read their blog thoroughly, and that I'll be able to provide solid links back to other great pieces of content on their blog.
If you're trying to figure out who works on what at Etsy, one great source is the Meet the Etsy Admin Team. Each person's photo and a link to their own profile is included on the team. It will take some hunting, as you'll have to go through each name (and some personal profiles don't spell out what exactly they do on Etsy), but when you've found the right person to connect with, it could make a big difference.
Using Meet the Etsy Admin is how I found Julie Schneider, the writer-editor for the Seller Handbook. Her auto-response message let me know about Etsy's official post submit form, and also that Nadine Heintz could be contacted regarding questions related to the Seller Handbook or articles you may be working on together: nheintz@etsy.com. I couldn't find Nadine within the Etsy admin team, but knowing just one person's email within Etsy makes it pretty easy to guess the email of almost any other staff member there. first initial, last name@etsy.com (Most companies have a canned email assignment system like this one.)
We'll keep you posted on what happens with our guest post!
Update from one of our Brilliant Business Moms!
One of our loyal listeners and a fellow Brilliant Business Mom, Victoria, has just been killing it lately with her growth. Recently, she launched her first book, and yet she still finds the time to take on a new challenge each week and grow.
Victoria submitted 3 guest post ideas to Heather MacFadyen of God-Centered Mom. They were related to staying God-centered as a new mom. Rather than accept her guest post, Heather took things one step further and asked if Victoria would be a guest on her podcast to share on this topic!
Wow!!! Amazing!!! All it took was Victoria reaching out, sharing her heart and message, and receiving a response that was far more than she expected. As Victoria mentions in her video in the comments. If you don't ask, you won't receive.
How about you guys? How did your pitches go this week?
We can't wait to hear about the progress you've made and the new audiences you'll reach!
~ Beth Anne & Sarah