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Hello!
If you’re thinking of a blog post for this site, the checklist is below. Please use it as such— literally, go through the points and ensure your draft satisfies all of these criteria.
If the post fails to hit these points, I will more than likely decline it.
That said, here’s how to get to the top of the pile!
THE MUST HAVES
- Substantive posts and original content.
An article that feels too short or that lacks depth, will be sent back. Nearly ALL of my most viral posts are more than 1500 words. Dive deep into the topic and treat the post as seriously as you would a post on your blog. Because you are a student of EBA, please write in the FOCUS format as Ruth Sukoup teaches. When possible, back up what you’re saying with research or stories, as well as data taken from your own experiences. - If you’re just starting out, please don’t ask to guest post. You need to have an authority and a good amount of high-quality posts on your site for consideration.
- You may include outgoing links ONLY if they are helpful and relevant to my readers. I reserve the right to remove any links I determine do not meet that criteria.
- Be SPECIFIC and get into exact details. If you’re writing a money saving post don’t leave my readers wondering how to accomplish something. Same goes for any post you submit.
- Please DON’T ask me last-minute favors. I’ll need 2 – 8 weeks to post. If your email is last-minute, I’ll sadly almost always have to politely pass.
- IMPORTANT: Send me a few topic ideas before drafting anything.
Before you write a post, email me 3-5 of your best topic ideas based on all the above points, including prospective titles and a few bulleted “takeaways” for each. If you draft something without my thumbs up, I can’t help if I then reject it as not a great fit for my audience. Keep in my mind that I write to women over 40 who are juggling full-time jobs, children, a husband, and household. They are worried about their finances and dream of a life where debt and clutter no longer exists and they are living a joy filled life with as little chaos as possible. - When in doubt, link it out.
TECHNICAL REQUEST: Always have links open in a new tab, please. In other words, I don’t want people to leave my site. Here’s how to format links to open in a new tab. In all cases: always TEST your links before sending the draft to me. - Include actionable takeaways and recommended next steps.
Readers care about your story, but they also need to learn specific lessons from your post. - Create quality “evergreen” content.
- Send me the right formats.
– Please send me the post in two formats: 1) Word doc and 2) HTML, the latter formatted for WordPress. I don’t want to spend hours reformatting after copying and pasting from Word, but I like to print from Word to hand edit first.
– Do NOT send me just a single Word doc with blue links — can’t use it. - Use of bullets, lists, and short paragraphs is highly encouraged as it makes reading much easier.
- Please make a concerted effort to use correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Submissions which require excessive editing cannot be accepted.
- Don’t forget to include a short bio in the appropriate field below. Feel free to include a link to your site.
- A Mess Free Life does not offer monetary compensation for guest posts.
- Have fun with it! Tell stories, crack jokes if you like, and be yourself. The final product will be better and appreciated by my readers!