Thanks for your interest in writing for the Cultivated Culture career blog! We’re always looking for fresh perspectives, stories, and strategies on getting hired in today's job market. Our goal is to provide our audience with actionable, in-depth content that helps them achieve their goals. If you think you’re up to the task, keep reading to get all the details.
First Things First
We get a LOT of pitches – most of them don't get published. The main reasons most pitches don't make it to the site are:
- The pitches don't follow the guidelines outlined below. Please read this entire page before pitching.
- The content is too short and too fluffy
- The topic you're pitching is already covered in our blog
- The post is already published somewhere else on the web
- The author failed to meet the deadline we both agreed on (we are super flexible on extensions and deadlines too, just ask!)
If your pitch/post avoids all of the issues above and meets all of the guidelines below, you have a really good chance of making it on the blog! Seriously, it's not that hard to do – most people simply don't put in the effort or are looking for a shortcut.
Why Should You Write For Cultivated Culture? What's In It For You?
We’re committed to running the best career blog that we possibly can in order to help our rapidly growing audience. Here are some quick stats:
- More than 260,000 unique page views every month
- 65,000+ email subscribers
- A collective audience of 775,000+ on social media
- A high quality backlink to your site or article for SEO
That’s a lot of readers you could reach! We treat every guest post we publish like it’s one of our own, too. Your work will be promoted across all our social media channels, our email newsletters, and our SEO strategy. More views for us = more views for you. We also strive to create evergreen content that people will read for years to come. Writing a high quality post for our site is a great way to generate a flow of recurring traffic for your business or blog.
How Do I Submit A Guest Post?
Click here to complete our submission form but please read this entire page before pitching anything.
We'll know if you didn't – trust us 😉
Submission Requirements
If you're only going to absorb one section of this page, this is it! In order to maintain the high standard of quality we expect on our blog (which creates highly engaged and loyal users that you'll benefit from), we ask that you follow these guidelines when writing your post:
- Your post must be detailed, comprehensive, and actionable. Your post should cover all of the details on the topic you're writing about and it should offer actionable steps that the reader can go out and implement after reading.
- Your post must be at least 2,000 words long. We've written a LOT of posts and analyzed the results. It's very tough to write a highly comprehensive and actionable post in less than 2,000 words so we ask that your post meet that minimum at the very least.
- Your post has not, and will not, be published somewhere else. The content on our blog is original and we request that you help us keep it that way in order to help maintain the quality of the posts (which will benefit both of us!). Please do not repost to any website including your own or sites like Medium.com, LinkedIn, etc.
- Your post follows through on what you pitched. If say you're going to show someone how to land a job at Google, your post shouldn't stop at “find jobs at Google and apply for them.” If you say you're going to write 30 tips on crafting an amazing resume, don't stop at 7.
- Your post includes a maximum of one link to your website. You may absolutely include a backlink to your website in the body of the post, but we ask that you limit it to one link. We will also be linking to your site in your author bio so you will have two total links from the post.
Who Are We Looking For?
We accept pitches from career coaches and aspiring writers of all levels. Whether you’re an established career coach looking to share your philosophy, a new grad wanting to write about how you got hired, or anywhere in between, you are more than welcome to contribute.
The only criteria we judge on is the quality of your content. Previous pieces published on other high-authority blogs are definitely a plus.
What Are We Looking For?
We create content that shows readers how to land their dream job. We’re not afraid to dive deep either. Some of our posts are 5,000+ words because that's what it takes to convey all of the information our audience needs to be successful on that topic. Our commitment to creating the highest quality career content on the web has earned our reader's trust and keeping that trust is our #1 priority.
We expect every blog post to teach readers everything they need to know about that topic. If you get it right, your reader won't need to seek out another post in order to understand the topic. All of the info they could ever need is right there in your article.
Our standards are high and we're up front about this. Pitches that may be accepted elsewhere might not make the cut here. The reason for that is when someone sees your post on our blog, they’ll know to expect a high-quality piece that’s worth their time to read and engage. We expect your piece will be well-written, deeply researched, and above all, full of tips real people can actually use. If you need an example of the standard we expect, check out this post, this post, and this post.
Keep these things in mind when pitching:
- Topic. Your topic must be relevant and targeted toward our audience. Strive to write the best post on your topic ever published on the web.
- Research. Do your homework. Link to reputable sources. Use data and statistics to back up your claims.
- Keyword. Your chosen keyword should be well-aligned with the search intent behind your topic.
- Comprehensiveness. Cover your topic in whole. Don’t leave out any steps or information that are necessary for readers to apply your advice. Ideally, a reader should fully understand your topic without needing to read another post.
Your post must also be original and not published elsewhere on the web.
Which Topics Do We Cover?
Here are some suggestions for topics we’re looking for:
- Anything to do with career advancement: navigating the job search process / getting hired, resume and cover letter advice, job interview advice, salary negotiation, climbing the ladder / getting promoted, networking / building connections, etc.
- Topics from relevant “shoulder industries” such as personal finance, starting a side hustle, productivity/personal development, etc.
- How-to guides for all different skill levels, from beginners to advanced professionals looking to level up their career
What We Are NOT Looking For
There are certain topics and types of posts that will be an immediate “No” from us. There are a wide variety of reasons around why these articles aren't a good fit, but we'll keep it simple and just list out what will be immediately tossed out:
- No Clickbait. While catchy headlines are welcome, your post needs to follow through on exactly what your headline promises.
- Posts that cover the same angle on topics we've already written about. We're always open to new opinions on common topics like resumes, interviews, etc. but if its a topic we've already covered, please tell us why you're bringing a different perspective to the table. You can do this by researching our blog to see if we’ve already written about your idea before pitching it to us.
- Heavy self-promotion. We absolutely encourage people to link out to relevant, informative resources including their own sites and blogs. However, if your post is one giant advertisement that doesn't provide much value, it's not going to make it to publication.
- No affiliate links. If there are affiliate links in your draft, we will not publish your blog post.
- No “copy and paste” posts. Your post must be an original piece that's written for our blog. It cannot be published anywhere else either before or after you've written it. This is beneficial for both of us because duplicating content diminishes the SEO value you get from the links in the post, etc.
Technical & Style Guidelines
If we accept your pitch, we have a few guidelines and suggestions for how you write and format your post (this makes things easier for everyone!):
- Please use Google Docs to write your post. You can submit the final draft by sharing the link with us after your pitch is accepted.
- Include screenshots in your Google Doc draft as you would with any blog post. We also ask that you send us a compressed folder or a link to a Google Drive folder that includes the original, full sized images so we can optimize them for the site.
- Please use H2 and H3 header styles within Google Docs to break up your post
- When writing your post headline, we recommend plugging it into CoSchedule's Headline Analyzer and tweaking it until you have a score above 75. Posts with a score of at least 75 see a significant bump in clicks, time on page, and engagement with in-post links.
Deadline Requirements
We expect you to write and submit your final draft in the time frame outlined in your pitch. If you miss your deadline, your post will not be published. But we are super flexible when it comes to extensions so just shoot us an email and ask!
When Will I Hear About My Post?
We check in on our post submissions twice a month. If we like your pitch, you should get an email back from us within 14 days. We only respond to pitches we accept. If you don't get a response within 14 days, you can assume we didn't accept your pitch. Feel free to pitch us something else though!
This Was A Lot Of Info, How Do I Submit A Pitch Again?
You can submit your pitch by clicking this link and filling out the entire form. We look forward to reading your content and working together!
