When I first launched my blog and made the switch to content writing I had no idea that blog post pitching was even a thing…let alone one of the most important skills I’d need to master.

Pitching blog posts is important for brand-new freelancers and experienced content writers as a standard part of the commission process. Without a well-crafted pitch, your blog post ideas are probably never going to be picked up, no matter how perfect they might be.

Keep reading to learn how to write the ideal blog post pitch including pitch examples and tips on how to come up with new topic ideas.

• What is a Blog Post Pitch?
• Who to Pitch to?
• How to Come Up with Blog Pitch Ideas
• Elements of a Blog Post Pitch:
• Blog Pitch Examples
• How to Pitch Yourself as a Content Writer
• Should I Write and Send a Spec Article?
• How to get paid to write blog psots?

What is a Blog Post Pitch?

Blog post pitching is the process of reaching out to websites, publications, and other blogs to pitch an idea for a post. These can sometimes be in response to a callout for blog post pitches but are usually cold pitches emailed over in the hope of being picked up and (if you’re lucky) commissioned.

Pitching blog posts really matters when you’re starting as a content writer as without a portfolio or online presence, potential clients simply don’t know that you exist; before clients can find and reach out to you, you’re going to have to reach out to them.

Beyond this, guest posting on other sites is also an important SEO practice as they work to get you valuable backlinks and grow your blog’s domain authority Pitching posts is also a great way to land your first paid client as a content writer.

Who to Pitch to?

It’s one thing to realise you want to start pitching blog posts but a complete other to know who to actually pitch to. Finding blog writing jobs is not easy, however, I do have a few tricks up my sleeve:

• Niche down and find blogs/websites you genuinely like in your arena
• Search the site for the terms ‘Guest Posts’, ‘Write For Us’, or ‘How to Pitch’
• Find the blog owner on LinkedIn and connect for opportunities
• Google ‘blog writer’ plus your niche and then change the search settings to be pages posted within the last week

A few things to note is that popular blogs get huge amounts of guest posts and pitch requests every single day. To not waste their (or your own) time, it’s super important to follow the website’s pitching requirements exactly or don’t expect to hear back.

How to Come Up with Blog Pitch Ideas

If we’re being honest, I find the process of coming up with pitch ideas probably 10x harder than writing the pitch itself. Without direction, I can easily waste hours trying to force new blog post concepts into my head and the longer I try, the worse the ideas seem to be.

To save us both time when it comes to blog post ideas, I suggest using these three pitching best practices to find commission-worthy topics.

Three Ways to Brainstorm Pitch Ideas

1. Spend Time on the Website

Everything you need to know about a blog is already published and waiting for you to find it. Dedicate a good 30 minutes to scouring the site for topic clusters and to get a good insight into their intended audience. This should lead you down the path to more general blog ideas which you can slowly whittle down into the concepts that genuinely interest you.

Important: Before starting any pitch, it’s imperative to make sure the topic or something very similar hasn’t been written about already. If you pitch a blog post that already exists on the site, the editor’s just going to think you’re lazy and that you haven’t done your research.

2. SEO Research

Choosing a blog post idea that uses high-quality keywords – meaning low difficulty and high search volume – will make it way more appealing for the owner/editor to pick it up. Writing good content is just half the battle these days as if it isn’t search engine optimised, no one’s going to see it.

Spend a little time using free SEO tools to find topics that the blog’s audience is genuinely looking for and make sure to mention this research in your pitch. Whoever reads it is going to appreciate the extra effort put in as well as know they can expect a professionally written article from you as a content writer.

3. List Out What You Know

Every person has a few topics they know better than most people and this is your secret weapon when it comes to pitching. You want to convince a website that you have an idea that could not be written without you…so you need to find something that they couldn’t think of themself.

This sounds way harder than it actually is. All you need to do is consider the unique aspects of your life such as the places you’ve lived, the jobs you’ve had, or the things you like to do. A unique perspective might come from a particular vacation you went on or a meal you like to cook. Maybe it is inspired by your relationship status or even the experience of a loved one.

Get creative and list out things that you know about first-hand. As an added bonus, it’s way easier to write about the things you’re already familiar with.

Elements of a Blog Post Pitch:

Most blog post pitches follow a similar basic structure. Some websites might ask for specifics but if you have the following down, you’ll be most of the way to a great pitch regardless of the brief.

Title

Don’t overlook the importance of a good title! If it doesn’t grab the attention of the editor, there’s no way it’ll get any engagement on the web. Make sure it’s relevant to your article, includes your keywords, and is super catchy.

Top Tip: You’ll usually want to aim for between 8-12 words for the most optimised blog title.

Excerpt

Think of the excerpt as the subtitle to your blog post. In one or two sentences, you’ll sum up the topic with an enticing hook to leave the reader wanting more. This needs to encapsulate the essence of the post but doesn’t need to delve into much detail.

Brief Description

This is an introduction of sorts that opens up the piece and shares a little more about the premise. If you have a unique take or angle, this is the place to include it! Make sure to write this section in the style, tone, and voice of the blog post so that the reader knows you can emulate their writing style.

Headings

Avoid any detail here and simply list the headings that will be found in your article. You should know by now the importance of headings for SEO so this is a good opportunity to demonstrate your optimisation in action. I usually list 3-6 headings depending on the article format and write them as they would be written in the final piece.

Blog Pitch Examples

Listicle Pitch Example

Title: 5 Winter Activities in Tokyo with Kids

Excerpt: Entertaining children when it’s freezing cold outside can be exhausting! Use this guide to make winter in Japan just as fun and active for children as the summer.

The top five family-friendly activities in Japan without ever having to leave the city.

Headings:

1. Experience all-you-can-eat strawberry picking
2. Try ice skating in the heart of Tokyo
3. Eat hot pot at a Family-Friendly Nabe Restaurant
4. Go tobogganing at a Snow Park
5. Catch a winter illumination

Personal Essay Pitch Example

Title:  I tried Couch to 5k to prove it’s overrated…and now I’m running a half marathon

Excerpt: I decided to take up running to prove that couch to 5k is not all it’s cracked up to be. Now, I’m training for a half-marathon.

As a freelancer, most of my week is spent desk-bound, alone, at home. A few friends recommended the couch to 5k program, but I said no…I hate running. My runner friends would not let up. All they wanted to do was talk about running. Suddenly, it seemed every influencer, colleague, and celebrity was on the couch to 5k trend…so eventually I agreed to give it a try.

Headings

• What is couch to 5k
• How I completed couch to 5k
• What happened?
• What I didn’t expect
• The Science
• What comes next

How to Pitch Yourself as a Content Writer

Alongside the actual pitch, you’ll usually also need to do a bit of pitching of yourself. This particularly comes into play with new clients or when cold emailing as you’re essentially selling yourself as a writer alongside the specific pitch idea.

Keep the self-pitch short and to the point – no one wants to read your life story – highlighting your experience and achievements. Include any education you have as well as the languages you possess and to what level of fluency if applicable.

The most important element here is going to be your portfolio. I always make sure to link to this in any pitch email as well as share the three pieces of published content that are most relevant to the site I am pitching to. This is the demonstration of your writing ability and probably the make or break when the recipient is considering accepting your pitch.

How to Build a Content Writing Portfolio

The easiest way to make a portfolio is to use a free website template from places like Wix or WordPress and just link to all your published blog posts and articles. This means sharing the portfolio is as simple as sending a link via DM or email.

If you don’t have any published content just yet, don’t worry! I recommend starting your own blog as soon as possible to build up a web presence and practice writing. This will act as your first portfolio while you pitch ideas to other sites.

Another option is to use Medium and publish articles either to your personal account or to open Medium publications in order to have a few more professional-looking posts to send out alongside your pitches.

Should I Write and Send a Spec Article?

This really is the question. As you search for blog writing opportunities, you’ll quickly notice that a lot of websites ask for full articles to be submitted instead of pitches if you want your ideas to be considered. I’m not a particular fan of this.

While submitting a spec article that gets accepted is amazing, more often than not you won’t even hear back after sending over a finished piece, let alone getting a formal rejection. Writing a blog post takes time, research, and energy and putting together a spec article for every different blog is going to be a waste of these resources in most situations.

However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth doing on occasion. I like to have two or three blog posts written and standing by at any one time. I’ll make sure they’re covering different areas of my writing niche so that I have something ready to send out when a legitimate opportunity appears. If I don’t hear back within 2 weeks, I put them back on the send-out rotation.

This method means I’m always prepared to send a fully written spec article, but not investing time in writing something new for every website. Worst case scenario, I’ll use the posts for my own blog too so there’s always a back-up publishing option.

How to get paid to write blog psots?

The journey to becoming a freelance content writer takes time and commitment. You’ll need to hone your writing skills, get used to pitching on a weekly basis, and create an online space to share your success.

The results? A remote career that offers variety and freedom.