Listen with webreader

Greetings,

Please be sure to read this entire message. If you don’t and you never hear from me, you’ll know that you should have read it all.

I do accept guest posts geared towards financial issues on this blog, and by having a guest posting policy, it means in your query you don’t have to ask me about it, you don’t have to have all that extraneous stuff about how it will help this blog work better or have better SEO; please, I get that and your letter looks canned, which it obviously is since most of the requests that come aren’t from writers but from people marketing for someone else. If you’re supposed to be some kind of writer then write something original; give it a shot, it won’t hurt. Also, someone once said she asked me because some people change up and don’t update their guest posting requirements; don’t assume I’m like everyone else… please.

When you write me, give me an idea of what you’d like to write about so we can start from that point. I have to review the site being linked back to and then determine if it’s a site that should be paying for advertising or one that I allow a free link back to. If you’re actually reading this then please send the link to the site you want your article going to; I’m always having to tell people that I need to see their link first and that’s wasting a lot of my time. And so you know, this blog does NOT accept any posts on payday loans unless it’s warning against the dangers of them; I don’t support that practice.

And please write something original; most of what I get is like what’s in this video (which, when I see it, I know you haven’t read the video nor tried to be original at all):

There are two criteria that determine whether the post will have to be paid for. One is if you’re representing a big name organization or a very highly ranked website as to whether I’ll be treating you as an advertiser or not. Some people believe we should be honored that someone representing a big name company wants to post an article here. I see it as trying to get free advertising and traffic; you can afford to pay.

The other reason is if the website being linked to looks or feels a bit dodgy. If I don’t trust it outright I’m not accepting the post to begin with, but if its borderline I’m asking you to pay for it.

If I determine you’re going to be treated as an advertiser, I will tell you what the advertising rates are via email. I do NOT accept text links on this blog unless they’re in an article. And all articles have to be original; if I see they’re on another site or part of the article is plagiarized I won’t use the article. I also offer a writing rate if I’m requested to write the article for you; it’s a one time fee and that rate will be included in the advertising policy I’ll send you.

For the links themselves I allow one link back to the site in the article and one in the brief bio that I request from everyone that will go at the end of the article. If you only want one link in the entire article that’s fine, just let me know.

I also require the writer to subscribe to the post once it’s up to answer any questions the article might bring up. Often that’s done by adding a “thanks” of some kind once the post is showing. The purpose of that is because I don’t know all the details of every article that shows up on the blog, and thus I’m not qualified to answer everything.

There is a 2-week policy in place; if there is even one comment and the author or representative doesn’t show back up, the bio will be removed, and all links will be removed. Let’s face it, if you’re not coming back to the blog to address comments then you won’t know it anyway. This is whether you’re paying for the post or not. I issue a reminder in every email I send back to each writer of a post when I tell them when the post is going live, so no one can say they didn’t know about the policy, especially since you should have also read it here. Now, it might take me a month or so to get to removing the links, which gives everyone plenty of time to check back on their articles.

I’m stating this one again; respond to comments, period! You should know that I vette comments as well, so if I see a comment that stinks or is suspect, I’ll delete. This means that every other comment is fine, and it’s important to me that all comments are responded to. If you wish you can wait a day if a comment looks kind of strange to you because I know our timing might not be up to date, which is why I give a two-week leeway. And though I say 2 weeks above, if it takes me longer to get to removing links think of it as a brief reprieve for you to get back and respond to those comments.

I check each article to verify that it’s original, as I don’t add used content to the site. So, as long as it’s financial in nature, and hasn’t already been discussed in a different article on this site (as in a copy, as an enhancement or a different take on a similar topic is just fine), I’m good with it.

All articles have to be geared towards an American audience; if what you say isn’t pertinent in this country, I can’t and won’t use it.

By the way, something new, and part of this is a benefit. One, I’m going to be adding some coding so your bio will be highlighted at the bottom of each post; in case I didn’t make this part clear, every article must have at least a one line bio at the end of the article and it should be the name of the person who will be responding to comments. That will allow me to remove “guest post” from the title; this is occurring in March 2013.

Also, if you send me your Google+ link I will add your name as a contributor and you’ll end up getting author credits on Google searches as well. My expectation is that will help to encourage everyone to come back and respond to comments because if they don’t, I’ll remove the links. If you’re unsure what Google authorship can do for you, check out this link. Sponsored posts will still be titled that way.

To request a guest posting opportunity, or to ask questions about advertising or anything else on Top Finance Blog, write to Mitch at finance@topfinanceblog.com. If my name isn’t in the email, I’m not reading it and you won’t hear from me (unless you’re willing to pay for it); I don’t have the time. Any other questions, just ask me; I’m really pretty accommodating, and I’m popping all this stuff in here because they’re the issues and questions I’ve been asked many times, as well as things that people keep forgetting.