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How A Simple Blog Led To Writing For Forbes, Mashable, and TechCrunch (and 7 Tips to Help You Do it Too!)

Posted By Guest Blogger 12th of November 2015 General 0 Comments

How A Simple Blog Led To Writing For Forbes, Mashable, and TechCrunchThis is a guest contribution from Josh Steimle.

I’ve had the privilege of my writing being published on Forbes, Mashable, TechCrunch, Time, Fast Company, VentureBeat, Entrepreneur, and several other publications, and if you aspire to see your writing in mainstream publications like these, perhaps there is something in my story that will help you get there.

The writing I’ve had published has brought me speaking opportunities, a book deal, and more than 1000% growth for my business. I’ve been able to interview and network with my marketing and business heroes, all in the last two and a half years. Prior to that, my writing had never appeared in a mainstream publication. I was just a guy nobody had heard of, posting here and there on my blog, with a small handful of readers. This is the story of how everything changed. 

10 Years of Solitude

I started blogging before blogs existed. There wasn’t any strategy. I didn’t have a plan. I just enjoyed writing. When I started blogging I didn’t care if anyone read what I was writing. I wrote for myself, and if anyone else enjoyed it, that was icing on the cake.

In the first 10 years I wrote over 700 blog posts. I didn’t write consistently. I might blog 10 times one week, and then not blog for a month. Sometimes I didn’t blog for several months, and then I would return with a flurry of activity.

I wrote about entrepreneurship, and the experiences I was having. Most of my writing didn’t attract any comments. Occasionally some of my writing, like my post about 75 ways to tell you might be an entrepreneur, seemed to strike a chord. But my blog never brought me any business. No client ever contacted me and said “I was reading what you wrote on your blog and I want to hire your agency!” No publisher ever asked me to compile my blog posts and turn them into a book. As near as I could tell, the people reading my blog were mostly family and friends, and I was ok with that.

Dumb Luck

Sometimes you’re in the right place at the right time and despite this, you almost mess it all up anyway.

In 2012 I was talking with Cheryl Snapp, a friend of mine who runs a PR agency. She had helped me get an article published on the Fast Company website after I told her I wanted to get some logos from big publications to display on my company website, you know, in an “As seen in…” section. I noticed Cheryl had written some articles for Forbes, and I casually asked her how she landed that gig. She explained to me that Forbes had a few hundred paid staff writers, but several hundred unpaid “contributors” who wrote for free. She told me she thought it was worth asking to see if Forbes might be interested in me as one of their contributors. “If they take you on, you need to write an article once a week. My editor from Forbes is coming to town in two weeks, I’ll introduce you!” she told me. That sounded cool. There was just one problem. I was really busy already. I didn’t think I had time to write an article every week. Thank heavens I kept my mouth shut.

Two weeks later I went to the event where I met Tom Post, then-editor of the entrepreneurship section of Forbes. Cheryl arranged for me to talk to him while he and I were in line dishing up lunch. I assume he didn’t know anything about me yet, so I was surprised when he said “I read your article in Fast Company. I wish you had published it in Forbes.” I wasn’t able to get more out than a stammered “Thanks…” before he followed up by saying “I’ve also been reading your blog. I like what you’ve got there. We’d like you to write the same stuff for Forbes.” All I could say was “Sure, I’d love to!”

10 years of blogging with nothing to show for it but my own self satisfaction, and the next thing I know I’m writing for Forbes.

But then the real work began.

Diversification

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. But if you only have one basket, take good care of that basket [tweet that!]. My first goal when I started writing for Forbes, the one I repeated to myself every time I submitted a new post, was “Don’t mess this up, don’t mess this up, don’t mess this up.” But I did mess up–twice. The first time was when I posted something about politics. Tom told me to never do that again. He made it clear I was brought on to write about entrepreneurship and I should stick to my subject. Another time I mentioned in a public forum that I was getting too many requests from startups that wanted me to write articles about them. The way I worded my complaint made it sound like I was too busy to write for Forbes. Tom found my comments, and told me since I was too busy we might as well part ways. I pleaded my case, explained what I meant, and he gave me another chance.

With Forbes I had all my eggs in one basket, which was a distinct improvement over having no basket at all. But I realized it could disappear at any moment, and it would be a good idea to branch out and write for other outlets and leverage my work at Forbes to do so.

My first attempt was to get into TechCrunch. I wrote an article about a tech company, submitted it, and it was rejected without comment. I asked for feedback, and I got one sentence. I didn’t understand what the sentence meant, and still don’t, but I recognized one thing–different publications are looking for different things. What works for Forbes isn’t what works for TechCrunch or Mashable, and as a writer it’s best to respect those differences rather than try to convince an editor they don’t know what they’re doing. As it turned out, the article that wasn’t the right fit for TechCrunch was the right fit for VentureBeat.

Which Way Is Up?

Each publication sits within a hierarchy of sorts. Forbes is a top tier publication. Your hometown newspaper is somewhere lower. Even though I could publish everything I wrote in Forbes, I tried to spread my writing around as much as I could, just in case. I figured even if I somehow lost Forbes, I would then have evidence of my writing in many other places, and I could use that to pitch other top tier publications. I moved downward in the hierarchy and wrote for regional and niche publications you may not have heard of, like the South China Morning Post (the “New York Times of Hong Kong”), Hong Kong Business Magazine, Marketing Magazine, and TechinAsia.

At the same time I kept trying to make lateral moves. VentureBeat was one of those. Then I got in with Entrepreneur, which has been another great outlet for me. One of my recent articles on Entrepreneur was syndicated by Time, allowing me to claim that publication as another big name in my quiver. And I kept on pitching TechCrunch, as well as Mashable, but to no avail.

Sometimes It’s Who You Know

My intro to Fast Company and Forbes came through a friend. Similarly, when I got into TechCrunch and Mashable it would also be because of who I knew. I had submitted work to Mashable before, but without any response. Then, through pure serendipity, my agency hired a part-time writer who happened to have written some pieces for Mashable. I told her about my desire to write for Mashable, so she put me in touch with her editor. I pitched the editor on a piece I had written, it was well received, and then…that editor went on maternity leave for two months. I’m all about maternity leave and babies, but I wish I would have gotten my article submitted a week earlier. For the next two months I couldn’t do anything but wait.

When the editor returned she reviewed my article again and published it. I was in! Now that I have a relationship, I still have to submit articles, but I get feedback rather than the silent treatment. But that doesn’t mean everything I write gets in. One of my pieces was rejected, due to Mashable having published too many articles on a similar topic lately. No problem, I just published it on Forbes instead, where it has received 30,000 views. For me, that’s pretty good, since most of my posts attract around 4000 views. That’s another benefit of writing for a bunch of places–if it doesn’t work in one place, you can pitch the same content somewhere else. And Forbes always has my back. That’s why they end up with 80% of my writing.

TechCrunch was also a personal connection. After reaching out to several writers there and trying to get feedback on why I was getting rejected, I gave up. But then I happened to meet a TechCrunch writer, started a correspondence with him, and then met him in person for dinner. My intent wasn’t to pitch him on anything, but I was curious to know more about TechCrunch. It wasn’t until months later when I was writing a story for Forbes that I realized I had something that might be a good fit for the big TC. I sent it to my friend and asked him if he thought it was something TechCrunch would be interested in. The next thing I knew he had given it to his editor, his editor contacted me, and then it was published. Oh wait, that’s not quite how it happened. In reality his publisher told me the article wasn’t the right fit but, but…he said if I rewrote it (and he gave me some specific tips) then it might be. I rewrote the article, resubmitted it, and then it got published.

Your Story

That’s the start of my story. But yours doesn’t need to take 10+ years, or even two, to come to fruition. Things are a bit clearer in hindsight, and if I had to do it over again, here’s the 7-point plan I would put into action.

  1. Blog. Yes, I would still set up a blog, but I would focus in on one niche topic. Become the expert on that one topic, and resist the temptation to write about anything else. Do this well enough, and the publications may come to you and you can skip all the other steps.
  2. Start niche. When you start reaching out to get published elsewhere, start locally, or with a niche publication, and work your way up. Use your blog as evidence you can produce the kind of content they want.
  3. Leverage. As soon as you get three or more pieces published in one place, leverage that to get into another, slightly up the totem pole, until you get to a top tier publication. Then leverage your work sideways. At this point, it’s easier to approach editors because they can see they don’t have to test you, because someone else has already done that for them.
  4. Educate yourself. I got a pitch today from a company that wants me to write an article about them for TechCrunch. The problem is, their business is definitely not something most TechCrunch readers would be interested in. I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure the guy who sent me the pitch doesn’t read TechCrunch, or he would also know this, and he never would have pitched me. If you don’t regularly read a publication, don’t count on being able to pitch them successfully.
  5. Network. Get to know who the writers are at the publications you want to write for. Read what they write. Follow them on Twitter. I create Twitter lists for each publication, like this. If you can meet writers in person, so much the better. Never introduce yourself to a writer by saying “I really want to write for your publication, can you help me get in?” Writers introduce friends, not random strangers, to their editors. What writers are more willing to do is give advice, so ask for advice. Write an article, send it to a writer, and ask “Do you think this is the type of article your publication would be interested in? Why or why not?”
  6. Keep pitching. I gave up too easily with TechCrunch and Mashable. I was saved only by coincidental meetings with people who could and were willing to help me. What I now realize is that I probably could have gotten in with both of them two years ago if I had been willing to write five articles for each one, rather than writing one or two and then giving up. Remember, it’s never a waste to write an article. If it gets rejected, just publish it somewhere else. If nobody else will publish it, you’ve always got your blog.
  7. Once you get in. For good heavens, feed the editor! She didn’t bring you on so you could write one article and disappear. Keep sending content on a regular basis and keep the relationship alive.

If you’re focused, you can execute this plan within six months and be writing for just about any publication you want.

Josh Steimle is the CEO of MWI, a digital marketing agency with offices in the U.S. and Hong Kong. Pitch him @joshsteimle.

About Guest Blogger
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Comments
  1. Hi Josh,

    Sometimes it’s who you know in the industry still matters a lot! Lucky or not, your guide is useful for aspiring writers. Though I’m sure editors get a ton of pitches daily. How will you be able to make yourself stand out?

  2. I have been blogging for 2 years now ! but hopefully one day i will write for forbes, the verge etc :)

    Regards
    Malik

  3. Really interesting, Josh. I like the part about feeding the editors. In my effort to get lots of diverse clippings, I’ve been guilty of hit and run. I also like leveraging the writing. Freelancing’s a lot like climbing a ladder. You start small and work your way up. Great advice. Thank you.

  4. A. Knight says: 11/12/2015 at 3:42 am

    Thanks so much for sharing your story. I’ve been blogging and freelancing for years without much direction, mostly due to a lack of strategy and in more recent years, discouragement. This is sure to help immensely.

  5. One thing many people don’t understand is purchasing quality web hosting is an investment in their online business. It’s a wise choice to pick a good web host because your online business will depend on it, in terms of handling large sums of web traffic, quickly caching blog posts or webpages to search engine and social networking visitors, and helping your site stay online when other web hosting companies’ servers experience downtime.

  6. Networking, then some networking and finally some more networking. That’s what it’s all about in the blogosphere.

  7. Depressing stuff, if all it takes to climb to the so-called “top” is schmoozing.

    • Hey Y.S. —

      I know what you’re saying, and it is a little discouraging, but that’s not what he wrote, you know? In the rest of the story, he talked about how he paid his dues for years: started a real business, wrote hundreds of blog posts about entrepreneurship, etc.

      And how do you suppose he got to know people in the industry? It’s because he worked for many years at his business and met a lot of people along the way.

      I mean, did you notice how he got articles published in mid-level and top Hong Kong publications? How did that happen? If he only “knew people” but wasn’t an experienced professional in his industry, nobody would have published him.

      Come on, bro. Let’s not sulk about it. If we want to succeed, we need to earn it. If you want to meet the right people, then you have to work hard to get on their level.

      Good luck!

  8. thanks josh for this awesome article, I have just been charged up to continue writing and to believe in my writing, I will keep pushing my niche forward… I will also try to make some bloggers my friends to i can guest post on their sites. I guess that will increase my chances of exposure in the blogosphere

  9. Hi Josh,

    Congrats dude! I’ve not been published by any of these big boys yet I find something neat happening; some folks are lumping me in with Darren and Neil Patel and Jon Morrow and Zac Johnson as one of the top blogging bloggers out there. I usually tell them NOT to mention that I bribed them ;) I kinda think it’s heresy, me being noted on these lists, but if any one thing I happened to fall into helped me make top blogger lists it’s been telling my story. That makes me stand out. That makes you stand out. That raises folk’s eyes, regularly, if you’re telling your story, in your voice.

    Making friends also rocks if you plan on gaining a rep online or if you want to land fab writing spots. My wife and I met with a dear friend – Shannon Hernandez – when we were in Bali, and when wifey asked Shannon how she landed the HP gig, Shannon asked her if she was interested in writing for them. A few weeks later she was writing for HP after Arianna sent Kelli (the wife) a personal email. Neat. I am so focused on my blog and eBooks and courses that the big media outlets are not part of my strategy, but I appreciate your rocking insight Josh. Thanks for sharing with us.

    Ryan

  10. I may have missed it so apologies if I did but at the beginning you talk about ‘unpaid’ contributors. Does that mean you are not getting paid for any of this content? I’m sure there are loads of other benefits to being published on those sites but sounds like you are almost full-time writing. Is it paying off?

  11. Great writing! Just awesome. I like the Network part most. Thanks for the advice.

  12. Great article and very well put. It’s difficult to achieve the piece de resistance but if you aim extremely high then anything below will not be disappointing. This point you said which i believe is the single most crucial advice anyone can receive: “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”. Spot on!

  13. Thanks for sharing your story, Josh.

    I hope to one day get up to that level too, but I have a lot of work to do just to get to the point where your story began.

    I don’t think you got lucky at all. You paid your dues for many years, getting an education, building your business and networking within your industry. You definitely earned it, man.

    Congratulations on your success.

  14. Well, nice to hear your story Josh! It’s highly inspiring and makes me wanna say “Let’s try on that big site”, but may be I’ll wait for some time to establish my blog and then approach them since I think that’ll be a better way to get accepted. I hope to reach your level some day :)

  15. Hi Josh,

    Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Hearing the stories of people who are successful in any field is a source of inspiration of others.

    Hoping to read more articles from you soon.

    Keep sharing.

    Have a great time.

    Reji Stephenson

  16. Hey there Josh,
    This was hell of a journey that you went through but surely for any writer looking to get recognized this is one of the must read articles.
    I am more of a vlogger than writer, but still this article is a very interesting case study of how pitching to the right people and not giving up can yield such amazing results!
    Thanks for this post, keep up the good stuff!

  17. Great tips, Josh! I just started a second business in a new niche and despite having some recognition in biz #1 it’s a bit of “starting from scratch” in biz #2.

    Will take your advice to heart and do my best to avoid the 10 years of solitude :)

    Thanks!
    Sylvie

  18. Good share. I never thought blogging could help someone reach heights. I have been blogging out of my passion to write. Also, I have been learning to write few words on my blog. Blogging has always been my favorite works to do. I, for now, am not a very good writer but I aspire to be one. Soon should I start focusing more on both writing and learning. I developed this idea to going forward improving my skills and approach the bigger Game players to publish a few works of mine. Thanks for the share :)

  19. Hi Josh Steimle and ProBlogger Team,

    This was one of the best articles I have read till date. I have approached Mashable and Huff Post India to write for them but haven’t heard till now. But after reading your article I deduce one important thing that I need to read them regularly to understand what they write and how to impress them. I have one question though and it would be great if you guys can tell me – How shall I go about creating an effective pitch for these publications like Huff Post or Mashable or Forbes or for that matter any other publication.

    Please respond to this comment or my email [email protected]

  20. This is very inspiring, Josh. I can feel that you really love to write and you are good at it that is why big clients are attracted to your works. Yes, there is a small percentage of luck, but the real reason for your success, the way I see it, is your determination to succeed. Thank you for sharing that, just like every one of us, you also have difficulties. Nevertheless, this article encourages us to continue with our passion and stay focused and we can be successful too.

  21. Thank you for amazing tips problogger team.Since years Problogger is my most favorite blog. The perfect blogging tips with best solution for all your blogging problems. since i started blogging in 2011, Problogger is the only blog which i read daily.

    Thanks again guys,keep posting such good posts. Wish i will write for forbes someday :)

  22. Nice article, problogger have really inspired me and i will keep checking.

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