![]() ![]() You can answer these questions by combing through the blog’s source code or make your life easier with Firebug. Now comes the tricky part: formatting your post for someone else’s blog.ĭo they use h2 or h3 tags for subheaders? How wide can images be? FirebugĬongratulations, your post has been accepted! Just follow up as the emails reappear in Gmail. ![]() No need to fill up your calendar with reminders. If the blogger doesn’t respond in 7 days, that email will boomerang back to your inbox. ![]() Just set your email to boomerang in one week if you haven’t received a reply. Let’s say you plan to wait one week after sending pitches to follow up with bloggers who haven’t responded. When you send an email, tell Boomerang to resurface it in your inbox if you don’t get a reply in a preset number of days. Instead of checking the spreadsheet every day to see whom you need to follow up with or whom you’re waiting to hear back from, use the Boomerang Gmail extension to automate your reminders. I usually include the date that I contacted him/her and if I got a response. You can use a Google spreadsheet to track your correspondence with each blogger. That’s why they have successful blogs that you want a link from. One more thing before you press the send button…Įven the bloggers who do accept your posts won’t necessarily do so promptly. You wrote the pitch and it’s ready to go. Your email, address, or anything you type often can be replaced with a few easy-to-remember keystrokes.Ĭanned Response is a free alternative, although it only works in Gmail. You can create canned responses to common questions and requests you get on your blog. However, you can use it for a lot more than just guest post pitches. While it works great, TextExpander is a bit pricy at $34.95. Paste whatever you want (without copying it first) by typing a keyboard shortcut. You can create custom keyboard shortcuts to trigger blocks of text like a prewritten email form. TextExpander is the most popular typing shortcut app. You could speed up this process by copying and pasting a template email from Microsoft Word or TextEdit, but you can do it even more efficiently with an app designed just for this purpose. Mention what you like about that specific blog or how your post would complement other content on the site. Using a template is fine if you customize every pitch. When you’re pitching your guest posts to bloggers, you’ll be writing a lot of similar emails. Pitch More, Get Rejected LessĬreate keyboard shortcuts for email pitches with TextExpander 5. A few tweaks can take a stock photograph from stark white cliche to eye-catching image. ![]() You can even use Pixlr-o-matic to add Instagram-like filters to your images along with borders and other effects. You can use Pixlr to crop pictures, add text, or resize images to fit your target blog’s width (more on this later). If, like me, you’re not much of a designer, it’s a lifesaver. Pixlr is a lightweight, web-based Photoshop alternative. PixlrĮven if you’re not using screenshots, most posts still need images. Then you can edit the image and add simple shapes or text to illustrate your point.įinally, you can save your screenshot or send it directly to Evernote for later use. Using keyboard shortcuts, you can take any type of screenshot (crosshair, fullscreen, frame). Skitch provides more functionality than native screen capture tools. If you’re writing a “how to” post, use Skitch (now part of Evernote) for your screenshots. Instructional posts (like this one) need screenshots. EvernoteĪnnotate screenshots with Skitch (via Lifehacker) 3. Or try Leo Babauta’s list of free minimalist word processors on GigaOm. You can find iA Writer ($4.99) and WriteRoom ($4.99) in the Mac App Store. Just making this switch was a massive time saver for me. IA Writer even supports Markdown for easily formatting your posts without writing clunky HTML. While that may sound daunting, at least you won’t be distracted. With iA Writer, it’s just you and a blank screen. IA Writer is a great writing app because it has one killer feature: a full screen, focused writing environment. Getting distracted is easy if you’re writing in your browser in WordPress or Google Docs. Plus, you’re constantly tempted by the allure of your current “home.” How can you have an experience worth writing about if all you’re doing is writing? You probably don’t have a cushy, climate-controlled office to work from. iA Writerįocusing on writing is tough, especially for travel bloggers. Ready to become a guest posting machine? Then keep reading. With the tools below, you’ll be able to quickly write and format your post for any site that accepts it. Then Adam tells us to guest post on other blogs too.īelow are 7 apps to help streamline your guest posting. Do you feel overwhelmed with the amount of writing you need to do? ![]()
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