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Writer’s Guest Post Guidelines (Brand Master Academy Blog)

So, you’re interested in writing for the Brand Master Academy Blog…?

That’s awesome!

We love guest posts because it extends our range of topics and expert insights for our readers and followers.

We do get a lot of requests however and keeping the quality of our content is paramount.

These guidelines will give you the best chance of making the grade.

About the Brand Master Academy blog

The Brand Master Academy Blog has been a go-to resource for branding, brand strategy and marketing and design for years now.

Here’s the skinny:

  • Our audience: Marketers, Brand-builders, brand designers, strategists, freelancers, copywriters, marketers, business owners, or students who want to learn and improve their branding knowledge and processes. Particularly for freelancers and agency owners who build brands for their clients.
  • Our tone: Our content is authoritative, informative and insightful but friendly. Punchy, conversational, fun (and sometimes cheeky) is our style – think expert with a fun side.
  • Our topics: Branding, brand strategy, brand design, positioning, brand personality, copywriting, communication, storytelling, marketing ideas / strategies, content marketing, lead gen, conversion, psychology, organic social media, content, copywriting, ecommerce, landing pages, lead gen and conversion, marketing ideas/strategies/psychology, organic social media, sales, PPC, SEO, website content (we don’t cover app / website development topics).
  • Our posts: We create and publish a broad variety of post types and angles, including (but not limited to):
    • How-to guides and cheat sheets for processes and techniques
    • Lists of tools, tips and strategy steps.
    • Unique and effective techniques and tactics
    • Fresh perspectives on common topics
    • First-hand testing and experiments
    • Industry trends, data, and insights.
    • Creative ideas and real examples.
    • Examples/templates.

Guest Post Requirements

As we receive a high volume of requests, we only accept posts that cut the mustard.

After all, it’s our beloved audience we do this for.

So only high-quality, timely, original, applicable, actionable, accurate, and insightful content will make the grade.

If you want us to get back to you quickly with a positive response and get published sooner, here are some best practices to help.

#1. Familiarize with the Brand Master Academy Blog

This is a must! It will give you a feel for the topics we cover, as well as the brand voice, writing style and structural format (short intros, punchy paragraphs, lots of headings, lots of subheadings, supporting studies, graphs and references etc).

Skim through the topics, read a few posts in full and get a feel for how we do things round here.

#2. Check to see if we’ve covered your topic already

When it comes to branding, we’ve been around the block a bit.

If we’ve covered a topic before, we might still be interested if your ideas have a fresh perspective on what we already have.

The easiest way to see if we’ve covered a topic is to site search on Google.

For example, if you want to see what we’ve written on “Brand positioning” then enter this into Google: “site:brandmasteracademy.com brand positioning”

#3. Check our specs

What We Want

SEO Content: Well-crafted, optimised articles, targeting a specific keyword, designed and written to rank. (Articles written from SEO Software preferred – Clearscope even better).

Acceptable length: 1,500 words minimum

Punchy intro: ~150 words. Introduce your topic and then tell the reader what the post will cover.

Friendly tone: conversational expert, not corporate know-it-all!

High quality: original, insightful, actionable, organized, and accurate.

Skimmable: headings, subheadings, short paragraphs, bullets, pull quotes etc.

Images: screenshots, illustrations, graphs, charts, images. Images need to be cited via “Image source” anchor text under each image. Don’t get too hung up on images. We may replace some.

Backlinks: no more than 3 per post

Punchy bio: 1-3 sentences, can include 1 link to your website or social account.

What We Don’t Want

(Avoid all of these if you want to be published)

Surface content that shows a lack of in-depth knowledge on a topic.

Fluff & Filler Content: Unnecessary words not saying much

Promotional content. We’re here to inform, not sell.

Previously published or sponsored content.

Stocky images!

#4. What To Expect

We get lots of guest pitches, so please be patient with us as we work through the process.

Response: If we like what you’re pitchin’, we’ll try to get back within 1-2 weeks. If you haven’t heard from us after a couple of weeks, shoot us an email.

Outline / Structure: Once we’re happy with the topic and title, we’ll request an outline, and if that’s approved you can get going with the first draft.

Drafts: If the draft ticks all the quality standards mentioned above, editing comes next, if not (i.e. too many edits required) we’ll let you know that we can’t move forward.

Edits: We do the editing to align with our standards. If we require further input from your end we’ll let you know.

Publishing: Depending on the quality of your draft, the edits needed and our content calendar, we’ll aim to publish your post within 2-4 weeks from your draft submission.

Ready to send us a pitch?

Shoot an email to [email protected]

Here’s what to include:

  • [GUEST PITCH] in the subject
  • A little about yourself:  Tell us who you are, where you’re from and the experience or expertise will you be drawing from in your post?
  • Proposed ideas: Topic We like topic ideas. We loooove headline ideas.
  • Writing samples: Please link to at least one existing publication.

Here’s to our future collaboration.

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