Legends Motivation Contributor Guidelines

To write for us there’s are few processes in our guidelines, so read on:

  • We’re looking for unique and original ideas — not generic articles we’ve all read 1,000 times before.
  • You should back up your points with a mix of personal anecdotes, examples from well-known companies and published research, with links to your sources.
  • Articles must be original and exclusive to Legendsmotivation.com.
  • You cannot accept payment for mentioning a person or business in an article. If you have a business or financial relationship with any individuals or companies you mention, that must be disclosed in the article.

If you’re serious about contributing, please read through the guidelines and expectations in their entirety before submitting an article.

What we look for

Length: Our articles typically run about 600 to 800 words, though longer is OK. More than 1,500 words, however, usually is not.

Topics: Our content educates and motivates. Our editors are looking for articles that inspire, give insight into current marketing trends and offer actionable takeaway tips.

Distinct message: We’re looking for fresh perspectives on topics our readers care about. To ensure you’re offering an original idea:

  • Search the site. You’ll discover what topics our readers enjoy and what we’ve already written on a topic. Make sure the article you pitch offers something our readers and editors haven’t seen.
  • Consider your personal experience. What problems have you overcome? What unique perspectives can you bring? Tell that story.
  • Look at current events. News events and industry changes might spark an article only you can write. Consider if you have insights into how a change might impact current practices and how business owners can be prepared.

Actionable advice: The purpose of articles is to help readers learn. Stories that don’t give readers actionable advice or takeaways likely won’t be selected for publication. To us, advice means usable, numbered tips readers can put to use right away. Tips should be clear enough for a reader to put into action right away. The best tips are often ideas our readers haven’t seen before but offer them a new solution to a common problem.

Trustworthy sources: Be savvy about the sources you cite. Rely on primary sources as much as possible. In general, we like to see writers weave in at least a few links to outside websites (not necessarily Legendsmotivation.com or their own company) where readers can find more information or additional resources on the topics discussed.

Help snagging interviews: Legends Motivation editors are happy to help approved contributors line up interviews with relevant sources. However, please run potential interviewees by your editor and get approval before scheduling an interview on your own, particularly if the person is well-known or notable. It’s possible a Legends Motivation staff writer may have already reached out to the person, and we want to avoid duplicate coverage/interviews.

Please note: While contributors may say they are working on an article for Legendsmotivation.com when they approach public relations professionals or potential sources, contributors ARE NOT members of the Legends Motivation staff and without permission should not represent themselves as such at events or in communications with sources.

Before you submit: Steps to take

For your article:

Proof your article. Sloppy work won’t be accepted by our editors. If your piece is riddled with typos and/or factual errors, it will not be accepted. However, our editors can assist by giving quick advice to improve your article.

Check our style guidelines. Legends Motivation has special guidelines for things such as capitalization, terms and punctuation. This guide is listed at the end of this document. Check your article against it before submitting it.

Link to your sources. If you quote someone or cite a statistic, link out to your source. This will help readers learn more about a topic and bolster your writing. Additionally, not having these links could slow the publication of your article. Don’t expect that your editor will do your legwork for you. Please link to the original source.

If you interview someone, please say so in the piece. Your editor and the reader will want to know that you have conducted original reporting.

Disclose any financial relationships. Please acknowledge financial relationships, if any exist, with the companies or individuals you write about or link to. This disclosure is very important to us and our readers. Violating this rule could lead to your article being removed from the site or the end of your ability to contribute to the site. If you have questions, please talk to your editor.

You cannot receive money from a business or person in exchange for writing about them. It is also against our policy for contributors to sell links in their articles to people or companies. Contributors found to be violating these policies will be barred from publishing in our network.

Support your argument with multiple examples: Prove your argument. Please use more than just one example (of a company, study, entrepreneur, etc.) to illustrate any point you make. We accept articles about a single person or company, but unless that person or company is well-known (e.g. Bill Gates or Apple).

Tell us if it’s timely. Articles with a time peg can move through the queue more quickly. If there is a time peg (a Christmas piece, for example), put a note to that effect on the subject line so an editor can see that more easily.

Submit original work. Work you didn’t write is not acceptable. Warmed over posts (something you published previously with just a few new tweaks added) are also unacceptable. (Know that we usually spot these, and they make us very, very unhappy).

Make sure your article isn’t overly self-promotional. Mentions of your company, book or skill-set should be used to demonstrate your expertise on a topic. The effect should serve to educate, not advertise. Articles that excessively promote your brand, company or product likely won’t be published. Excessive links to your products or initiatives will likely be deleted. (One or two links are fine. 10 are not.)

For your author profile:


Provide the following to your editor:

Submit a unique email address that will be used by the author (or publicist) to log into our content-management-system account. If you are a publicist who represents multiple people who write for us, we will need a different email address for each individual.

After you submit: What to expect

  • Depends on the volume of submissions we receive, contributors should expect to receive a response within 1-2 weeks. If your pitch/article was likely rejected, you will get a response with a reason why.
  • If the article is accepted, Legends Motivation editor will create a profile for the author in the Content Management System (CMS). You will be asked to upload a two- to three-sentence bio and your head-shot (high quality only, please) in our system, along with the social media handles you would like to include. For your professional bio, don’t use superlatives or overly promotional or personal language. Provide the city of the company’s headquarters and where the contributor is located, if different.
  • Accepted articles will likely require revisions. Your editor will likely have questions or suggestions. If your piece is sent back to you for rewrites, questions, etc., an editor will put it into check-out mode and send it to you as an email link. Any changes you make (and save — don’t forget that step!) will be view-able on our end, too.

Author Pages: After your first article goes live you will receive an author page from which you can create your own custom bio.

Logging Into The Blog: You will get your own Contributor account at our blog where you can edit your author page! For future posts, you can submit them through our Dashboard!

Links: Obviously, many of us writers like linking out to other content. Links are fine. We do however ask that you only link to relevant, helpful articles if they are from other websites, and link to pages on this blog whenever possible.

Content Ideas: We are happy to select a post idea from a list have or send us, or offer 3-5 relevant ideas if you’d like. Please note that we may not have time to discuss posts yet to be written in length, and prefer you to send us your own content you think would work at the blog.

Duplicate Content: Absolutely a no. Please do not submit posts in which any part of them appear on other blogs or websites.

Is Your Post Ready?

If so, feel free to send over an entire post! It will speed things up!

Religious views: While we respect all religious views, this site isn’t a place where we put religious content. It is okay to mention such views or related events if they support your main arguments.

Political views: While we respect all political views, this site isn’t a place where we put political content. It is okay to mention such views or related events if they support your main arguments.

Scheduling: We publish guest posts every Wednesday. You will receive a date to mark on your calendar!

Sharing: Please share your live articles with your immediate social media audience! It takes a couple of clicks and makes the blogging world (well at least our world) go round! We’ll share it as well and do what we can to get you the most exposure possible, but show your friends your new amazing piece too.

Last Words of Advice: Keep in mind that Legends Motivation is a place of learning and inspiration. If you can tell your own story while inspiring others to start something meaningful too, or improve their existing innovations in ways they wouldn’t have known before reading your post, your job is more than half done. Please write from the heart and give it your all, and we’ll do our best to share your knowledge widely!

You can reach out to our currently published authors by commenting on their articles or social media posts.

You can submit your articles here

 

NOTE: Legends Motivation reserves the right to decide whether to publish your article Here or on InsiderBLM, To specify where you want your article to be published, kindly add this to your Subject. E.g. “For InsiderBLM”.

 

Legends Motivation team looks forward to your awesome contribution.