How to Guest Post on Entrepreneur.com

As a business owner with some knowledge of trending marketing strategies these days, you probably know what getting featured on a popular website can do for your business.

A well-written article that solves your customer’s problems can generate lots of traffic or qualified leads to your website. And even months after your article was published, the privilege to include any one of these website’s logos on your media page or website footer will boost your brand’s credibility for years to come.

Unfortunately, getting your byline on any of these popular websites isn’t easy. You can’t just write an article for them and expect them to publish it for you because you asked. They have strict guidelines and are selective in the articles they accept, so there’s a lot you have to do before you start writing an article. You have to learn how to guest post on Entrepreneur first, before submitting an application.

Step 1 – Apply for the Entrepreneur Leadership Network

There used to be a time when Entrepreneur.com would accept articles that provided “actionable information and practical inspiration for business owners,” and anyone could submit a post. But that’s no longer the case.

Today, Entrepreneur.com only accepts submissions from members of their Entrepreneur Leadership Network.

Assuming your application is accepted, there’s a $3,000 annual membership fee to join.

This isn’t cheap, so you’ll need to think twice before applying. It’s really only worth it if you plan to regularly submit articles. Otherwise, you could be throwing your money down the drain.

Some applicants will also go through a 1:1 interview if Entrepreneur.com wants to learn more about your background and potential goals for joining. If you say you’re only joining to submit posts, they may not accept your application.

Memberships also come with an Entrepreneur+ subscription and a dedicated editor. The editor is nice, as it’s always the same person reviewing your work. So you can build rapport with this editor over time to ensure you’re only submitting content that will get approved.

Keep in mind that the $3,000 annual fee is only charged if you get accepted into the program. Applications are typically reviewed and processed within 7-10 business days.

Step 2 – Create Your Author Bio

Assuming you’re accepted into the Entrepreneur Leadership Network, the first thing you should do is create an author bio. Why?

Well, Entrepreneur.com won’t publish anything you write until they have this information from you. So it’s a quick win that you can get out of the way immediately.

Bios should be 2-3 sentences and include a headshot. Make sure the bio isn’t overly promotional about yourself or your business. They’ll also ask you to submit a unique email address that will be used as the author (although this address won’t be publicly available).

Here’s an example of what an author bio looks like:

Step 3 – Get Familiar with Entrepreneur.com’s Writing and Style Guide

I don’t want to see you waste time on a guest post submission that gets rejected simply because you didn’t follow some basic rules. So before you do anything else, refer to Entrepreneur.com’s Writer Guidelines and Style Guide.

Some noteworthy highlights of these guidelines include:

• Posts should be less than 1,000 words
• Content should be evergreen (no mention of COVID-19, pandemic, etc.)
• No interviews (unless it’s with a household name)
• Embed trustworthy links to original sources of information when mentioning studies or statistics
• Don’t overly promote yourself or your business
• Don’t write about any person or any company that you have financial interest in (unless it’s clearly disclosed)
• AI-generated content is strictly prohibited

This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are dozens of other points to keep in mind before you start writing and even while you’re writing.

You’ll likely need to keep both of these guides open on your screen at all times, at least until you’re familiar with them.

Step 4 – Brainstorm an Idea

Find a topic that you can confidently write about, either because you’re an expert on it or you have connections to trustworthy sources that will give you information. This bit is important because they want contributors to provide multiple examples to support your point. Unless the company, study, or personality you’re using as an example is well-known, such as Amazon, Bill Gates, or Google, Entrepreneur’s editors will require you to include more than one example to prove your argument. Another possible reason for this is they want to deter people who submit content just to promote their products or services.

If you can’t find three supporting examples on your own, look for a reputable source to lend credibility to your argument.

Their editors want articles with unique insight on current trends, actionable advice, and inspirational stories for business owners. The challenge is they have a large roster of contributors and they publish lots of articles daily, so you can’t just pitch an idea because you think it’s great.

Step 5 – Write Your Article

Here comes the fun part. Now it’s time to actually write the post.

This is a bit different than how Entrepreneur used to do things in the past. Previously, you had to pitch a topic for approval first before you could write about it. But this just created too much back-and-forth between writers and editors.

So now, you do the writing first and everything is submitted it at once. That’s why it’s so important to follow the first few steps in this guide. Otherwise, you could be wasting valuable time writing about something that gets rejected (which could have easily been avoided if you read through the guidelines first).

Once your article is ready, simply click the “Submit for Review” button, and it will automatically get assigned to your editor.

Step 6 – Be Patient and Be Prepared to Make Changes

Don’t expect your article to be instantly approved and published. Even if it does get approved, there’s a 2-4 week wait time before your editor even reviews it.

Rather than outright rejecting a submission, the editors are pretty good about working with you to ensure it fits the criteria they’re looking for. So be prepared for any constructive feedback, questions, or additional edits that they request.

Even though you’re paying $3,000 per year to be a member, there’s still no guarantee that your content will be published. So you can’t take a haphazard approach when you’re writing.

Step 7 – Keep Submitting

You can submit up to four articles per month for publication on Entrepreneur.com.

I recommend taking advantage of all four.

If you do this consistently throughout the year, that’s 48 guest posts in 12 months—which comes out to $62.50 per article (based on your $3,000 subscription). That price isn’t bad at all, and it’s the best way to get full value from your membership.