If you're a writer who specializes in mentorship, job interviews, entrepreneurship, professional development, marketing, product management or sales, we want to hear from you! At MentorCruise, we're always looking for guest contributors that can educate, inform, and inspire our audience.
If you want to contribute to the MentorCruise blog, it's important that you understand who we are and what we do!
At MentorCruise, we believe mentorship is a powerful tool for personal and professional growth—and we're not alone! Surveys show that 76% of people believe having a mentor is valuable, with respondents citing the wealth of knowledge, experience, and advice that (good) mentors can provide.
In other words, people love the idea of mentorship. However, there's still a problem—only 37% of the people who want a mentor actually have one. Why? They're too difficult to find.
MentorCruise was created as a solution to this problem. We connect motivated mentees to experienced mentors from all walks of life. Our goal is to build a collaborative community that supports education, advancement, and personal growth.
Now that you know a bit about what we do at MentorCruise, let's go over what we expect from guest blog posts and articles. To make things more clear, we've included some examples of exceptional articles from our blog. If you have any questions about style, tone, structure, or content, we highly recommend that you give them a read!
We accept articles that have 1000 words or more.
While experience writing about mentorship isn't a requirement to write for us, your article does need to be relevant to our audience. That means focusing on business, entrepreneurship, and career advancement topics.
Here's a list of niches that fit in on our blog:
Within these niches, we're fairly flexible when it comes to topics as long as they're relevant to our core business (more on that later). So, have fun with it!
This probably goes without saying, but we will only work with writers who deliver original content. That means a) no plagiarized content and b) no content you've posted elsewhere (i.e., self-plagiarism).
Google tends to disincentivize duplicate content by lowering the ranking of the page it finds it on. Plus, our ultimate goal is to provide new, valuable information to our audience!
Here's a list of things to avoid:
Alternatively, here's a fantastic flow chart that describes the many forms of plagiarism!
If you choose to tackle a guest post for us, the main thing we ask of you is that your writing is free of fluff and filler. Okay, we ask a couple of things of you, but this one's important!
We want content that passes along real insights and actionable information that our audience can actually benefit from.
Here are a few ways you can help ensure quality:
As a content writer, you're most likely already aware of Google's impressive comprehension powers and how they ultimately affect a page's rank. Google's algorithms are constantly on the look for web pages with topical authority on a given search query, and they're good at finding them!
That's why it's crucially important that your articles and blog posts demonstrate informational depth and breadth around the keywords you choose to target. Oh, and while we're talking about keywords, it's worth mentioning that all guest posts should be based on keyword research.
Here's a list of our SEO requirements:
Example: If you're writing on the topic “how to develop a productive mentor-mentee relationship” you'd first identify keywords (e.g., “mentor-mentee relationship”, “responsibilities of a mentor”, etc.). You'd then want to provide thorough definitions for all the terms involved (e.g., “what is a mentor-mentee relationship?” as a subheading) and provide multiple actionable solutions.
We look for guest posts that communicate with our audience in the same way we do—namely, like friends. Any articles you write for us should be casual, fun, and knowledgeable in tone.
Also, make sure the language you use is clear and concise. Our readers prefer simple sentences that get the point across in as few words as possible. Plus, only 16% of users read web pages word-for-word—your content needs to be scannable!
Finally, make sure that you're writing with our target audience in mind. That means founders, entrepreneurs, mentors, coaches, and professionals—people who know their ways around the world of business.
Grammarly is your friend! Please check and recheck that everything you submit is written in error-free American English. We recommend using an advanced spellchecker like Grammarly or Microsoft Editor.
We absolutely love it when our guest contributors share their own resources in their posts, but you'll need to vet the links first! Please don't include links that are irrelevant or misleading. We aim to maintain a positive reputation with Google and the other search engines, so make sure all of your backlinks are solid!
External links should be anchored to relevant pieces of information so that readers can check the source and get additional context. Internal links should direct readers to related MentorCruise articles or product pages.
Structure is an incredibly important aspect of any piece of writing. That's why we've put together a guest post template to help writers get a sense for the structure we're looking for!
As you read it, here are some considerations:
Alright, let's get into the outline!
Writing for MentorCruise is a great way to acquire some high-quality backlinks from a reputable website. It's also an easy way to boost your authority on a given topic, get your name out there as a writer, and connect with members of our audience.
As we mentioned in the previous section, we're looking for content that's fun and easy to read. You don't need to be a subject-matter expert—we'll work with you if that's not your thing—but it would help if you have some experience in business or entrepreneurship.
Also, while not required, any case studies or personal stories involving MentorCruise products and services would be a great way to connect with our audience!
Don't have a specific topic in mind but still want to write for us? No worries! We have a list of vetted topics we know our audience will love. Contact us if you have any questions about the process, and we'll get back to you as quickly as we can.
If you're ready to get writing, reach out with your article proposal and a brief introduction. Don't forget to check out the MentorCruise blog for inspiration and direction!