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Article Syndication: Formatting Articles in Emails

by greggor3
12 replies
I'm pretty much ready to start contacting websites and ezines to build up my article syndication network. The way I'm going to do this is by sending an introductory email with my most suitable article for each site pasted at the end, making it clear that they can use this article if they want to and that I have more, etc.

My question is about the formatting of this article.

Should I:

A) use basic HTML formatting in the article and resource box, so that I can create a link to my site using a keyword?

B) send it all in plain text and just write in my landing page URL in the resource box?

C) send the article in plain text and the resource box in HTML?

I know that these contacts will probably tell me how they want their articles delivered in future, but for the first email is there any particular way I should be doing it that won't put them off or make me look like a complete amateur (which of course I am )?

Also, if someone requests that I send them an article in plain text format, am I limited to using my URL as the resource box link or is there some way to format it to create a keyword link?

Thanks for your help!
#article #articles #emails #formatting #syndication
  • Profile picture of the author iyke20024
    Originally Posted by greggor3 View Post

    I'm pretty much ready to start contacting websites and ezines to build up my article syndication network. The way I'm going to do this is by sending an introductory email with my most suitable article for each site pasted at the end, making it clear that they can use this article if they want to and that I have more, etc.

    My question is about the formatting of this article.

    Should I:

    A) use basic HTML formatting in the article and resource box, so that I can create a link to my site using a keyword?

    B) send it all in plain text and just write in my landing page URL in the resource box?

    C) send the article in plain text and the resource box in HTML?

    I know that these contacts will probably tell me how they want their articles delivered in future, but for the first email is there any particular way I should be doing it that won't put them off or make me look like a complete amateur (which of course I am )?

    Also, if someone requests that I send them an article in plain text format, am I limited to using my URL as the resource box link or is there some way to format it to create a keyword link?

    Thanks for your help!
    Hello Greggor,

    Option C is the best method you should adapt.

    Use your URL.. its better and show you are natural and it gives more credential to your writing....
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeTucker
    I'm sure the many voices of more experience
    will chime in here soon, and I've been doing this
    for less than a year.

    But for what it is worth, I just send the email
    exactly the way I would want it to appear in
    their publication.

    From time to time their email reader doesn't
    translate it so well, and they ask for it in
    another format. But for the most part it has
    worked just fine.

    Of course, I have no way of telling if some
    of those people who don't respond are deleting
    my emails because they don't like what they
    see (rather than not liking what they read, lol!)
    but I almost always get my five per day,
    so I'm content with that for now.
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  • Profile picture of the author NicoleBeckett
    I would suggest NOT sending the article itself in your first email. To me, doing so makes it look like you've sent out the same article to every Tom, Dick, and Harry on the 'net - and gives a far less personal feel (even if that's not the case at all). Why not just send them an introductory email to introduce yourself and offer an article to them? That way, they can tell you exactly how they want it sent, and you get to strike up at least a little bit of a relationship first.
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  • Profile picture of the author greggor3
    Thanks for the responses, all food for thought and it looks as though there is not a specific 'wrong' way to go about it. I think I'll probably go with sending it in plain text with an HTML resource box and see how that goes.

    Nicole, thanks for the suggestion, that's also got me thinking. I guess my view is that by posting in an article I can show them what I'm capable of right there in the email, so even if they were not hugely interested - perhaps they get lots of offers to write for them - they may read the first paragraph and think, 'Hold on a minute, that's actually not bad...' I'll still be making the emails personal for each website and ezine, quoting articles I've enjoyed reading, etc, so that it should not come across as something that I've just mass-submitted to everyone.

    I guess it's about finding out what works best for me. Maybe I'll split the emails half and half and see what happens.

    Thanks again!
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  • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
    Banned
    Nicole hit the nail on the head in my opinion. Article syndication is all about building a strong relationship with your potential partners. Easing into it and not going for the kill in the first email goes a long way towards creating that trust. Or at least that has been my experience with the process so far.
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeTucker
    That's an interesting take on it, Nicole & Joe...
    Maybe I should test that idea.

    The thing is, I always start with a short,
    somewhat tailored introduction, but my
    feeling has always been that everyone
    I send to is actively seeking content
    anyway, and I'm fairly certain that what
    I send them is the kind of thing they are
    looking for, so why waste their time
    (and mine) with an extra email?

    Plus, I feel like it plays on the "impulsive"
    reaction that many people have.


    Obviously I haven't tested this theory
    against the "pre-connect" kind of email
    you are sending... I would be very
    interested to know why kind of results
    you are getting with that? Can you share
    what ratio of offers-to-acceptances
    you are getting with that?
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  • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
    Banned
    I haven't really tested the other side of it either, Mike. Nicole may have though, I get the feeling she has been doing this a lot longer than me. It might just be a matter of personal preference because I can definitely see how the logic of your strategy works.
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  • Profile picture of the author NicoleBeckett
    Mike, I can definitely see things from your perspective. In fact, that might be the best way to do it on sites where they specifically state what their guest post requirements are (some sites are very specific - right down to what format they want everything in). After all, time is money, right?

    I've never "tested" this formally, but the thing that scares me is the other side of the coin - sites that maybe haven't laid out any kind of guest post guidelines or that don't take a whole lot of guest posts to begin with. I think, with those types of folks, you have to be a little more careful. The last thing you want them to think is that you're just blindly sending an article out to every site you can find. (myob has alot more experience with this than I do, so hopefully he'll see this thread and chime in! )

    If you do send the article in your 1st email, I would never send it as an attachment. That's a great way to wind up in a spam folder or with a recipient that's afraid to open things from people he doesn't know.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      After a while, you get a feel for whether someone might be receptive to a writing sample or not in an intro email. Sometimes it's obvious, as Nicole mentioned. A site owner will explicitly say what they want. Sometimes, it's just a gut feeling. When in doubt, send the simple intro only.

      As for formatting, I only send plain text. The resource box has my destination url in it. I'm not overly concerned about a keyword link at this point. I'm simply interested in moving things to the next stage. That article is, if all goes well, just the first of many yet to come.
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    • Profile picture of the author myob
      What has worked well for me in soliciting new online syndication outlets is to include two unformatted articles in the body of the email with just paragraph separation and very minimal html code in the resource box. You should also perhaps link to your article portfolio on EZA (many of the top writers use EZA only for this reason - syndication ) or your website to give the prospective publisher an overview of your writing style.

      It helps to strongly indicate in your intro that you have the ability to produce consistent quality on a regular basis. In addition, you will increase your chances for landing especially the larger publications with effective follow-up every few months or so. An excellent resource which is frequently recommended is the Directory of Ezines; publishers there often request articles for their ezines.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tadresources
    I would definitely go with plan C and if I had to guess I would think most of your contacts would prefer that in the future as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author greggor3
    Great, thanks for all the responses, looks like there are a few ways to go about it and I also like the idea of linking to my EZA portfolio so cheers for that myob. OK, time to pull my finger out and actually start contacting these people....
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