Blog opinion post guidelines:
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Why post a blog opinion piece?
“There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”
- Oscar Wilde
Blogs are increasingly used as a major source of information on the web, and whether your services are B2B or B2C, you can reach customers directly with your blog opinion piece.
By potentially centring yourself and your company at the heart of industry discussions, you can directly sell on both as potential leading industry authorities.
By raising your profile among potential customers, you can push on brand marketing, without even making a sales pitch.
Note that all blog opinion pieces will contain your personal and company bio and a link to your company website, allowing you ample room for industry positioning.
Recommendations:
The following formats are ideal for a blog opinion piece, though this is intended as a general guide, and that other formats may be suitable. The format chosen is limited only by your creativity:
1. SOLVE a problem: seek to address an issue relevant to the industry, such as technical issues, business issues, or consumer issues. Why does the problem exist? What is being done about it? How will this ultimately benefit not your company but the industry as a whole?
2. COMMENT on industry concerns. Are business models too short-term, or too long-term? Is the balance between customer experience and monetisation properly balanced? Are customers really getting what the industry promises, or are they likely to feel let down through a combination factors, not least support?
3. TECHNOLOGY can be exiting. Are they are innovations general to the industry, and if so, what are the competing alternatives? Or else does existing technology deliver exactly what is required, and can it really scale to work to the demands of providers and customers?
4. OPINION in general can create discussion. What is going right with the industry? What is going wrong? Where are improvements needed? Where is innovation and vision really required? Do consumers need selling on benefits of new services and technology, and if so, how far does brand loyalty play into this? Are consumers fickle and this has to drive industry targeting?
5. PREDICTIONS can be a great talking point. Are consolidations likely to be a major player in the industry? If so, which areas of the industry in terms of services require consolidation? Which companies are more likely to join forces (strategic partnerships, company mergers, acquisitions). What will consumers have in the future that they don’t have now? Where will the industry be next year, in five years, in ten or twenty, and what are the increasing industry challenges on delivery?
Rules:
1. NO DIRECT ADVERTISING: No one reads blogs to read ads – they read blogs for information. If you have to mention your company and services directly, make it of secondary importance to the blog opinion piece. Focus on information first, that can engage readers and make them think and respect your opinion
2. NO PRESS RELEASES: We already cover industry news and are happy to receive press releases, but please don’t aim these for blog submission. A blog opinion piece is pitched at a more targeted readership, and you need to consider this carefully.
3. UNIQUE CONTENT PLEASE: We are not an article directory and do not publish syndicated content. Your blog opinion piece must be unique, and not simply republished from elsewhere.
4. NO POTENTIAL DEFAMATION: Avoid direct criticism of other companies by name, unless there are clear and very defensible grounds for doing so. Otherwise, it will have to be treated as potential defamation and either edited out, or the blog opinion piece rejected.
5. EDITORIAL JUDGEMENT: We reserve the right to edit, modify, or otherwise amend an editorial piece submitted to us to ensure it complies with our Rules. Any blog opinion piece that falls below our required standard, and cannot be recovered via editing, will be rejected.
Required:
1. Word count of not less than 500 words.
2. Opinion writer name & email address for publication contact
3. Short personal and company biography no longer than 100 words, with preferred link to company
4. 100×100 pixel photo an advantage.
T&C’s
By posting content to Security Watch you warrant that:
1. You are the copyright holder
2. You allow royalty-free publishing of your piece to the websites http://www.securitywatch.co.uk
3. That you have understood the rules provided above.
After your submission has been made, it will undergo review by an editor.
Click here to register your free account at Security Watch to enable you to post.