An update on our search for new SBM bloggers

Why we’re expanding the SBM blogger team

SBM is growing. More readers means more questions. More questions means more topics. More topics means… we need more great writers. (Math!)

But “more” isn’t the goal. Better is the goal. We want stories that are genuinely useful, easy to read, and credible enough that a skeptical reader would forward it to a colleague without adding “lol” at the end.

The internet is overflowing with content. The difference-maker now is helpfulness + trust: real experience, clear structure, and practical takeaways. That’s the bar we’re building towardwithout turning the writing into a beige corporate memo.

What we’re looking for in new SBM bloggers

Think of this as the “ideal match” section. Not because we’re running a dating app for writers (although… tempting), but because clarity saves everyone time.

1) You write from real-world experience (not just vibes)

We love research. We also love when the writer clearly knows what they’re talking about because they’ve done it: launched the campaign, handled the customer blowback, rebuilt the funnel, fixed the site, led the team, shipped the product, managed the budget.

Search engines increasingly reward content that looks like it was created for people firstwritten with expertise, experience, and trust in mind. For SBM, that means your post should feel like advice from someone who’s been in the arena, not someone who watched a YouTube video at 1.75x speed.

2) You respect the reader’s attention span

People don’t read online like they read novels. They scan. They skim. They bounce the moment a paragraph turns into a wall of text. So we need writers who can structure an article like a great tour guide: “Here’s where we’re going, here’s what matters, here’s what to do next.”

That means: clear subheads, short paragraphs, specific examples, and formatting that makes scanning easy (lists, bolded key points, clean transitions). If your draft looks like one giant paragraph, our editors will develop a gentle eye twitch.

3) You’re helpful without being salesy

If a post exists mainly to promote a product, service, or personal brand, it’s not a fit. If you mention tools, frameworks, or resources, greatjust do it because it helps the reader, not because you’re trying to sneak a brochure into an article.

4) You can be clear about relationships and endorsements

If you’re writing about a brand you work with, a client, an affiliate partner, or anything involving a “material connection,” transparency matters. We’ll ask for clear disclosures when needed. Readers trust honesty, and regulators tend to enjoy it too.

5) You’re a collaborator, not a “drop-and-disappear” guest

The best contributors treat publication as the beginning of a relationship, not the end of a transaction. They welcome edits, answer clarification questions, and help promote the piece once it’s live.

Our updated content standards (aka: how to get a “yes”)

We’ve refreshed our editorial standards based on what strong publisher teams consistently enforce: originality, audience fit, clear structure, and practical value.

Original ideas, or original angles on familiar ones

“How to write a blog post” is… a big topic on the internet. We’ll still publish a classic topic if your angle is fresh, your examples are concrete, and your takeaways go beyond generic advice. If the first draft feels like it could be posted anywhere, we’ll ask you to sharpen it (or we’ll pass).

Specificity wins

We love posts that include items like:

• A short case study (“Here’s what we tried; here’s what changed.”)
• Decision criteria (“If you’re in situation A, do X; if you’re in B, do Y.”)
• Templates, checklists, or step-by-step processes readers can reuse
• Common pitfalls and how to avoid them (the spicy part)

Clean sourcing and responsible claims

You don’t need to write like an academic journal. But you do need to be accurate, and you must avoid dramatic claims that can’t be supported. If you mention a stat, trend, or policy, we expect it to be grounded in reputable public information (or clearly labeled as your own experience/observation).

SEO without the soul-crush

Yes, we care about SEO. We also care about not turning every sentence into a keyword costume party. The goal is simple: make the post easy for humans to love and easy for search engines to understand.

What “helpful content” means for SBM posts

We optimize for:

• Clear purpose: the reader knows what they’ll get from the post within the first few paragraphs
• Strong information scent: headings reflect what’s actually under them (no clickbait subheads)
• Depth where it matters: we go beyond definitions into how-to guidance and real decision-making
• Trust cues: author bio fit, clear disclosures, and accurate claims

Search guidance from major platforms consistently emphasizes people-first content, clarity, and reliability. Our standards reflect that: write for readers first, then apply SEO best practices to help your post get discovered.

On-page SEO we expect (lightweight, not obsessive)

• One clear primary topic (don’t mash five posts into one)
• A descriptive headline that matches search intent
• Logical H2/H3 structure (your headings are the map)
• Short paragraphs and skimmable formatting
• Natural use of related terms (no awkward repetition)

Google + Bing: the practical difference

In day-to-day writing, the overlap is huge: quality content, good UX, and technical sanity. The difference is mostly in emphasis. Bing tends to be very explicit about webmaster guidance and site quality signals, and their tools increasingly offer actionable recommendations. So we aim for clean structure, clear intent, and straightforward metadatawithout trying to “game” anything.

What we want SBM bloggers to write about right now

We’re prioritizing topics where readers need clarity, examples, and practical stepsespecially where advice online is either outdated or too generic to be useful.

High-priority topic buckets

• Content strategy that actually ships: editorial calendars, repurposing systems, content audits, refresh workflows
• Search + discoverability: topic clusters, internal linking, SERP intent, “helpful” rewrites, pruning thin content
• AI in publishing (responsibly): workflows, guardrails, fact-checking, originality, using AI without sounding like AI
• Creator economy and distribution: newsletter growth, community-led content, partnerships, creator programs
• Trust and compliance: endorsements, disclosures, review integrity, transparency in content marketing
• Conversion-friendly writing: CTAs that don’t cringe, landing page clarity, readability that drives action

Examples of pitches we’d love to receive

• “We rebuilt our editorial calendar from chaos to clarity: the exact template, meeting cadence, and how we choose what to publish.”
• “Content refreshes that moved the needle: how we pick pages, what we change, and what we leave alone (with before/after examples).”
• “Disclosure done right: how to write transparently about partnerships without tanking reader trust (and without legal panic).”
• “The ‘human’ checklist for AI-assisted posts: where AI helps, where it hurts, and how we keep the voice believable.”

Our updated submission process

We’ve tightened the process so it’s easier for great writers to shineand harder for low-effort submissions to sneak through wearing a trench coat and fake mustache.

Step 1: Send a pitch (not a full draft)

A strong pitch saves time for everyone. We’re looking for:

• Working title (can be rough)
• Who it’s for (audience + skill level)
• What problem it solves (one sentence)
• Outline (H2/H3 style is perfect)
• Why you (one short paragraph on your experience)

Step 2: Editorial alignment

If we like the pitch, we’ll align on scope, angle, and what would make the post stand out. Sometimes the best edit happens before the first draft exists.

Step 3: Draft + edit + polish

We edit for clarity, usefulness, and structure. Expect questions like:

• “Can you add an example here?”
• “What would you do differently next time?”
• “Is this claim based on data, or your experience? Let’s label it clearly.”

Step 4: Publish + promote (like a teammate)

Great posts deserve a life outside the homepage. We encourage contributors to share, repurpose, and discuss the post with their audience. The best contributor relationships become repeat collaborations.

What changed since our last update

Here’s the quick rundown of what’s new in our search for SBM bloggers:

• Higher bar for experience: we want fewer “generic explainers,” more lived expertise
• More emphasis on structure: scannable writing is non-negotiable
• Clearer trust expectations: disclosures, sourcing, and accuracy matter more than ever
• Better topic focus: we’re prioritizing content that helps readers make decisions, not just learn terms
• Stronger editorial workflow: fewer surprises, more collaboration, better outcomes

FAQ for future SBM bloggers

Do you accept first-time contributors?

Yesif you have real experience and a clear, practical angle. You don’t need a massive audience. You do need a strong point of view backed by reality.

Do you accept AI-assisted writing?

We care about the output: originality, accuracy, and usefulness. If AI is part of your workflow, you’re responsible for fact-checking, correcting, and ensuring the voice doesn’t read like a generic template.

What’s the fastest way to get rejected?

Submitting content that’s clearly been published elsewhere, reads like an advertisement, or offers vague advice without examples. Also: ignoring the audience fit. (We can tell.)

What’s the fastest way to get accepted?

Pitch a specific topic, show your outline, explain why you’re uniquely qualified, and include one concrete example you’ll share in the post. Make it easy for us to see the finished article in our minds.

Closing thoughts

We’re not looking for “more content.” We’re looking for more clarity, more honesty, and more help. If you’re the kind of writer who can teach, guide, and occasionally make someone snort-laugh into their coffee, we want to hear from you.

Our search for new SBM bloggers is absolutely still openbut it’s sharper now. Bring your experience. Bring your best structure. Bring your ideas that make readers say, “Wait, that’s actually useful.”

Field notes: 500-ish words of what we’ve learned while searching

Let’s talk about the part nobody glamorizes: the actual experience of finding new bloggers. Because the process has been equal parts exciting, educational, and occasionally… surreal.

First lesson: most pitches fail before the topic even starts. Not because the writer is “bad,” but because the pitch is foggy. “I want to write about marketing trends” is the content equivalent of saying, “I enjoy food.” Cool. Narrow it down. What trend? For whom? What’s changing? What should the reader do differently on Monday morning?

Second: experienced operators often undervalue their own stories. The best drafts we’ve seen usually come from people who’ve done the workthen assume their process is “too basic” to share. It’s not. The basics are what most teams mess up. A writer who can explain how they run an editorial calendar meeting, how they decide what to update, or how they sanity-check a headline can help thousands of readers who are currently winging it with a spreadsheet named “final_v7_REALLY_FINAL.”

Third: humor is a multiplier, not a substitute. The funniest submissions are the ones where the writer uses comedy to make the lesson stick, not to hide the fact that there isn’t one. If your article is a snack, humor is the seasoningnobody wants a bowl of pure salt.

Fourth: readability is a skilland it shows. We can often predict the edit workload by looking at the first 200 words. If the opening buries the point, stacks four buzzwords in a row, and refuses to use headings, the rest of the draft usually follows the same path. But when the intro names the audience, the problem, and the promise of the article? That’s a pro move.

Fifth: trust is the new growth hack. Some writers still pitch “SEO tricks” like it’s 2012. Meanwhile, the best modern content sounds like a capable colleague: transparent about what’s known, honest about trade-offs, and careful with claims. When writers include disclosures, cite reputable references (even lightly), and draw a bright line between data and personal experience, the piece instantly feels saferand more shareable.

Sixth: collaboration beats perfectionism. The strongest contributors aren’t the ones who “never need edits.” They’re the ones who respond well to edits. They clarify. They add examples. They tighten the structure. They treat the editor as a partner, not a villain stealing their precious adjectives.

Last: the best pitches feel inevitable. When a writer brings a focused topic, a clean outline, and a clear reason they’re the right person to write it, the article almost edits itself. Almost. (We’re still editors. We can’t help ourselves.)

So yesour search for new SBM bloggers is still underway. But it’s not a scavenger hunt for “anyone who can type.” It’s a deliberate effort to build a contributor bench that makes SBM more useful, more trustworthy, and more fun to read.