Interested in learning more about what we are looking for in bloggers that join our TWBN editorial team?
We love
- Posts that are interesting and relevant to brides/weddings
- We LOVE pictures especially ones that spark and inspire good ideas
- If you’ve done some research and helpful reviews about vendors, products, services, etc. (you must not have had a financial benefit – paid reviews / highlights are considered sponsored and must be labeled as such per FTC regulations)
- We absolutely LOVE DIY projects and tutorials on how to put them together
- Articles that offer readers clear advice, takeaways, and practical how-to tips about weddings and the road leading up to it. Bullet points are good. Meandering text is not.
- Unlike how-to lessons, we also like opinion pieces where you can simply share your opinion, voice an argument, or discuss wedding news or current events—much like the op/ed pages of a newspaper.
Before applying to join us, please think about whether or not you’d like writing these types of posts. It’s not necessary for everyone, many bloggers tend to enjoy a more personal writing style. But if you like to help brides and grooms-to-be, then you’d be a great fit!
If this sounds like the kind of thing you’re looking for please fill in an application and become a wedding blogger!
Requirements
Once you fill the application and get accepted to join the team we will ask for:
- Your Article(s) in Word Format (no PDF files, please). You should be the original author and the article must not be published elsewhere. Remember, the better & more helpful it is, the larger your audience will become. You retains copyright, but we may reprint your piece, with full attribution, in our products, including marketing materials.
The article should include:- A Title – Here is a great case study to consider as you think about the perfect title.
- Proper Formatting –
- H1 – That should be reserved for your title – there should be only one of those in the article
- H2 – Primary section headers. If your article’s title is “Top 5 Beautiful Summer Wedding Dresses”. It’s expected to have 5 section headers
- H3 – Secondary sections that fall underneath the primary section.
- Bold – Don’t over use it. Use it to emphasis, if everything is emphasized then nothing is. Read more
- Links to any references used while doing your research
- Hyper-links to relevant supporting helpful resources. We recommend 3-6 external links & 2-4 internal links depending on the length of the article. External links are links to other posts on other websites like your blog, Wikipedia, TheKnot or any other references. External links should never be to a homepage of a website but rather to a specific post, article or news report that deepens the knowledge of the reader. Internal links are links to other articles on the same website you’re publishing your post. For example, if you’re article is being published on InspiredBride.net then the link should be to other articles published on the site
- The Excerpt – A short summary for the article. Here is a great guide on how to write an excellent excerpt.
- The Pictures (with proper credits/attribution) associated with the post need to be attached separately as well as in their proper location in the word doc. We recommend 2-5 supporting pictures depend on the length of the article you submit. Pictures should be crisp (excellent resolution) with minimum width of 500px (we recommend 800px if available).
First photo in the article should be:- The best and most captivating in the article. That’s the photo used when shared on social networks.
- Photo should be landscape (horizontal). Otherwise it will be truncated on the website and when shared on Facebook.
- A 120x120px Headshot Photo that will appear below your post and in our contributor’s page – Needed for your first submission only
- Your Bio (20-50 words) in third person POV. Example: “Rachel is …” instead of “I am …”. This will be displayed along with your picture below your post – Needed for your first submission only
Ethics
- Duplicate Content (aka Plagiarism) – That’s a No No No. The articles you publish on our network must be unique and cannot be posted elsewhere (even on your own blog). If your article is inspired by something else you wrote or read then it’s very important to give credits when credits is due. In addition to that, you cannot be more than 20% identical. In other words, the article must be 80% original. Aside from the ethical part which is sufficient by itself, Google as well as other search engines do not like duplicate content. Having the same content in two different places will devalue both. If that keeps happening then the reputation of both websites start to degrade which causes a drop in rankings & traffic. You don’t want that to happen for your own blog no more than we want it for ours.
- Identify and link to the sources you’ve used to create an awesome article whenever possible.
- Any quotations, headlines, photos and all content is not misrepresenting an idea or an incident out of context.
- Never write something you believe to be not true.
- Be Accountable by admitting mistakes and correcting them. Usually that’s by abiding by the same standards to which you hold others
- Distinguish facts and commentary from advertising. Don’t blur the two together to justify your actions. If you got paid, simply disclose it by using the word “Sponsored”.
- Make Friends! Whenever somebody comments on a post you published, you should receive an email automatically. So make sure you pay attention to these emails (even check your spam folder). Engaging with readers that have questions or comments about your article is very important to building a loyal following.
- Don’t steal pictures from the internet. You should assume that images found on the web are copyright and shouldn’t make free use of them without permission. Here is a great visual about picking pictures
thevisualcommunicationguy.com If you are not a photographer, there are still many free creative common licence and public domain websites that you can get great stock photos that can support your article such as:
- www.rawpixel.com
- burst.shopify.com
- www.pexels.com
- www.pixabay.com
- www.gratisography.com
- www.deathtothestockphoto.com
- www.unsplash.com (photography)
- www.lifeofpix.com
- www.unsplash.com
- www.littlevisuals.co
- www.sitebuilderreport.com/stock-up
- www.morguefile.com/archive
- www.publicdomainpictures.net
- www.publicdomainarchive.com – Bloggers who curated images in the public domain
- www.pexels.com
- www.picography.co
- www.kaboompics.com
- www.wylio.com
- www.FreeImages.com – Many free images can be found there, but they also have paid ones, so make sure you check the license of each image you download
- www.magdeleine.co
- Wikimedia Commons – 25 Million freely usable media files. Check their license here to make sure you can using them properly.
- Getty Images – allows you to embed over 50 million images. Simply click the </> icon when you hover an image that you like.
- New Old Stock – Many Vintage photos from public archives
- Stokpic – They can also email you a package of 10 images every two weeks.
- Food Images – beautiful food pictures that are mostly free to use
- www.stockvault.net
- www.photopin.com
- A Prettier Web – Girly Pictures
- www.picjumbo.com
- vintagestockphotos.com
- www.deathtothestockphoto.com – Bundles sent every month according to a specific theme
- www.bossfight.co
- www.stocksnap.io
- pikwizard.com
The first month (or 4 posts) is considered the validation period, during that time we ask that you email your posts to us and we’ll publish them on your behalf. Once we’ve established your voice & the information you shared resonates with our audience then you will be given an editor account where you can login and submit the articles directly.
If at any time, you have any questions about the process, please let us know. 🙂
We’re looking forward to having you part of our talented team of contributors!