Creative pitching — using unusual, imaginative ways to pitch a piece — helps your query stand out in a sea of bland guest post requests. A creative pitch can be funny, visual or collegial, depending on the target audience. By engaging editors instead of boring them to death or, worse, using gimmicks like ALL CAPS or over-the-top claims (“this will be the most-read post you’ve ever put up!”), you help ensure your pitch won’t get buried in the inbox.

While creative pitches won’t work for every site — don’t send them to serious outlets with very strict writer guidelines — they’re a great way to help you stand out. At the very least, you’ll have fun writing them! Here are seven ideas to spice up your next pitch.

1. Play with odd or funny subject lines

Pique the editor’s curiosity by using something truly surprising in your subject line. I have a friend who follows up to blogs she’d like to write for with subject lines like “Earth to [Blog Name], do you read me?” These follow-up emails almost always get a response!

It can be as outrageous as you want, within reason. Swearing or being crass may not win you any points — unless you’re pitching a blogger who’s known for that kind of voice, like Ash Ambirge at TMF Project.

Check the contributor guidelines first, since some blogs specify that pitches should have a certain subject line.

2. Tell a joke in your email

Jokes are a fun way to open a pitch because they can brighten an editor’s day and break up the monotony of sorting through their email. This approach is also a great way to show you’re a real person, not a robot or spammer.

[bctt tweet=”Try using a joke to stand out when pitching a guest post, advises @adrienneerin”]

I am not the funniest person in the world, but I enjoy a good dad joke or funny pun. You could try starting a the joke in the subject line and finishing it in the email body — at least it might get them to open the email, right?

3. Use an image in your pitch

By including an image, graph or chart you plan to use in your post, the editor can get a better feel for what you’ll write. This is especially helpful if you’re promoting an infographic or have the design skills to create nice visuals to accompany your piece.

When I recently promoted a time-sensitive infographic about distracted driving (April was Distracted Driving Awareness Month), I found that including an image drastically increased the number of responses I received.

4. Include a TL;DR summary

TL;DR is internet parlance for “too long; didn’t read.” Many editors lack the time to read through an entire pitch. Adding a TL;DR summary that makes your pitch in one line might elicit a smile from editors who tire of long pitches when really they just want a short summary — and earn you a response.

5. Offer a critique

This strategy doesn’t mean you should tell someone their blog sucks. Rather, point out something that you think is missing and offer a solution.

For example, maybe a blog you’d love to write for has outstanding information about running and racing, but there’s no information on cross-training. Mention that in your pitch and suggest a few cross-training posts you could write.

6. Explore your common ground

Do a  quick “background check” on the editor you’re pitching. Did you attend the same college? Have you written for any of the same blogs? Do you share an abiding passion for pug dogs? Open your pitch with a reference to your mutual interest and you’ll stand out from others in her inbox.

7. Reference a recent post on the blog

Bloggers hate getting pitches that are vague and show zero knowledge of their site. Demonstrate that you understand what they’re all about by referencing a recent story and why it worked. That establishes your bona fide interest in this specific site and helps you stand out from all the mass queries.

I like to show that I am not just throwing out a million identical pitches; I’ve actually read, liked and followed this particular blog. For extra credit, I try to comment regularly on blogs I’d like to write for, and I’ve found that editors are far more likely to reply when I’m already a familiar name on their site.

You might not win over every editor using these tactics, but you’ll make your pitch hard to ignore. Of course, once you’ve landed the assignment, writing a great guest post is up to you.

How have you used a creative pitch to get an editor’s attention?

“Ultimate guide” has become an Internet buzzword over the past few years as people search for ways to bring in traffic, boost their site’s credibility and add quality content to their web sites. Anytime you see the words “ultimate guide,” you can bet there’s a ton of research behind the story, as well as a writer with very tired typing fingers.

You don’t have to be an expert in your chosen subject area to write an ultimate guide. But you do have to have an expert-level understanding of what makes a great ultimate guide to undertake this type of post. (Click to tweet this idea).

Here’s a primer on all you need to know and what you need to cover when writing your next ultimate guide.

Choose a topic

It can be hard to settle on an idea you like enough to write about. Ideally your topic should be something you are familiar enough with to write comfortably. At the same time, it also needs to be something others want to read about. If you’re an expert on making liverwurst from scratch, you may write a wonderful ultimate guide, but very few people are going to be interested enough to read it.

A great example of a guide that combines expertise with information people want to read is Yoast’s definitive guide for WordPress optimization. This combination of authority and a universally appealing topic should be your goal.

Keep in mind that your topic should be unique. There are hundreds of guides for search engine optimization, but fewer about niche areas of SEO, such as ecommerce sites. Pick something that will make your guide stand out among the many other competing voices.

Cover all of your bases…

Writing something called “the ultimate guide” can be a bit intimidating. How do you make sure you cover all of your bases? Here are some ideas to keep you on track:

• Do keyword research to see what searches people are doing related to your topic.

• Search Quora to see what questions people are asking about your topic.

• Read other ultimate guides that have been written about your subject and note what’s missing.

• Contact experts in the field to find out what they would like to see covered in an ultimate guide. Perhaps you can incorporate a few industry voices.

• Find links you want to include, making sure you stick to high-quality sites that will expand more upon areas you don’t cover.

• Create a detailed outline to ensure that you don’t forget anything.

… but don’t cover too many bases

Does that seem a bit confusing? You should always aim for thoroughness when making an ultimate guide, but don’t bite off more than you can chew. You have to keep your topic focused or else your guide will end up being 20,000 words long, and you’ll ramble off on so many tangents you’ll lose your audience.

For instance, when making a list of resource links in your ultimate guide, stay organized and stick closely to your topic. A good example of this balance between too much and not enough information is the Alternative Medicine Resource List maintained by 12 Keys. While the list includes a number of different subcategories, which is great for anyone researching alternative treatments, it’s not so overwhelming that people will get lost amid all the links.

Keep your content evergreen

As the name “ultimate guide” suggests, this is a post designed to stand the test of time. You want people to find your ultimate guide in search results for years, not just weeks. That means that it needs to be evergreen. Evergreen content, much like its namesake trees, never loses its luster. It is relevant and important months and even years after it’s published.

In order to make your post evergreen, avoid references to current pop culture and news. Also make sure you reference events by their date instead of saying something general like “next month” or “next year” — such comments are confusing to someone reading your guide three years from now. Finally, it is a good idea to intermittently go back and update your guide.

Promote your guide

Once you’ve finished writing your guide, it’s time to move on to promoting it. The first and most obvious step is to take to social media. Ultimate guides are highly shareable, and they get lots of momentum on the major social networks.

You don’t have to spend all your waking hours on Twitter to do this. Try out various ways to automate your presence on the days when you have other more pressing tasks, setting up your feed to promote your guide even when you can’t be doing it live.

Be proactive by packaging the guide in different formats to get it more play across the web. One approach is to to make an infographic out of your guide, and link the graphic back to your post. Infographics are a great way to drive traffic in from other sites. You could also repackage the guide as an ebook and give it out to anyone who subscribes to your newsletter. There are lots of creative ways to get more leverage from your guide.

With the right topic, outline, timeliness and promotion, your guide can become one of your most successful writing projects. Now go find that topic! Just remember, stay away from liverwurst.

Have you written an “ultimate guide?”