Our authors are passionate about personal finance. Here are some of the editorial guidelines that our authors follow.
1. Topics We Cover
We are happy to consider pitches as long as the undertone is finance-related. Topics might include (but are not limited to):
- Credit & Debt Management
- Saving and Spending
- Investing
- Real Estate
- Small Business
For example, if you want to pitch an article about web hosting, you could offer “N Ways to Invest in a web hosting company.” Or if you wanted to pitch about starting a blog, you might consider pitching a “How to start a blog with no money.” The key is that the subject needs to have a finance-related component.
1.1 How to Pitch
We take an SEO approach to all articles published on this website. That means we will only accept contributions that we think will have a good chance of being able to be seen.
What’s the point of writing an article if it never gets found?
So, when pitching a title idea, please also send 2-3 alternates. One of our editors will check for a fit. Considering the significant competition, we may either accept one of your titles or propose a title that we think will work better.
2. Syndication
Many of our articles get syndicated and appear on sites like MSN, Yahoo Finance, Insider, etc.
For example, here are some recently published articles:
- (Benzinga) 12 Dividend Stocks That Pay Monthly
- (TalkMarkets) 3 MLP Dividend Stocks That Pay More than 7% Dividends
- (Credit.com) 11 Ways to Get Out Of a Debt Spiral
- (Yahoo Finance) How to Succeed as a Freelancer
- (Yahoo Finance) How to Save $5000 This Year
- (Business Insider) 15 European Dividend Aristocrats to Diversify Your Portfolio
If you’re looking for syndication opportunities or a content partner on a one-off or ongoing basis, please get in touch with us.
3. E-E-A-T Model
3.1 Experience
Could you explain how pizza tastes in Naples, Italy, if you’ve never been to Italy and experienced it yourself? It’s one thing to write about something – and it’s another to have experienced it. Your articles should have examples of your experiences.
3.2 Expertise
Our readers want to see the author has expertise in a given topic. For example, if an author writes about stocks, the reader might want to know that the author is an investment advisor or has a CFA designation. We expect readers to “Google” the author’s name and often check LinkedIn, past education, etc.
3.3 Authoritative
Our articles must be well-written, researched, and authoritative. Each piece should answer the question entirely. If the article is about saving money, it should cover as much as you can think about it. And then, “Google” the title and see what others have written. This will give you the surety that you’ve left nothing out.
3.4 Trustworthy
Our readers trust RickOrford.com. And to maintain the standard of trust, we publish verified authors’ information. That means we will publish the author’s photo, bio, website, LinkedIn profile, etc. Further, we encourage our authors to have a well-developed LinkedIn profile with accomplishments, testimonials, experience, and education.
4. Submit Your Best Work
Authors who write for us provide their best work. It should give the reader as much information as possible. And, it should be authoritative and complement our own work, in the following ways:
- Beneficial to our readership with a component of a financial nature.
- Listicle format: I.e. 15 Ways To ….. or 18 Tips to …..
- Each tip/way is a headline (Usually H3) with ~150-250 words.
- Comprehensive & well-rounded.
- Length: Determined based on the article.
- This means about 15-20 tips/ways.
- Add an FAQ Section at the end. Not sure what questions to add? Google the title, and pick 4-5 from the “People also ask” section. FAQ answers should be about 50 words.
- No photos, please – we will add our own. Exceptions can happen – check with the editor first!
4.1 Stick to the “1st Person” / According to YOU
All content must be based on YOUR experience. As a result, content must use the pronouns I/We.
According to Grammarly:
When we talk about ourselves, our opinions, and the things that happen to us, we generally speak in the first person. The biggest clue that a sentence is written in the first person is the use of first-person pronouns. In the first sentence of this paragraph, the pronouns appear in bold text. We, us, our,and ourselves are all first-person pronouns. Specifically, they are plural first-person pronouns. Singular first-person pronouns include I, me, my, mine and myself.
First-person point of view examples
I think I lost my wallet! I can’t find it anywhere! Oh, I could just kick myself!
We could do ourselves a favor and make a reservation for our group.
Many stories and novels are written in the first-person point of view. In this kind of narrative, you are inside a character’s head, watching the story unfold through that character’s eyes.
When I fall asleep, I can still see the sunlight on the waves.
4.2 Spell and Grammar Checking
Obvious, but we have to say it: Please spell & grammar check the article. We don’t have hours to edit an article. Run it through the free version of Grammarly – because we need a >95 or better to publish. And yes, we will return it to you if it needs significant work.
4.3 Copied Content
Your article may not include copied content or appear on any other website. That means the content cannot appear on any other website. During edits, we will run it through Copyscape and Grammarly Premium. Please don’t waste our time spinning – we will find out!
4.3.1 Syndicated Content
Syndicated content may get published on this site if it’s of value to our readers. Contact Us for more information.
4.4 AI/ChatGTP/Jasper/Wordhero
Are you thinking of using Jasper to write your content? Don’t waste your time – USE YOUR BRAIN! AI is fine for some things (Ie. keyword research, competitor research, creating an outline etc.), but writing content isn’t one of them. We will run the content through AI detectors. With few exceptions (i.e., unless you’re writing about AI content writers), we reserve the right to do anything we want to the content, including changing attribution and even deleting it.
5. Backlinking Policy
You may insert backlinks to relevant, authoritative, and trustworthy websites/articles if it supports the topic. For example, backlinking to the original research might be a good idea if you are referencing a study.
5.1 What backlinks are OK? And which ones aren’t?
We generally accept backlinks to authoritative and trustworthy sites that support the content. As laid out in sec. 9 of our guidelines, we reserve the right to strip backlinks anytime and for any reason.
6. Advertorials
Advertorials (AKA Sponsorships) include an enhanced form of product placement. For example, if your name is Harry, and you sell green tomatoes and want to tell the world how amazing Harry’s Green Tomatoes are, how much they cost, and where to buy them, then this is a sponsored post. Contact us to publish an advertorial.
7. Next Steps
Now that you know what we expect, please know that we seek to publish pieces relevant to our core topics (as listed above) and do not publish explicit, vulgar, or otherwise inappropriate content. As a result, we’re eager to review your pitch that complements our core topics. Once your article is written, one of our editors will review it. If it’s a good fit, we will put the finishing touches to meet the style our readers come to expect and then publish it!
7.1 How to Submit an Article
To submit a finished work, please write and save it in Google Docs and send us the shared link. Don’t forget: No images, please!
8. Once Published
Once your article gets published, we’d ask that you and your team kindly help promote it. Because as mentioned earlier, what’s the point of writing if it never gets found? That said, social shares, backlinks from various sites (to your article), email blasts, etc., will all go a long way to ensure your article gets visibility.
9. Disclaimer
All content submitted to RickOrford.com / this website becomes the exclusive property of RANDA MEDIA S.N.C. DI SPALLANZANI ANDREA & C. While incredibly rare, we reserve the right to modify, edit, disseminate, distribute, syndicate, and remove content at any time.
