Entrepreneur Leadership Network® Writer Guidelines
Each month, millions of readers visit our site in search of solutions, new ideas and inspiration. Sharing your thoughts, experiences and hard-earned problem-solving techniques is a great way to help others, make connections and strengthen your personal brand and stature as a business leader.
Adhere to these guidelines ensures the highest likelihood of your article being posted and performing well. We reserve the right to reject or request edits on articles that do not meet our standards.
How to write a great Entrepreneur.com article:
Readers come to Entrepreneur.com for great advice — to learn what has worked (and not worked) for other entrepreneurs. Here’s how to craft a great advice-driven article:
Step 1: Think of a distinctive angle
After you have a subject in mind, it’s helpful to search our site for related pieces. That way, you can see how it’s already been covered — and how you can take a fresh approach. Think of it this way: Entrepreneur.com is having a conversation with our readers, so your goal is to advance the conversation. Go where we haven’t gone before.
Step 2: Narrow your approach
At first, you might have a tendency to think big and broad: “5 Ways to Market Yourself,” say, or “Why Your Company Should Start Producing Content.” But before you start writing, dig deeper than that. The most successful stories are narrowly focused — because that enables you to offer specific, tangible advice. For example, here are hyper-specific headlines that attracted a lot of readers: “13 Fun Facts That Will Make Your 'About Me' A Lot Less Boring,” “8 Mistakes to Avoid When Naming Your Business,” and “5 Things You Need to Know Before Investing in a Chick-fil-A Franchise.”
Step 3: Be useful—with examples!
The most successful stories on Entrepreneur.com offer information that entrepreneurs can use now. Be practical. Be instructive. Be clear. And be engaging! Generic information isn’t useful. Advice is always better when it’s accompanied by examples that bring your point to life and detailed thoughts that help readers appreciate the nuance of your point.
Things that cannot be included in your article:
Self Promotion: Articles are a way to bolster your credibility as a thought leader and expert. They are not a place to promote your company or services you provide.
Paid links or mentions: This is a serious violation of our standards. Any editorial coverage given in exchange for compensation of any kind will result in deactivation from our site.
Unacknowledged financial relationships: We discourage you from writing about anything you have a financial relationship with, or anyone you have a social relationship with. There may be rare cases in which mentioning friends or business partners is valuable to the article; in that case, check with your editor. If it’s approved, you must disclose the relationship in the story.
Individual profiles of entrepreneurs: Unless the entrepreneur is a well-known household name, we typically do not accept profiles or Q&As with individuals.
Non-household names: We do not accept articles that feature non-household name entrepreneurs, experts, businesses, products or services.
Previously published material: We cannot accept articles that were previously published, even if you’ve made some changes to them. We only accept 100% new pieces of writing.
Plagiarized material: This is a serious violation and can result in account deactivation.
Unattributed quotes or information: If you include any information or quotes from other sources, you must acknowledge them. For example, if you cite something that someone said in the New York Times, include that attribution and link to it.
Photos: We cannot publish images we don’t have rights to. Please leave all use of imagery to us.
What to expect from our editing process:
Wait time: If you're a premium member, you can expect a 2-4 week wait time for an editor to review your article. Your editor may have edits or questions that you need to address, and the story may need to be revised before it's published.
Number of posts: The number of posts you can upload depends on your membership level. Please check your account information.
Communication: Editors love writers who are open to feedback and take revisions seriously. If you’re interested, editors can provide more detailed feedback so that you can grow as a writer and most effectively serve the Entrepreneur.com audience.
Rejections: Editors are here to help your writing shine, but they must also maintain the editorial standards of Entrepreneur.com. Entrepreneur reserves the right to edit all content submitted for publication, including grammar, formatting, headlines and length. We reserve the right to reject content for any reason. We also reserve the right to remove any links or content for any reason, including that it’s offensive, harmful, not editorially sound or overly promotional. Any violation of our policies can result in removal of content or removal from the platform at the editors’ discretion.