TechBeacon.com is a digital hub by and for software engineering, IT and security professionals sharing practical and passionate guidance to real-world challenges.

Want to contribute? Review our guidelines and our pitch process first. Then pitch the TechBeacon editors on your story idea. 

Here’s how to come up with article ideas that will engage readers—and get you noticed.

Keep your article idea pitch short and sweet, and get right to the point. Focus on TechBeacon's core mission: We deliver practical information that technology professionals and practitioners can use. And back up your idea with a bit of online research to make sure you have a winner. Spending a few minutes up front refining your pitch is key to building an audience with TechBeacon—and building your own personal brand. There are six steps to a successful pitch.

You bring the idea, and your editor will work with you to develop it.

Research your idea. Do the research to find a good idea that fits into the core topic areas of TechBeacon.com. Frequent the sites in the topic area and communicate with experts. Set up a Google Alert for keywords in your topic area to stay on top of current trends so that your story ideas are always fresh. Look at what's trending and find an angle that advances the discussion. 

Vet your idea by doing a few searches using appropriate search terms and keyword phrases to discover what's already been written on your topic. Your story will do well if it's unique, different, or better than what's already out there. Does your story increase understanding by clarifying, by prompting discussion by practitioners? Or does it present a contrarian or different view of, or approach to, the problem?

Every TechBeacon article pitch includes these six elements:

Pitch headline: A great pitch starts with a compelling headline that clearly demonstrates value to the reader, ensuring that they will want to read your article. Headlines that ask questions or that address a pain point or are designed to spark discussion can work well.

Summary: This is your elevator pitch, so get right to the point. What's the main assertion in the article and what are the key points/takeaways/issues you'll cover? Give us a short outline.

Who's your target audience? Tell us who are you addressing in the article. Think job titles. Is it software engineers? Agile team leads? IT management? If it's software testers, which ones? Understand what will be practical for the target audience so you can hone in and deliver clear takeaways for them.

Relevance: Answer the "so what?" question. Why will your target audience want to read this article? How will this story advance the discussion, create value, and benefit them? Describe the takeaways for the reader and include this in your summary.

Sources: What expert sources will you cite for this article? If you are the expert and do not plan to quote or cite other sources, now is the time to tell us.

Supporting research: What search queries do you want to lead to your article? Do a quick Web search on those to determine what's already been written about this subject on TechBeacon and around the web, and then tell us how your story will be unique, different or better. Cite a few examples (with links) to what's out there.

QUICK REFERENCE: PITCH TEMPLATE

Headline:

Summary:

Sources:

Audience:

Research: