B2SMBi Contributor Guidelines

As the leading organization for business-to-small-business professionals and organizations, the B2SMB Institute (B2SMBi) is the go-to resource for B2SMB leaders, innovators and investors. Through our website, publications, research and events we offer an extensive array of trusted information, knowledge and resources to the B2SMB community.

We greatly appreciate thought leaders who are willing to share leading-edge thinking, innovations, lessons learned, relevant research and information about the latest trends and we strongly encourage content submissions from our members and other B2SMB experts.   

You can submit your content via email to submissions@B2SMBi.com. Before you submit content, we encourage you to carefully review our contributor guidelines. Submissions that do not meet requirements will be rejected without editorial review. 

Submission Guidelines

• B2SMBi will consider the following for publication on B2SMBi.com:
  • Guest blog posts (500-1,000 words)
  • Case studies (500-2,000 words)
  • White papers (2,000-5,000 words)
  • POV/thought leadership articles
  • Original research
• Read the content submission guidelines carefully and include all content and files necessary for publication including images, relevant links, etc.
• Submit only complete works, rather than outlines or pitches. B2SMBi will not consider partially completed works.
• Do not submit content that is self-serving or promotional in any way.
• B2SMBi gives preference to original content that has not yet been published or distributed elsewhere.
• When quoting others’ work, include attributions within the body copy following journalistic, Associated Press style. Do not include footnotes, endnotes or lists of references. 
• Include your name, address, company, title and e-mail address. 
• You will receive an e-mail confirming receipt of your submission. And if your content is accepted for publication on the B2SMBi website, you will be notified. If your content is rejected, B2SMBi will make every effort to notify you. However, that may not always be possible.
• Timeline for content review is dependent on current volume of submissions.
• Editorial decisions to publish or not to publish content are made at the discretion of B2SMBi and are based on factors including but not limited to: relevance to the industry, interest to readers, timeliness and caliber of content. B2SMBi reserves the right to exercise its editorial judgment and reject any content at any time for any reason.
• B2SMBi may re-write titles and subtitles to conform to our accepted style guide.
• The views expressed on the B2SMBi website and in our publications are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the official positions or policies of B2SMBi.

Articles (Guest Blog Posts, POVs/Thought Leadership Pieces):

• All articles must be submitted in Word format. PDFs will not be considered.
• All submissions are subject to be edited for accuracy, clarity, quality and length. While B2SMBi will make every effort to work with an author on any editing, we cannot not guarantee that authors will have an opportunity to review their work prior to publication due to time constraints.
• Include any applicable charts, graphs and images with your submission, but understand that B2SMBi cannot always run every chart, graph or image due to space constraints. Please provide applicable labeling and caption information with these submissions. It is the author’s responsibility to secure the publishing rights to any charts, graphs or images submitted. See image requirements below.
• References: If detailed attributions are necessary, please incorporate them into the text.
• Bios:  The author biography should not exceed 50 words and should include: name, position, affiliation and an e-mail address where the author can be reached for more information. 
• A headshot for the bio section should be included. Image requirements are listed below. Images that do not meet these specifications will be rejected.

Case Studies:

• Case studies submitted to B2SMBi must follow the same editorial guidelines as articles. Content should not be promotional in any way. Any content that contains promotional elements or advertising will be rejected.
• Case studies should be authored by an individual(s), not by a company.
• Case studies over 3 pages long may be submitted in PDF format. If submitted in PDF format, please include a 150- to 300-word description of the case study.
• Bios: The author biography should not exceed 50 words and should include: name, position, affiliation and an e-mail address where the author can be reached for more information. 
• A headshot for the bio section should be included. Image requirements are listed below. Images that do not meet these specifications will be rejected.

White Papers:

• White papers submitted to B2SMBi must follow the same editorial guidelines as articles.
• White papers should be authored by an individual(s), not by a company.
• White papers should be submitted in PDF format. Include a 150- to 300-word description of the white paper or e-book.
• Bios:  The author biography should not exceed 50 words and should include: name, position, affiliation and an e-mail address where the author can be reached for more information. 
• A headshot for the bio section should be included. Image requirements are listed below. Images that do not meet these specifications will be rejected.

Research:

• Research submitted to B2SMBi must follow the same editorial guidelines as articles. Content should not be promotional in anyway. Any content that contains promotional elements or advertising will be rejected. 
• Research reports must follow accepted professional standards for industry research. Research reports may be reviewed by a member of B2SMBi’s research team or other industry experts to ensure that the research methodology meets the high standards expected by our audience.
• Research reports should be submitted in PDF format. Include a 150- to 300-word description of the report.
• Bios:  The author biography should not exceed 50 words and should include: name, position, affiliation and an e-mail address where the author can be reached for more information. 
• A headshot for the bio section should be included. Image requirements are listed below. Images that do not meet these specifications will be rejected.

 Suggestions: 

• Do not produce content for yourself or your employer. Content should be produced for the B2SMBi community, your peers and your industry. This is a chance to showcase your thought leadership—not promote your company, products, services, etc. 
• B2SMBi accepts and publishes submissions from a wide variety of subject matter experts. You do not have to be a leading author or well-known blogger to be a contributor. Content is reviewed on merit, not on who is submitting it. 
• Offer the audience clear takeaways/next steps to maximize the full impact of your contribution. Help the audience solve their day-to-day problems or stay abreast of new marketing trends and ideas.
• Use simple language, and avoid industry jargon or clichés.
• All authors are encouraged to promote their B2SMBi contributions once they are published via personal and company websites, social media, e-mails to colleagues and peers, etc.

Imagery Requirements:

Images must be submitted according to the specifications listed below.  Any image files that do not meet these requirements will be rejected. Images should be optimized for use online. B2SMBi will not resize images.

Additional Information:

Copyright. When you submit content to B2SMBi, you agree and represent that you have created this content, or you have received permission from, or are authorized by, the owner of any part of the content to submit it to B2SMBi.

By submitting content to B2SMBi, you are indicating that you are the sole owner of the content and/or have the authority to give B2SMBi the right to edit, retitle, reprint and repurpose the content as B2SMBi sees fit. You or the owner of the content still own the copyright to the content sent to B2SMBi, but by submitting content to B2SMBi, you are granting us an unconditional, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free, fully transferable, perpetual worldwide license to use, publish or transmit on any platform, either now known or hereinafter invented.

You warrant that the content you submit to B2SMBi is not obscene, threatening, harassing, libelous, deceptive, fraudulent, invasive of another’s privacy, offensive, defamatory of any person or otherwise illegal. You warrant that the content you submit to B2SMBi does not infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, or other intellectual or proprietary or privacy right of any party or individual.

Plagiarism. When you submit content to B2SMBi, you warrant that the content you submit has not been plagiarized. As defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, to plagiarize is “to steal and pass off the ideas or words of another as one’s own,” “use another’s production without crediting the source,” or “present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.”

Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest. B2SMBi contributors are required to be 100 percent transparent and inform B2SMBi of any conflicts of interest.

Questions about the submission process?  Please contact B2SMBi Editorial Director Eileen Pacheco at submissions@B2SMBi.com.