How to Get Into Forbes
There are two ways to get into Forbes:
As the subject of an article
As the author of articles
Notice the “s” at the end of “author of articles,” because there is no option to get in as the author of a single article.
Let’s dig into the details.
How to Get Featured In a Forbes Article
If your goal is to get into Forbes so that you can say “As seen in Forbes” on your website, then you only need to be in Forbes once. To get into a Forbes article one time is fairly straightforward, either you need to do your own PR or hire a PR firm like Canvas.
How to Write Articles for Forbes
If you want to write articles for Forbes, there is no one-time option. You cannot send a letter to the editor, write an op-ed, or submit a single article. It’s simply now how they roll at Forbes.
Instead, Forbes offers two options to become an ongoing writer for their publication.
The first is to join a Forbes Council. Don’t do this. You have to pay an annual subscription, the articles are obviously paid placement, and perhaps most importantly—if you ever join a Forbes Council, you can never secure the second option for publishing at Forbes.
The second option for publishing articles on Forbes is to apply and become a contributor.
Instead of paying to write articles for Forbes, as a contributor you get paid to write articles.
The money you make as a Forbes contributor, however, is minimal compared to the value you’ll get.
I was a Forbes contributor from 2013 to 2016.
I published 164 articles for Forbes during those three years.
Those articles opened the door for me to write for more than two dozen other publications including Techcrunch, TIME, Entrepreneur, Inc., and Mashable.
Because I was writing for Forbes, I was invited to do a TEDx talk in front of 1,000 people in Hong Kong.
Writing for Forbes landed me a book deal. That book led to me spending an all-expenses paid week on Richard Branson’s private island (yes, with Richard Branson).
Writing for Forbes landed me speaking engagements in London, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, China, Canada, and around the US.
One of my Forbes articles generated over $10M in revenue for my businesses.
Without my writing for Forbes, Canvas PR would not exist.
So yeah, writing for Forbes turned out to be a pretty good gig for me (and at the time, they didn’t pay contributors, so I never got paid a dime directly from Forbes).
However, if you have ever joined a Forbes Council, even if it was ten years ago and you never published a single article, you can never become a Forbes contributor. No exceptions. So don’t join a Forbes Council!
How to Become a Forbes Contributor
You apply, and if they like you, they’ll give you a column.
You’re expected to publish 5 to 7 articles per month, so if you can’t commit to that then don’t bother applying. However, you don’t have to write the articles yourself. You can hire a ghostwriter to work with you, or researchers, editors, and others to support your writing and streamline it.
I used to run a course on how to become a Forbes contributor, but that was years ago and the content is outdated. However, my friend Kimanzi has a course as well as a weekly mastermind where he helps people get into big publications like Forbes, Inc., Fortune, Business Insider, and Fast Company, so if you think this is the route you want to take, check out his Paid to Publish Masterclass program. There’s no better program around.
However, if after reading all this, you’re thinking the PR route sounds easier…
Contact us or check out our pricing:
