How to Get Published by a Top Tier Publication like HBR

“How did you get published in Harvard Business Review?”

I’m often asked this question.

The simple answer is… persistence.

I got rejected too many times to count by different editors before finally getting into HBR.

Eventually, I threw a hail Mary pass and sent a cold email directly to HBR’s Editor in Chief.

To my surprise, this worked.

Perhaps he saw something others didn’t.

And in the time since, I’ve contributed nine articles to the publication, and my work has been featured in two HBR books.

It also opened doors to book deals, paid keynote talks, and new clients across the globe.

The lesson for someone trying to get into top tier publications? 💡
1. Persist, persist, persist
2. Send different variations of your pitch to different people
3. Pitch up the chain and down the chain
4. Include decent social proof in your message (see my email attached)
5. Cold email works if done well