How To Get Published On MindBodyGreen - Rebelle Nutrition

Less than a year ago, I remember writing down my goals as a soon-to-be Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, and there was one in particular that was SUPER daunting:

Write an article for/and get published on MindBodyGreen.com

Why was this so scary for me?

Well, besides the fact that MindBodyGreen has over 1 million Facebook fans or nearly 400 Instagram followers, they are THE go-to source for holistic health information online.

Nearly everyone that I looked up to (Jordan Younger, Shawn Mynar, Sara Gottfried, Robyn Youkilis and more...) had been featured there, and I knew that writing for MindBodyGreen would mean tons of exposure and renewed confidence in my ability to help people heal through nutrition. In my mind, Getting published on MindBodyGreen would mean that I had “made it”.

Needless to say, 1 year later I am beyond ecstatic to say that i’ve actually been published on MindBodyGreen not once, but a total of 8 (!!!) times, including an Instagram account “takeover” that reached tens of thousands of people.

Now, I don’t tell you this just to toot my own horn, but because at this point I feel like I have a pretty good idea of what the folks at MindBodyGreen are looking for, in terms of article contributions to their site.

Also, please note that I submitted many articles to MindBodyGreen (MANY) before I ever got their “exciting news! You’re article is live!” e-mail.

So, as an 8x contributor to their site (with topics ranging from everything from nutrition to minimalism to travel...)

Here are my top tips for getting your article published on MindBodyGreen.com:

1. Talk about health trends-with a twist

It doesn’t matter what you believe to be the healthiest diet (vegan, paleo, pegan, keto, macrobiotic) as long as you can provide the research the back it up. Provide a perspective that is unique, but still realistic enough for people to get on board with. Take Bulletproof coffee for example: at first, putting coconut oil and butter in your coffee sounds pretty freakin' weird…but it also sounds very intriguing and oddly delicious - especially when you learn about the health benefits.

An example of this would be the article I wrote for MindBodyGreen about what I eat in a day as a nutritionist. Pretty boring, right? Well, throw in the fact that I live in a tiny hut and have almost no appliances, and THAT is a unique and noteworthy article. It also gives inspiration to people who think eating healthy has to be difficult or complicated.

2. Share your hero’s journey

People love to read about the real, raw, life experiences of others that resonate with them - and how those people made it to the other side. My advice for this one would be to write about a challenge or difficulty that you’ve experienced in your life, and provide actionable steps that helped you get from where you were to where you are today. Just like any good movie, remember that your readers love a happy ending, and the same goes for getting published on MindBodyGreen. Share your raw experience and be honest, but also try to keep a positive spin on things (nobody wants to read an article with a negative, Debbie Downer tone.)

An example of this tip is the article I wrote about downsizing. I was extremely honest about a time in my life right after my husband and I got married, where we looked for temporary fulfillment in buying shit we didn’t need - and ended up in debt. This was not easy to share with the world, but I knew that there would be tons of people who would resonate with my story - and whom I could help by explaining exactly what we did to make it out of debt and get back on our feet.

Video more your thing? Learn how to get published on MindBodyGreen here:

3. Be vulnerable

This one piggybacks on the last tip, but don’t be afraid to be vulnerable. Without vulnerability, your story is probably not very exciting (sorry.) If you want to write about tips for gut health, share your experience with IBS growing up. Interested in skin health? Talk about your own challenges with hormonal acne and eczema. Passionate about body image? Share your eating disorder struggle.

An example of being vulnerable is the article I wrote about why I don’t want six pack abs. Before writing this article, very few people (other than my immediate family) knew that I had previously struggled with exercise addiction and an eating disorder. I knew for a fact when I hit submit that I would receive backlash from people who thought I was “bashing” a certain aesthetic, or that I was just “bitter” because I had gained weight since my obsessive gym days. But nonetheless, I spoke my truth in this article and even wrote about things that I had kept secret for years, out of shame. I knew in my heart that other women would see themselves in my story, and that hopefully reading my article would help them to feel less alone.

4. Submit to MindBodyGreen FIRST.

Trust me, I know how exciting it is when you feel like you FINALLY write an amazing article. But my advice is to submit it to MindBodyGreen first, and then be patient. This is because they ONLY accept original pieces, so be sure not to publish your piece anywhere else, until you either get published on MindBodyGreen OR it has been at least 2 weeks since your submission. If they don’t publish your article within 2 weeks, it means they have passed on your piece, but don’t get discouraged! You can start sending it other places like Huffington Post, Ravishly, Refinery29 or places like Medium (where readers actually “vote” for your article, and the more votes you get, the more people it will reach! Super cool). You can also publish it on your own blog, and who knows, it could still go viral (especially if you know how to harness the power of Pinterest!)

5. Be concise

Choose your words carefully, be succinct, and get to the point (this blog post, for reference, would be WAY too long). MindBodyGreen isn’t looking for long essays, they’re looking for interesting and helpful "quick read" type articles about nutrition, health, fitness, relationships, lifestyle, etc. The articles that I’ve had published on MindBodyGreen are almost always edited down (more than I thought possible) and all filler content is removed.

6. Be yourself.

This one is relevant for pretty much everything you do in online business (and in life). But stop looking at what other people are writing about and like you have to do exactly what they’re doing to get noticed. Find your unique voice and let it shine throughout your posts, just keep it professional. For example, *if* I were to submit any of the blog posts I write on Rebelle Nutrition to MindBodyGreen, I would refine them quite a bit more to contain no cussing, slang, etc.

But since Rebelle Nutrition is my personal platform, I write exactly how I speak. On MindBodyGreen, however, I like to keep it real but “lock it up” a bit, if you know what I mean ;)

Grab my 25 Mindbodygreen - inspired writing prompt ideas here!

7. Just. Keep. Swimming

The first article you write for MindBodyGreen probably won’t get published (if it does- go you!) But don’t take this as a sign that you aren’t meant to be a writer, or that only people with large audiences get featured (it’s not true- I only had around 250 Instagram followers and 30 people on my e-mail list when my first article was accepted). Whatever you do, Just.keep.Writing.

If getting published on MindBodyGreen is your goal, keep editing, keep writing, keep brainstorming, and most importantly KEEP SUBMITTING. Just because they don't publish something right away doesn’t mean it’s not a helpful and well thought out article that could help TONS of people. Submit your articles to any of the outlets I mentioned before, or re-purpose your articles into personal blog posts, social media posts, Facebook lives, Instagram stories or even a live webinar!

Now, all you need to do is get writing :)