Are people here illiterate or something? Are you not aware that anyone can apply at high authority site as a contributor all day long?
I'm a small time Amazon affiliate and can guest post at tons of the big sites. All you need to do is write. It's not hard to write. Have you read the articles on Business.com or Entrepreneur etc? They aren't that deep. It's basically the same topics regurgitated over and over again.
All you need is good published writing samples. If you're going to apply to Business.com show best samples of your business related articles. You'll also need a Twitter and Linkedin as a lot of sites will want this info. You may have to spend a few hours writing at least three articles to be used as samples when you apply. Follow the same outline you see at sites like Entrepreneur, cite statistics and link to high quality sources like Forbes etc
It looks better if your samples are published on sites with editorial review so try to get accounts at the sites where it's easiest to get one first; Lifehack and Engadget. Those two don't even ask for writing samples.
Why on earth would I consider bribing a writer when I can write and get published at a big authority site in less than an hour? If it's a topic that I know like the back of my hand I could get it done in less than 40 min.
So many people are obsessed with "bribing authors" when it's so easy to write yourself.
Also a hint, you can buy these posts from freelancing sites for 5x cheaper than on BHW.... you can find someone to write an Engadget article for about $80 on various freelancing sites.
If you can't get accepted as a contributor it means your writing sucks or your pitch sucks. Take time to study the articles on the site and emulate the tone and style etc and note how they link out. It's just common sense. Also study the article titles as well; that's really important and you'll need strong titles if you want to improve your chances of getting accepted. It's like a snowball effect; once you get listed at one site it's easier to get accepted to others and you'll build up your writing portfolio. Tweet your articles too.
Too many people here are obsessed with bribing journalists etc when in actuality the writers on Business.com and Inc.com are NOT journalists; they are CONTRIBUTORS. Anyone who has good writing chops and something of actual value to contribute can get accepted.
Good writing and SEO go hand in hand. If your writing sucks that will severely limit your ability to get high quality links. The quality of links you can achieve is directly correlated with your writing skills.
If you have a lot of knowledge about business/SEO etc you can even get published at Search Engine Journal, Ahrefs blog, American Express Open Forum, Fast Company etc.
Writing for business sites does require business knowledge but I think that as a business owner and entrepreneur you should be an expert in these fields anyways from your own experiences.
There's no limit on the quality of links you can acquire and you can go far beyond the usual generic sites that are offered on BHW like Engadget, Lifehack etc.
I always get insulted when people assume that I had to pay someone for my links. I didn't have to pay anyone because I have a keyboard and two hands. It's called writing. You should try it.
