Writing for Seeking Alpha: Become a Seeking Alpha Contributor

Are you a financial professional who wants to make money writing about the markets? Alternatively, are you a writer who is passionate about markets? If so, you should consider becoming a Seeking Alpha contributor. This article will help you with the most important information on how to become a Seeking Alpha contributor.

What is Seeking Alpha?

Seeking Alpha is an online portal developed in 2004. The portal allows financial analysts from around the world to publish investment-related content. Once published, the content is accessed by readers, who include hedge funds, investment banks, and other readers. The articles are syndicated across the various investment platforms such as Reuters Eikon, Bloomberg Terminal, and Yahoo Finance among others.

How much do Seeking Alpha contributors make? The amount of money Seeking Alpha contributors make vary based on factors such as traffic, content topics and quality. For Seeking Alpha Premium articles, a contributor can earn up to $1,000 per article.

Why Write for Seeking Alpha?

Apart from making money, there are many other reasons why you should consider writing for the company. First, your content is read by financial professionals in Wall Street and around the world. Indeed, many articles published on the website have been quoted in leading publications like Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and CNBC.

Second, your research can help uncover things that many investors don’t know about. For example, articles written by Christine Richard on the website helped the FTC in its investigation of Herbalife.

Third, as a publisher, you get an opportunity to participate in high level contests. For example, every year, the company has partnered with the Sohn Investment Conference. Every year, publishers are asked to submit their best investment ideas. The winner gets a chance to present the idea at the conference, which is attended by leading hedge fund managers. The winner also appears in a CNBC program to talk about the idea.

Fourth, as you become an expert, you get opportunities to interview the biggest names in Wall Street. For example, a few years ago, a publisher called Quoth The Raven had an opportunity to interview famed activist investor, Bill Ackman. Bill has a net worth of more than $1 billion.

Fifth, writing for Seeking Alpha exposes you to major Wall Street opportunities. Many writers have written about how they were able to get senior jobs in Wall Street because of their articles. In addition, it helps you have a ready audience for your work. This is because thousands of people visit the website every day. As such, you don’t need to grow your audience from scratch.

How to Make Money on Seeking Alpha

Seeking Alpha pays its contributors in three ways:

  • When you publish exclusive articles, you will be paid a fixed amount and a variable sum based on the number of people who read the article. A popular article can make you more than $400.
  • When you publish an exclusive article, that is upgraded to Seeking Alpha Pro, you can make at least $1000.
  • Finally, in addition to the previous methods, you can become a marketplace contributor. This allows you to participate in the marketplace, where readers can subscribe for your content. This will help you have recurring revenue from the members.

How to Use Seeking Alpha

Is it difficult to get an article posted on Seeking Alpha? The answer is no. Being a Seeking Alpha publisher is relatively easy, as there’s no contract or deadline to submit article ideas. To use the website as a publisher, you need to start with Seeking Alpha sign up. The Seeking Alpha sign up process involves submitting your key details like name, email, physical address, tax details, and the type of analyst that you are.

Before you write, it is recommended that you read the company’s commitment to the writers, submission guidelines, and payment terms. Also, before you start, you should spend a few weeks reading the content that has been published by the writers. This will give you an overview of the articles the editors usually accept.

How to Start Writing for Seeking Alpha

After making this foundation, you should now write your first Seeking Alpha article. To write a successful article, you should do the following:

  • Read all the available materials: articles that are accepted are those that add value to the readers. Therefore, you should read other media and Seeking Alpha articles to ensure that the content is not repetitive.
  • Reread the article: after writing the article, it is recommended that you reread it using the lens of the reader. Ask yourself whether the article adds value to the readers or not.
  • Provide supporting evidence: for example, if you quote a person, you should provide a link to their words.
  • Submit the article: after writing the article, you should submit it and wait for it to be approved.

Guidelines for Submitting Articles to Seeking Alpha

Once you are ready to submit your article to Seeking Alpha, you need to choose what type of article you would like to submit. There are three categories for you to choose from.

  • Exclusive articles: articles to be submitted to Seeking Alpha Editorial team for exclusive publication on Seeking Alpha.
  • Regular articles: these are articles submitted to Seeking Alpha Editorial team for publication on Seeking Alpha that you have also published elsewhere.
  • Blog posts: articles that contain content you do not plan to submit to Seeking Alpha Editorial team for publication.

How to Succeed as Seeking Alpha Writer

To succeed as a Seeking Alpha writer, you should use the following tips:

  • Go for quality, not quantity: in Seeking Alpha, you can submit unlimited articles. However, it is recommended that you submit a few articles that are researched well.
  • Focus on popular companies: popular companies like Google and Apple tend to perform better than those of small companies.
  • Focus on companies: while you can submit articles on various fields like commodities and macro, it is best to focus on companies. They tend to do well because readers want to know whether to buy or short stocks.
  • Participate in competitions: as you finish uploading the article, you will see an option for participating in competitions. You should accept it.
  • Develop a relationship with an editor: I recommend that you develop a relationship with an editor, who will be reviewing your articles.
  • Apply for Seeking Alpha Marketplace: this marketplace allows you to have paying subscribers for more personalized investment content. If accepted, it will provide you with consistent recurring revenue.
  • Always engage your readers: you should always respond to the comments left by your readers. This will help you develop relationships with them.

Seeking Alpha Alternative

There are other Seeking Alpha alternatives for making money writing online, which attract general topics such as Substack newsletter or freelancing platformsUpwork and Fiverr where you can find writing opportunities.

Key Takeaways for Aspiring Seeking Alpha Contributors

If you are interested in becoming a Seeking Alpha contributor, it is important to understand the Seeking Alpha audience. Seeking Alpha readers are typically experienced investors who are looking for high-quality research and analysis. They are not interested in fluff or promotional content. When writing for Seeking Alpha, it is important to be objective and to provide your readers with valuable insights.

The articles should be well-written and informative. They should be free of grammatical errors and typos. It is also important to format your articles properly, using headings, subheadings, and bullet points to make them easy to read. Moreover, you need to be able to produce original content. Seeking Alpha does not accept plagiarized content.

Finally, you need to be patient and persistent. It takes time to build a reputation as a Seeking Alpha contributor. Don’t get discouraged if your first few articles are rejected. Keep writing and improving, and eventually you will start to get published and start making good money as a Seeking Alpha contributor.

If you are passionate about markets, and you know how to structure your information well, you too can become a Seeking Alpha contributor.

Crispus (BSc and MBA) is a finance professional with more than a decade experience as a financial analyst, writer, researcher, and trader. Crispus has written in-depth articles on leading platforms like CCN, Marketwatch, Investing Cube and Seeking Alpha. He also runs a forex education firm. Follow him on Twitter: @crispusnyaga and read more about us.