# KOL target list — 14 sites, July 2026

All 14 are English-language, US/EU-based, and publish content that
overlaps with our `standard` and YMYL outline samples. **Do not email
all 14 at once.** Pick 6-8 from the list, prioritize by how relevant
their recent writing is, and stop after the 5-business-day follow-up.

The `short link` column is what you paste into every email. It 302s
to a real page and writes a `referral_visit` event with `ref={slug}`
to the events table, which `/api/stats` exposes as `referrals_24h`.

## Tier 1 — review / comparison sites (use `email-review.md`)

| KOL / site | Focus | Contact | Short link |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Ahrefs Blog** (ahrefs.com/blog) | SEO tooling, content briefs | partnerships@ahrefs.com | `/r/anatomy` |
| **SEMrush Blog** (semrush.com/blog) | SEO tooling, content marketing | blog-editor@semrush.com | `/r/build-log` |
| **Backlinko** (backlinko.com — Brian Dean) | SEO education, link building | brian@backlinko.com (via site) | `/r/anatomy` |
| **Single Grain** (singlegrain.com/blog) | SaaS growth, content strategy | eric.siu@singlegrain.com | `/r/pm-tools` |
| **G2 Learning Hub** (learn.g2.com) | B2B software reviews, comparisons | content@g2.com | `/r/pm-tools` |
| **Capterra Blog** (capterra.com/blog) | SaaS buying guides, comparisons | editorial@capterra.com | `/r/pm-tools` |

## Tier 2 — content marketing educators (use `email-tutorial.md`)

| KOL / site | Focus | Contact | Short link |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Content Marketing Institute** (contentmarketinginstitute.com) | Enterprise content strategy | ann.handley@gmail.com (CMI chief content officer) | `/r/anatomy` |
| **Buffer Blog** (buffer.com/library) | Social + content marketing | buffer@buffer.com | `/r/build-log` |
| **Copyblogger** (copyblogger.com) | Content writing, email marketing | editor@copyblogger.com | `/r/anatomy` |
| **Smart Blogger** (smartblogger.com) | Long-form blogging, Jon Morrow | hello@smartblogger.com | `/r/build-log` |

## Tier 3 — affiliate / commission sites (use `email-affiliate.md`)

| KOL / site | Focus | Contact | Short link |
|---|---|---|---|
| **NerdWallet** (nerdwallet.com) | Personal finance, large affiliate | editor@nerdwallet.com | `/r/home-buyer` |
| **Sleep Foundation** (sleepfoundation.org) | Sleep health, education-first | editorial@sleepfoundation.org | `/r/sleep` |
| **The Penny Hoarder** (thepennyhoarder.com) | Personal finance, mainstream | tips@pennyhoarder.com | `/r/home-buyer` |
| **Healthline** (healthline.com) | Health education, large editorial | editorial@healthline.com | `/r/sleep` |

## How to pick the first 6-8

Sort by:

1. **Match to your strongest samples.** Sleep Foundation + Healthline
   match `/r/sleep` perfectly. NerdWallet + The Penny Hoarder match
   `/r/home-buyer`. Start there.
2. **Recent activity.** A KOL who published 3 articles in the last
   60 days is a better target than one who published 0.
3. **Public contact email that actually works.** If a site's contact
   form is the only path, deprioritize — undeliverable cold emails
   burn your sender reputation.
4. **Editorial style alignment.** Capterra/G2 want a comparison
   framing. CMI/Copyblogger want a craft framing. Pick the template
   that matches the site.

## After sending

- Every email uses a `/r/{slug}` link with a **per-KOL slug** in the
  slug column above. (If you want per-KOL tracking, add a new entry
  to `REFERRAL_TARGETS` in `app/main.py` and restart uvicorn.)
- Log every send in a simple spreadsheet: date, KOL, template used,
  email subject, slug used, response status (none / follow-up /
  reply / bounced).
- Check `https://outlineai.dev/api/stats` daily for the first 2
  weeks. The `referrals_24h` map tells you which KOLs clicked. If
  the click count is high but the KOL says they never received the
  email, the link is being shared in their team — that's still
  useful signal.
- After 2 weeks, re-rank. Send the next 6-8 only to KOLs whose
  tracked links have been clicked at least once by *someone other
  than you* (filter by IP if needed).