Hard to believe, but we are approaching the half way point in 31-Days to Kick Your Blog in the Butt. And it has been a lot of fun on this end. Hope you are getting some good stuff so far to kick start your blog or get a new one off to a great start.
For Day-15 I wanted to spend some time talking about something which can benefit you both as the blogger and the guest poster. Simply put, guest post on other blogs when you can and encourage and accept guest post on your own blog too.
Today’s Lesson
The great thing about guest posting for another blogger is the fact you can start doing this before you even have a blog of your own. Doing so is a wonderful way to start building your network now and having it in place when you launch. Keep that in mind.
For those already blogging, here are some of the benefits of guest posting.
Build a new audience – If you do a guest post, you are now making contact with a whole new audience. This new audience may or may not have visited your blog before. If you keep your post relevant to your host blogger, you are going to see some of this audience follow you to your own blog. And this is going to give you a chance to make a good first impression and a chance to build to your own blog audience.
Gain in subscribers – If this possible new audience likes what you are writing about and like what they see when they visit your blog, you are going to gain subscribers. This is one of the keys why you have to give your host a kick ass blog post.
Networking and community building – If you give your host blogger a great post, you are going to see comments on that post. This is a great chance for you to increase the size of your network and build more into your community.
Linkage – Don’t forget to take advantage of the opportunity to put a link to your own stuff in your guest post. Most if not all host bloggers give you the chance to include a link to your own blog in your brief bio. Do it. This gives you a better chance of having new readers stop by. And having a link on another blog certainly helps with your own SEO.
Effective Guest Posting
There is a right and there is wrong way to guest post. One mistake I see some guest posters do is forget they are not writing on their own blog, but someone else’s. You have to keep that in mind. Here are some key points you need to remember.
Target the Right Blogs — One thing to consider is to not just look to one of the bigger blogs out there to guest post on. Some of the best blogs to do a guest post on are not the so call “big boys”. True, the bigger the blog, the bigger the audience. But more important, try to find a blog to do a guest post on that has an audience similar to yours. Lets face it, the reason you want to guest post is to gain some exposure for you and your blog. If you find an audience similar to your own, you have a better chance of converting some of those readers to your own blog. Even blogs outside your own niche may have similar audiences. Don’t just stick to your own niche.
Spend some time considering what you are going to guest post about — Don’t just repurpose something you have already written about or something the Blogger you are guest posting for has posted about in the past. You want to make a good first impression and spending some time considering what you are going to post about is important. Research what the posts on the blog you are guest posting on have been about. See if you can fit your guest post into the general theme and offer something new.
Approach the Blogger you want to guest post for — The best way to do this is to have an idea of what you might want to post about. Have this nailed down before you approach the other blogger. While I would suggest you have an idea of what you want to post about and to relay this to the other blogger. I would not write the post ahead of time and send it to the blogger on the first contact. You can spend your time better doing other things. After all, they may not like it nor like you.
Write your best content for the host Blogger — I know this is something I should not have to tell any of you. But it needs to be said. Guest posting is a great way to get exposure and a great way to develop a relationship with other bloggers. Don’t give them junk. Give them your best stuff and it will pay off in the long run. Take your time and do it right.
Put your guest post in the proper format — Ask the Blogger what format they would like the post in. If you can have it html ready, all the better.
Do your own short bio so it makes them want to click through to you — As a guest poster, you will be allowed to tell a little bit about yourself. Make it interesting and give them just enough that they want to click and read more about you on your own blog. You can also include your link and I would even include a link to your twitter profile. Don’t have a twitter profile, get one. If you are a blogger you must be on twitter.
Have some kick butt content on your front page — You need to have some awesome content on your own blog when you guest post. Remember, your goal is to get exposure and to get readers from the other blog to come and visit yours. If they get there and your content is just plain unremarkable or not interesting, they are not going to stay, nor come back.
Make sure your new visitors can find your subscriptions options — There is nothing worse than to go to a new blog I have never been to before and then I have to hunt for how to subscribe. Make this easy to do and give them at least two main options, RSS and Email.
If you get comments on your guest post, reply to them — This is something I encourage all my guest posters to do. In fact, if I guest post, I always subscribe to my guest post’s comments so I know when someone replies. And this is just good follow up too. You are going to not only please the Blogger you are guest posting for, the readers will see you are engaged and want to know more. Just another reason to get to your blog to check you out more.
Promote your guest post — Promote your guest post on your blog and on social media. Just one more reason to be on twitter. And get your twitter friends to promote it too. Not only will this get you exposure. You are also getting the Blogger exposure too. It is a win-win for you both.
Your assignment, if you decide to accept it
Do, guest post. Even if you are not blogging yet, you should be reading blogs and if you are already blogging, your darn sure better be ready other blogs. Pick out a couple, send the blogger an email and offer to do a guest post. Most bloggers welcome the chance to let a guest poster do a post. One, it relieves them of the task of coming up with an idea to post about. And it gives their readers a fresh perspective on things.
Follow the suggested ways to be an effective guest poster too. This is a great opportunity to build on your own network and community. Don’t waste it.
Just a heads up. I am always open to guest posters here on Blog For Profit. In fact, during the 31-days to Kick Your Blog in the Butt, you have seen and will see more guest post. It is a win-win for both.
