Guest blogging offers several benefits to the guest blogger and the blog upon which they guest post. This is a powerful marketing tool for blogs and bloggers. If guest blogging is done right, it is one of the most efficient methods for expanding your reach to new audiences, building vital backlinks to your site, and for strengthening your online reputation.
With the heightened expansion of online publications and blogs, one might think it would be easy to secure a guest post position, but it isn’t. Guest blogging is so popular that online publications don’t have the staff to address all the requests submitted to them.
You can cut through all that and build a dependable guest blogging program, but it will take time, diligence, and commitment before you even start writing your first article. The following will cover some effective tips to help you build a successful business guest post program.
Planning
Just like starting a business or marketing campaign, you need a plan for your ongoing outreach program and follow-up. If you’re to do this yourself, use calendar reminders to get organized. If you assign this task to an employee, check in with them to ensure things are progressing as you expect. You can use online tools like BuzzStream, or a simple spreadsheet you share for collaboration for project management.
Publication Selection
Once you get things organized and your spreadsheet or online management platform ready, make your list of online publications that your current clients read. From there, decide which ones you prefer to write for. You can do an industry-specific search for “leading publications” or “top blogs” to help you. After you have chosen the publications you want to write for, read their published articles to familiarize yourself with their writing tone.
Locate the Editor
You can often look at the “write for us” link that should give you an online form for contacting them or an email address. If your only option is the online form, be clear and succinct and ask for the editor or whoever manages guest posting. Online forms take time to get a response, so you’ll need to do this every couple of days or look for another email on the that can direct you to the editor. Sometimes you may have to contact a few people before reaching the right person. Be prepared for the possibility of weeks’ worth of work.
Connect with the Editor
When communicating with the editor, keep it simple and make it easy to approve your article. Give a brief explanation of who you are and your expertise. Include links to articles you have written if possible. They need to know how you write and how well you right as well as if your point of view is what they’re looking for. Provide two to three title ideas that would complement some of their current articles. Be watchful of recently posted articles and avoid those topics or expand on them. Add a bulleted outline of the key points of your proposed idea. Keep it engaging, but brief. If the editor isn’t interested in the initial topics you provide, respond immediately and propose two or three new article ideas, and then ask if there are any particular topics they need to cover. Responding quickly helps keep the door open for you because even a few hours can close a window of opportunity.
Write the Post
Once you get accepted, you will enter the relationship building phase. Request deadlines and editorial guidelines upfront and make yourself someone they want to work with by following the guidelines and meeting the deadlines. When you show that you are reliable, easy to work with, and that you write quality content, you should be able to easily establish a good rapport that will lead to an ongoing working relationship.
After your first article is published, be diligent about reading the publication regularly to gain a better understanding of their point of view and their editorial preferences. From there, brainstorm some new topics. After a few weeks pass, contact the editor again to present your new ideas, which will start this process over again. Maintain contact with the editor at regular intervals to establish and build a good relationship and keep you name on their mind.
Developing your sustainable, successful guest post freelance business involves 20 percent process and 80 percent persistence. Well, that and you need to be a better than average writer. These are the secrets of getting yourself out there and establishing your guest post business.
