The benefits of guest posting for your niche’s most authoritative sites are many. Whether your desire to guest blog comes from a need for more widespread exposure, a generous bump in credibility or a series of inbound links, rest assured—you’re going about things the right way.
Now, just because you’ve determined that guest blogging is the perfect means through which your personal brand can grow, doesn’t mean success is eminent.
Honestly, just as any of America’s most successful marketing agencies would tell you, a huge part of guest blogging greatness comes from being helpful. Here’s how to make it happen:
1) Thoroughly Read Any Guest Posting Instructions
While a healthy number of authoritative sites don’t have a specific page devoted to providing guest writers with instructions for what’s required to be published, many do.
Believe it or not, being published on another site isn’t solely based on how solid your writing or whether or not you’ve worked at one of America’s most prestigious content marketing agencies; moreover, it also has a great deal to do with how well you can follow instructions. Each site is different and, because of this, comes with a different set of editorial requirements.
From formatting and keyword usage to issues of generic ideation, follow instructions as strictly as possible and you’re much more likely to see your writing blasted out to an audience entirely different from your own.
2) Put Your Best Foot Forward
As Dorothy once famously said, “There’s no place like home.” Sure, as a blogger, it’s natural to want to run your best stuff on your own site. That said, when you reach out to another publication, it’s your job to see to it that only the best of what you have to offer be published.
If this means taking a bit of extra time away form working at any series of marketing agencies to craft an incredible post, so be it. Save the “B” quality stuff and regurgitated garbage for a Quora answer—as a guest blogger, you’re above that.
Remember, just as easily as you can build a reputation as a top-tier writer through guest blogging, so too can it be completely destroyed.
3) Make Your Piece Easy to Post
Nobody enjoys busy work. Nope. Not even the gurus working at the world’s most successful marketing agencies. As far as blogging is concerned, this means posting. Consider this: the finest of digital publications receive hundreds of guest post inquiries each and every day.
Most of them aren’t picked up, but—relatively speaking—there’s still plenty leftover that’ll eventually make its way into the editorial calendar.
Have a heart and make the publishing process as easy as possible for a hosting blog’s publisher. Seriously, bypass the zip files and make your guest as copy-and-paste-ready as possible.
4) Dominate Your Social Responsibility
Share generously. And once you’ve done that, keep sharing. Reputable marketing agencies know what they’re talking about and do this time and time again. Any and all social networks on which you’re active should be involved with the strategic scheduling of your guest post.
Although very much a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” mentality, it works wonders for being invited back for another piece. Take Twitter, for example. Don’t only schedule your your post once. Instead, make it a recurring affair.
Also, though tedious, take the time to personally respond to every single person who retweets, mentions or comments on your post. More than likely, the host site will also be tagged in the tweet and will notice your diligence in taking care of the PR side of things.
Simply put, few things are more effective for winning over the favor of an industry-specific thought leader, so take advantage of this.
Isn’t it about time you blow someone out of the water with your blogging prowess? Yes, this is difficult, but implement all of the aforementioned, and you’re good to go. Heck, before long, you might even have a few marketing agencies call you up in need of your services.
