Ok, maybe not life-long friends. But more likely, you can build a solid base of valuable partnerships along the way.
Guest blogging can be a foot-in-the-door practice that opens your message up to tons of interested ears and eyes. Not only does it grow your reach, but when done correctly, you can hit a strong bullseye in growing your overall reach, engagements, and conversions.
So if you have an itch to write but want a new way to publish, guest blogging is a great strategy. There are several ways to maximize your success with guest blogging – from the investigation to the delivery, to the execution. So, let’s dive in on some guest blogging tips!
Deciding on your goal will help you tailor your strategy. Some common guest blogging goals include:
You tend to take different roads to reach different goals, so taking the time to understand exactly why you want to undertake and leverage this strategy is important to consider off the bat.
Sometimes, the best place to start is with the information you already have. You are the expert of your industry, so you may already have a shortlist going for guest-blogging opportunities.
Do an inventory of your professional network to see what direct outreach opportunities may be available. However, just because someone may be willing to host a blog post doesn’t mean that it will necessarily be valuable:
If you have already gone through your direct opportunities or didn’t have them in the first place, a little bit of investigation will help you cultivate some promising opportunities.
As with any investigation, the best place to start is a good ol’ Google search. That may seem like an over-generic task to take on, but by using specific keywords, you can find relevant publications that have been open to guest blogging in the past. Using search terms like “ guest blog by” can help you find recent guest blog posts in your industry – which will identify the blog pages accepting guest blogs in your industry.
The next place you can start a search is on Twitter. Twitter is an easy place to search for organizations that accept guest bloggers because it is the easiest place to promote blog content. Checking relevant hashtags plus #Guestblog or #Guestpost to narrow it down.
Once you have your list of viable candidates, it’s time to perfect your pitch to maximize your chances of creating a new partnership.
Always reach out to a specific person. No “to whom it may concern” or simply “Hi”. Taking that extra step to find the person you need to work with is that good first impression that is the difference between a response and having your email thrown into the junk file.
Do your due diligence before reaching out. Always find something specific within their strategy, past posts, or digital presence to compliment or comment on. That will separate your outreach from any boilerplate outreach that is so much easier to send.
Follow the rules of each road. If you’re reaching out to publications that commonly post guest blog posts, chances are they have a preferred format for outreach. Understand whether the organization wants you to come up with the idea, offer an outline, or even submit a finished draft. If you reach out with less than they are expecting, they will skip over you for someone who completed the application.
For more tips on writing a pitch, check out this blog!
Chances are you won’t have free reign over what you’ll be able to cover in your blog post, but you can tailor your strategy to best support your goals.
Make sure to promote the guest blog on your platforms so your audience sees the blog post, as well as your guest post partner’s platforms. That way the individuals that are already interested in your content see the post too.
Another important thing to do is to reply to any comments, reactions, and shares that your guest blog post generates. That way you boost engagement and connect with the new potential supporters that were interested in what you had to say.
While yes, it’s time-consuming, finding guest-blogging opportunities is a low-risk-high-reward practice. By creating consistent and modern guest-blogging tactics, you can minimize your rejections and find the ‘golden nugget’ guest blogs that can grow your business for years. If you need help creating your guest blogging strategy, reach out to our team!
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