You can tell people how to start a blog, create an ad campaign or even provide them with a step by step business plan… but in the end, how many people will actually follow through? The answer is, NOT MANY. The majority of people are just too lazy or give up way too fast. Yes, blogging is one of the easiest ways to start a web site… but there is a reason why most blogs fail and fizzle out to nothing and never make money. Setting up a blog is nothing compared to what it takes to grow a blog and make it into something special.
You’ve created a blog, produced great content and have a few hundred readers and some people are actually leaving comments on your blog… but your revenue and goals for the blog are still nothing. It will usually take at least a year or two to build yourself as an authority in any niche, and that’s a low estimate. Another problem that many bloggers just starting out have, is that they don’t have money to invest in advertising and getting people to their site.
So what’s the solution… Guest Blogging! Sure, you’ve heard of guest blogging before, but how many of you have actually spent the time to create a quality guest post and search out a quality blog for you to possibly get featured on? Most likely very few of you.
The truth is, guest blogging is free and for anyone who isn’t taking this opportunity seriously, it’s a big business mistake.
In this post we are going to highlight some important questions and answers about guest blogging, while also covering some guest blogging secrets and killer resources that are around the web.
If you’ve been struggling to grow your blog, make money online and become a niche within your market, this is the perfect guide for you.
Guest Blogging Guide and Questions
Before you start guest posting on your own, you need to make sure you have a good idea how guest blogging works, along with the proper etiquette and expectations from blogs that allow guest posts on their sites. Guest blogging isn’t just about getting inbound links, it’s a complex process that can grow your blog and brand by leaps and bounds… but if you go about it the wrong way, it can also come back to haunt you. The follow questions are some of the key points and discussions that you will need to know to become a successful guest blogger. Also be sure to check the killer resources at the bottom of the page, as this full post and resources are really the only thing you need to become a successful guest blogger.
- What is guest blogging?
Guest blogging is the process of writing original content for blogs on the internet. The majority of blogs that are looking for guest post writers, will want at least 400 words of original content, a topic that is targeted towards their audience and provides value to their site. In exchange for providing a guest post on another blog, the guest writer will usually receive an author section at the bottom of the blog post, along with one or two links to their web sites or blogs.
- What are the top blogs for guest blogging?
Depending on your niche, the top blogs in your market will be much different from other niches. Some of the most popular blogs on the internet such as TechCrunch and Mashable accept guest blog posts, but they need to be extremely high in quality and it also helps if you have a great list of references or an already established brand. An updated list of over 100 blogs accepting guest blog post was recently released. The majority of these blogs are internet marketing and tech related. No matter what niche you are in, there are plenty of high level blogs and many of them are likely accepting guest posts. Take the time to write to each of the top blogs in your niche and see if they are accepting guest posts.
- What is the best way to approach a site that accepts guest blog posts?
The way blogs accept guest bloggers can vary. On my sites I use a simple contact form, where I will talk with the guest writer before accepting their posts. Other blogs will allow you to sign up for a WordPress author account on their site, which you can then write up posts through the WordPress area. If the content is approved, the blog owner will publish your content and you will be able to add future posts simply by logging into your account and writing new content.
If you are going to be sending an email to a blog owner about posting your blog content, you should make the email personal, short and sweet. The majority of large blog owners out there get a lot of email and they don’t have time to go back and forth on every email they get. Write something personable about how you like their blog, read it often and would like to contribute a guest post. If they don’t have an author registration on their site, it’s best to include your full blog post within the email. You do not want to send an email that says “Can I guest post on your site?”, then follow up again asking what to write about etc… this is wasting the blog owners time and just making you look like an annoyance. You can see a sample of this writing practice on our “7 Major Tips to Be a Better Guest Blogger” post.
- What are the benefits of guest blogging?
The benefits of guest blogging are huge. As mentioned earlier, as a guest blogger you will gain back links in your author section at the bottom of most guest posts. Not only can these links help with seo and rankings in the search engines, but it will also help drive people back to your site. It’s one thing to write a guest post that gets accepted, but writing a killer post that people really enjoy and comment on, will make them that much more likely to click on your author links and visit your site.
Another benefit of guest blogging is simply getting your name out there. There really is no better and more cost effective way to get your name, content and picture out to thousands of readers just for taking some time to write up a quality article. One people start seeing your name and content on various other blogs, you will find that your branding and credibility continues to increase with time… as does your own blog’s traffic and branding.
- How can I become an authority through guest blogging?
Becoming an authority in any niche take a lot of time. Don’t expect to throw up a blog and become an instant success over night… or even within a few months for that matter. Many bloggers will need to write killer content and be at the top of their game for years before they become established and an authority. The keys to becoming an authority in any space, is knowing everything about your market, while also providing your readers will content they are just waiting to read. Tutorials, guides, news and interaction are all key factors to becoming an authority, and it also helps to grow a mailing list and start your branding efforts from day one.
- How can I make the most out of my guest blogging efforts?
When writing guest posts, it’s not simply about writing a post, sending it out to a blog and getting a link back. If that is your end goal, you are missing the point. First off, you want to make sure that you are writing something really great that people are going to want to read, benefit from and SHARE. The next important thing is that you interact with the people that are reading your content. If people are leaving comments, make sure you take the time to respond to all of them. It’s also a good idea and courteous for you to share your guest blog posts with your own social networking audiences. This is a great way to spread your content around while also helping out the blogs that are publishing your content.
Can I outsource guest blogging?
There are plenty of guest blog services out there, and they are also many reason why you may or may not want to use them. A few reasons why you WILL want to use them is simply because they will save you a ton of time and do all of the dirty work for you, such as contacting blogs, writing articles and getting them approved and live. Some reasons why you may NOT want to use outsourcing for guest blogging is that it will cost you money, and if you are using your personal name or branding, you probably don’t want articles and content being spread around that says it was written by you when it really wasn’t.
If you are looking to have guest blogging done to bring attention to a blog or web site simply for link building, guest blog services range anywhere from $15 to $200 per guest post published. The huge price difference is based on article quality, the authority and ranking of the sites that are posting articles, and within what niche.
Great Free Guest Blogging Resources
As you can tell, guest blogging is quite powerful and when focused on enough, it can really propel your business and brand to new levels. With that said, it’s important to spread around some of the best guest blogging resources around the web, along with interesting posts and articles on the topic.
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My Personal Guest Posts on Other Blogs – I’ve written a couple thousand blog posts across my own personal blogs, but I’ve also been doing some guest blog posting as well. Not only is it fun, but it’s also spreading my blog and brand to other blogs and audiences that might not have heard of me year. This page features some 30+ articles I’ve written for various blogs across the internet.
- YoungPrePro.com – What if I told you the God Father of guest blogging was actually a young kid? Well, he might not be the God Father, but he is freaking awesome at guest blogging. I first talked with Bamidele Onibalusi a couple years ago and he has written for many of my blogs. Onibalusi is a 20 year old kid from Nigeria, who just started his blog back in April of 2010 and is already making a few thousand dollars a month through his blog, guest blogging and writing services. I’d like to think my 30 guest blog posts are impression, but Onibalusi has well over 300 guest blogs posted in the past couple of years!
- 100 Blogs Accepting Guest Posts – The best way to get started with guest blogging is to simply get started right now. BloggersPassion.com released a great list of 100+ blogs that are currently accepting blog posts. The list also include the Alexa and Google PageRank for each blog. The list is made up of most social media, internet marketing, design and finance related blogs.
- My Guest Blog – I haven’t used this service yet, but I’ve seen a lot of people talking about it. You can join My Guest Blog and start networking and setting up guest posts with other blogs in their network. They also have a few guest blogging learning courses that you can download.
- ViperChill Guest Blogging – ViperChill has a great blog post full of information and case studies about his guest blogging experiences, along with a break down of all the benefits and link building power behind guest blogging. This is a quality post full of referral traffic stats, example blog emails and much more.
- Guest Blogging Guide 101 – Michael Chibuzor is another well known guest blogger, with over 500 guest posts under his name. In his guest blogging guide you will walk through the same steps Michael takes when writing and looking for quality blogs to guest write for.
- How to Build Links Through Guest Blogging – Niel Patel has put together an excellent step by step walk through of the process behind guest blogging, along with providing some useful resources and tools for tracking an writing great blog content.
One year later and we have finally hit the 12th month in the “Blog Revenue Report” case study. As you may already know, ZacJohnnson.com is less than two years old, and only in December of 2007 did it start to generate any revenue. Before that, it was strictly a unique blog design, with no advertisements in place.
Nothing too surprising about last months numbers, as they were right in line with the previous month. No additional advertising or hosting costs, since the blog is hosted on my own servers. It would only be fitting to say that December is looking to be the best month yet for this blog, so I will leave it at that and will continue to write occasional news and updates on the blog.
