This is the second part of the two part mini series on how to leave a mark on another persons blog through guest blogging. This post will go over how to impress the blog owner enough to allow you to come back and write again for their blog. Read Part I “Tips for making a mark in the community with guest posts“.
When you guest post, you have to impress different people in different groups. I already talked about how to “leave a mark” on the community in the last post. Now I want to talk about how to impress the admin of the blog, and tips for making your post so great you could end up getting invited back to their blog for another round or two of guest posting.
Firstly, why do you want to become a recurring guest poster? Someone who comes back every once in a while and publishes an article to the blog.
There are a lot of reasons I can think of. To name some important ones:
- Build a reputation on another blog (hopefully a positive one)
- Great chance for branding and promoting your blog to another community of readers
- A great way to make new friends from other blogs
- Get an opinion of your writing style from another community
- A great learning experience
Everything above can happen in just one guest post, but I believe that if you do 3 or more guest posts then you can really learn the most and get the rewards greater from your experiences. That is why becoming a recurring guest blogger (especially on a larger blog) is so beneficial.
Follow Guest Post Guidelines Closely
Rules are rules! You don’t write these rules, you just abide by them. Don’t be the person who goes to other blogs and just writes on their own terms. A guest post is something special, you pretty much have to conform to the bloggers standards and write your post by them.
Remember, you don’t own the blog so whatever you says goes pretty much. Think of it like “the customer is always right” – except that customer is the person you are writing for and their rules outline the template for your articles.
If you can write a post that doesn’t break any of the rules for guest posting, then the admin will absolutely notice that. I received a guest post at one time at this blog that really didn’t comply to the rules I set. It was probably a 300 word article that was mostly self promotion. I threw it out, because it bothered me that the person didn’t even look at my guidelines. I don’t think I will be accepting any posts from them in the future.
However, when I do get guest posts I like and they follow my rules I will email the blogger and thank them for their hard work. Of course I will ask them to write for me again some time, and hope they do.
“I don’t like their rules – what do I do?”
I’m not going to lie, some blogs I have considered writing for had way too strict guest post guidelines. No longer than like 700 words or something like that. My articles are usually 800+ words, and I need more than that to make a great post.
So I found this blog I really wanted to write for, but couldn’t deal with the 700 word restriction. What did I do? I didn’t do anything. If you really have a problem with their rules, I would just suggest you stay away from writing on the blog. Confrontation may be something to proceed with caution if you choose to email them about their rules.
Get your post out there
Take a break from focusing on promoting your blog, and advertise your guest post around. Undoubtedly, whoever you are blogging for will appreciate the time you take to advertise a post on their blog. It’s a matter of hard work really. They see you doing all of this work to get their blog exposed, you will be rewarded with a request to do more work!
Ideas for spreading the word about your guest post
What are some of the methods you use for spreading the word about your blog posts? You can use the same methods you use for promoting a post on your blog and apply them to your guest post no problem. Some ideas from my experience:
- Write about your guest post on your blog. Let YOUR readers know that you’re out and about in the blogosphere writing posts on other blogs. May get a few people interested in writing for them.
- Social Media. Use Social Media sites like Digg, Reddit, Delicious, and Twitter (if you consider is social media). Show the admin of the blog, and they will do their best to spread that Digg link or Delicious link around I’m sure. Remember: Your blog only gets as much traffic as the article you write.
- Word of mouth. Tell your friends about it though MSN, forums, or even other blogs.
- Read our Promotions & Advertising category for some more ideas on promoting posts.
Follow the Blog
Staying up to date with the community of the blog you just published your guest post at is important. For one, you need to reply to ALL of the comments you get on your post. Yes, even the ever so unenthusiastic “thanks for sharing, nice post” comments.
This may just be for larger blogs, but take that idea an extra step further and comment all around the blog. Comment on new posts, the old posts. Start great discussions, and reply to a lot of the comments on other people’s posts. Blow the other blogger away; show them you are a great person and is definitely capable of writing for the blog again. Seems like a lot of work, but no sane person ever said blogging was easy.
Summing it all up
I feel like this post can be summed up into one entire paragraph. For those who don’t like reading a lot, this is how to become a recurring guest poster:
Do the admins work for them
Put yourself in the admins position, just like you are at your blog. Reply to every comment, follow proper post formatting, SPELL CHECK, advertise each post, and be a great example around the community. Sometimes you need to think bigger than a guest poster to succeed as a guest poster.
What are your suggestions for becoming a recurring guest poster on a blog? Do you think it’s really hard to be asked over and over to keep writing posts from a much larger blogger than it is from a small time blogger? Share your thoughts with the community, there are no dumb answers!
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When writing guest posts, I think that’s important to try to write better than you do on your blog. What I mean by this is that there’s always room for improvement in your writing technique. Go over your guest post again and again and again and try to make it more interesting while making sure it remains highly informational. You can never be too creative!
Evan’s last blog post..Evan9208: Gettin down to business
Definitely Evan, “write like you’ve never written before” is pretty much the concept you’re talking about. xD
Best thing you can do as a guest posted is start out with a post that will blow peoples minds, literally!
If you can do that, you begin to get visitors to your site and people get into your content. The main part of guest blogging is not only for the backlinks and traffic, but also to share your knowledge on a wider scope!
WPThemeKid – Daniel’s last blog post..Eating Out WP Theme Release!
I’ve always felt that guest blogs should be the equivalent of what you would write as a ‘pillar article’ for your own blog if you have one. Something with a lot of substance that will be useful to others and if it was a subject you didn’t know about would be something you WANTED to read for the usefulness of it. (Or entertainment of depending on the niche.) Good writeup on covering everything on being a regular guest blogger
Stuart Conover’s last blog post..My Twitter Weighs a Ton Allows You To Analyze Your Tweets
You’re right, you just need to take more time to make it really great.
Another thing you can think of is to do something you’ve never done in any post before, and try it out on each guest post. Maybe you want to include a little showcase of something depending on your article for an example as something ‘different’. It would be a fun little challenge with great benefits I think.
Dude, first of all you have an awesome blog theme which I really love!
I always enjoyed guest posting, although I have not done alot but each time I do it, i manage to get some good interaction going. So its definitely worth that little effort.
Ben Pei’s last blog post..Get On The Social Networking Bandwagon Now
Thanks for the compliments on the theme. It’s being redone and will be updated soon.
I have only done a few guest posts in my time. I’ve done 1 since I’ve started this blog, and I should have done a lot more by now!
Hiya guys,
Since I discovered this blog, I’ve tried to follow each post and get as involved as I can, commenting and asking questions etc. Not only is it good in terms of getting my sites out there, but it’s also good to belong and to support the online communities which you feel you get value out of.
I haven’t commented on the blog for a few days now, – a little long than I’d like to leave it normally. However, this post could not have come at a better time Alex. I recently informed a colleague of mine about your blog, and he has written a blog article which is effectively a design review of a couple of sites – Blogussion being one of the chosen two. We not only recognise the necessity of self promotion, but also, promoting the sites which deserve to be promoted.
I hope that you have time to stop by, have a read of the article, and add your thoughts if you wish. They would be gratefully received.
The blog article is on our creative, sister site, Zulu Creative:
http://www.zulucreative.co.uk/blogs.php?id=11
Zulu Internet Marketing’s last blog post..Would you search Kumo?
You leave some very insightful comments on the blog, and Janith and I are always very happy to read and reply to your comments. We can’t thank you enough for the time you put into your comments as well. It’s good to know that some people really do read our posts! :p
Woah, someone reviewed our blog? That’s awesome! I will definitely have to read it and let you know what I think at the blog. Much thanks for recommending us to your colleague!
Alex,
Just a quick post to say thanks for taking the time to have a look at the blog and in particular, post comment on our article, myself and the rest of the team appreciate it!
It’s always good to get the views and thoughts of someone outside of the organisation, as I’m sure you are aware. I’d be privileged to cast my eye over the design and give you my views once it has been coded…I look forward to it!
Thanks again,
Zulu Internet Marketing’s last blog post..Google launches ‘Street-View’ service in the UK
I LOVE this post! You hit so many points that irk me when guest posts come in.
As for rules and guidelines, it’s always a good idea to have a page set up…this can save a lot of time for both parties.
Dennis Edell’s last blog post..3 Secrets to Writing for the Search Engines
How detailed do you think a guest post page needs to be? As long as ours is, or a few bullet points?
As long as it should be. (What? That didn’t help??)
Seriously though – anything that is a must or must not goes in, any common questions you can answer first goes in…and like that.
Mine has been said to be “long”, but it’s all common sense stuff. No offense to anyone, but the more “obvious” something seems…it goes in. LOL
Mine also has perks I thought up for guests; this helps as well.
Dennis Edell’s last blog post..3 Secrets to Writing for the Search Engines
Great post… very enjoyable to read.
I must be honest and say I was quite disappointed at the results of some of my guest blogs, but it does seem I wasn’t doing it right…
Regarding the point you made about rules, why not send them a friendly email? I mean, as long as you’re polite you’re hardly likely to start a confrontation, and the worst they can say is no!
Simon | Teenius’s last blog post..Non Native English Writers… How Can You Get Jobs?!