Everywhere we turn we’re being told, “Write guest posts to grow your audience.”
The top blogs have been swamped with offers of articles. If you operate any kind of blog, whether you’ve a newbie or a veteran, you’re likely to get a canned message from a journalist offering to write a post.
So would you ever say yes – or even go out and actually seek guest posts for your own service business blog? Would you open the red velvet rope and give them insider access to your readers?
Most of the canned messages assume you need content and you’re too busy to create everything you need. But experienced bloggers are more concerned with the quality of content than just filling up space.
Or you might think, “It’s about reciprocity: they guest on my blog and I’ll write for their blog.”
But not all exchanges will be mutually beneficial. The real question is, will this guest post benefit your business and your audience?
5 Good Reasons Your Own Blog Should Include Guest Posts (Even If You’re New To The Internet)
1 – Get attention and page views.
When your email message introduces a new name to your list, you benefit from the novelty effect, even when the content isn’t new.
Every so often, when I see a good ezine article, I ask permission to run the content as a guest post. Page views and click-throughs go up because my subscribers are curious (and of course we’ve got a juicy title on a relevant topic).
2 – Get exposure in 2 ways. Your blog comes up in searches for your guest’s name, which means you need to choose alliances you’ll be proud to share.
Additionally, most guests can’t resist the temptation to promote their guest posts: getting asked to write for someone’s blog is a big deal these days. It makes them look good. They can post to social media, run an announcement on their own blog, or even add a mention in their ezine.
3 – Give your readers another reason to remain on your list: you share knowledge beyond your own expertise. A marketing coach might run my piece on a copywriting “how to.” Another writer might run my articles on storytelling or edgy copy.
Of course you have to be aware of how far your audience will go. Some business audiences will relish an occasional post on mindset or intuition. Others will just be annoyed.
4 – Get support for your “voice in the wilderness” message.
Have you been working hard to convince your audience to question “what everybody knows” on a topic? For instance, I’ve been advising my clients to write a sales letter before developing a product, hire a copywriter before you hire the web designer, and focus on conversions before spending money on traffic.
When I see a post supporting these views, I ask if I can run the content as a guest post, even if it wasn’t a post originally. I’ve never been turned down. My audience realizes I’m not unique and the guest gets good exposure.
5 – Get connected.
One of the paradoxes of blogging is that outbound links give your blog authority and credibility. If you’re new, you may have trouble getting people to create original content for you, but you often will get permission to run someone else’s article as a guest post.
As you know more people, you’ll discover potential contributors who are willing to create original work especially for you. In this case, the quality of the contribution contributes even more to your visibility and your readership.
This stuff can be SO confusing – and I can help! Let’s start with an Extreme Copy Makeover Intensive. We’ll start with your blog posts and dig into your strategy.