What you’re about to discover is right there in the title of this lesson. You’re going to get my personal five-step system for finding blogging opportunities, creating effective guest content for them, and generating traffic to your site.
Here’s a quick overview of a G.U.E.S.T. Blogging System:
- G… Generate a List
- U… Understand the Audience
- E… Engage the Reader
- S… Streamline Your Byline
- T… Target Your Pitch
Let’s jump right in and take a closer look at each step…
Step One: Generate a List
Your first step is to generate a list of potential guest-blogging opportunities. One good way to do this is by searching Google for blogs in your niche that accept guest posts. You can search for your niche keywords alongside the following types of search terms:
- List of [niche] blogs that accept guest posts
- Best [niche] blogs for guest blogging
- [niche] guest blogging guidelines
- [niche] guest article submission
- [niche] guest blogging inquiry
Take note of the search terms uncovering lists that others have compiled.
This is a fast way to build your own list of potential opportunities, but you’ll also want to run additional searches to find opportunities not contained within the compiled lists.
Also note that not every blog on your list is one that you should pursue. Do your due diligence by studying the blog to ensure it’s a high-quality place to post with plenty of traffic and engagement, and that it’s one which will enhance your reputation, not detract from it.
Next…
Step Two: Understand the Audience
You’ve got a nice list of blogging opportunities. Now you want to select one potential opportunity from your list and start doing some research. Your goal here is to figure out what the readers on this particular blog want.
Ask yourself:
- What topics are really popular on this blog (e.g., get a lot of engagement – likes, comments, shares)?
- What article formats are popular? (E.G., listicles, how-to, infographics, etc.)
You want to create something that’s likely to be well-received on the blog, yet it should be better than the content currently available.
Step Three: Engage the Reader
Once you figure out what sort of content the blog readers will likely enjoy (which will make it more likely the blog manager will publish your guest post), your next step is to create an engaging article. Follow these tips:
- Create a compelling title. An interesting, benefit-driven title will get more people reading your post.
- Compile something useful. Your guest post should offer actionable information that helps someone solve a problem, achieve a goal, or better enjoy a hobby.
- Craft engaging content. You can tell stories, ask intriguing questions, empathize with readers, and give them hope. All of this will help get readers engaged until the end.
Be sure to also proof and polish your article and format it so that it’s easy to read (with plenty of white space).
Then the next step of the G.U.E.S.T. blogging system…
Step Four: Streamline Your Byline
Your byline (AKA author bio) is a great opportunity to build your credibility and get people clicking through to your website.
The key here is to make your byline about your reader and how you can help them, rather than making the byline all about you. To that end, give readers a compelling reason to click through to your website.
TIP: One good way to increase click-throughs is to offer “Part 2” of the article on the other side of your link. If people like your guest post that they just finished reading, then they’ll be eager to click through to get even more information on the same topic. If you package up a high-quality “Part 2” and offer it on your lead page, then you can build your mailing list from your guest-blogging traffic.
Here’s the next step of the G.U.E.S.T. blogging system…
Step Five: Target Your Pitch
While some blogs require you to simply submit your content without comment, others let you “pitch” your guest post. (And still others actually
require you to pitch it via an inquiry before you send them anything else.)
DEFINED: Pitch is a brief explanation of the benefits of your proposal or product.
In these cases, you want to send a short note to the blog manager/editor and let them know why they should publish your content. In other words, how does it benefit them and their readers?
Keep these points in mind:
- Get the right name. Double check that you’ve addressed your pitch to the right person, and that you’ve spelled their name correctly.
- Check the article guidelines. Be sure your pitch and article follow all the guidelines outlined by the blog owner.
- Provide something fresh. Ultimately, blog owners are looking for fresh content that their audience is sure to love. You can include a note in your pitch about how your content is unlike anything currently on the blog – e.g., it fills in a gap of information, or perhaps it presents information in a new and exciting way.
NOTE: You may also offer blog owners an extra perk, such as letting them know you’ll promote your published article across all your platforms.
Now it’s…
YOUR NEXT STEP
Your assignment for this lesson is twofold:
- Step 1: Review the five steps you just learned and then sketch out a quick strategy of how you could use guest blogging to grow your business. For example, what sort of blogs would you target? What types of content would you create?
- Step 2: Get your copy of the Guest Blogging Blueprint. We’ve only just scratched the surface here in this lesson when it comes to using guest-blogging to grow your business. If you’d like to learn more about how to turn your content into clicks (and cash), then you’re definitely going to want to check out this ten-module course.
You’ll discover:
- The best ways to find all the guest-blogging gigs you could ever need.
- How to choose a topic and title that your audience (and the blog owner) are sure to love.
- The keys to crafting high-quality, engaging content that keeps your audience reading until the end.
- How to craft your byline in order to get the most click-throughs to your website.
And much, much more.
If you’re loving the idea of using guest blogging to establish your expertise, build your list and drive more traffic to your site, then go get your copy of The Guest Blogging Blueprint course…
