Everything You Need to Know About Guest Blogging But Never Dared To Ask

by Debbie Rodrigues | Nov 18, 2015 | Blogging

Guest blogging is something that still scares off many writers. To show you that it’s not a boogieman here is a series of posts on everything you need to know about guest blogging but never dared to ask.

And it’s time to wrap things up, my friends. With the information I shared with you the past 5 weeks, you’ll be able to start scoring opportunities and leveling up your guest blogging skills.

Always remember that your first guest post doesn’t have to be perfect and it won’t. Whether you are a brand new blogger or one “seen on” a famous site, you are still growing. Anyone interested in becoming better is improving every single day. So I’m going to repeat myself: don’t wait for the perfect time. Your time is now!

Your Guest Blogging Checklist

To help you get things rolling, I prepared a guest blogging checklist for you. With it, you won’t be missing any step on the way. You can print it or use it electronically.

While the advantage of having it on paper is that you can make notes on it, the e-version contains links to the related posts. If you want to read the original posts again, they are all one click away.

Moving forward

What is left now? Plan your strategy!

As a blogger, I know well how it goes. We consume massive amounts of information every single day. We absorb tips from the friendly bloggers we visit, fantastic articles we read or great courses we follow.

It’s so much information we feel overwhelmed and get stuck.

You look around at all the things you already have to do for your own blog, plus family, work, and life in general, and you freeze.

“How am I going to find time for that, Debbie?”

Believe me: time is there. It’s just a matter of planning it well.

The thing about time

If we compare the life most of us have nowadays with the one of our (great-)grandparents, the number of responsibilities increased dramatically.

It’s not that they didn’t do much. But because most the work was done manually, there were only that many activities one could perform during the day.

Now we can stand on a line, listen to music while reading the news or checking what our friends are up to. Everything at the exact same time!

I forced myself to cut down the multitasking for the sake of mindfulness, and I don’t regret it. I have been more productive since, doing a lot more I thought I could handle. But it doesn’t end here.

One exercise you should also do on a regular basis is reviewing your priorities.

You set your goals and define your plan to accomplish them, but life happens in between.

Maybe you thought you would be able to get home on time every day this week, but you had to do some overtime because of some urgent matter. You hired a babysitter to watch the kids while you worked on your ebook, but she got sick, and you didn’t find a replacement. Your computer crashed, and you’ll be able to get another one before the end of the month. All these things happen to people every single day whether they are great planners or not.

So it’s important to:

• accept that the unexpected happens and it’s OK
• adapt your priority list accordingly

In my case, I started to provide Holistic Life Coaching sessions. One of the changes I already announced and implemented was the end of my link party Tip Tuesday.

Even though I love putting the link party together and am thankful for the relationships I built through it, I had to free time in my agenda for my clients.

For you, it might be watching one TV show less per week or blocking a couple of hours in the weekend to work on your guest blogging. Or you may even need to rethink your editorial calendar and change your posting frequency to free up time.

Either way, you want to optimize your (blogging) activities without missing other responsibilities or neglecting your well-being. An eight-hour night sleep is not a luxury.

How to plan your guest blogging strategy

It makes no difference if you are a blogger or a professional who wants to write a guest post for the first time. To be successful without losing your sanity, there are some points you should always have in mind:

• You want to play safe and take your time when setting goals and building relationships. Read as many guest articles as you can. Become a student of the game.
• Don’t neglect your website. Improve your content with every single post. You want to be ready to write your best blog ever when you score the opportunity of your dreams.
• Be realistic. I don’t mean to be negative about the quality of your content, but be careful with over-confidence. While the first will stop your progress, the second will damage it.
• Set a deadline and work it out. Let’s say that you want to have a guest post published before the end of the year, don’t wait until tomorrow to set your goals.
• Be consistent with your plan. Don’t leave things for tomorrow that you can complete today. If you only have 1 hour free per day, cut down Facebook time and use it on your blog.

Guest blogging opportunities

As you already know, we are offering guest blogging opportunities for Debbie in Shape. Please note that the guidelines have been slightly updated to be in line with the new direction of the blog.

My friend Haley from Haley’s Vintage also offers regular guest blogging opportunities. Her guidelines can be found here.

I wish you many successful guest posts and may these tips be useful to you.

After going through this series, I have a question for you:

[poll id=”6″]

Read also the previous posts of this series:

• Everything You Need to Know About Guest Blogging: Setting Goals
• Everything You Need to Know About Guest Blogging: Finding Opportunities
• Everything You Need to Know About Guest Blogging: Writing Pitch
• Everything You Need to Know About Guest Blogging: Writing The Post
• Everything You Need to Know About Guest Blogging: Promotion

Please check the list of link parties I join here.

Be Healthy and Live Fully.

Everything You Need to Know About Guest Blogging: Promotion

by Debbie Rodrigues | Nov 11, 2015 | Blogging

Guest blogging promotion is something that still scares off many writers. To show you that it’s not a boogieman here is a series of posts on everything you need to know about guest blogging but never dared to ask.

Last week we went through the process of writing a guest post and I wonder how many of you thought it was the end of the line. There’s no reason for concern if you did. In fact, that’s most people also think.

Because I’m breaking down the process in many small steps, it might look like a lot. However, it’s only a matter of personal approach.

Some may prefer to get all information at once and digest it as they go. I prefer small consistent doses. I wanted to give you time to compare my process with your previous experiences. Maybe you could figure out what you have done right and what you could have done better.

Today, we will go through a very important part of guest blogging. It’s frequently neglected or not taken that seriously: the promotion. Still it’s key no matter what your goal is.

From the guest blogger’s perspective

There are many ways you can promote and support your guest post. The most important ones are:

1. Share, share, and share it
2. Promote it with your tribe
3. Reply to comments
4. Ask for feedback

1. Share, share, and share

Remember those automatic social media shares you schedule for your own posts? Yeah, those. Do the same with your guest blogs. If you are shy about spreading the word on stuff from your website, go shamelessly with your guest writing.

You want to drive all the traffic you can to your host.

“But wait, Debbie! I’m doing it to drive traffic to myself, not to the publisher!”

I know it. Yet, you want to increase the reach of your article anyways. Because it’s not a post on your website, it will feel less spammy even if you go a little over the top with your sharing.

Be creative, use alternative headlines and add some variations. Your followers will love it without feeling annoyed by it.

Go to the List

2. Promote it with your tribe

Are you a member of some mastermind group? What about those fellow bloggers that are always working together with you?

Ask their “love”. If you don’t ask, they’ll not be able to help you out.

In such groups, you can not only share content from our site, but we also promote each other’s guest posts, reviews, and sponsored posts.

It’s not something to be ashamed of. They are your friends, remember? And that’s one of the many things that fellow bloggers are for. We help each other also by supporting and celebrating our victories.

Their comments on the post and social media shares are like throwing a party for you. Let them know how much you’d appreciate it.

Go to the List

3. Reply to comments

It may sound obvious, but sometimes it’s forgotten. Mainly if you are not informed of the date when the post is coming out, you may overlook the comments.

Small and medium bloggers are more careful here. They will let you know the date and even send you the permalink to your article to facilitate the promotion.

Bigger blogs may not always inform you though (I’m not speaking Huffington Post-like big because I wouldn’t know it – and I’m not going to pretend I do). Their editorial calendar is planned months beforehand. It may take ages for your article to show. So, drop by a couple of times and check things out.

Remember you built a relationship with the host and their readers anyway before scoring the opportunity. Visiting their site not a waste of your time.

Go to the List

4. Ask for feedback

Congratulations.  You got it! You landed the guest post you worked hard for. I’m proud of you!

Even though you surely did an awesome job, I’m sure you can make it even better. And it has nothing to do with you or your content. It’s just how it goes with everyone. If you look at your older posts, you may find many ways to improve them. The same will happen if you look at your content next year.

Send a thank you email to the host and ask them if they have some extra tips for you. Whether they give you 1 or 10 points, try to use them next time.

Besides, let them know it if you’re interested in sending them another pitch in the future. It may soften them up their feedback and guide their tips towards this next opportunity. Win-win. 😉

Go to the List

From the publisher’s perspective

I know I have been focusing this entire series on the side of the guest bloggers. But I want to call out hosts here this time. Mainly if you have a small or a medium size blog.

Whether it’s because you created an opportunity or because someone contacted you for a guest post, show them some love too.

I’m assuming you were careful with the selection of the post and the writer brought you an awesome article. If he or she did her part of the deal, why not supporting their efforts as well?

Some of the things you can do are:

• Write a warm introduction of the blogger (it’s easier when you have a relationship, though)
• Promote the post together with the writer
• Leave a comment
• Answer to the comments along with the guest blogger
• Include a bio

Yes, guest posts are a fantastic way to open doors for writers. Why not using the opportunity to boost your traffic too?

Now it’s up to you

I really hope I shed some light into the subject guest blogging with this series.

Next week, we will be doing a wrap-up, so if you have any questions, please feel free to share them below. It’s going to be a great opportunity to clarify any points I may have missed or I could have gone deeper.

If you offer guest blogging opportunities on your site, also leave the link to your guidelines in the comments if you want me to share it with my tribe.

If there’s one final tip I want to share with you is that you don’t need to wait for your writing to be perfect.

I’m not a heavy guest blogger (for now), but I like to expand my reach as well from time to time.

To give you an idea of my evolution here are my samples:

• First
• Second
• Most recent

Sites where I write as a contributor:

• PurePharma
• Linkology

For PurePharma, it all started with a project for which I was going to write only a handful posts. The project is long gone, but I remained as a contributor because of the quality of the content I deliver.

Every single tip I shared in this series is exactly what I apply for myself.

Is it incredible to be able to write for a brand I love and respect as a consumer? Hell yeah!!! But it’s an equal pleasure to join fellow bloggers on their websites too. I learn with every single post I write and become better in what I do.

I truly hope you’ll find this series helpful. Guest blogging is an amazing opportunity to get visibility and build credibility, but it has to be done right.

Remember that we are now offering guest blogging opportunities on Debbie in Shape. If you want to get started or practice your skills with us, it’ll be a pleasure to publish your post(s). Guidelines and details are available here. I cannot wait to read your pitch!

Make sure you come back next week for more guest blogging tips. Or sign up to receive an email notification whenever a new post is published.

Hey! One more post and you graduate as a beginner guest blogger. How does it feel?

How excited are you to start guest blogging?

Read all posts of this series:

• Everything You Need to Know About Guest Blogging: Setting Goals
• Everything You Need to Know About Guest Blogging: Finding Opportunities
• Everything You Need to Know About Guest Blogging: Writing Pitch
• Everything You Need to Know About Guest Blogging: Writing The Post
• Everything You Need to Know About Guest Blogging: Promotion
• Everything You Need to Know About Guest Blogging But Never Dared To Ask

Please check the list of link parties I join here.

Be Healthy and Live Fully.

Everything You Need to Know About Guest Blogging: Writing A Post

by Debbie Rodrigues | Nov 4, 2015 | Blogging

Writing a guest blogging post is something that still scares off many writers. To show you that it’s not a boogieman here is a series of posts on everything you need to know about guest blogging but never dared to ask.

How is your guest blogging journey going? How do you feel about setting up guest post goals and looking for opportunities now? Have you already sent any emails with pitches?

On this post, we are (finally) going to talk about the guest blog itself. Many times when you are a beginner, you think that it’s all that guest blogging is about: writing a post. I have been there, and I think at least the majority of us have thought so too. Only with time, and experience, we realize there is more to it.

If you are at the point of writing the blog post itself, it means that you had your pitch accepted. Or maybe, you just want to get your muscles warmed up. Either way, it’s time to get your hands dirty.

Please note I’m not going to teach you how to write a blog here.

First of all, if you want to guest post, it means you already know how to write blogs quite well. Even if you aren’t a blogger per se, you know how to write an essay or an article, and that’s why guest blogging interests you.

Also, this is not my first time writing about the subject either. You will find enough material here with general tips on how to write a blog.

For your guest post, however, let’s focus on:

1. Rechecking the guidelines
2. Understanding backlinks
3. Linking wisely
4. Writing a masterpiece

1. Rechecking the guidelines

Before you sent your pitch, you had already checked if the site had guest blogging guidelines or not.

Even if you read them almost enough to know them by heart, I’ll ask you to have a look at them once again before starting your post.

It doesn’t happen frequently, but it’s possible that the guidelines have been updated in the meantime.

Let’s say that instead of looking for “standard” blog posts (between 800 and 1,200 words), the publisher downsized it to 500 words. Or the other way around: they increased the number of words.

You just don’t want to fall off short of content because of something so simple.

Besides, you’ll be able to see if the tips described below apply for your opportunity.

I’ll follow my guest blogging guidelines as the basis for this article. The host of your guest blog may have entirely different requirements. So I’ll leave it up to you to use the information below accordingly.

Go to the List

2. Understanding backlinks

Let’s start with the hottest part of guest blogging: the backlinks.

Why do I say it’s the hottest? Because people still get surprised when there are restrictions about backlinks on the post.

Not all bloggers are “sensitive” about it. As I mentioned before, it can be related to not knowing better or being nonchalant about it. Still, many sites have restrictions about it and you want to play by their rules.

One way to understand the idea is imagining you see someone wearing outfits you like. In fact, every single time you meet that friend, he or she is wearing something that would fit perfectly in your wardrobe. Now, let’s be sincere: do you want their clothes (I mean, the exact pieces they’re wearing)? Or do you wish to buy at the same shop they do?

When you come across a really awesome guest post, you want to read more of that writer. So much more you go to their website or blog for it. That should be the goal of guest bloggers. That’s the lead you want to generate. Look that I’m not even touching the SEO aspect.

You want your guest post having readers crave for more. For that, you don’t need to spam backlinks on your article. That one on your bio will be more enough.

Go to the List

Want to take your #guestblogging to the next level? I got 4 tips for you. #blogging Click To Tweet

3. Linking wisely

Instead of backlinks to your site, you want to include:

• links to influencers in your niche
• links to other posts from the publisher

Influencers

Needless to say that you need to do some research for your guest post. Longer posts will require more preparation work than short ones. Yet, you don’t want to underestimate any opportunity.

Think of your very first job experience: did you mess up just because it was your first job? Or did you try your best? If you tried your best, that’s the spirit.

Chances are the results of your research will be full of references from influencers and bigger bloggers. You probably add links to other people’s posts already on your own content because that’s how awesome you are. But when you are guest blogging, you want to take it the next level.

Show readers you know what you’re talking about and share your resources with them. That’s an excellent way to build reputation and respect.

Besides, you never know if one of those influencers will track the mention back and give you some heads up. This can open some doors for bigger guest posts opportunities in the future.

Publisher

Your post will be in line with the publisher’s content somehow. To help their audience connect the dots, you can include links from their articles within your post. It’s a nice way to:

• thank the host for the opportunity
• strengthen your relationship
• connect your guest post with their content

You can find related content by doing a search on their blog (most sites have this feature). Or you can use Google search.

Instead of just searching like you did for your preparation work, you can use the host’s domain as your start point.

It’s also an interesting way to find back an article you have seen on a particular website, but can’t locate anymore.

Go to the List

4. Writing a masterpiece

For now, your guest post may be a near masterpiece. It happens because we’re all constantly evolving. We always find ways we could have done better. Still, you want to give it your best shot.

You want to write a smashing blog post with the quality you already deliver to your readers, but more. So you’ll be doing everything you already do and walk that extra mile.

Write an outline so that your content includes all necessary elements for success.

Going too fancy is rarely the best option here. You want to create scannable and readable content:

• shorter paragraphs
• include subheads
• use bullet points
• highlight words in bold

Again, your goal is to make people want to read every single word you post. But you want to make it easy for them.

We all rush against time. That’s why it has become a habit to go through an article to check if it’s worth our time before digging deeper. Endless paragraphs make our life harder, and you don’t want that for your (guest) posts.

Let your best content ever shine and reach many readers!

Go to the List

Now it’s up to you

We have already reached a point in this series where even if you have never thought about guest blogging before, you have enough information to get started.

I mentioned it before, but I’d like to remind you that it won’t get easier if you start today or next year. You’ll not get all pitches approved, neither this should stop you.

Don’t include guest blogging in your new year’s resolutions. You have more than enough time to start contacting people now.

Let’s begin by stretching those fingers and getting things done.

Thanks everyone for the feedback and ideas for moving forward. Please, keep them coming! I want to be of help and knowing what your struggles are, allows me to share even more useful information with you.

I truly hope you’ll find this series helpful. Guest blogging is an amazing opportunity to get visibility and build credibility, but it has to be done right.

Remember that we are now offering guest blogging opportunities on Debbie in Shape. If you want to get started or practice your skills with us, it’ll be a pleasure to publish your post(s). Guidelines and details are available here. I cannot wait to read your pitch!

Make sure you come back next week for more guest blogging tips. Or sign up to receive an email notification whenever a new post is published.

Have you already written a guest blogging post?

Read all posts of this series:

• Everything You Need to Know About Guest Blogging: Setting Goals
• Everything You Need to Know About Guest Blogging: Finding Opportunities
• Everything You Need to Know About Guest Blogging: Writing A Pitch
• Everything You Need to Know About Guest Blogging: Writing A Post
• Everything You Need to Know About Guest Blogging: Promotion
• Everything You Need to Know About Guest Blogging But Never Dared To Ask

Please check the list of link parties I join here.

Be Healthy and Live Fully.