Guest blogging was something that came on my radar a few years ago. The concept is simple, you write a blog for someone else, they publish it, both of you share it and promote the heck out of it over social media and you both benefit from lots of lovely inbound links, social shares and of course it promotes you as an expert in your field.
Over the years I’ve written guest posts for The Guardian, BDaily, FeMail, Culture Vultures to name just a few across a wide variety of subjects; social media tips, TV reviews, arts and exhibitions as well as getting to interview my favourite author Alison Weir for a local literature festival.
The social media tips that I wrote for The Guardian and Bdaily were hugely popular and were shared umpteen times across Twitter and Linkedin. They helped to elevate my position as a thought-leader in my industry and went a long way to raising my personal profile. I managed to secure several speaking engagements as a result, which led to solid business.
But how do you approach these kinds of sites if you’re relatively new to the scene? Well, I did some digging around on their websites, found the relevant editor and approached them. Firstly I called to make sure I had the person and the right email address, then sent a brief note which outlined the intended article and asked if they would be interested. (We’ll go into this more in the How To Pitch To Editors post).
I knew I had useful, valuable information to share with their readers, who were also my ideal client. I worked on making sure all my social profiles had a consistent bio and recognisably branded. My website was up to date and relevant blog posts were written and published at least three times a week. This all helped to build my credibility so that when the editor searched for me online, they could see I knew my stuff.
Ultimately, you just have to bite the bullet and put yourself out there. Other businesses are out there doing it, so why not you?
Good luck, and let me know how you get on.