Why Submit Your Best Posts as Guest Posts?

This guest post is by Aman Basanti of ageofmarketing.com.

If you have been in the blogging game for any number of months, you already know about the power of guest blogging in generating traffic and exposure to your blog. Yet there are new bloggers out there who hear about the power of guest posting, but still do not understand why it is so effective.

Image copyright Franz Pfluegl - Fotolia.com

As one reader commented on my recent piece on guest posting, “You people are always advocating guest posting. But I am not convinced about guest posting. Can you help me in this case? Why should we submit our best work to someone else?”

It is a valid question and as there are always new people entering the world of blogging, one that is worth answering for the blogging community at large.

Accordingly, here are three reasons why you should submit some of your best posts as guest posts.

Here is what a lot of new bloggers don’t know. A-list blogs get a lot of guest post submissions every week. On average, an a-list blog like ProBlogger might get around 30 guest post submissions. In comparison, most blogs only post five or ten posts a week, which means 20 posts get rejected.

If you are sending in your weak posts, chances are your post will get rejected. By sending in your top posts, you increase your chances of getting published on an A-list blog.

Guest posting on A-list blogs gets you high quality backlinks that help you improve your rankings in the search engines.

Now, you might say, “But I’m getting backlinks through the comments section. Why would I go to all that effort of writing and submitting guest posts when I can easily get those backlinks through the comments section?”

The answer is that links in the comments sections of the major blogs are “no-follow,” which means that they count for a lot less (some say not at all) than the “do follow” links that you get in your by line or author box alongside a guest post.

Also, links higher up on the page carry more SEO benefit. As SEOMoz wrote in a post on SEO, “We find that links higher up in the HTML code of a page seem to pass more ranking ability/value than those lower down.” As most guest posts include a back link at the start and at the end of the post, it further magnifies the power of the backlinks.

Combine these two factors and it is easy to see that the backlinks from guest posting are far more valuable than those in the comments section.

Traffic from guest posts is some of the highest converting traffic you can get. Here are the subscriber opt-in rates for my free ebook page:

Google Adwords (Banner ads on the content network): 5% opt-in rate (I know I have some work to do on this, but still)StumbleUpon: 0.5% opt-in rateGuest posting: 40% opt-in rate.

Traffic from guest posting is, hands down, the highest converting traffic you can get. Also, on a big site, the chance of your post going viral is high. It is simple maths. More readers equal more people sharing the post. The more people sharing your post the higher the chance it will be seen by an influencer, further increasing its chances of going viral.

My post on The Warren Buffett Method for Building a Successful Blog, for example, went viral because it was posted on ProBlogger. That post earned me 50 subscribers, showed that I was a good writer, and put me on the map of other bloggers in my niche.

In other words, I got a lot more value from posting it on ProBlogger than I would have had I posted it on my own blog.

Unless you already have a popular blog, there is no reason why you should not submit your best posts as guest posts on major sites. More traffic, better search engine rankings, and brand exposure are some of the key benefits.

Plus, it gives you a bit of kick to get so many comments on a piece you wrote, which can motivate you to keep blogging so that one day you too will get that many comments on your own blog.

Aman Basanti writes about the psychology of buying and teaches you how you can use the principles of consumer psychology to boost your sales. Visit www.Ageofmarketing.com/free-ebook to get his new e-book – Marketing to the Pre-Historic Mind: How the Hot New Science of Behavioural Economics Can Help You Boost Your Sales – for FREE.

View the original article here

My 3-Step System for Finding Guest Post Opportunities

This guest post is by Jocelyn Ann.

Tired of haphazardly, randomly struggling to find guest blogging opportunities? Or finding yourself stressed to the max because you’re unable to locate your next guest-post goal for the month?

You’re not alone. Most bloggers don’t know where or how to search properly, and if they’re trying to search at all, generally end up with dead-end leads.

Developing a systematic method that you can implement to ensure a never-ending supply of opportunities is your best option. The three techniques I’ve listed below will help eliminate your random searches, cut down on wasted time, and leave you with a renewable contact list for finding the right guest blogging opportunity every time.

Image used with permission

Google can provide you with the best of results … or the worst of results. It’s only as good as the search terms you feed it. What you get, and what that means, is all tied up in your combination of search terms. Knowing what words with what words provide the results you want is a unique formula you’ll have to figure out for yourself.

Let’s say your blog is about baking, and that’s your keyword to target for a link. Here are some search queries you could start off with:

baking AND guest post (will provide you with sites where other people were able to get a guest post who were also promoting baking; you know the site allows guest writers)baker AND guest post (will provide you with posts attributed to authors who are most likely bakers themselves)baking AND guest author (same)baking | bake | dessert | pastry | pie | etc. AND guest author (try every form of dessert and every variation of bake)baking AND write for us (will provide you with cooking sites actively seeking out guest writers; it should be very easy to get these)baking AND submit (should return more baking sites who want guest writers; again, should be easy to land these spots).

Every time a blogger turns up who’s doing the same thing you are, enter them into a spreadsheet. Enter in their name (Lucille Ball), the keyword anchor text they used (comedy tv) and who they listed as their employer, if any (TBN).

As your list grows, you can start to group the bloggers into various categories that might help you later, depending on what you want to write:

related-content writersunrelated-content writerswriters on high-PR siteswriters on low-PR sites but lots of themwriters who are representing a product for sale (these are harder to get; fewer
sites want to link out to commercial products or sites)writers who are representing their own blog (you can likely find these by the dozen)writers writing about everything (a sure sign they’re marketing for a company; it’s good to follow them, as they’ll lead you to a variety of blogs guaranteed to post pitch bylines)

When you have a list, all you have to do is run a search query for any one of the following keyword combination types:

Lucille Ball AND guest postLucille Ball AND guest authorLucille Ball AND comedy TVLucille Ball AND TBN (in case she has other anchor text, like “romantic TV” or “red
hair dye” that you don’t already know about)Lucille Ball AND comedy TV AND TBN.

When you’re just starting out, it may not matter all that much whether you can get guest spots on baking-specific sites. It will probably just matter that you can start writing for someone, anyone, in order to build up a portfolio.

If that’s you, you can get by with generic writings and searches.

Run a Google search on “write for us” and “submit content” and “contribute.” You’ll get a list of generic sites willing to accept your writing. Who knows what the content will be? You’ll just have to do a little research and make it work for you.

Check out myblogguest.com. Once you create a profile, you can browse the forum boards to find all kinds of people who want content. From here, you just have to email them and submit your posts.

Use Twitter hashtags like #contentavailable, #guestauthor, and so on. Let people know you’re willing to write anything and, chances are, they’ll take you up on it.

As you go along, you’ll likely discover new searches and new ways of finding guest blogging opportunities. Pick and choose those that work best for you to really make this idea work for your blog.

You may detest writing content about topics you know nothing about, or you may love getting to learn and write about that which you previously knew nothing about. Have some fun with it, and enjoy watching that portfolio grow!

How do you find guest post opportunities? Share your ideas and tips in the comments.

Freelancer Jocelyn is dedicated to helping families live healthier, happier lives. At the moment you’ll find her writing alongside Air & Water, a company that loves to help families find the best heater for the elderly in their lives.

View the original article here

Guest Posting: Link Building VS Familiarity

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

I enjoy guest posting when I find the time as it allows me to write about subjects I can’t cover on my own websites. More importantly, it’s a great way of raising my profile, pushing traffic towards my websites and connecting with an audience that I have not had any dealings with as yet.

I’m sure you are all aware of the benefits of guest posting so I won’t speaking about that too much today. What I would like to do is compare the benefits of guest posting on a small selection of blogs and websites regularly against guest posting on new websites every week.

Obviously, it benefits you more to write on large traffic websites that have a large audience. That’s a no brainer. For the sake of argument though let’s assume that all websites you will be writing for will have the same traffic and give you and your website the same level of exposure.

So which do you think is better: Guest posting on a regular basis on 3 or 4 websites or writing a guest post every week for a new website (remember that we are assuming all websites have similar traffic levels etc)?

From a traffic point of view, guest posting on different URLs is better. It will increase your authority on search engines and raise awareness of you, your website or brand, as they will be exposed to a larger audience. The main objective with guest posting is primarily promoting yourself and your website so guest posting on a large number of websites is surely better, isn’t it?

My answer to that question would gear more towards yes. If I was employed by company to guest post online so that traffic was pushed to their new website then publishing 20 articles across 20 websites would likely bring more traffic than publishing them across 3 or 4 websites. However, there are benefits to guest posting regularly over a small number of websites and it’s something you should bear in mind when planning out your guest posting strategy.

Currently I guest post semi regularly for Blogging Tips, John Chow, ProBlogger and Noupe. I have guest posted on many other blogs over the last year or so but those are the websites I have published several articles on.

There are many reasons why I enjoy writing for a small selection of blogs:

I don’t waste a lot of time arranging guest posts

Arranging guest posts on new websites regularly can be time consuming. You need to email the owner, introduce yourself and explain why they should let you guest post. This process can involve a lot of back and fourths. Time is something I hold with high esteem when working online so I don’t take this added work lightly.

I have a good relationship with the owners and editors of the blogs I write for regularly. They are happy with the articles I write and publish them without modifying what I wrote. They are also very professional and quick to respond to my emails. When I want to write an article I email them with a suggestion, they usually email back quickly saying that they are happy with the article topic and then I email them the article. The process is painless.

I know the audience

When you write for a new blog you need to spend some time reading older articles on the site to get a feel for the type of content they publish and the type of content that gets a response. I have been a subscriber for the blogs I guest post regularly on for a long time so I know what type of article is suitable and what isn’t.

The audiance knows me

Guest posting isn’t all about getting a link back to your website at the end of an article. You need to connect with the readers of the blog you are writing for. By doing so they will be much more likely to visit your own blog and much more likely to subscribe.

One of the best ways of connecting with readers is by building familiarity. By posting on a regular basis they will get to know the type of person you are, the type of articles you write and find out more about the websites you run. A one off guest post can be a hit or a miss but if you write regularly for a blog you will be able to engage with readers. They might not agree with your viewpoint on one subject but they may on another.

I’ve not yet directly compared the benefits of guest posting on many websites against posting on a select few. Perhaps the best solution for those of you who do guest post a lot is to guest post on a small selection of blogs regularly in addition to guest posting on new blogs every now and then. Traffic is something that you will be able to monitor accurately though it would be interesting to see if you get more comments or tweets on the articles that are published on your ‘regular blogs’.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this subject.

Good luck,
Kevin

View the original article here

A Dash of Analytics Takes the Guess Work Out of Guest Posting

This guest post is by Joe of the New Customer Workshop.

Guest posting is a great way to market your brand. When you guest post you are able to demonstrate you expertise to a new audience. The short term benefits are a bump in traffic to your website. Longer term benefits are sees through quality backlinks which will help with search engine optimization.

One of the questions that comes up when guest posting is “Where should I post?” For me, the answer is often “Whoever will take me!”

As you begin to build a reputation you may become more selective on where you guest post. Part of your process might include research to find sites that are aligned with your brand.

Let’s say you’ve done the research and authored some guest posts. Now what? Well, like any good marketer, you must measure the results of your campaign. If you have Google Analytics installed, this is a snap.

All of you should be running some analytics software on your website. If you’re not, stop reading and go install Google Analytics.

If you aren’t running Google Analytics, the fundamentals of what I’m explaining are the same even if the mechanics are different.

When you insert the link back to your website you are going to add some extra information tags on the end of the link. This data will help you classify the traffic. Google calls these tags campaign variables.

Using campaign variables you can add extra information to your posts which will help you to answer questions like:

Which guest posts drove the most traffic to my site?Which websites with guest posts drove the most traffic to to my site?Which posts resulted in opt-ins to my email list?Which websites gave me more opt-ins to my email list?Which source of traffic is better for me? Facebook, guest posting or search engines?

This is really just the tip of the iceberg. Once you start using campaign variables on your guest posts you will come up with all sorts of cool ways to look at the data.

Google provides a number of campaign variables that you can use when you tag your links.

The following tags are available:

Source: utm_srcMedium: utm_mediumCampaign: utm_campaignTerm: utm _termContent: -tm_content

There isn’t a hard set of rules for what to put in these tags. What I’m going to show you is how I use the variables.

utm_src: I set this to the website I’m posting on. In this case it would be problogger.net. Once I do this, then I can compare problogger.net to my other traffic sources, not just other site’s I’ve posted on but also Facebook, and Twitter.utm_medium: I set this to guestpost. Then, I can compare guest posting as a whole to my other marketing efforts.utm_campaign: I use the name of the article. If I post a couple of articles on problogger.net I can see how they compare to each other.

I can also look at all of the articles across multiple sites to see which ones are more effective. You might want to abbreviate your post title but that’s up to you.

I don’t use utm_content or utm_term.

Put together, the tags look like this:

?utm_src=SITENAME&utm_medium=guestpost&utm_campaign=POST-TITLE

I then apply this to each link back to my website:

http://www.newcustomerworkshop.com/about?utm_src=problogger.net&utm_medium=guestpost&utm_campaign=dash-of-analytics

If you don’t want to do this by hand each time Google provides a link building tool that will take care of all the messy work for you.

After you publish your guest post, you’re going to want to look at your analytics dashboard to see what type of traffic the post is giving you. If you are using the new Analytics dashboard, you can find the information under Traffic Sources > All Traffic.

Select All Traffic, and you will see a report that shows visits by Source/Medium.

This will show you traffic from all referring sites and uses the value set in utm_source.

Select Medium to the right of Viewing, and you can see all of your guest posts.

This allows you to roll up your reports and compare guest posts as a group with your other traffic sources.

If you want to see what articles drove the most traffic, it’s easy. Click Other and then type Campaign in the Traffic Sources box.

This is just a very high-level overview of the kinds of reports you can create. Check out the book Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics if you want to learn more.

Google Analytics is a great free resource that, when used effectively, will help you zero in on the effectiveness of your guest posting efforts.

Armed with this knowledge, you will understand which articles and websites drive the most traffic to your website.

I’d love to learn how you measure your guest posting efforts. Please share them in the comments.

Joe writes at New Customer Workshop and offers training for small business owners who want to increase their business through Internet marketing. Visit his blog for more information.

View the original article here

How guest posting is just like a personal loan

This guest post is SocialTechZone.comby Frank Angelone of.

Have you ever had a friend lent money? If so, this was someone you thought you could trust? If you answered in the affirmative, as they say in the social network, then you will want to keep reading.

The idea may already have crossed your mind, "How does lend money to a friend to blogging?" Well, I'm glad you asked because when it comes to guest blogging, the blog owner is lending you money you loaned to their blog just like when your friend.

Let's start with a story and we will bring this all together later on.

Let's dive right in this personal story of me and I'll show you to take the best practices when using my experience in your ventures blogging guest reviews.

A friend of mine, who I once considered "my best friend" had been in several financial jam when it came to pay rent, bills, or (let blunt!) anything with an expiration date.

So, if a friend, I decided to give him the money to help pay his half of the rent and lend any other accounts.

Little did I know that this pattern of a path of destruction would continue. What started as a "brother" turned into me help me to support him.

There are two things to point out: I must not have been so forgetful that he was taking advantage of me, and I'm not the only culprit on his list of lenders.

My friend me ripped off from about $ 1,000. It was so bad that it was started to affect my financial situation and the best thing that happened to me was to find a way out of this terrible situation by returning home.

When a friend makes use of several people who lend their resources, they are obviously not a friend, but someone who gets by through manipulation. The bottom line, as the saying goes, "If you want to lose a friend, lend them money." It's safe to say that I don't talk to this person more.

I mentioned in my above story I borrowed money. Well, when it comes to guest blogging, you should be aware that the blog owner loans to their blog is their resources, be whether you. their audience, their range in the blogosphere, or even their own reputation, made available to you when you share your voice on their property.

The means that the blog owner gives to you are as a personal loan. You must pay back the blog owner for giving you the opportunity to share your insight with his or her audience. Of course you're not back to pay a monetary value, but you must still looking to give back in some way.

I know that most people will feel that you "" repay the owner of the blog by writing an article of high quality for their audience. That is not enough. It is a general way to give back. A great article writing should be seen as a basic part of the Exchange, not an added bonus.

The last thing you want to do is disappoint the owner of a blog after they decide to publish your article on their site. This can ruin the relationship and ruin your personal reputation, like my friend by taking advantage of many of his so-called friends. Also, if you do not return the favor of the person who lends their your news blog, which can be spread like a wild fire among the popular bloggers — especially if you have an article published on the site of an A-List.

First of all, I always blog owner email directly after seeing my guest post go live and thank them for the occasion. I know that it sounds like a no-brainer, but you would be surprised by the strength of the emotional connection with the owner of the blog will hit in doing this.

They expect you the guest post as a marketing strategy used to the traffic back to your blog. To understand that because that's what everyone is doing when it comes to guest blogging. However, you can it a step further than the publicity you are given, and working on the continuation of the relationship with that owner of the blog.

A personal email would be if the old-school version of mailing a letter. People love the written word, not a "thank you for the opportunity" message on Twitter. That does not appear the effort, nor are you "pay" the owner back.

The personal e-mail means more. Just think how you feel when someone emails you and thank you for commenting on their blog. It sends a powerful message.

You can also ask the blog owner in the email if there is anything you can do for them! Maybe they come a new product or post and they help promote the need. They even have a service that they want you to be able to test out. Anything of this nature you are trying to make an effort shows "pay your lender" is great, but in a way that real — not just because you feel you have to.

There are not enough people who give back, in my opinion. My friend never gave back the money he owed me, nor has he has nothing to show that our friendship meant something really ever do. The blog owner is looking for this same feeling of your friend.

Everyone always wants to more friends, and to develop new relationships. When you give to them after they return to borrow their resources, you can then enhance the friendship or business relationship.

You almost a 100% guarantee of ruining the relationship if you screw over the blogger by failing to respond to comments left on your guest post or not to continue to keep in touch with the owner of the blog. By doing so, they will know "you" them for a one-off thing ... self promotion.

My friend used me and I was gullible enough to myself to be exploited. Hopefully these insights together with the integration of my personal story paints a clear picture of how to give back to those who help you.

What did you do after you go live to a guest post from the blog owner back "pay"? What were the results of these actions? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Frank Angelone offers social media strategies and tech tips by means of personal stories on SocialTechZone.com. His goal is to help and give back to people from his own experiences. He would like to share with you personal interactions his Newsletter Subscribe , so please and receive his free blueprint to improve the speed of your computer.

View the original article here

4 Tips for Pitching guest posts Like a Pro

This guest post is by Aman of Ageofmarketing.comBasanti.

I have since the launch of my blog in mid May 2011, guest posted on a number of A-list blogs in the blogging and online marketing niches (including ProBlogger, MarketingProfs, and Daily Blog Tips). In doing so, I've learned some important lessons in getting guest posts accepted on great blogs.

But instead of boring you with the usual advice (choose the right blog, research of the blog, pitch quality content etc.) I will be a specific aspect of guest posting attack — preparation of the pitch. If you want to learn about other check aspects of guest posting out Ali Luke's post, How to get your guest posts accepted Every Time.

I have identified four important elements that can greatly increase your chances of having your article or pitch accepted.

I had been reading ProBlogger for over a year before I threw them a guest post. By any measure, I would had done my research. However, my opinion of what would be accepted was gone.

The post that I thought it would be best for ProBlogger was rejected, as was the one who I thought would be second best. The one I had least expected to be published was accepted. I hadn't pitched three post ideas at one time, I would never have known. I have similar experiences with other editors.

So the lesson here to pitch multiple messages. You cannot guess what the editor will find interesting. Cease to be a mind-reader. Place your confidence probability.

If you have multiple pieces of pitch, not only if they contain attachments. A-list blogs get a ton of pitches every week and don't have the time to read through them all. Make it easy for editors and write a short description of each piece.

Here is a sample outline:

The Pimp, the grocer and the assassin: Magnetise your headlines using the power of the unexpected

An article about how human attention to unexpected events are connected and how bloggers can use unexpected details to write more attention worthy headlines.

Send article pitches, benefits rather than articles, also you don't need to have the post written before throwing. You see the pitch, if the blogger is interested in, and then write based on their feedback.

Multiple messages with contours pitching is the single most important thing that has helped me get more posts accepted. It cuts the guesswork.

As editors are busy, they have not the time to imagine how your post relates to their niche. Your pitch must be specific to their blog from the beginning. The simplest way to get your post appear to make more specific is the use of the appropriate language.

This is where your research will come into play. Most sites specific keywords. ProBlogger, for example, is focused on blogging-related keywords. So if you are pitching on this site, use the word "blog" instead of "website" and "post" instead of "article."

Even cosmetic corrections like this can make your pitches more attractive. As Georgina explained it to me: "I, like the search engines, like [keywords] used in the posts I am revision. There are plenty of online content that is relevant to blogging, but unless it specifically and explicitly to blogging and bloggers is bound, we cannot accept it. "

Include in your submission samples of your writing from around the web. Ideally you want your top three pieces, with at least one of them (if not all) is on another site than yours a list.

This will help the editor get a better idea of the quality and style of your writing. Even if they do not read it, it shows social proof. It shows that other blogs have found your writing interesting.

Here's the email template that I use to serve my guest posts. This should bring the tips mentioned above together in an executable plan that you can use the next time you have a guest post to post to a blog.

Hello [name of editor],

My name is Aman Basanti and I am a consumer psychology writer from Australia. I am interested in writing a guest post for your blog.

Are you currently accept guest posts on your blog?

So yes, I have the following ideas for you to consider.

Christina Aguilera-The error: you say ironic if you chance mean?
An article about how many people confuse with accidental ironic. It defines what is ironic, gives examples of situations that are often mistakenly identified as ironic. It then goes on to discuss why this distinction is important for bloggers, especially for those who put their articles to other publications.

-The Pimp, the grocer and the assassin: Magnetise your headlines using the power of the unexpected
An article about how human attention to unexpected events are connected and how bloggers can use unexpected details to write more attention worthy headlines.

-Idea 3
A brief description of the blog post.

Also, you can see samples of my writing at:

-4 secrets of the success of notorious British author, Jeffery Archer
http://www.problogger.net/archives/2011/06/18/4-Success-Secrets-of-Infamous-British-Author-Jeffery-Archer/

-The method Joe Girard: what's the world's biggest seller can teach you about sales and Marketing
http://www.dailyblogtips.com/The-Joe-Girard-Method-What-the-Worlds-Greatest-Salesman-can-teach-you-about-Sales-and-marketing/

-The Effect of Margaret Thatcher: does familiarity BREED contempt or content?
http://www.ageofmarketing.com/the-mere-exposure-effect

I look forward to hearing from you,

Aman Basanti
AgeofMarketing.com

There are no magic bullets to guest posts. Quality posts threw to the right publications in the right way will increase your chances of scoring a guest post and reaping the associated benefits. You send pitches to sites that you want to guest post on? Let us know how you approach of pitching in the comments below.

Aman Basanti writes about the psychology of buying and you'll learn how you can use the principles of the consumer psychology to boost your sales. Visit www. Ageofmarketing.com/gratis-ebook to his new ebook —Marketing to the Pre-Historic opinion: how the hot new science of behavioral economics can help you Boost Your Sales— free.

View the original article here