Before we get to today's blog, I have a couple of quick house announcements:
1. If you have not checked out my newest release, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests, I invite you to now. Dana Lynn Smith says "If you'd like to boost your Twitter followers, I highly recommend Conducting Effective Twitter Contests. The combination of video and text reinforces the message and is terrific for people who learn better by watching or who feel a bit intimidated by online marketing."
2. Time is running out to view my current free video tip on how to upload and install WordPress to your server. Due to a technical difficulty, I have delayed the next tip by a few days. But when the new tip is out, the video on installing WordPress to your server will be archived. Sign up for the free Video Tips For Authors Newsletter now to see the current tip and I will give you over 45 minutes of instant access to on-demand tips just for signing up.
Now, on to Dana's post...
Enhance Your Blog and Ezine with Guest Posts
by Dana Lynn Smith
I write most of the posts on my blog, but once a week I invite a guest to share his or her expertise with my readers. Guest posts are win-win for everyone. Readers get valuable tips and insight from a variety of experts, guest posters build their expert status and get links back to their websites, and bloggers get additional content for their sites. Guest posts are often used in ezines as well.
Guest posts can take the form of how-to articles or interviews, and you can even post audio or video clips from the guest. Fiction authors can interview other authors in their genre.
Where can you find experts or authors to contribute to your blog or ezine? Seek out others in your field or genre through your social networks and your own contact list. Send guest post invitations to the owners and guest posters of the blogs, ezines and print newsletters that you enjoy reading. Use search engines to find other blogs and ezines in your field.
When sending a guest post invitation, describe your blog or ezine, suggest topics of interest (or request permission to reprint a specific article from their site), note whether you accept previously published content, specify a word count range for the article and a limit on the length of the resource box, and request a photo. Here's an example:
"I enjoy reading your blog and I would love for you to do a guest post on The Savvy Book Marketer blog about how to write effective press releases. My audience is primarily authors and independent publishers. About 500-600 words would be ideal, with a 30-word resource box. Previously published content is fine. Please send me a photo as well."
Some bloggers request that all guest posts be original content (articles not already posted elsewhere). That's nice for SEO purposes, but may limit your ability to get guest posts since your experts may not have time to produce an original article for you. If you're willing to accept articles published elsewhere, you'll have access to many more articles.
On the day a guest post runs, be sure to write a thank you note to the contributor and include a link to the article. In addition to being good manners, this encourages the author of the article to share the link with their social networks. And don't forget to link to the article from your own networks.
In many cases, you can reprint articles without asking permission. Look for a "permission to reprint" or "creative commons" notice on blogs and ezines that you read. You can also search article directories such as EzineArticles.com for articles to reprint. It can be a bit time consuming wading through article directories, because some of the articles are of low quality. Still, there are many excellent articles available.
When reprinting other people's articles, be sure to include their resource box with a link back to their website. I let writers know I'm using their article, even if it's not required. It's courteous and helps build relationships.
6 comments:
Had to drop by. Dana is a person to be listened to! And, of course, I tweeted, Tony!
I belong to a group that trades off guest posts once a month. It is a great networking device and support group.
Best,
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Blogging at Writer's Digest 101 Best Websites pick www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com
Great advice!
xoxo -- Hilary
Love the guest posts on my blog - gives my readers variety and me a break! LOL
And I always learn something, too.
Dear Dana/Tony:
Thank you for sharing the information in this post. I wish this information had been available a couple of years ago.
For perspective, I only started guest blogging about 6 months ago, but it has been valuable, from the relationships, the traffic, and new client coaching opportunities it has opened up.
More important has been the productivity increases and lessons learned by forcing me to be more productive in my writing.
Another thought; I have encouraged one of my clients, who had never written for the web, and it provided him an opportunity to build his SEO and online visibility before his own site was running.
Again, very valuable article. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the comments everyone. I wholeheartedly agree with Dana's thoughts on having a guest contribute to your blog or e-zine. One thing I love about all of her posts is that she walks people through the step-by-step actions they need to take in order to carry out her suggestions. It's the same style she uses in her book marketing guides.
Thanks, Dana for sharing your expertise with readers of the Marketing Tips For Authors blog.
I have to say that being a guest on Dana's blog was not just good for my marketing efforts (the piece I wrote for her remains one of my most retweeted posts ever) but I found that focusing on someone else's readership and trying to understand what I had to say that would be of interest to them, helped me clarify my thinking enormously - possibly the biggest benefit of guest blogging.
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