7 Ways to Reach Out for Guest Blogging

Guest blogging is an optimal way of driving traffic to your website. Whether your aim is to promote your own blog, a brand, product, or service; guest blogging is tried and true, free promotion.

If you’re unaware of what guest blogging is, it’s having a post of your own featured on an already established blog. It’s an overlooked avenue for promotion that also creates backlinks to your site and gives you clout with Google’s search engine.

Sounds good enough, right? And it is. But it takes a little bit of skill and know-how to nail down the right blog that will let you come in and do your thing.

I know, it can seem a bit overwhelming. Where does one begin? How do you go about it effectively?  Surely, you don’t want to throw up bricks and make a fool of yourself; ultimately being ignored by all your prospects. It’s best to head into this endeavor appearing competent.

Coming off as competent, useful, and respectful will make or break your attempts at pitching offers to blogs.

To help you with this I’ve outlined 7 ways to reach out for guest blogging to help you land your first guest spot today.

• Think about what you’re trying to accomplish – have a strategy.

Before getting started, it’s imperative to know why you want to guest blog. Sure, promotion, but that’s a given. Your purpose is going to dictate which blogs you pitch your offer to you and what type of posts you’re going to be offering them.

You want to hit the right audience with the right type of material.

• Stay within your niche.

When you’re considering a blog that you’d like to pitch your offer to guest post to; it would be wise to stay close to your own niche. You might create a post that kills, but if it doesn’t translate over to whatever it is that you’re trying to promote; it will fall on deaf ears.

The key is to target a would-be base for your own cause.

• Finding the right blog

Google is your ally.

Search for keywords that are in your niche plus “guest post”. This is a sure-shot way of producing results for the right blogs.

• Research the blog and the author.

Once you’ve identified a strategy and picked out a blog that you’d like to pitch to, you’re going to want to do some research into it and its author before pitching anything.

Coming off as knowledgeable and respectful will go along away.

Most authors are busy and don’t have the time to deal with emails from random strangers who want to borrow space on their blog for just any reason. If you are unable to acknowledge the author and their work, chances are that you’ll be ignored. It’s curtesy to point out specifics about the authors work and how it’s benefited you. Give (genuine) compliments.

Knowing the author and their platform is absolute for getting a feel of the blog and knowing how you can best cater to it.

Which leads me to number 3…

• Offer value.

Now that you have a strategy and a potential blog in sight, it’s time to make your pitch.

And what’s in a pitch? Value.

What can you offer them?

Yes, content. But anyone can do that. They can do that themselves. You’re going to have to come a bit stronger than that and cough up some value.

Think of it in these terms: why should they let you, a stranger, post on their hard-earned platform? They already figure it will benefit you in some way.

Why should they let you do that?

In your pitch be sure to outline clearly the topic and how it will benefit them and their readers. Be specific as possible with what your post can do for them.

• It helps to offer multiple topics to choose from.

While not necessary, this is a good look. It gives the impression that you’re professional, valuable, and increases the chances of your pitch being accepted.

If you pitch just one idea, it could be that the prospect isn’t on board with it. Clearly, having multiple topics will boost your chances of at least of them being picked.

• Don’t get discouraged.

Rejection comes naturally with the territory. For every “no” you get, there’s a “yes” out there waiting for you. Everyone gets rejected while pitching, so expect it and don’t take it personally.

Blogs are always looking for great content, even if they don’t officially have guest bloggers. But the ones who do have guest bloggers, guess what? They’re also looking for guest bloggers.

Which means that they’re looking for you!