Guest Posting is A Great Way to Get Your Brand and Expertise Visible

Used to be that simply getting your blog listed on another “popular” blog’s blogroll was enough to build traffic to your site.  These days, that doesn’t seem to be as popular as guest posting.

At a time when good content is hard to come by – guest posting is a wonderful way to get your brand and expertise noticed by others.  Think of it as an “advertorial”; an educational ad that you post for FREE on a related blog or site.

You may have noticed that I’ve been using guest posts recently to feature services and tools that my readers might find interesting.  It’s a win-win situation for everyone involved.  The guest writer gets some added visibility to a new audience and I get interesting content written by an expert in a particular area.

If you’re a new blogger or have recently gone into business, try reaching out to other bloggers in a related industry and ask if you can post articles on their site.

Hints for Great Guest Posts

1. Educate – Don’t Sell. This is an opportunity to educate a new audience about your expertise.  You are selling by virtue of being included in the blog.  There is no need to over-do it.
2. Keep it Conversational. Keep your tone friendly and conversational.  Pretend that you are sitting at a bar with a friend and just sharing information that they will find helpful.
3. Offer links and examples.  Show examples of what you are talking about so that the audience can get a sense of context.  In other words – help them choose.
4. Provide an “About the author” bio.  Create  a super-short About the Author bio to include with your article.  It should contain no more than two sentences about who you are and what you do as well as a link.  It’s best to provide a link to a blog where they can read other articles – but a web site will do.

Now you’re ready to start promoting yourself, your company and your brand.  Reach out to your favorite blogs and contribute content – you’ll be surprised at how open people are to learn about what you offer.