One of the creative ways in which you can increase your reach and create awareness for your business is through guest blogging. This means that you have to find a popular blog (or multiple) and have an article written by you posted there. “Basically, it is the same as writing for my own company blog, right?”, you may ask. Well… not really.
You see, on your company blog you can write whatever you want. If it is good or bad, that is another business, but you are the admin and owner of the blog and you have the freedom to post whatever you like. It can be an infographic, or it can be an article about how you started your business or how awesome your new headquarters is.
When you guest blog, you have to follow the rules of the blog: their specific tone of voice, the formatting requirements, whether you are supposed to provide photos or other illustrations for the article, etc.
But let us take it slow and start with the basics, because this is aimed to be a guide for you – the beginner entrepreneur blogger – on getting published on other websites.
1. Finding Good Blogs
There are several ways in which you can identify good blogs which accept guest blogging. You can do a Google search including the term “write for us” in your search. Or you can approach the administrators of the blogs you are already following and ask them if they accept guest posts (in case you cannot find this option on the blog itself).
You should approach at least 10-20 blog owners initially, because some of them are quite picky in terms of allowing guest posts (for example, some of the blogs require to see your own blog before they accept your guest post).
2. Preparing Your Pitch
This step varies from blog to blog. Some bloggers have a clear, step-by-step process for getting approved for guest blogging. In some cases you have to pitch a few ideas, in others you are supposed to come up with a few attractive titles and a bullet point description of your approach, and in others you have to submit the article itself.
In any case, you should also prepare an introduction that focuses not on why guest blogging would be great for you (no one is giving you hand-outs, not even in online popularity), but on how your article would benefit the readers of the blog. Imagine that you are pitching a potential client for a new project and employ your best selling skills to market your blog writing abilities.
3. Preparing to Write
If you get the green light, before you start writing spend some time becoming more familiar with the writing style and tone of voice of the blog. For example, if they prefer small paragraphs with lots of illustrations in between, make sure you can copy this style. Note also whether the articles are written in the first person or third person. The more you can emulate the style of the blog, the higher your chances of getting published.
4. Writing the Article
Once again, remember that this is not an article for your blog. You are supposed to offer interesting, original and valuable information to establish your authority in your niche. You are not supposed to turn it into a promotion of your business or products. You may or may not include links and anchor text in the article (the blog administrator will specify that), but you should point to another blog post of your own, not to a product page.
However, you will be allowed a short Author Bio section at the end of the article, where you can include a direct link to your website.
5. Who Owns the Article
This is a tricky question, but most bloggers are straightforward regarding their copyright policy on guest blog posts. In all cases you will be requested to provide an original article (i.e. not one you already posted on your blog or elsewhere) and you will be able to assume authorship and share the posted article on your company social media as your work, but not republish it on other blogs.
And this ends our quick guide to becoming a successful guest blogger as an entrepreneur, and working to build your online reputation and authority.