Savor the Success

Many months ago, I noticed a bunch of HARO (Help a Reporter Out) queries that said, "Looking for guest bloggers...." I thought: "I can't believe these people! They are actually advertising that they want us to write for them for free! The nerve!!"*


Apparently Peter Shankman, the guy who runs HARO, thought the same thing. He eventually banned people from posting "looking for guest bloggers" queries. I applauded his ruling at the time, but now I really wish he hadn't done it.


Why?


I now want to guest blog in the biggest way, and I'm pimping my lovely self out for the very affordable price of absolutely free. That's right. For a limited time of about 1 or 2 years--and possibly even longer--you can receive my amazing guest blogging services for three easy installments of free, free and free.


How could you turn that down? How I ask?


(Note: to date, no one has.)


Why am I giving myself away for so little money?

Exposure: I need more people to find out about my blog, and I need to do it in an affordable way. I could spend thousands of dollars on a banner ad, or I could write for free. Writing a free guest post on someone else's blog allows me to reach an entirely new community of people. Assuming I write a really cool guest post that totally makes someone's day, that someone just might think, "Gee, she just make my day. I'm going to click on her link and see if there's even more free Alisa to be had on her site." This isn't just conjecture, mind you. Here are stats from two recent guest posts:

• The Storked! blog at Glamour.com sent 500 people to my site over a month's time, people who spent an average 6.5 minutes on my site reading an average 4 pages.

• Problogger.net sent just under 500 people to me in one week, people who spent an average three minutes on the site reading an average 2.5 pages. After my Problogger post, 150 more people started following me on Twitter--all within a span of about 48 hours. Others friended me on Facebook or linked with me at Linked In. Countless people tweeted the problogger post, too, putting my Twitter handle in their tweet.

Credibility: The Problogger post made me seem more credible in the eyes of certain people. Suddenly, more people were re-tweeting my tweets, for example. More interesting, various people began emailing me, asking me to critique their sites or offer advice on how to make money blogging. I just thought (hear Brooklyn accent that I don't really have): You are asking me for blogging advice?!


Search Engine Optimization: Every link to your site improves your clout in Google's eyes. If a lot of people link to you, your site is more likely to come up earlier in search results for various keywords. Every time you guest blog, you get at least one back link. I say at least one because, when I guest blogged for Problogger, I got 10 or more black links from other bloggers who liked the How to Write Fast blog and not only linked to it on Problogger, but also to me at Project Happily Ever After.


Karma: Never underestimate the power of a good deed. You just never know where it will take you. Offering content to people who need it makes them like you. When people like you, they generally spread all sorts of virtual goodwill. They stumble your stuff. They tell their friends about you. They tweet about you. Heck, some probably will add you to their prayer list.


Those are just some of the reasons why guest blogging is important. Now, let's talk about how to make it happen.


First, you need to find places to guest blog. It's ideal to do guest blogs on sites that are similar to yours in content. That said, Problogger has nothing to do with marriage. Absolutely nada. Yet, it was a great place for me to guest post. It got me a huge amount of exposure. Oddly, it also seems as if many bloggers could use a little help in the marital department. Who knew?


Let's say you write about jewelry. Don't necessarily rule out blogging on a social media site---assuming you have something relevant to say on such a site. Many people who care about social media just might also care about jewelry, too. It's the same with any topic, for the most part.


Here are some tactics I've used to find places to guest post:

• Tell Twitter: "Looking for places to guest blog about x, y z. Any takers? Please RT."

• Post it to discussion boards, especially those where other bloggers congregate, such as the Blog It Out discussion board here at Savor the Success.

• StumbleUpon similar blogs. I put "relationships" as an interest area in StumbleUpon. Periodically, I just stumble away and see what sites come up. If one looks interesting, I'll approach to guest blog.

• Network. This is, by far, my favorite tactic.

And, of course, you can blog about it. I'll let you know in a few days just how many guest blogging opportunities come my way after this post.


Once you know where you want to post, it's time to contact the blogger who owns the site and ask if he or she would be receptive to a guest post. Make sure to mention 1) the cost (Free! Free! So Free! Freerer Than Free!) 2) the topic you plan to cover 3) that the blogger does not have to make a final decision until he or she sees your material. Point three is important because most bloggers - especially the big ones-are really worried about quality control. They won't want to commit to posting your stuff when they don't know for sure whether or not you can write well.


Perhaps most important, thank them for reading your email. It's okay if one blogger doesn't want you. Don't march off in a huff. Just move on to the next request. Eventually you'll find a blogger who will post your free stuff.


* Note: I usually discourage the blatant overuse of exclamation points. In this case, however, they are justified.

What have been your guest blogging experiences? Do you have any guest blogging tips to share? Leave a comment.

Alisa Bowman writes about the ups and downs of marriage--and life in general--at www.projecthappilyeverafter.com.This week, she's writing a FREE multi-part series entitled "Free Marriage Advice." If you are at all not happy in your marriage, you really ought to check it out. It's free after all. You have nothing to lose. You know what else is free? Her tweets. You can have the pleasure of following her on  twitter for the affordable price of absolutely nothing. Her handle is @alisabow.