One of the biggest challenges for a new bloggers starting out in an established niche is to find a way to stand out from the crowd and find their first readers. Without existing profile and/or credibility – getting those first readers can be very tough.
To combat this a few years back a number of bloggers started to use ‘Guest Blogging’ as a technique to launch their blogs and grow their brands to new audiences. This technique launched many bloggers to prominence – including Leo Babauta, Brian Clark, Chris Garrett, Skellie, Jon Morrow (all of whom have guest posted on ProBlogger) and many many more.
Much has been written on the topic of how to use guest posting but one of the best resources that I’ve seen lately has been produced by Jon Morrow. He’s just released the first in a series of videos (#aff) on the topic and they are well worth watching.
I’ve seen the complete set of videos for myself and they are easy to watch, actionable and inspiring.
Jon himself has used guest blogging with great success – including this fantastic post on speech recognition for bloggers here on ProBlogger which helped many.
Jon’s first video is completely free (no opt in required) and is well worth watching. His future videos require an opt in but you’ll get a feel for whether they’re right for you from the first one. I watched them all and they’re excellent.
Do yourself a favour and set aside some time today to watch these videos.
I’ve been sitting on several guest posts for months.
It would be really cool if there were an automated clearing application sort of like how all the big academic publishers work. Submit your post, it gets put into a tracking system, and you can watch it’s progress through the system.
Opportunity, perhaps.
Videos. Gotta love them!
Seems like a really well done series. Thanks for sharing Daz.
The Tyrant
I agree with you Darren.
Guest posting is a great way to get good and relevant articles. Moreover, it really helps when you get out of your topics for a while…:D
Not only Jon, bloggers like Daniel Scooco and Yaro stark too uses guest posting, and it had helped them to achieve the top rankings.
Thanks Darren for sharing
The intro and first video were great, couldn’t describe them better – “easy to watch, actionable, and inspiring.” I can’t wait for the next one to come out (I actually set an email filter to flag them when they arrive, just to make sure I don’t forget about them. I never do that!). Good stuff.
After using a trick that I discovered with Google Analytics, I was able to see where my best traffic came from on my old blog. I wish I had discovered this trick over a year ago when I started that blog!
However, I discovered that my best traffic came from 3 activities:
1. Giving away free stuff (in my case it was opportunities to win free board games)
2. Getting exposure on established blogs related to my niche (although I never actually guest posted, sometimes I would get a post that specifically discussed what I previously posted)
3. Posting notices of new blog posts on related forums. (without spamming and in designated places)
Now knowing that this is where my best traffic came from for my old blog, I will work much harder at doing these activities on my new blog. So, yeah guest posting is a GREAT way to get noticed!
I used to guest post often, but can’t find too many bloggers in my niche. I see the benefits of guest blogging, but as long as you stick to your niche, which is sort of difficult at this point.
As a newbie, I’d be interested in finding out the best way to become a guest blogger. I’m assuming you just start contacting different blogs. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Off-Topic: Guy in video sounds like Chris from Family guy :) just saying :)
On-Topic: I wrote few guest posts and I agree to some extend but it all depends on who you write for and what topic you are writing for. Reaching 1K subscribers in 2 months is booring to me now days (Thanks to Darren who’s been mentoring for 5 years now)
Now days instead of doing guest posts, i allow guest posts and it’s basically win-win situation.
Guest blogger supplies content – I supply traffic
But getting famous via Guest Blogging is hard or chance 1:1000 in my opinion.. You probably would get more attention by going to coffee shops screaming around :)
Anyway,
Great post Darren, as always I learn something new from you.
Can I now do another guest post for you ? hahah…..
@David Doolin – A clearing house would be nice. I think a structure where people pay to submit guest posts (hopefully ensuring quality), and you qualify bloggers to take guest posts by verifiable traffic and/or RSS readers.
@JoeHobot – I think the idea is more to get noticed and get started via guest posting rather than getting famous. Your content will need to stand up on its own merit. However, guest posts can help you build that initial audience so you don’t bang your head up against a handful of visits a day…
Thanks for the tips – I am pretty new to the blog world but learning fast. I find the best to learn is find the masters and just read read read.
Thanks Darren! for the ideas
I’ve done different types of marketing so far from commenting, forum signatures, etc. and this one is something I haven’t done so far…
I’ve started a blog recently and looking to become a guest blogger. I’m going to watch these videos 2day. Thanks Darren.
Guest blogging certainly helps to get exposure..will be trying it in a few days time!
How do you go about landing a guest post gig?
That reminds me if anyone would like to write a SEO based guest post visit my site and contact me.
Hey!
Thanks for this post.
I used Google Analytics too, like Michael Mindes. :)
Howard
I see guests have been hard at work on this topic this week :)
This is a great idea. I want to keep my main blog for myself as it’s personal to me, but I have another that I may just start encouraging guest bloggers to write for. Thanks.
I completely agree with you. When i started my blog i wrote 54 guest posts for different blogs, and got very positive result. Guest blogging is one of the most effective technique for link building and traffic generation.
I’ve been prepping guest posts for the past month or so, and could not agree more about their relevance in boosting the popularity of newer blogs.
Guest blogging is a really interesting phenomena. I’ve guest posted a few times at relatively successful blogs (though none of them have been HUGE) and each time I post my subscribers go up, I get more emails, clients, etc. It’s definitely been helpful in my own blog’s growth.
However, guest posting is a butt ton of work.You have to build a relationship with the blogger first, become a part of their community, get a feel for their style and what kind of content they’re missing that only YOU can provide, and then you have to pitch it. And that’s just chock full of rejection and feeling like crap about yourself.
It also means that you’ll become less focused on your own blog. I’m currently writing 3 guest posts at the moment, meaning I’ve only posted twice this week – which is on the low side for me. While I’d love to grow my subscriber base even more and I realize the potential for awesomeness via guest posting, I want my own site to be equally awesome when people eventually click through. Does that make sense?
I’ve found that taking it one teeny-tiny baby step at a time is the most helpful. First start retweeting, then start commenting, then start building relationships. Then the guest posting goes easier. But I think jumping right into it is a mistake.
Yep, I truly agree. Guest posting is one way to blast your traffic and gain instant recognition most especially if the article is posted in blogs owned by famous bloggers. The only hindrance is the fear of being rejected by respected bloggers in the blogging community. :)
i have never wrote any Guest Post but in future i want to do it because gradually i am becoming experienced how to write content in blog post.
Have to say i used guest posting to great effects. Unless you get a very nice webmaster who is will to do a homepage link exchange it is the only way to get a good link that will give you traffic on another blog in your niche.
Hi Darren,
How often do you turn down guest bloggers? Would you turn them down based on their article or would it be based on the person?
Thanks!
Lily
I’ve just started trying to grow a list and I hope it goes well!
Darren,
Unbelievable advice!
I’ll be using the information I learned in the post and in the videos by Jon Morrow.
I had to write my own blog post and share it with my followers. You can find my post here: http://www.biznetcentral.com/forum/topic/72#72
Thanks again.
John Wheeler
htttp://www.biznetcentral.com
I know that guest posting elsewhere has increase my traffic dramatically, but I never thought about how it could effect traffic on your own blog if you allow guest posts… makes a lot of sense, bringing that whole bag of other people along with them, as long as they promote the guest post on their own blog.
-Joshua Black
The Underdog Millionaire
Thanks for the post. My blog is 3 months old now and I have done a couple of guest posts and had a few posters on my site as well. I think it really helps to ‘mix it up a bit’.
I used to guest post often, but can’t find too many bloggers in my niche. I see the benefits of guest blogging, but as long as you stick to your niche, which is sort of difficult at this point…
Oh. This post is another useful one! Everyday I am checking out this blog I learn something that I feel will definitely help me be better in blogging. I never thought guest blogging would be a big help!
When i started my weblog i wrote 54 visitor posts for different blogs, and got very positive result. Visitor jogging a blog is one of the most effective method for link building and traffic generation.
Hey Darren,
Thanks for sharing the video. Guest blogging is something i have been looking at doing myself. I am off to watch the video now. Will report back soon.
Thanks again
Pete
Guest blogging certainly is a win-win for both parties involved and it doesn’t have to be just for new bloggers but for new writers as well, or writing as a guest blogger on other blogs to generate interest in your own blog.
The only problem with guest bloggers is they are like a box of chocolate, you never know what your going to get.
Hi Darren,
Do you think Guest blogging is beneficial even for blogs with PR 0 yet? I am thinking of writing for a certain prominent blog but I am worried he will just claim copyright. What do you think?
Well I opted in. Let’s see what’s in store for me :D
My blog is about relationships. I am finding it very difficult to find someone to guest blog for. Do people not fight anymore? Dang and I thought I had a niche! If any of you know of anyone I could guest blog for, tell them I have a really nice personality and I like long walks on the beach.
“Do you think Guest blogging is beneficial even for blogs with PR 0 yet? I am thinking of writing for a certain prominent blog but I am worried he will just claim copyright. What do you think?”
While Darren can give you a better answer, I don’t think you want to base the criteria for guest blogging on page rank and SEO benefits alone.
Is it a quality site?
A new site is going to be PR 0 no matter what, so judge the site on it’s quality and potential growth. In a year it could be the next problogger and by then you’ve already established yourself as a writer for that blog but also built up a relationship with the blog owner.
Well, I guess everyone will believer you but I’d like to also add that I’m a big Jon Morrow fan too. Thought I knew a bit about guest blogging (have been featured on Problogger 3 times after all!) but watched Jon’s vid and thoroughly enjoyed it. Most impressed:)
Thanks for the idea .My blog is 6 months. i never thought the benefits of guest blogging.
i will be try .
Hello Darren,,I am new at blogging and I will definitely check out the video. I believe that if you write articles with substance that help people it probably will work better,than just spewing off,,anyway take care.
Lloyd
Guest posts are great exposure, although I have only done one guest posting, the results were great. I am still at the start and trying to establish an entry strategy for bigger blogs.
One guest post accepted in this blog will improve your blog about 13%. That’s just a fact
posts are great exposure, I am still at the start and trying to establish an entry strategy for bigger blogs
I have just start blogging
thanks