Successful Guest Blogging – Getting the Etiquette

This is a guest post by Warner Carter who wrote a book Guest Blogging for

Profits that advocates our “quality” approach to guest blogging.

People are the way they are and in society sometimes certain conventions are agreed upon by the participants. So it is in our world, the so called blogesphere, regarding Guest Blogging.

Feel free to rebel, experiment, and try new things but if nobody wants your posts, after reading this, it won’t be because you were ignorant about what is expected for your behavior and manors. Just that you choose to ignore them, and, for whatever reason, that is a choice you are free to make.

You’ll probably win the lottery before you ever see me in a suit, but if some situation really made it important, like I would get something I wanted, I do have one and probably can find it.

Guest blogging is one of the best ways to have fun, get noticed, bring traffic, and build some dang nice links. I am pretty sure this blog here gets more traffic than mine and there is one good reason to guest post.

Frame of Mind

To get yourself in the right frame of mind consider the blog is someone else’s. The blog you will be posting to is as important to someone else as yours is to you.  It is generally understood you will provide only 100% original content and you will not re-post or spin it all over the net afterwards either.

The first thing to do after you have been invited is ask them if they want you to provide the post in a particular format or style. They may like every post to have an image or expect sub headers for each main section. They may let you have anchor links in the body or only in your author bio box. It is generally accepted that you will get a link back to your blog.

You will want to write in to their audience and the best way to get that picture is reading comments as well as posts on the blog you will be writing for. Is the blog serious and technical or light and humorous? Every blog and writer has a style and a mood and you will want to try to get a sense of it. Is the writer a smart aleck?  Provocative, or introspective? It can be fun to phrase your writing in the context of a different state of mind.

Be there to reply to any comments that are made from your post. Don’t get into a flame war with a knuckleheaded nincompoop even if they deserve it.

For Greater Success

Write the best post you ever wrote, or at least try to. This post represents you and the blog you are writing on, forever. The timeworn phrase “you never get a second chance to make a first impression” is worth dragging out an dusting off for this occasion. The better your writing the more likely it is you will be invited back, and the more likely it is other blogs will welcome you in the future.  Heck, some people may even hunt you down to come write for them.

Show gratitude, before and after you make the post. Anywhere you go and in anything you ever do people will be much happier to help you when you show them you appreciate any effort they make on your behalf.

Promoting your post is also promoting your host’s blog. When you can bookmark, make a note about, talk about on Facebook and Twitter you will be doing yourself and your host a nice added benefit for you having been there. Maybe you can even ask some Digg or Sphinn buddies to give it a shout. Stumble it. All these little mentions and links add up over time like cumulous clouds accumulating raindrops.

Get There Ready

Have your post with any anchor links all set up in HTML code. Have your bio in hand, all formatted to be placed where your Host wants it. Have any images you want to use in your flickr account or somewhere you can just provide a link (and not a hot link to someone else’s account or site) If you want to be extra nice make up 2 or 3 headlines in advance and let your Host or Hostess select the one they feel would be best.

You are ready, and if you want to leverage for maximum results get Guest Blogging for Profits to position yourself with the resources that will give you unprecedented insight. I’m giving up every tricky trick and secret I could dig up in this.

Warner Carter writes the Page One Business SEO Consultation blog and the occasional book.

Post image by margaretshear