What Guest Blogging Is NOT: Getting It Right
I’ve mentioned quite a few times how guest posting may help your business grow. I also shared why in my opinion this is the ideal marketing strategy – where quality matters and everyone wins.
Unfortunately, not everyone can get this right. So are three things guest blogging is NOT:
1. Guest blogging is NOT link building in the first place
I know I have emphasized link building benefits of guest posting quite a few times: but if link building aspect is the first in your list of reasons why you start guest blogging, you are getting it WRONG from the very start.
This way you have good chances to sacrifice on the quality of your content (and the strategy overall) by attempting to get as much link love as you can. Don’t think about building links at all (they will come naturally). Think about other (much more important!) aims you are going to achieve: brand awareness, fans and supporters, reputation, etc!
If you only need link, don’t even start guest blogging. Period
2. Guest blogging is NOT article distribution!
Fellow marketers, I know you feel tempted to find a leak here: “Why would I spend 2 or more hours creating a great article and then post it to only one blog? Why not publish it on several blogs?”
Now, here’s my advice: DON’T do it. You’ll just screw the relationships with powerful bloggers and influencers in your niche and achieve nothing.
Try playing by the rules and you will be amazed how much more effective it is!
3. A guest post is NOT the same as product/tool review
I’ve seen enough of that. Plenty of guest posts I’ve seen focus on the by-line: just a couple of paragraphs of mediocre content and then dozen of sentences describing who the author is, what he does and how awesome his product is.
Before submitting this useless stuff, try to imagine why would a blogger want to publish it. Remember a blogger doesn’t require anything in return for linking to your site. All he needs is some good content his readers would appreciate.
Don’t waste your time doing blogger outreach if you have nothing of value to offer.
Now, to conclude, I am a marketer myself and I’ve dealt with many people who need fast, cheap results. If you are one of them, just don’t try guest blogging. This tactic is only effective if you do it right. Just don’t waste your time.
Img by Lars Plougmann
