*The best way to monitor and participate in a Twitter chat is by joining Twchat*
Everyone is talking about guest blogging now to the extent that we start missing the actual point of the whole thing, i.e. guest blogging is building relationships through creating and exchanging great content.
Thus guest blogging is one of the most powerful content marketing tactics: It’s about bringing your content in front of the new audience for more exposure and feedback.
Moreover, because guest blogging forces you to target different-niche bloggers, it teaches you to get immensely creative. It educates you as a content marketer and teaches you to brainstorm and brainstorm a lot.
I like this topic. I don't think you can ever learn too much about #contentmarketing #myblogguest
— Deborah (@socialwebcafe) September 5, 2013
Expand Your Topics: Brainstorm!
Guest blogging in general (and #myblogguest in particular) makes you look outside of the box and search for more creative topics. Since you have to target bloggers and content *they* will find interesting and entertaining enough, you are forced to become more flexible and creative in your content strategy.
@myblogguest Those brainstorming ideas seem to make the whole process a lot more fun, and less like work. 🙂 #myblogguest
— Helen Hoefele (@figmentations) September 5, 2013
We have talked a lot about targeting bloggers more effectively and brainstorming previously and it’s worth bringing up those old chats now:
Dave Fowler on (Guest) Content Strategy -> Best tips:
- Mix up words & *trendy* themes. What fun ideas emerge? Example: zombies and work instead of a boring yet-another “health and safety at work” article no one will ever notice… Get more ideas here: brainstorming the link-baity content.
- Run a Lotus Blossom creative thinking session to produce a quantity of initial ideas: take a single subject, break it into 8 themes and break those themes into 8 facets to get 64 points!
- Chat with @SEOGadget Team: Brainstorming and Re-Focusing! -> Best tips:
- Try to think of something that will help someone and will be ultra engaging. Something YOU would want to read.
- Keep a calendar of strange/notable events bookmarked – public anniversaries, quirky celebrations etc (Note: A guest post may take time to find a home, so make sure to plan FAR ahead)
- Create an ideas wall by scraping blog titles; here’s an example (but only use for ideas).
- Learn to make lists!
- Keep it hot! => Don’t write about apples, write about apples for zombies!
- Guest Article Brainstorming and Re-Focusing Takeaway: “Combine what you like with what readers seem to love (simply-put, refocus your content to your target audience!). You still want to be on-topic and relevant to what you are good at: so learn to combine your expertise with what you are good and knowledgeable at!”
These are really great ideas for regular blog posts too! Appreciate it! #myblogguest
— FatAndHappyHousewife (@Fat_n_HappyHW) September 5, 2013
Tools for Brainstorming
Request content ideas
All #myblogguest PRO members have @seosmarty as a tool through our private thread “{PRO CONTENT} Need Content Ideas to Get More Offers? Ask Here” Please be sure to read it as it has accumulated lots of ideas for lots of topics now. And yes, feel free to request ideas for yours!
We also have brainstorming help section within our Google Plus community – join it now!
Did we mention social listening and setting up alerts for content ideas? Great tools for finding fresh ideas. #myblogguest
— David B. Faltz (@dfaltz) September 5, 2013
Social monitoring tools! RT @dfaltz: @seosmarty http://t.co/SMAFTfl9Wn Here is a great list of them. #myblogguest
— Ann Smarty (@seosmarty) September 5, 2013
Use the brainstorming dashboards
- Both Pinterest search and Quora search have been very useful for me. There are cool ideas for any topics!
- @SEOgadget shared their own spreadsheet you can copy and use for your topics.
- My recent favorite tool has been Advanced Google Suggest tool that digs Google suggest results a few levels deeper and gives you lots of cool ideas (that people search). I’ve been using it a lot for content ideas thread lately. Here’s one example for “home theater” keyword for example:
(I love the “home theater art” one for example. It can be turned into an absolutely awesome list with lots of cool images)
Bottom Line
If you consider yourself a content marketer (or want to become you), you must try guest blogging because there’s no better way to get creative, flexible and educated. By targeting different kinds of blogs and audiences, you discover new content opportunities. It’s an eye-opening experience you can’t afford to miss!
True! RT @dfaltz: Great ideas today. I think this is a topic that hits home for everyone #myblogguest
— Sana Knightly (@SanaKnightly) September 5, 2013
Next week (same time, same day) we’ll talk about my favorite topic and one of the most effective content marketing tactics: Content re-packaging. We’ll discover best ways to recycle your guest posts the “proper way”: one that will benefit both you and your publisher. Stay tuned!
Joseph
Latest posts by Joseph (see all)
- Chatting Guest Blogging at #Pitchboxchat - December 19, 2018
- How to Collaborate on Content: Co-Create, Interview and Find Guest Bloggers! #BizapaloozaChat - December 5, 2017
- Ann Smarty Talking Influencer Marketing at #BW_Chat Twitter Chat - February 26, 2016