*Join our Twitter chat on TwChat =>MyBlogGuest Twitter chat*
Today we are happy to announce our spring contest winners! And here they go:
? Most active publisher – Sabrina Sabino (sabrinasabino). Sabrina published 193 articles through our plugin and gets $500!
? Most active “interacter” – Kiesha Easley (keasley) gets $500 for replies to comments and interacts with the guest author in the post 5 Ways To Use Pinterest Besides Image Sharing
? Editor’s choice (Our moderators’ special prize) goes to these two guys who get $150 each:
- Spyros Thalassinos (sthalassinos) for How To Make The Most Of Point And Shoot Cameras
- Tom Altman (vwtom) for Copywriting After Google Panda Stuck Its Paw In
? Contest promoter – our special prize for spreading the word about this contest goes to two bloggers who get $200 each:
- Ruth Martin (mini1000)
- Himadri Subrah Saha (himadrisaha)
Congratulations to the winners!
@seosmarty Woohoo!! Thanks, Ann! This is awesome news. It's no surprise that I love @myblogguest Yippee!!
— K. Easley (@WeBlogBetter) May 9, 2013
RT @RoberteKraus: Congrats to everyone who won the My Blog Guest contest!! #myblogguest
— Don Sturgill (@Don_Sturgill) May 9, 2013
We’ve talked a lot about the hugest benefit of guest blogging not to miss: relationships. We’ve also celebrated the past Valentine’s Day by giving away the wisdom of building relationships.
Today we’ll also take a look at some specific tips on how to build contacts while writing your next (guest) post!
Tip 1: Build relationships by linking out from your (guest) posts
Linking is the best way to build relationships and by “linking” we mean NOT linking to yourself! Link from your guest post to relevant helpful articles written by others: This way you:
- Will be appreciated by those article authors (and thus start relationship with them) AND
- Make your own links flow naturally and thus appear in good relevant and trusted neighborhood (co-citation will be our next chat topic; for now let’s just agree that co-citation is when ??? link to your site tends to appear next to links to other sites; when these “other links” are trusted, this a great quality signal to Google)
Similar to GREAT networking anywhere. Help others before you help yourself #MyBlogGuest @myblogguest
— Tracy Gaudet (@inspireplanning) May 9, 2013
So, by linking out to other useful articles, you both build relationships AND send good signal to Google – two wins!
To build relationships via your web content, link out to others. Acknowledge their good work. #myblogguest
— Don Sturgill (@Don_Sturgill) May 9, 2013
Don’t forget that your linking *out* needs to be smart to work!
What makes linking smart?
- Find real bloggers to link to (i.e. NO business blogs or huge magazines -> They don’t interact much)
- Link to actively-interacting bloggers (i.e. Those who always reply to comments)
- Link to amateur bloggers (they are more responsive and open-minded)
- Advanced tip: When linking, try mentioning the site name AND/OR the author’s name AND/OR the author’s moniker / Twitter username (Those who manage their brand names will be the first to find you!)
- Important: Link to POSTS (not home pages, category pages, etc.) because trackbacks will come as comments
Good point about building the relationships with entities that interact and engage #realpeople #myblogguest
— Deborah (@socialwebcafe) May 9, 2013
You can also link to your older guest articles on other blogs (this is what I’ve been doing). If that link adds quality and makes sense, you are allowed to NOT mark it as self-serving (even though it has some relation to you, it’s a clean context link and you are doing good to other member of our community by linking to him/her. So to encourage this behavior, we allow you to simply link and never count them!)
If they bring value – why not? RT @Roadturn: Should we mix links to authority sites in with links to not-yet-well-known ones? #myblogguest
— Sana Knightly (@SanaKnightly) May 9, 2013
Tip 2: Build relationships by social media tagging
Social media tagging = new linking (just more fun)
Exercise:
- While you write a blog post, find interacting blogs to reference (see tip 1)
- Create a separate Twitter list / Google Plus circle to categorize these connections (e.g. “My Sources”)
- Find the authors as well as the blogs on Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus (Create special lists / circles for them, e.g. “Sources”)
- Once your article is live, schedule several tweets / shares to tag them all within a few days
- Keep interacting with those lists to make those connections firmer!
As they say “Give, and you will receive“: Give away links and social media mentions and you’ll see your friends are ready to promote you back!
To sum up:
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
Ruth Martin
Thanks for the great post and putting together the Spring Contest, it was great fun, as usual! Looking forward to the next one already!
Tony
I like the idea of linking my articles to other relevant blogs and do so at times on my own site. Might try to improve on that now you’ve highlighted the ‘networking’ idea!
Still whenever someone on MyBlogGuest asks me to provide a guest post for them, there’s quite often a strict “no more than 2 links in the post” type rule which Blog Hosts do enforce. I agree that twenty links to my own site in one post would be poor taste, but I have been asked to remove links to reputable news outlets and further (appropriate) research simply because they violate the “only 2 links” rule.
If we’re going to implement this relationship concept (which is a good one) then we all need to get smarter about the links we include/accept in our guest posts, which will be good for everyone involved.
Ann Smarty
Tony, yes we are trying to convince some publishers to encourage links but they still need to be able to maintain their own standards as they own those blogs, you know…
Lee Keadle
Congratulations to these winners who are making the most out of their time at MyBlogGuest! I’ll look forward to building relationships with these guys so that I can learn from the pros about establishing a strong online presence.
Tony
Yes Ann, I know…. it’s taken me a while to ‘let go’ and start accepting guest posts on my own blog, but it’s turned out well so far, thanks pretty much entirely to MyBlogGuest!
Elizabeth Scanes
Hello Everyone @
MyBlogGuest!
I really am impressed by the information, quality of comments and the upbeat supportive community that each one of you have created collectively.
I have wanted to start a blog for years, but have not because I have such a huge assortment of interests. I would love to write an article or blog post on any topic for any of you at no cost in exchange for advice on how to go about blogging versus writing papers in college. I have a great education with degrees in Social Work and Paralegal. I hope soon I can be writing blog posts that are as interesting and enjoyable to read as one of the winning articles ” 5 Things To Use Pinterest For Besides Image Sharing.” written by @keasley
What is the best way to start a blog, when you cannot choose just one topic? For link building, which links are best for blogs, would a link site like bitly be good or would a long tail link be more appropriate?
Thanks for providing such an amazing and lively resource and quality:)
Elizabeth Scanes
emscanes@gmail.com
Ann Smarty
Do yu have any interest / hobby for example? Have you ever dreamed to to learn more about anything? Do you travel? A blog can be a huge motivation to read more on the topic you have always wanted to research but had no time / reason.
Best links are those that come on their own. By simply writing interesting articles and commenting at other relevant blog, you will attract attention and generate those natural links! Sitewide links are no more too effective. High-quality guest blogging is another way – but be cautious as it has much more important benefits like brand and relationship building!