In the last couple months I've gotten several emails from people asking me to write for their blog. I've ended up writing for some and not writing for others. What made the difference?
The four elements below were common in those emails that I responded to in the affirmative.
1. Be flattering
Praising the blogger is a great way to start out a guest post request email. All bloggers love to be told that they're doing a great job, right?
You should say something in your email about why you're asking the person to write for you. Is it because their writing style is great? Is it because their content is amazing? Is it because you're hungry for as many words as possible from that blogger?
You don't need to lie or pile it on too deep, but just be honest and I guarantee the blogger's attention will have been piqued enough that he/she will keep reading your email.
2. Explain the benefits
Now that you've got the blogger's attention, your job is to convince him/her to blog for you. I mean, if I spend the time writing content for your blog, I want to know it will be worth my time, right? I've found that cold, hard stats are the single best way to convince someone.
Do you have X number of visitors, subscribers, followers, or friends? Do you have a high pagerank site that will give me a valuable backlink? Do you get a certain number of comments, shares, or retweets on each post? Let the blogger hear those numbers! They're still the best way to convince and sell.
3. Be specific about the topic you want written
There is one blogger who emails me every week or two and asks me to give him a few paragraphs about my thoughts on a particular subject. This blogger doesn't have a huge following, but I honor every request. Why? Because he asks me very specific questions and it takes me all of 10 or 15 minutes to write my responses.
One of the hardest parts of writing for someone else's blog is coming up with something to say. If you say, "I would like you to write 500 words on how you made your first $100 online," that instantly frees up a significant amount of the time and energy the blogger needs to spend on writing for you.
4. Make it as easy as possible
This continues the thought from tip #3 above. The less time the blogger has to spend and the easier it is to submit a guest post, the greater the chances of that blogger writing for you.
Ideally, all the blogger has to do is send you his/her content and you do everything else. You would find appropriate links and photos and do all of the formatting.
If you'd like the blogger to do a bit more than that, be specific and tell them exactly what they need to do. I got a great email from Ruud, the editor of the blog here at Search Engine People, that told me exactly what he wanted me to do. He had screenshots of how to log in to post my article and how to add my author bio. This streamlined the process and made it quick and easy for me to submit this post.
Your turn!
By reading this post you have entered into a binding unwritten contract to try what I wrote about here.
Ok, while that may or may not be entirely true, but you should still do it anyway. Having someone else write for your blog is mutually beneficial; you get free content that you didn't have to produce, and the guest writer gets exposure to your audience. But you can increase the chances of someone agreeing to write for you if you follow the above-mentioned four points.
What do you have to say on the subject?
- Have you ever written and asked someone to guest post for your blog?
- Have you ever guest posted for someone else's blog?
- Have you ever been asked to write for someone else's blog? Did you accept? Why or why not?
I read and respond to every comment I get on any of my posts, so I'm looking forward to seeing what you've got to say!
* Leader images with work by Werwin15, Shavar Ross
I have written several guest posts for other sites. Typically I will find a site and the author seems to outright ask or hint that they are open to guest authors. I then do pretty much what you suggest. I approach the site owner and tell them why I like their blog and why I think my topic or expertise would compliment their site.
I usually have a topic in mind or an article pretty much written. Make sure the article is original! This is almost understood by both parties but I state it so there is no mis-understanding.
The only thing I do is request that if the owner decides not to use the content (hasn’t happened yet), that they delete it and let me know so I can use it elsewhere as original content.
It’s great for the backlink or two kind of cool to see your name in somebody elses blog. Try it.
.-= Jeff Pohl recently posted: Local Search Rankings from Google =-.
Tristan,
I have also found that I get a good response when I have been a participant on the other persons blog, like commenting, stumbling and re-tweeting. Also letting the person know how I will market their post makes a big difference.
Like you said, being very specific and making it convenient has works extremely well.
.-= Sheila Atwood recently posted: Smart Outsourcing – What is Ethical =-.
Hi Tristan I was told you had guest posted here but only
now tracked down your post! Very salient points. I have been
invited to guest post on several blogs. If I know the blog owner
well then it is easier to make the decision whether to GP or not.
If I don’t know the blog owner, I check out the site and then
decide if I can write what they have suggested. I certainly don’t
GP at the rate that you do! All kudos to you Tristan. Have had a
couple of invites that I am still thinking about and deciding on
how I will write on the topics that have been suggested. In both
cases I asked for suggestions. The GPs I have done, I said what I
had already and both blog owners were happy with what I submitted.
I haven’t approached any blog owners with requests, they have all
come to me. Some I have not taken up cos they were on sites that
didn’t encourage comments or weren’t relevant to what I blog about.
Haven’t asked anyone to GP on my blog yet. After careful
consideration, for the moment if I do have guest posting it will be
by invite only. Patricia Perth Australia .-= Patricia@lavenderuses
recently posted: At
Lavenderuses Safety First Means… =-.
You could always ask someone to write for you but of course you have to convince them and the benefits that they can get out of it. You let the select a topic that is within their interest or something that they are fond of.
.-= kirsty recently posted: Flexible Recurring Payments =-.
Hey Tristan, as always, I learn a ton from you. I’m sort of just delving into this guest posting thing right now. Us fitness bloggers aren’t as in the know as you internet marketers are regarding all these things. So, I haven’t been asked all that much to guest post. Either that, or I just suck. HA! Never.
.-= Susan@Home Workouts recently posted: 3 Healthy Eating Habits To Help You Burn Fat =-.
Well explained Tristan.
Guest posting can be very rewarding when done
properly. Thanks for sharing this powerful tip
on how to invite guest bloggers. Stay cool
I have started my blog with a lot of categories. I have tried to give it a magazine look. I am also SEO oing as much as i can. I got good traffic in the beggining with one day I even got 2000 people but now I have again dropped to same 150 to 200 per day. How long does it take to develop high traffic in a blog. And running a multi category blog, is it a good idea?
Good timing with this post. I’m asking a lot of guest posts on my website. Thanks Tristan
As a website that is made up of almost 100% other peoples content we love having guest bloggers. We still have not approached anyone yet because we have been busy building a following to offer to any of the blogger / members we get. Once we are ready I will definitely use your advice. I liked your article very much it gave me some good food for thought, thank you for help. I wish you continued success.