Last updated on July 25th, 2018 at 07:26 pm
Guest posting is where it’s at. This is what we hear all the time.
If you’ve spent any time reading tips and tricks on how to promote your blog, chances are you’ve read about guest blogging.
Okay, okay, you’ve probably read about using Pinterest to help you grow your blog.
Maybe we’re reading the same blogs? I’ve read so much on Pinterest and guest posting, so guess what?
That’s where I’m putting most of my energy into growing my blog. I figure I’ll get the best of both worlds.
What Do I Mean?
In order for me to give you a better picture of what I mean, I first have to take you back to 2013, that’s when my life changed.
I had a few niche sites and had ranked those sites quite easily. Back in the day, it was a lot easier to rank websites. All you had to do was build backlinks targeting the keywords you wanted to rank for.
In fact, many people were using PBN networks to help them rank. Yes, I was using them as well. After all, I could pay a small monthly fee and the network kept building backlinks to my blog.
It doesn’t get much easier than that. All I had to do was sit back and watch the money come in. (it wasn’t a lot, but it was a couple thousand per month)
Then one day Google rolled out the Panda update. That’s when my life changed.
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My sites dropped like a rock. My income dried up overnight. Those updates rocked the Internet world. Well, it did mine anyway.
All My Effort Wasted
It had taken me several years to understand how search engines work. Then I put in all the hard work. I was trying to rank sites that I didn’t care about, I was just chasing the money.
So when Google took down my site, I threw in the towel. I figured why continue trying to revive a site that I didn’t really care about. It wasn’t my passion so why bother?
Fast forward to Today
As you know I share blogging, WordPress, and tips to make money on my blog. This time I am doing it differently.
Yes, my goal is to make money. Any blogger who tells you that they don’t want to make money from their blog is lying.
No one is going to work this hard without any monetary return.
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I’m working my butt off on this blog so I can walk away from my freelancing gig. I’m tired of trading hours for dollars.
You might have started your blog because you want to leave your job? Everyone’s story is different, but we all basically want the same thing, more financial freedom.
The difference now is that while I do want to make money with my blog. That isn’t my main focus.
Instead, I want to help new bloggers start, grow and monetize their own blog. I love sharing my experience.
Yes, you can find other bloggers who know a lot more than I do. That’s why I can only share what I know.
Why Do I Tell You This?
You’ve probably seen so many successful bloggers. One of the first things they will tell you is to make sure you enter a niche you love. You’re going to be creating a lot of content, so you better be sure you enjoy it.
It took me several years to figure this out. I tried to earn success by taking the easy route. The truth is that I wasted so much time trying to find the easy push button.
Don’t make the same mistake that I’ve made. Take it from me, there is no easy push button system.
So choose a niche that you love and is meaningful to you. Provide value and help others. Don’t focus on the money and before you know it, your blog will be profitable.
How Does This Lead To Guest Posting?
Now that you know what to do, I’m going to share why you need to start guest blogging. You don’t want to have all your traffic coming from just one traffic source.
It’s so easy to jump on Pinterest and work on building your traffic. I’m not getting the mindblowing traffic that some bloggers are getting.
However, I’ve managed to get Pinterest to be my biggest traffic referrer.
The old me would’ve stopped doing all my other promotional strategies and focused 100% on Pinterest.
Today, I am not allowing myself to focus 100% on Pinterest. That’s why I still focus on my YouTube channel.
Why?
As a blogger, you don’t want to rely 100% on just one source of traffic. That’s scary and it’s not the right way to build a profitable blog.
What happens if something happens to Pinterest. Maybe they delete all your pins and decide that group boards are no longer valid?
They’ve actually just made a bunch of changes not too long ago. That’s why I purchased this Pinterest course to help me better understand the changes.
I don’t think that Pinterest will ever delete all your pins. You may have to deal with pin theft, but as long as you follow the rules, you should be good.
The point I am trying to get across to you is that you don’t want to rely on just one traffic source for your blog.
Why I Started Guest Blogging
The truth is that I heard Ryan Biddulph talking about. He’s the king when it comes to guest blogging. He’ll teach you how to create a viral online presence.
Also, I was blogging back in the day when Ashley from Mad Lemmings was still a fairly new blogger.
I still remember reading his blog when he was in the trenches trying to figure things out.
The difference between him and I is that he got involved with guest blogging. I didn’t, for some reason I let my fear hold me back.
Not to mention, I was in a niche that I wasn’t really interested in. Maybe that’s why I wasn’t serious about getting started with guest blogging.
Now if you take a look at Ashley’s blog, he’s become a top blogger. If you dig deeper, he talks about how guest blogging is not dead.
It Takes Time
I’m not going to tell you that you just need to create 1 guest post and you’ll be a success. Heck, I have currently written 16 blog posts and still, no one knows or cares about me.
I’m no idiot. I know that I need to keep getting my name out there. Just like growing your own blog, it’s going to take time to build up your guest blogging campaign.
How to Get Started
You’re probably thinking that I’m going to give you a huge list of where you can start guest blogging.
The truth is that you’re going to have to do some legwork. I don’t know what you blog about and who your audience is.
Therefore where I guest post and where you want to guest post are totally different. Sure you could check out where I’ve guest posted by using a tool like Buzzsumo.
I used to share where I guest posted every month when I shared my blog traffic growth reports. However, I’ve stopped linking to my guest posts.
The only reason that I stopped linking to my monthly guest posts was that I didn’t want to be accused of reciprocal linking. Not sure if that was possible, but I’m not trying to get this blog in trouble.
I love this blog and I want to help you out. That’s why I’ve created a regular schedule of my daily blogging tasks that I stick to each and every day.
Related: How to Start A Blog Free Step-by-Step Guide With Pictures
How I’ve Managed To Start Guest Posting
Even though I am not giving you a list of guest blogs that you can guest post at. I am going to share how I got started.
I set up a free account with Feedly. I then started visiting blogs in my niche. People that I would love to connect with.
At that time, I was brand new. I didn’t know anyone. As long as the blog shared useful helpful content, I would add the blog to my Feedly account.
I continue to add blogs to my Feedly account.
I’d then make it a point to visit these blogs on a regular basis. I would take the time to read their blog posts and then leave a helpful useful comment.
If they have a comment policy be sure to read it. The last thing you want to do is spend time trying to comment on their blogs only to see your comment deleted.
After I left my comment, I’d always share the post. This starts the wheels turning to building the relationship.
Do This Everyday
You can’t do this just once. Remember Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither are online friendships.
You have to keep commenting and sharing. I personally did this for far too long before I reached out.
I was scared. The little voice in my head kept me from reaching out. Finally, one day I figured what’s the worst that can happen?
Blogger Outreach
Remember, the main reason that you’re commenting is to build relationships. You’re trying to open the doors to start guest posting.
Sure some of the bloggers won’t accept guest posts. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t comment on their blog. Over time you’ll still be building a relationship with the blogger, which is still a great thing.
However, hopefully, you’ve spent time commenting on some blogs that you want to reach out to for guest posting opportunities.
After a few weeks, it’s time to open the communication with the blogger. I know you’re probably freaking out.
Commenting on a blog is so different than sending someone an email to guest post.
For instance, when I reached out to Ms. Ileane for a guest posting opportunity, I sent her a message on her contact page. If you’ve been to her contact page, she has you record a message on SpeakPipe.
I was so nervous, I think I deleted and recorded my message like 5 times. Before I finally said I’m just going to do it and I hit send.
It took a while to hear a response, but most pro bloggers are busy so just give it time.
I finally got an email back from her and needless to say, she created an author account for me on her blog.
At the time of this writing, it’s been about a week since my post went live.
Send The Email
I know you probably think that I’m going to tell you to pick up some software to start blogger outreach.
The truth is that I don’t use any software to send an email. All I do is find the contact form on the blog that I want to guest post on.
A lot of the bloggers that accept guest posts will have a link to their blogging guidelines.
Take the time to look around that blog. Hopefully, you’ve already done that before you started commenting. Especially, if you were planning on guest blogging.
Get Over The Fear
The first email that you send is going to be scary. You might even let the fear stop you from sending it.
While I can’t help you get over the fear. However, I can tell you that I understand.
When I sent my first email, I was scared shitless. I mean who’s going to let little ole me guest post on their blog.
But someone did let me guest post on their blog. Now I didn’t guest post on a top blog with my very first guest post.
In fact, this was a blog that I found in a Facebook group that wanted a guest post. So I gave away an awesome article.
Guess what, nothing I didn’t get any traffic or email subscribers. You might think that was a complete failure.
However, what that first guest post did was give me the confidence to reach for my next guest posting opportunity.
Yes, I am still scared every time that I reach out for a guest posting opportunity.
However, the difference is that it gets easier. Yes, I still get some No’s and some people just plain out ignore me.
That’s just a fact of life. You can’t let that stop you. It’s important to keep getting your name out there.
What Should My Email Say?
It’s easy to find so many different guest blogging templates that you can use to send an email.
Personally, I have never used a template to send my emails. All you need to remember is that there is a person on the other end.
So make it personal. You don’t want to make your blog sound robotic.
My Secret Tip
One of the things that I’ve been doing when I send out my guest posting emails is I’ll take the time to come up with a great headline.
I’ll then run that headline through the CoSchedule Headline Analyzer. Next, I’ll use Snagit and take a screenshot of the results.
Next, I’ll create the email and stick the results from the Headline Analyzer into the email.
I didn’t use this when I first got started. This is just a technique that I’ve started using.
I’ve been pretty fortunate and it’s helped me get more guest posting opportunities.
Of course, it also helps that the blogger already knows me because I’ve been commenting and sharing on their blog.
Start Slow
While I don’t write hundreds of guest posts every month. I’ve got other things that keep me busy as well as my freelancing business.
However, I do make it a point to write 2-4 guest posts every month. So set a realistic guest blogging goal and stick with it.
So while I am learning how to grow my blog using Pinterest. I am not putting myself at the mercy of Pinterest or Google traffic. I am also building my online blog empire through guest blogging.
Final Take Away
Learning how to start a blog is easy. Growing the blog and gaining readers, that’s the hard thing.
It’s going to take hard consistent work to grow your blog. Don’t make the same mistake of putting all your eggs in one basket.
Even if you’re getting a lot of traffic from Pinterest, you should be using guest blogging to help you grow. If you’re completely new to WordPress or just want more help with your blog, don’t forget to visit my tips on starting a blog page where I help make the techie side of blogging easier.
I’ve personally found guest blogging as a great way to help me grow my blog. Plus it’s nice to know that I am not 100% reliant on Google or Pinterest traffic.
If you’ve let me guest post on your blog, I just want to say thanks for allowing me to blog on your platform!
I couldn’t grow this blog without your help.
Hand Picked Articles for You
- 27 Tips for New Bloggers
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- Lessons I’ve Learned In My First Full Year of Blogging
Have a question? Want to share your own guest blogging tip? Please leave it in the comments below, I’d love to hear what you have to say!
Don’t forget to pick up my new Amazon Kindle Ebook:
How Guest Posting Can Help You Get What You Need to Grow Your Blog
Susan, I had been blogging with no serious intention of using blogging as a income source (if google adsense earns any cents for me, great, else .. kind of attitude) for years… but now i do want to move towards using blogging as a potential income source.. i am still working on it.. but your blog and your posts are definitely motivating and helpful
Hi Vidya,
I am so glad to hear that my posts are motivating and helpful. Glad to hear that you’re going to focus more on monetization, I have no doubt you’ll have success.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment. Good luck with your blogging journey.
Have a great day 🙂
Susan
Hello Susan,
Good shout over here 🙂
Blogging is something, which has made all of us struggled and fight real hard to make our chances go run into this profession.
Earlier things went wrong road, nothing came up as a good, still the fight was on. It takes time and your story is really
an inspiration for many of the freshers out there who are struggling with the same situation.
This is so true, if we want to be a long run player and establish good networks with other pro bloggers, then guest posting is
something we need to work upon. To be very frank, I have still not tried to land a guest post on any of the other blogger
platform. There are couple if things which make me hesitate every time I wanna get into this, the fear of rejection is
always in me and I think I am yet not prepared for this conquest.
Although I am gearing mys elf up for this challenge in the upcoming year. Hope things tend to be rolling out.
Thanks for the share.
Have an awesome weekend ahead 🙂
Shantanu.
Hi Shantanu,
You’re right, it’s so easy to let our fear hold us back from pursuing guest blogging. I have no doubt that you’ll be awesome when you take the leap.
Have a great day 🙂
Susan
Hi. susan
from last 4 month ,i have started blogging but very less traffic on my site monthly i want you advice
for increase traffic
Hi Emauryaa,
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and visit my blog. As for blog traffic, 4 months really isn’t long enough to start getting a lot of traffic. It takes a long time to build up the traffic to a blog.
I’ve written a post on what I am focusing on for my second year, you can read it here: https://susanvelez.com/how-to-grow-a-blog/
As long as you stay consistent with your blogging tasks, I have no doubt that you will start to see blog growth.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment.
Have a great day 🙂
Susan
Hey Susan,
Finally i got something that i was looking for. I do outreach and i get response but not so much , people ignore my email even after 2 3 followups. and also It quite difficult to search blogger in your niche that accept guest post.
After reading your post, I understand that, I made some mistakes, I don’t interact with people by comments though i always share related post on social media.
I will implement your tips and hope it will work, Thank you so much for sharing this.
Maria.
Hi Maria,
Glad to hear that you found the post helpful. I still get crickets when I send out some emails. I don’t let that stop me and I keep searching.
Here’s a great site you can use to find some places to guest post, I haven’t used it but it’s a great place to start. http://listiller.com/guest-blogs/
Good luck with your outreach and let me know when you get your first guest post. I’ll be sure to stop by and comment.
Have a great day 🙂
Susan
Hi Susan,
Thanks for sharing your story with us. I’m sorry you were affected by Google’s Panda update. As that was happening, I was just getting my blog started so I wasn’t affected – and I wasn’t making money to begin with. 🙂
I agree with you about Ryan – he is all over the blogosphere!
I haven’t done a guest post in a long time. Now that I have my other blog to promote – which eventually I want to be my main source of income, I’ll be making my rounds to other blogs. 🙂
But I do remember when I first started I had a fear of rejection. I felt like I wasn’t good enough and that they wouldn’t bother to read my email. But when I was invited to guest post that gave me a boost in my confidence. 🙂
Thanks for sharing this with us! Hope you’re having a great week so far!
Cori
Hi Cori,
It did suck being affected by Panda, but to tell you the truth I was blogging on a blog I didn’t really care about. So all in all, I don’t even know if I would’ve still had that blog.
I did see your guest post, it was really good. Glad to hear that you are going to get back into it.
Have a great day 🙂
Susan