What is the Best Way to Become a Guest Blogger?

[applesofgold]

What have you found to be the best way to convince quality blog sites with authority to let you become a guest blogger for their site?

I know that providing samples of quality writing is key. But other than that, what is the best way "in"?

I have a handful of quality writers at my disposal and also write myself, but I'm trying to find effective ways of convincing established blogs to let me write for them.

Please send me your best, most creative suggestions! What has worked for you?

Thank you,

Afshin

Apples of Gold

[matbennett]

This sounds trite, but the best way is "try".

People are more receptive to guest blogging that you might imagine. If you can initially hook their interest and stand out from the offshore junk peddlers, and have some decent content at hand then you are heading the right way.

[applesofgold]

Thanks, Mat. I sent out 4 requests yesterday to quality related blogs by simply emailing them and showing them a sample of my writing and letting them know what I had in mind.

I did mention that I would put our link in the "author bio". Is this is a turn-off for potential blogs to mention right away? Or should I try to "hook" their interest before mentioning this. I've noticed that guest bloggers that have approached me have not mentioned this until after I ask them what their terms are.

Thanks,

Afshin

Apples of Gold

[EGOL]

Here is an observation and then a suggestion....

**Observation: ** A person who owns a successful blog or  website get lots of crappy articles sent to her by people who are simply trying to market their crap to her audience or take advantage of her success in some way.

That's just a warning to let you know that your offer to this person better be mighty good and look like she is going to gain a lot more out of the deal than you will.  That means your content better be spectacular.

**Suggestion: ** Find someone who already accepts guest bloggers or who has multiple contributors to their blog.  If a blog or a website does not already have guests or multiple authors there is probably a reason.  Don't waste your time trying to change people's thinking.

When you find some potential blogs or websites send them an article or an infographic or a blog post that they can publish and know that it will not be duplicated anywhere else on the web.  Be sure it is good enough that the blogger will get more out of the deal than you will.  If you don't have that you will not get a deal because other people are not going to go on a crusade for your brand.

[ShaMenz]

Hi applesofgold,

Some good advice here. I would agree with EGOL that the best approach is to find people who are already open to guest bloggers.

The easiest and most productive way of doing this is to use a service whose aim is to provide connections between those producing content or leads and those who need them.

Some of these are mentioned in Mike Scanlin's blog post How To Get The Equivalent Of $100K In PPC Ads For Free  (and the comments). Those mentioned in the post include Blogger Link Up, My Blog Guest and Haro. I also like Source Bottle and find it really convenient that calls for articles and sources are easily accessible via their Twitter feed.

Hope that helps,

Sha

[matbennett]

I tend to be as upfront as I can.  In most niches there are masses of guest writing opportunities, so the costs are largely outreach time.  The less of everyone's time you waste the better - you get to contact more opportunities and they don't get annoyed!

I'd tend to include sample links in the articles I send, if that is the route taken.  If not I'll mention it in the email.

However the approach depends a little on the overall approach you are taking. If you are targeting sites that already have guest blogs there is no need to spell it out.  If you are targeting people you have already built a relationship with you can often be more blunt, etc.

[AnnSmarty]

In regards to mentioning you are going to link to your site, I like this quote a lot: http://www.seomoz.org/img/upload/graywolf-tweet.png