What is the best way to become a published writer / blogger for bigger industry sites?

[MERGE-Chicago]

I'm a younger SEO manager and wanted to started establishing my name throughout the industry through well written blogs, expert articles, and any advice that is needed. I know a lot of answers will be to start my own blog and establish that and I'll get noticed, but is there a good way to make the first contact with industry sites to get an article or blog post published to their site? Or is it a pretty tight "gotta know someone" inner circle?

[Linda-Vassily]

Answer questions in Quora or another popular forum that is related to your area of expertise. That can start to get you noticed if you do a very good job.

[RangeMarketing]

An easy was to establish a relationship with the website is to follow them through social channels (specifically Twitter) and engage (if possible) on their website through comments. If you can add value to a blog post with your comments you might begin to be recognized. If you do this in addition to starting your own blog, someone might click on your profile and find all the killer content you've been pumping out!

If you are considering starting a blog this post below is a great resource:

http://moz.com/blog/moztalk-blogger-edition

Hope that helps

[MERGE-Chicago]

Thanks for the resources!! Watching Rand and his wife speak right now. Great stuff!

[EGOL]

One question.....

What industry are you targeting?   SEO?    Banking?     Shoe Shining?    Cosmetic Surgery?

Advice will vary depending upon target audience.

[MERGE-Chicago]

Targeting the SEO industry, which I know is going to be difficult since most blog posts are just regurgitated material anyway. And everyone in the SEO industry will agree but disagree with it.

[EGOL]

SEO?   That is very ambitious.

Consider beginning here in Moz Q&A.   Give generous answers to as many questions as you  can.   Set it as a goal to check here daily and answer any questions to which you can give confident and accurate and praiseworthy advice.  This should earn you thumbs-up from appreciative people, maybe they will rate your response as a "good answer", maybe Moz staff will endorse your answer.

Your ability to earn these feedbacks will be a measure of your ability to write useful and appreciated information about SEO.   It is much easier to write answers here than it is to write articles.  But this will be practice and a way to accumulate a bank of content that can serve as the basis of articles.  It will be a way to develop a strong voice.  After you have answered the same question ten times here you will be much better qualified to write an article about it.  You will see what gets challenged, and what earns positive feedback.

Furthermore, keeping your eye on forums will alert you to new problems and opportunities in SEO.  It is a way to discover what is important to webmasters and the people who consult for them.  Forums like Moz Q&A is where people go when they see a problem.  When questions appear here frequently and repeatedly they are important, and your participation here will give you a gauge of those topics.

That will guide you to the content that people want to hear more about.  This will keep you focus your writing time on important topics that will increase your value as an author.

When you don't know the answer to a question, subscribe to get email updates for that question. You will then be able to see good responses from other people who know about that topic.  This will increase your knowledge and help you discover who has expertise in areas where you do not.  These are the people who can help you.  They will see your good work and when you ask a question you will receive generously given gold.

Try it for a month and see how it goes.

[RangeMarketing]

We found Geraldine's presentation very inspiring. We're glad you are enjoying it just as much as we did!