How To Really Cash In On Guest Posts

Our host today is Frank Angelone. If you're interested in getting in front of the readers of Site Sketch 101, check out our guest posting invitation here.

1. The Mistake Made…

I’m guessing you just finish crafting that outstanding guest post to be published on a high profile blog, but once its published…what are you going to do next? Is it just going to sit there while the comments come in from readers and there’s no activity from you, the writer? I see it occur way too often.

You get these bloggers who want to build readership and relationships with new people, but they forget the best way to do that. INTERACT!

Just because you write a guest post doesn’t guarantee traffic to be brought back to your blog. You need to look at the guest post as a building block for the traffic. Once the guest post has been published and the comments start to come in, that should be your que to respond to EVERY comment.

Not just one…all of them!

The more people you respond to, the greater chance you have for building more readers back to your blog, building meaningful relationships with new people, and creating opportunities for these new readers to take an interest in what you do.

2. Getting Over The Hump…

The hump that many new bloggers need to overcome is the subscriber count to their blog. This honestly means nothing in the short run. This is a long term goal you should set for yourself as motivation.

In the beginning stages of blogging, you should guest post as often as you can. It’s the best way to build credibility, back links, and relationships with new readers.  The back link to your blog means nothing if you forget to show your appreciation to your new readers. If they’re going to return, you need to contribute to the conversation. This is something Nicholas and myself, as well as many other bloggers believe in.

The hump is more than a silly subscriber count number…it’s recognizing those individuals who truly appreciate what you are doing and building a community around them.

Forget the large audience and thousands of subscribers. If you have a core group of 15 active people on your blog who you interact with daily, that’s the main thing. When you guest post, you give yourself the possibility of adding 1-2 new readers to your community as long as you recognize them and treat them like the 15 active readers on your blog currently. That’s how you get over the hump and reach thousands of subscribers.

When you take the time to reach out to people, they will notice and thats how guest posting helps to build a large audience. You need to start off on the ground floor like everything else and slowly the numbers grow.

3. Do You Know The Owner Of The Blog You’re Guest Posting For?

Here’s something I’m sure most people don’t even take into consideration. If you’re going to guest post for a popular blog or an elite blog, it’s important to build a relationship with the owner of the blog first. Now, I’m not saying you need to know each other directly, but at least talk with them before hand via email.

For example, I noticed that Nicholas accepted guest posts on his blog. When I noticed that, I didn’t ask him to guest post right away. I looked at some of his posts and took a glance at what his community was about. I wanted to see if I could fit in. Nicholas does give people the opportunity to submit your guest post to him right away, but I chose not to do that. Instead, I contacted him and let him know of my post idea. I also reminded him about another guest post I wrote on a different blog and thanked him for commenting on it.

It was at that point I asked if I could write a guest post on his site. This is how you should go about trying to guest post for well known blogs to build your credibility and relationships with well known bloggers. They don’t want to be viewed as just an “object” to post back links on their site. They want to know you’re serious about the guest post and that you are going to bring some value to the table.

4. The Guest Post Is A Work In Progress…

Why is the guest post a work in progress? Well, even after the post has been posted, the comments are shared, and you’ve interacted…now you’ve opened more possibilities for yourself. The owner of the blog feels more comfortable talking with you as now you’re not just another “Joe Schmoe,” and they’ll be more willing to work with you in the future.

Just think, you’re on Twitter and you see these well known bloggers interacting with each other, but when you try to interact with them, they may not respond to you. It may not be because they don’t care for what you have to say, but it may have to do with the relationship you have with them. From this guest post alone, I’m sure Nicholas and I will continue to interact and share what each other is up to. All this simply from a guest blog post.

How? Like I said, the guest post is a building block for building relationships…it’s not always about numbers! You’re popularity will build through word-of-mouth and by how well you interact with others. Waiting for the readers to come will not happen. Like anything in this life…you need to go out and go after what you want.

5. What Can You Take Away From All Of This?

• It starts with the guest post and ends with meaningful relationships
• Its about what you do after the guest post that really matters. Anyone can write an article, but communicating with others is not something many do well.
• Traffic to your blog from a guest post is great, but if the readers don’t view you as someone who cares what their opinion is…your guest post was a waste.

All I can hope is that I provided you all with a different look at the powerful ways to cash in on guest posting and that its more than an article. However, I can be completely wrong. If you disagree with me, I’d like to know and talk with you. So tell me, what are your thoughts?