A Beginner’s Guide to Guest Posting

By Maggie Patterson

If you're a small business owner, guest posting can seem quite intimidating, especially if you don’t really understand how it all works. The good news is that guest posting is actually quite straightforward once you master the basics. It’s a great PR tactic to build awareness for your business, drive traffic to your website, and position you as a go-to expert in your field.

Here are some practical steps for beginners who want to get started.

#1. Find the Right Targets

Before you start sending out pitches, you need to do your homework. Think quality over quantity, because you will greatly increase your chances of your pitch being accepted if you carefully research your targets.

Start by Googling topics related to your business. Use the news or blog search function in Google to help narrow the field. Questions to consider include:

• What blogs do my ideal customers read?
• Where are like-minded businesses publishing guest posts?
• Does a site you're interested in accept guest posts? Visit the "Contact Us" page or look for more information on the site. Many sites will have  guidelines for guest posts available or indicate if they do or do not accept them.
• Who’s the audience for the site? Does it align with my audience?
• What types of guest posts have been included on the site in the past?

From there, create a short list of blogs you want to approach for guest posting. Be sure to gather all of this information in a single place like a spreadsheet or in Evernote so you can easily access it later.

#2. Engage with Your Target Sites

You will greatly increase the chances of your pitch being accepted if your pitch to highly-targeted sites. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to simply come up with a list of 100 blogs and then pitch them all with a “spray and pray” method.

Take the time to read the posts on the site, comment on them, engage on social media with the blogger or editor. Be authentic and genuine in the process and look for ways to add unique insights or value to the discussion. Most of all, have confidence in your voice.

The time you invest now will serve you well as you become part of their community (thereby increasing your chances of the site accepting your post), and you’ll be better prepared for when you are ready to submit your pitch.

#3. The Pitch

Now, you are ready to pitch your story. You will need to come up with a unique angle on an issue or find a new trend to weigh in on. In crafting your story, keep your target blog’s audience in mind. How will this information help the readers? And whatever you do, do not simply pitch the same story to multiple blogs or rehash the same topics that have already been covered on the site time and time again.

If you aren’t sure what to focus on, think about what your customers come to you for, the questions they frequently ask, and the key pains of your industry. All of these things are story ideas waiting to happen.

Once you've figured out a story idea, you're ready to pitch. A short, simple, and to the point email will get the job done.

Here are key points to remember when you pitch:

• Present your idea in three or four succinct lines.
• Explain why you are uniquely qualified to write the post. Include links to your blog or past guest posts.
• Don't hesitate to mention that you follow this particular blog, and that you think your article idea would be a perfect fit for the readers.

Then send your email and wait. If you don’t hear back after a week or so, sending a single follow-up email asking if they are interested is sufficient -- and then leave it. Not every pitch you send out will be accepted, but keep pressing on.

Becoming an expert doesn’t happen overnight, so be patient. Just know that the time invested will be worth the results in the long run if you do it right. Posts that get published on smaller sites will build your credibility for bigger sites, and then you’ll soon be on your way.