HOW TO: Build Influential Contacts Through Guest Blogging

Every blogger knows the benefit of guest blogging. If they don’t they most certainly should. It is one of the most effective ways that you can increase your visibility, reach a wider audience and build lasting relationships with other bloggers so you can assist one another in the future. It is the reason so many do regular crossovers, despite not being official affiliates.

Here’s a quick PowerPoint presentation Ann Smarty of My Blog Guest did on the value of contacts:

Ann’s presentation as well as the community she founded inspired me to elaborate further on this. So how do you really build influential contacts by guest blogging?

But how do you make the most of every single guest blogging contact you make? Sure, the bulk of that effort rests on your writing quality posts and remaining friendly with the site owners and staff while doing it. Is that all of it, though?

Actually, there are several things you can do to improve those nifty positives of guest blogging. Just follow these simple tips.

This is obvious: Find the blog owner hosting your guest article across various social media sites he/she participates in and follow everywhere.

Tip: Create a separate Twitter list, Facebook interest list and Google Plus circle for all bloggers you guest contribute for (e.g. “Guest blogging”) and add them there. This way you’ll:

Categorize them more effectively (in case you need another guest post placed, for example)Follow them closer (retweet and re-share) to make sure they remember you!

There is no reason to run off the second your post launches. Instead, you should stick around so you can see the responses you get. Answering questions, replying to observations or just saying ‘thanks’ to the readers further exposes you to them. All while showing that you are friendly and approachable.

You may also manage to score a few more readers on your own blog this way. Everyone loves a blogger who is engaging, and if you strike up a conversation that interests readers, they will probably want to check you out more thoroughly.

Besides, it will keep your post from becoming a dead zone after the first few weeks.

Tip: If there are no comments yet, feel free to jump in to be the first. Make a comment thanking the blog owner for having you and ask his/her opinion on the topic discussed in your article. Invite people to comment in your tweets and likes.

How will your readers know that you are guest posting if you don’t let them know? Chances are a fair amount won’t be following the blog you choose to write for. Which would be a shame, because it keeps you from targeting what is already a perfect viewer base…people who already read you. Why wouldn’t you want to take advantage of that?

Social networking sites and even email newsletters are a great way to get the word out. This is also a highly shareable method of putting your guest blogging efforts out of there. Just a ‘like’ on your status update or link about it will show up on their friend’s Facebook feed, after all.

Tip: Always tag the blog owner in your tweet to make sure he/she notices your effort!

If you have a WordPress blog (who doesn’t?), you can use it to share links to your posts in a professional looking way from your own site. Just use the handy External Permalinks plugin. It will allow you to post a short intro about it, and then refer them to the original site the guest post is hosted on.

Of course, you can always go the more creative route and create a secondary post about it in a different format. For example, make an Infographic containing the data, and then link it to the original guest post where that data came from. Or do it in a YouTube video, which I have seen a lot lately thanks to the ease of embedding clips in WordPress posts.

Probably the best way to get the most out of a guest blogging gig is to become a regular contributor. It means you will be familiar and known, and have a certain amount of credibility as a member of that site. Plus, regular exposure through your posts, which can be frequently exploited using the tips above.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you have to post all the time. Just maybe once or twice a month, or whatever you work out with the blog owner.

If you aren’t guest posting yet, you are severely misinformed about the use of such a tool. It is an easy way to increase exposure and visibility on a month by month basis, with very little effort. Not to mention, it is a fantastic link building tool.

Use the tips above, and it becomes an even bigger powerhouse for writers.

Image Credits: 1, 2, 3, 4.

Tagged as: Ann Smarty, Guest Blogging, Influencers

View the original article here