How 2nd Best Can Sometimes Be Better
We're taught all throughout our lives to be the very best we can be in whatever we do. In general, that is very good advice that has withstood the test of time. But there are instances where being 2nd best can get you better results, especially in the area of guest posting.
One Caveat Before I Start: there has been a lot of buzz in the blogging world about how guest posting can hurt you. The stir was caused by a blog post by Google's Matt Cutts. You can read into it what you will. If you really feel like guest blogging is completely dead, you probably should not continue reading this article. Here's the rub - top bloggers are still using guest blogging and I haven't seen their rankings suffer for it.
You brushed passed my caveat/warning so you must believe guest blogging is not dead. Good for you! I think it is still valid as well as long as you use it for the purposes of gaining community and not to try to game the search engines!
Okay, enough of that. Time to get to why being second best can be better than top dogs. When you seek out guest posting opportunities you will need to contact bloggers and pitch them on why they should include your guest posting. Top bloggers will very likely ignore you. They are busy with their own strategies that have made them successful in the first place. Why are they going to take a step back and include work from people that have lesser rankings than them.
The Middle Tier is Still Hungry
Those bloggers that are not the top dogs but are growing are going to be much more receptive to queries for guest posts. They will be much more likely to give you a shot. But there is one important point that I want to impress upon you. Make sure what you write for them is better than your best. If you submit something that is just average there are two main thoughts that these up and coming bloggers are going to think about you.
1) You are not very good at writing.
2) You are only in this to get a backlink to your site - this is the type of guest blogging Matt Cutts says will get a site in trouble.
If you do approach guest blogging from this perspective, be prepared to get a lot of rejections. Remember, the blogger is going to read what you wrote before they include it in their blogging mix. If it is not quality work, hasta la vista, baby!
Here are some guidelines on improving the process of getting the middle tier bloggers to accept you:
- Become thoroughly familiar with the material of the bloggers that you want to guest post to
- Create material that is in line with the types of messages those blogs are trying to convey
- If an opportunity presents itself where those bloggers allow you to participate in discussions with the blogger (and his/her) fans, make yourself known by adding value to that blog (commenting, forums, etc.)
- Create several different posts before pitching to the bloggers and let them have choose which ones they want to include
- When it comes time to make your pitch, make sure your talking points include references to material within their blog so they can actually see that you have become quite familiar with their blog
Make Them Remember You
Middle tier blogs are ones that are coming up in the ranks. As they progress, if you keep working with them, they will bring you along for the ride and you will be associated with these up-and-comers. Remember, these bloggers work with other higher end bloggers and it is only natural that you'll eventually get a name drop from others who are noticing what you produce.
Why Would They Consider You?
You may be thinking why would these up-and-coming bloggers even give me the time of day. They seem to be doing the right things to get their blogs noticed - hence, the increase in rankings. The truth is, they need good content for their website and don't always have time to write it themselves.
Further, their colleagues who are moving right along with them no longer have the time to guest post as much as they used to. Enter you as a hungry blogger that still trying to make it up the ranks. When they see that you are taking the initiative to create quality content that is inline with the message of their blog, it's practically a no brainer for them. Offering these bloggers high quality articles that they can put to use immediately is a fantastic way to solve this problem of not having the time to do it themselves.
How To Create Outstanding Posts
Creating quality posts to be used for guest posting is often a challenge for beginning bloggers. But it is a skill that can be learned. The trouble is, many people try to learn it on their own and that is where they run into trouble. A better approach is to incorporate training that can serve to give you the foundation you need to help get approved for guest posting. Plus, when you learn the appropriate skills for creating great content, you can use it on your own blog.
Another great method to improve your work is pier review. When you have a group of people that can read through your writing and offer tips on how to improve it, you will come up to speed quickly as a writer and this will give you the ability to participate in guest blogging quicker as a result.
Wealthy Affiliate can help you with both of these aspects. It has a large community of people that create content as their living. Others do so while maintaining a full time job. But there is also cutting edge training that teaches the proper way to create content that is not only good for guest blogging but is also good for getting your own websites ranked. I have written a complete review on the program that you can take a look at here.
How to Find Guest Blogging Opportunities
You could certainly use Google to try and find guest blogging opportunities but to be honest that often takes a long time. You need to find high quality blogs and if you are going to adopt this strategy, you will need to find them fast. Otherwise, you're going to sacrifice much of your day on Google searching for these opportunities. This will burn you out quicker than a candle on its last wick.
That's why I am recommending a software solution that finds kick-ass, high ranking blogs and even shows how they can be contacted (social media, email, etc.). The tool does a lot more than that but this feature alone makes it worth the cost of the program. The software is called Kudani and interestingly enough, I actually wrote a short fictional story about a guy named Johnny Kudani who was suffering from a serious bout of writer's block. The story shows how Kudani can be used to overcome this bout.
[Disclosure: Compensated Affiliate]
