Guest Blogging How-To: Landing a High Profile Guest Blogging Gig

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In Wednesday's blog post, I talked about "How to Find Guest Blogging Opportunities" -- but the resource I mentioned, MyBlogGuest, focuses on middle Pagerank sites. What if you're looking for the big time? Today's blog post is about how to get a post published on a high profile blog.

High profile guest blog posts are the holy grail of guest blogging. Sure, you can blog for small blogs all day long, but that won't have nearly the impact of landing just one high profile guest blog post.

So how do you land these high profile guest blog posts?

Make Your Own Site Top-Notch
When someone lets you guest blog for their site, they're implicitly endorsing you. They're not going to do that unless your own website is truly top notch.

In other words, make sure the content on your resume writing business website provides immense value. Make sure your design looks highly professional.

Make sure someone who sees your blog will think of you as an authority and would want to partner with you.

Look for Sites That Have Accepted Guest Posts In the Past
If a site has never accepted a guest post in its history, you might have a hard time convincing them to accept yours. On the other hand, if they've been consistently publishing one or two posts by other authors every month, you might have a very good chance.

One simple way to figure out whether or not a site accepts guest posts is to type in [site:urlname.com "guest post"] in Google. This will bring up all entries that have the words "guest post" on a specific site. If there are no results, try a few more queries like "guest author."

If you can't find any guest blog posts, it's best to focus on a different site.

Start Building a Connection
While you can just approach a blog site owner out of the blue, it's often better to try to build a connection first.

Start commenting on their blog for at least a month before you want to request a guest blog post. Answer their questions and aim to become an active member of their community. Contribute.

Do the same with Twitter. Retweet things that they tweeted. @reply to them when they ask a question.

Get yourself on their radar.

Landing the Guest Blog Invitation
Finally, send them a short email outlining your proposal.

Try to come up with three topics that you think their audience will love. Tailor each request to the blog specifically. Come up with topics you think their specific audience would benefit from.

Let them know that it's easy to publish your article and that it won't be republished anywhere else. All you ask for is a link back to your website.

Remember that blog authors need content as much as you want to get content published. By giving them a high quality blog post, you're saving them as much as a day by not having to write their own content.

What you're proposing is a win/win, as long as you have enough trust and quality.

That's how to land high profile guest blog posts!

Bonus: Read this great blog post about what a blog owner is looking for in guest posts (and some great additional tips)

Guest Blogging How-To: What to Write In Your Guest Post

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This is an issue that can stump you while you're blogging -- whether for your own blog or when guest blogging. When you're stuck in the "I don't know what to write" trap, here are some ideas to get you started.

Tips Articles
Guest posts with a specific number of tips often do very well. For example:

• 7 Tips for Improving Your LinkedIn Profile
• 12 Things NOT to Include On Your Resume
• 5 Ways to Get Your Resume In Front of Hiring Decision-Makers

Make sure you pick a specific number of tips and place it in the title. Odd numbers seem to work better than even numbers.

How-To
How-to titles are another popular blog post topic. For example:

• "How to Make Sure Your Finance Resume Gets Read"
• "How to Write an Effective LinkedIn Headline"
• "How to Get a $10,000 Raise When You Interview For Your Next Job"

Ask yourself, "What does my target market want to know?" Then write a "how to" for them.

Pitfalls and Mistakes
Talk about the common pitfalls and mistakes people make when jobseekeing. For example:

"The Seven Deadly Mistakes Career Changers Make"
"The #1 Mistake New Graduates Make in Their Job Search"
"3 Common Pitfalls of Networking for a New Job Online"

Tell a Story
Telling a story is a great way to attract an audience and communicate a message. (As a resume writer, you already knew that!)

One of the most famous direct response ads in history had this headline:
"They Laughed When I Sat Down At the Piano, But When I Started to Play..."

The piece then went on to tell the story of how nobody thought the main character could play -- and were then shocked when he did.

Use stories to invoke emotions, convey a point, and connect with your audience.

Share a Success
If you helped a jobseeker negotiate a $10,000 pay increase with his new job, share how you did it. If you helped a client write a LinkedIn profile that drew dozens of calls from hiring managers and recruiters, tell what was in the profile. If your clients get interviews within a week of sending out their resume, tell their story.

People love to read success stories, especially if they're filled with nuggets they can use in their own lives.

Image Tutorials
One great way to bring real value to someone else's blog is to create an image tutorial for them. Creating image tutorials, which involves step-by-step pictures, takes quite a bit of effort. Most bloggers won't go through the trouble.

That's why if you're willing to do it, they'll be very grateful.

For example, if you're writing a tutorial about how a jobseeker can research a company using LinkedIn, use screen shots of the process.

Controversial Opinion
Finally, you can share a controversial opinion. Most people won't expect to read a blog post from a resume writer titled, "This Resume Writer Says You Don't Need a Resume." (Now, your strategies may end up showing that a resume isn't needed for some situations -- but is for others.)

If you're ever at a loss on what kind of guest blog post to write, try using one of these ideas.

Tomorrow: "Landing a High Profile Guest Blogging Gig"

Guest Blogging How-To: How to Make Your Post "Most Read"

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This is the third entry in this week's series, "Guest Blogging How-To" and it focuses on how to write a killer blog post that will get people to visit your site, generate social media traffic (shares, tweets, likes), and that will generate repeat invitations from the blog owner.

So how do you make a guest blog post the "most read"?

Get to Know The Blog and Audience
Start by reading the blog you want to guest post on -- get a sense for who their audience is and what kind of style the blog owner has. Also, check for other guest posts. An owner who has allowed other authors to guest post in the past will be more likely to allow future guest posters.

Who tends to read their blog? What kind of attitude do writers on this site have? What kinds of topics do they address? Is there a common train of thought prevalent on the site?

Read through the comments of past posts. Get a sense for what kind of questions people have and what kinds of posts they tend to respond to.

Try to get a handle on what kind of material people like. Is it step-by-step guides? Do they like success stories? Perhaps they have one specific problem that they want to resolve?

Figure Out the "WIIFM"
Before writing your blog post, figure out the "what's in it for me" (WIIFM) that users should walk away from your post with.

Should they understand a certain concept better? Should they know how to do something that they didn't know before? In what direct way will your content impact their lives?

Then begin your article by telling them this "WIIFM" statement. Make it hard-hitting and compelling and really get them excited about your content before you deliver it.

Add Personality, Share Your Experience
The best blog posts are those where the writer really shares his or her experience. Don't try to come off as a stand-offish "professional voice." Instead, really add your personality to the mix. (Want to see examples of this? Check out blog posts by Julie Walraven or Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter.)

In addition to making your content land better, this also does one other thing. The more personality you have in your writing, the more curious people will be about you. At the end of the article, that makes it more likely for them to click on your link.

Sit On It
After writing your blog post, let it sit or a few hours or preferably a few days before sending it in for publication. (Make sure you know the deadline given to you by the blog owner, though!)

By going over it a second time, you'll often catch spelling mistakes or be able to reword your sentences in a more powerful way.

In other words, give it your all and try to make it perfect before sending it off.

Writing a top-notch guest blog post takes a lot of effort. You'll have to refine and refine the post, as well as pour your heart and soul into it if you want it to make an impact. Your reward will be an increase in targeted traffic to your own blog or resume writing business website.

Tomorrow: "What To Write In Your Guest Post"

Who I Am

I was inspired to write this post by an "introduce yourself" thread on the National Resume Writer's Association (NRWA) LinkedIn group. What I wrote ended up being too long for that forum, so I've printed it here.

My name is Bridget (Weide) Brooks. (The "Weide" part is my maiden name ... pronounced "Why-Dee.") I live in Omaha, Nebraska with my husband and business partner, Jon.

I've been writing resumes since the age of 12, when I wrote one for my dad, who was unemployed at the time. He got a job with the federal government, and I had found my new career! (Well, not really. Yet. And actually, I refer out clients wanting federal resumes nowadays. Hmm. Hadn't thought of that connection before.) Anyway, I revived my interest in resumes when competing at Nebraska's State Leadership Conference for the Future Business Leaders of America. In the "Job Interview" competition, high school seniors would prepare a resume and cover letter for a fictional company ("Merit") and then participate in mock interviews with real business leaders from the Omaha area. I was a pioneer in the tactic of actually targeting my resume and cover letter to Merit's needs. (Most people just wrote generic resumes and cover letters, because they didn't know what Merit did. I gave Merit an industry, market niche, and backstory and made that clear in the cover letter, so the interviewer could "play along" -- making my interview much more effective than my peers.) I ended up being "Runner-up Ms. Future Business Leader of Nebraska" that year (1991).

More important, I came back to my high school for the next seven years and taught resume writing and job interviewing to each successive year's class of seniors competing at the State Leadership Conference. One highlight was when my younger sister won "Ms. Future Business Leader of Nebraska" and placed fourth in the national "Ms. Future Business Leader" event. (I also helped prepare approximately 120 graduating seniors for their future job searches!)

I began dating my now-husband, Jon, when we were seniors in high school. We dated all throughout college, and when it came time to graduate (both of us received a bachelor's degree in journalism with an emphasis in public relations from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1996), we decided to start our own business. We decided to focus on the emerging "SOHO" (Small Office, Home Office) market, helping other self-employed folks with their marketing and promotion. I also wrote resumes (a natural tie-in to the business, since it was helping individuals "market and promote" themselves). While we eventually changed the focus of the business from SOHO professionals to somewhat "larger" small businesses, I have continued to write resumes throughout all 16 years of our business. During that time, I also subcontracted as a resume writer for another resume writer and also for CareerPerfect (a national contracting firm).

In 1999, I started a trade newsletter (in print format) for resume writers -- Resume Writers' Digest -- because I had questions about the industry that I wanted answered, but the information I wanted wasn't available from the professional associations serving the market. I wanted concrete data about pricing, revenues, busy times of the year, services being provided, etc. -- so I initiated the Resume Writers' Digest Annual Industry Survey. I interviewed resume writers on topics as varied as operating a resume service from home (at a time when most resume writers -- including me -- had business offices), working as a subcontractor, and numerous marketing and promotion topics. One of our most popular features of the print edition was "conference coverage" -- working with a team of freelance writers, we'd give you a sense of the key takeaways in brief write-ups of the major sessions from professional association conferences.

Although we had several hundred subscribers, I discontinued the print publication in the Spring of 2005. I brought it back as an online-only newsletter in the Fall of 2007, publishing 2-4 issues annually. I've been blogging about topics of interest to resume writers since June 2007 (wow--coming up on five years now!). And, in September 2011, I launched a membership site for resume writers -- BeAResumeWriter.com -- offering access to all the back issues of Resume Writers' Digest, monthly teleseminars, and forms and templates for resume writers to use in their business. Plus, each month subscribers get a Special Report (like "Write Great Resumes Faster" and "Website Traffic Secrets for Resume Writers") and Pass-Along Materials, which is content you can put your name on and 'pass along' to your own resume clients and prospects. (These have been very popular -- previous topics have included Jobseeker's Guide to Salary Negotiation, Getting Started With LinkedIn In Your Job Search, and Jobseeker's Guide to Online Reputation Management). There is also a "Free" level option -- you get access to streaming audio recordings of previous teleseminars, special reports, and the current issue of Resume Writers' Digest.

I'm still writing interview-winning resumes -- although mostly for past clients these days. I'm also going to be speaking at the National Resume Writer's Association conference in Charleston in September on the topic of "How to Create Passive Income and Recurring Revenue for Your Career Services Business."

That's "Who I Am"!

Connect with me online:
Facebook: Resume Writers' Digest and BeAResumeWriter
Twitter: @RWDigest
LinkedIn: Bridget (Weide) Brooks
Website: Resume Writers' Digest, BeAResumeWriter.com, Image Building Communications