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

Guest Blogging How-To: Finding Blogs Seeking Guest Bloggers

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This is the second installment in this week's series on guest blogging. You can read yesterday's post here: "Guest Blogging How-To: Five Days to More Traffic and Higher Visibility"

One of the most frequent questions I get about guest blogging is:
"How Do I Find Guest Blogging Opportunities?"

The easiest way is to contact the owner of a blog that you already read. That way, you're familiar with the content and style ... and, if you've been commenting on the blog, the owner might even recognize your name when you email him or her!

If you are looking to widen your audience for guest blog posts, however, consider a site like MyBlogGuest.

MyBlogGuest is the largest marketplace for guest bloggers to meet with people who want guest posts. Landing a guest blogging gig on this site is extremely simple: just contact a blogger who is looking for the kind of topics you write about, make a pitch, and you're done. Best of all -- it's free!

Keep in mind that MyBlogGuest is best for landing moderate PageRank or moderate traffic sites. High profile blogs like TechCrunch or LifeHacker simply aren't on MyBlogGuest. Instead, to land first and second tier blogs, you should go directly to the blog's author and make your pitch.

However, for moderate rankings and PageRank sites, there's nothing easier than MyBlogGuest.

The "Looking for a Guest Author" Section

Start in this section. This is where bloggers who want to look for guest authors go to advertise. Start with the "Business and Edu" section.

Look at all the listings by webmasters. Pick out the ones that make sense for you, based on what your site is about, their site's traffic, and their site's PageRank.

Contact them and make your pitch. If you have a good site and a good pitch, chances are you'll get the gig!

Use the "Search" Function

Begin by selecting a sub-category. You can start with the "Business and Edu" category and then use search terms, like "Career" "Jobs" "Resume" and "CV" to narrow it down. Click through and look at the site and see what kind of blog posts they publish.

The "Looking for a Blog" Section
This section is where you, the guest blogger, can post your own ad. The best way to get a high volume of writing requests is to post in this section, as well as reply to posts in the "looking for a guest author" section.

Look through other people's posts and see what catches your eye. Write your post in a manner that's both attention catching and informative.

The Articles Gallery
The articles gallery is where you can post your own pre-written articles for other webmasters to use. All they need to do is attribute the article to you in the signature.

This is different than article directories, in that each article can only be used once. Once a webmaster puts it on their site, the article is removed by the articles gallery. There are no duplicate content issues.

The best way to use MyBlogGuest, as with any other community, is to become an active member and contribute. Build your reputation and use the site to rack up lots of backlinks to your own resume blog.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post: "How to Make Your Post 'Most Read'"

Guest Blogging How-To: Five Days to More Traffic and Higher Visibility

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Earlier this month, I wrote about "Why Resume Writers Should Consider Guest Blogging" -- and I got several emails from readers wanting more information. So this week, I'm putting together a five-part series on guest blogging.

With so many different possible ways to promote your resume writing business competing for your attention, it can sometimes be tough to figure out exactly which techniques to implement and what to skip. Guest blogging is one of the most powerful marketing tactics out there. Here are just a few reasons why you should consider this tactic in promoting your business.

Targeted Traffic
When you write a guest post on someone else's blog, anyone who clicks through to your site is going to be highly targeted traffic. Writing a post for another high traffic website is all it takes to get a flood of high quality web traffic coming your way.

I talked in my "Using Content to Capture Career Clients" teleseminar about how posting on other people's blogs (where your ideal clients hang out) can be a great way to get visitors to your site. The key is finding blogs that your target clients already read.

PageRank and SEO
Getting backlinks from guest blogging checks off just about every item on a "SEO" checklist: The links are targeted. They're from real sites. They're (often) in-context links. You can control the anchor text. And if you're writing for high traffic blogs, the links will naturally have both PageRank and authority.

Many sites have gotten higher Pagerank rankings purely by getting dozens -- if not hundreds -- of backlinks through guest blogging.

Building Relationships in the Industry
Having relationships in the careers industry will help you advance your resume writing business in many different ways. When you're launching a new resume service (LinkedIn profile writing, anyone?)  and need bloggers to write about it, who do you turn to? The people you have relationships with.

When you're looking for referrals to the media, who do you turn to? The people you have relationships with.

Relationships, relationships, relationships. Guest posting helps build relationships. If you provide something valuable for their audience, they'll be eternally grateful. You can write for other resume writers -- or for affiliated career bloggers (recruiters, HR professionals, association websites, etc.).

Increase Your Reputation
Another way guest blogging can help is by increasing your reputation. This is especially the case in the careers industry, which is like a "big small town" in many ways.

Let's say someone frequents four different career blogs. On all four blogs, they see guest posts by you. Just the fact that you're all over the different websites in the careers industry is going to do a lot for building your reputation.

When you guest blog post on someone else's site, that's an implicit endorsement from them. It also gets you more exposure, which builds credibility.

Helps You Explore Different Ideas
Guest blog posting also helps you expand your own ideas.

If you're invited to guest post for a Fortune 500 company on job search techniques, that's going to require a different line of thought than writing for a small association blog.

When you guest post, you have to stretch your ideas, concepts, and identity to bring value to people who are slightly different than your typical market. This helps you develop and grow your ideas and concepts.

These are five of the main benefits of guest blogging. It's one of the highest ROI activities any resume writer who regularly blogs could take on.

Coming up in this week's series:
Part II: How to Find Guest Blogging Opportunities
Part III: How to Make Your Post "Most Read"
Part IV: What To Write In Your Guest Post
Part V: Landing a High Profile Guest Blogging Gig