As you know, I think all writers should blog. That’s because blogging is a great way to sharpen your writing skills in a relaxing way. Having a blog is also a wonderful way to connect with potential clients, with other writers and online friends. And of course, it’s a fantastic way to promote yourself. However, there is a way to increase the promotional juice that you get from blogging, and that’s by sharing some of your writing savvy on other blogs by guest blogging.

Benefits Of Guest Blogging

Guest blogging is writing blog posts for other blogs. There are several benefits of doing this:

• it puts your writing in front of a new audience
• it brings new readers to your blog
• it’s another place for clients to find examples of your work
• it’s a way to connect with other bloggers both within and outside your niche.

How To Get Guest Blogging Gigs

There are two ways to get guest blogging gigs. One approach is to look around for bloggers who ask for guest bloggers. They are most likely to do this on their own blogs, so if you subscribe to blogs, you will soon find out if they are seeking guest posts. Some bloggers ask for guest posters because they want to vary the content; others because they are going on vacation; still others because they are building a community site.

The other approach to getting guest blogging gigs is to find some blogs that you like to read, and where you think you could contribute something, and offer posts to them. There are few bloggers who will turn down the chance to get a good quality guest post.

Guest Blogging Tip

When selecting the blog that you’d like to contribute to, consider what you are hoping to get out of it and choose your blog accordingly. If you are guest blogging to get backlinks, then choose a blog with a good search engine ranking so you will get the benefit. If you are blogging for influence, look for a blog that’s influential in your niche.

Once you’ve landed a guest blogging gig, remember that your first guest post is your most important, so make sure it is a good quality one. Let the blog owner take a look so that you can be sure you have written the right kind of post. It’s sometimes tempting to keep the really great posts for your own blog, but if you put a great post on someone else’s blog, then you will reap the rewards of their readership and their traffic.

Guest Blogging In Practice

I’ve been doing a lot of guest blogging in the last few months and I have seen great benefits, both personally and for Get Paid To Write Online. My blog now has a higher profile, as well as inbound links from some well respected blogs. I know that guest blogging has brought new readers, many of whom have stuck around. I also see the increased traffic when I check my stats. Many of my new visitors come directly from my guest posts on other blogs.

As a freelance writer, I have also seen guest blogging lead to new opportunities. Some of these have been for paid blogging gigs, while others have been for different types of writing. Guest blogging is helping to move my freelance writing career in the direction along the path I want to follow.

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Tags | blogging, promotion, writing