As a content creator, it’s essential to have a strong personal brand. After all, your personal brand is what sets you apart from your competition and helps you attract your ideal clients. But how do you go about building a strong personal brand?

One of the best ways to build your personal brand is by guest blogging. When you guest blog on other people’s websites, you get exposure to their audience, which can help you attract new readers and followers.

What is Guest Blogging?

When you guest blog, you submit a blog post to an editor’s site with the expectation it will be published on your website.

As a content creator, you will usually work in the same industry as the company and write about topics that align with each other’s brand.

This is a great way to give fresh perspectives on your industry and build relationships with other content creators.

Benefits of Guest Blogging

Guest blogging allows you to reach a new audience and share your expertise with a wider group of people.

It can also serve as a way to document what you’ve learned from building in public and allow you to position yourself as an expert in your industry.

And if you do it right, you can generate leads and build backlinks to help out with your SEO efforts.

Set Specific, Achievable Guest Blogging Goals

Before you sit down to write, it’s important to take a step back and think about your goals.

• What do you want to achieve with your writing?
• Are you looking to generate leads, build brand awareness, or drive traffic to your website?

Keep your goals in mind as you write, and tailor your content to meet those objectives.

By aligning your content with your business goals, you can ensure that your writing is working hard to support your success.

Choose topics that will benefit your own business goals.

The success of any content marketing strategy depends on aligning your content with your business goals.

Whether you’re looking to build thought leadership, drive traffic to your site, or do something else entirely, your content must be crafted with your goals in mind.

When planning your content strategy, start by identifying your top business goals. From there, you can reverse engineer the kind of content that will help you achieve those goals.

Once you know what you want to accomplish, you can choose topics that will help you achieve those goals.

• For example, if you want to increase brand awareness, you could write about your company’s history, your mission, or your values.
• If you want to drive traffic to your website, you could write about your latest product or service, or share a helpful tip or tutorial.
• And if you want to generate leads, you could write about a special offer or discount.

Of course, your goals must align with the publication. From my experience having the ability to properly promote products in an organic way is often bypassed when someone has the mindset of doing link-building vs. digital pr.

No matter what your goals are, good editors of sites you reach out to can help you identify topics to create a win-win relationship.

Honestly, I simply ask editors what topics they are prioritizing and see if I have any angles that align with their content goals.

Obviously, it’s taken years of building relationships to get to where I’m at now.

How to Prioritize Guest Post Opportunities

There are a lot of guest blogging opportunities out there, but not all of them are created equal.

Guest blogging on a site with a high domain authority can be beneficial, as it can help improve your own site’s search engine ranking.

To answer this question, you’ll need to first understand what “authority” means in the context of SEO. Generally speaking, authority is a measure of a website’s popularity and trustworthiness.

The higher a website’s authority, the more likely it is to rank well in search engine results pages (SERPs).

There are a number of ways to measure a website’s authority. Two popular methods are Moz’s “DA” metric and Ahrefs “DR” metric. 

To find the websites with the most authority in your industry, I recommend using Moz’s toolbar to start out because it’s free.

Seek to write for sites whose score is 20 above yours. Once your DA score is 40 and above you, it will become easier to write for sites whose score is 30 above yours.

Find Relevant Sites to Contribute Guest Posts For

When you’re looking for sites to contribute guest posts to there’s several strategies you can use.

• Strategy 1: A simple but effective strategy is using Google search. Just use these different combinations of search parameters.
  • Your Keyword “guest post”
  • Your Keyword “write for us”
  • Your Keyword “guest article”
  • Your Keyword “guest post opportunities”
  • Your Keyword “submit blog post”
• Strategy 2: Google Reverse Image Search is a powerful tool that can help you find websites that would be interested in your guest post. Simply visit Google Image Search and upload an image from your blog post, and Google will search for websites that have used that image. This is a great way to find websites that are relevant to your topic, and that would be interested in your guest post.
• Strategy 3: One way to find relevant sites to contribute guest posts for is to reverse engineer your competitor’s backlinks. This means finding out which sites are linking to your competitor’s website and then approaching those same sites about writing a guest post for them. This strategy is best done with Ahrefs (focus on sites that are DR50+).

These three strategies are great ways to identify publications to reach out to. If you can provide value and offer something unique, you’ll be more likely to get accepted as a guest contributor.

Conduct Guest Blogging Outreach & Pitch Editors

Once you have a list of target publications, you can start the process of pitching your article to the editors.

When you’re guest blogging, it’s important to make sure you’re pitching the right editor at each publication. You don’t want your article to get lost in the shuffle, so it’s worth taking the time to do your research.

LinkedIn and Twitter are both great places to start your research. LinkedIn can help you find contact information for editors, and Twitter can help you get a sense of what each editor is looking for.

Here are the 5 most common job titles for editors of publications that I’ve noticed. This is based on my experience writing for over 200 tech publications such as Crunchbase, HubSpot, Aroll, and many more.

• Head of Content
• Managing Editor
• Director of Content
• Director of SEO
• VP of Marketing

Once you’ve found the right editor, you can craft a pitch that’s tailored to their needs and increase your chances of getting your article published.

The most important part of a guest blogging pitch is tailoring it to the specific publication you’re pitching. A generic pitch is more likely to be ignored, while a pitch that’s tailored to the publication’s audience and style is more likely to be well-received.

Take the time to research the publication and its audience, and then craft a pitch that will resonate with them. Be sure to include some information about your own qualifications and why you’re the best person to write about the topic you’re proposing.

To do blogger outreach at scale look into getting a LinkedIn Sales Navigator account and tracking editors you’re seeking to build relationships with.

Due to recent email spam changes, cold outreach at scale isn’t nearly as effective.

I suggest doing outreach manually until you’ve written some guest posts and then start using the “Mention outreach technique” via LinkedIn and Twitter.

I’m a huge fan of this strategy. It involves sending emails or social DM’s to anyone that you mention in your content and letting them know that you’ve written (or talked) about them.

This is a great way to build relationships with brands, and it can also lead to some great guest blogging opportunities.

Follow Sites Guest Post Guidelines

If you want to write guest posts that editors will love, pay attention to any guest post guidelines they provide, as well as their editorial calendar.

These resources will give you a good sense of what kind of content they’re looking for and when they need it. Once you have a good understanding of their needs, you can craft articles that are sure to impress.

Write Guest Blog Posts That Editors Love

Now that you’ve landed a guest blogging opportunity, it’s time to write a great post.

But what makes a post great?

Editors are looking for posts that are well-written, informative, and on-topic. A great guest post will capture the attention of the reader and leave them wanting more.

To write a guest post that editors will love, start by doing your research. Know your audience and what kind of information they’re looking for. Then, write a catchy headline that will grab their attention.

Make sure your post is well-written and free of errors. And finally, include a call to action to encourage the reader to take the next step.

Your headline is the first, and sometimes only, the chance you have to make an impression. So it’s important to make sure your headlines are compelling and interesting. A good headline will entice readers to click through to your article, and a great headline will also be shared on social media and other websites. But how do you write a great headline?

Here are a few tips:

1. Keep it short and to the point
2. Use strong verbs
3. Make it clear what the article is about
4. Use numbers or lists
5. Use keywords

By following these tips, you can write headlines that will grab attention and get people interested in reading your articles.

Your guest blog posts should tell a story that engages the reader and keeps them coming back for more. A strong story will make your post stand out from the rest and will give the editor a reason to keep featuring your work.

When writing your story, think about who your audience is and what would be most interesting or useful to them. Remember to keep your language clear and concise, and your story will be sure to captivate your readers.

Including images, infographics, and explainer videos in your blog post is a great way to break up the text and keep readers engaged. People are visual learners, and including visuals in your posts will help them understand and remember your content better.

In addition, posts with visuals tend to get more shares and engagement on social media. So if you want your blog post to be successful, be sure to include some visuals!

Ensure to Include Links To Your Content

If you’re writing a guest blog post, be sure to include 1-2 links to your own blog or website. This is a great way to promote your brand and get more traffic to your site. Just be sure that the links are relevant to the article and add value for the reader.

Create Your Guest Blog Post Bio

A brief bio at the end of your guest blog post will help you establish credibility with your readers. It will also give them a sense of who you are and what you’re all about. A bio should be short and to the point, and it should include your most relevant qualifications and accomplishments.

Make sure to include your contact information and social media links so readers can connect with you. Your bio should be brief and to the point. It should give readers an idea of who you are and what you do.

How to Promote Your Guest Blog Posts

There’s no denying the power of social media. With billions of people using platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram every day, it’s no wonder that businesses are using social media to promote their content. Guest blogging is one of the best ways to get your name and your work out there, and social media is a great way to promote your guest blog posts. 

By sharing your posts on social media, you can reach a wider audience and get more people interested in what you have to say. So if you’re looking for a way to promote your guest blog posts, don’t forget to use social media to your advantage.

Sharing your post on social media sites is a great way to promote your guest blog posts. When you share your post on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram, you are giving your posts exposure to a wider audience. This will help you attract more readers and followers.

It’s not enough to simply publish your guest blog post–you also need to promote it if you want it to be successful. One of the best ways to promote your post is through social media.

Here’s an example of my current content creation and content distribution strategy.

• I write my long-form blog posts using Letterdrop.
• I develop my Twitter Threads with Hypefury.
• I use Contentdrips to quickly repurpose my Twitter Threads and create Instagram and LinkedIn carousels.

Sharing your posts in relevant communities (Slack/Discord) are also great ways to get exposure for your guest blog post.

When you share your post in a community, make sure to include a brief description of what the post is about, and why you think the community would find it valuable.

For example, if you’re sharing a post about SEO in a Quora community, you might say something like,

“I just published a guest blog post about SEO tips for small businesses. I think this community would find it valuable because…”.

Then, include a link to your post.

Track Your Posts Results Over Time

Track your guest blogging efforts as part of your overall digital pr efforts. This should be measured through brand mentions and backlinks.

Google Alerts is a great way to track your personal brand online. You can set up an alert for your name, website, or for key phrases related to your brand. The alert will send you notifications whenever your brand is mentioned online. I recommend setting up a tab and having your alerts bypass your inbox to keep your emails organized.

As a content creator, it’s important to keep track of your goals and the metrics that matter to you. By tracking your results over time, you can see what’s working and what’s not.

This information is valuable in helping you to adjust your strategy and tactics. Additionally, tracking your results can help you to identify trends and patterns. This information can be used to inform your future marketing decisions.

Scale Your Gust Blogging Efforts

Ok! If you’ve found this to be a bit overwheling you have several options.

• You can look into alternative digital pr strategies based on what type of content you prefer to create
• Or you may want to consider hiring a digital PR agency to help with your guest blogging efforts.

For one, a digital pr agency can help you to identify relevant blogs and websites to target. They can also help you to develop relationships with these sites and to pitch stories in a way that is likely to be successful.

Additionally, they can help you to manage the logistics of guest blogging, including coordinating with editors and ensuring that your posts are published on a timely basis.

If you’re looking to take your blogging efforts to the next level, working with a digital PR agency can be a great way to get published on high-authority sites, promote your content, and build do-follow backlinks to your site.

Some digital PR agencies, such as Leadhackrs, even provide money-back guaranteed results. Whether you’re looking to increase traffic to your site, build your brand’s authority, or both, working with a digital PR agency can be a great way to achieve your goals.