Guest post by Hector Cuevas from InboundPro.net.
Have you ever spent hours researching and writing a guest post and had it rejected? I have and it sucks.
It feels as if someone just told you you’re not good enough, to your face. But, I now see it from the blog owners perspective because I’ve had to reject quite a few guest articles myself.
I’m here today to share with you 15 bite-size ideas that will help you get your guest posts accepted almost every time. I’ve guest posted on 15 different blogs over the past few months, and I can assure you that using just half of these tips will get you accepted more often that not.
So, let’s get started…
1. Have the right mindset
The right mindset is everything. Think for a second why you’re submitting this guest post. Is it because you want more traffic and subscribers? Or is it because you genuinely want to help the blog owner and his audience by providing useful content?
2. Choose the blog carefully
Many of the guest articles I’ve had to reject have been written about unrelated topics. The content was great, but I knew it wasn’t going to resonate with my audience. I highly recommend you spend some time researching different blogs in order to find the right one.
3. Study the blog for at least 30 minutes
Once you’ve done your due diligence of finding the right blogs, study them. Read past articles to see what the blog owner talks about on his site. Read past guest posts to see what has gotten accepted before. All of this information will give you an idea of the type of content the owner wants.
4. Brainstorm ideas first
Now that you have an idea of what the blog owner writes about and what the owner accepts as guest articles, figure out where there’s a content gap. Is there a topic you can dive deeper into? Can you add value or a different perspective to a previous post? Write these ideas down.
5. Create Art – not just words on the screen
Content creation isn’t the easiest thing to do; it takes hard work and practice to get good at creating art. Great content is useful, it motivates, inspires and gets people to take action. Think about your article as a masterpiece in the making, and you’ll put forth the effort that’s needed to create it.
6. Mention the blog owner in the post
In both of my previous guest posts on Social Mouths, I’ve mentioned Francisco’s name. (here and here) Why? Because it makes the post unique. It’s as if the article belongs on this blog and no where else. When Francisco reads it, he’ll feel better about publishing it. (this even works on me)
7. Include the idea in the “pitch” email
If you don’t want to write the article before emailing the blog owner, then you must include some of those ideas that you were brainstorming earlier. Do not give the owner more work by asking them what you should write about. That is a surefire way of getting ignored.
8. Write it beforehand
This is the second option: If you’re confident about the idea for the post, then write the article beforehand. This is what I do and it works great for me.
9. Have a strategy going in
Don’t forget about your guest blogging strategy. All this talk about getting your articles accepted and having the right mindset shouldn’t deter you from your goals. You’re doing this for a reason, remember that.
10. Link back to previous articles
Check out what I did on tip number 9. I linked back to an article by Ann Smarty that talks about guest blogging strategy. This is also a great way to make the article unique to Social Mouths.
11. Follow the guest posting guidelines
Some blog owners want you to submit images with your posts while others don’t. Some blog owners want to get the post in HTML format, others might not. Some blog owners might want you to reach a certain word count, while others just care about the quality. Read the rules and follow the instructions.
12. Make it easy for the blog owner
Whether they ask for the post in HTML format or not, I always provide it along with a text only version. Why? Because it makes their life easier. All they have to do at that point is copy and paste it to their wordpress editor and press publish. The less work they do, the happier they are.
13. Read & Edit your work
I’ve submitted guest articles with typos and grammar errors – not a good look. Spend the time and effort reading and re-reading your article. Get someone else to read it for you and even read it out loud. Doing this will help you catch the mistakes and you’ll avoid looking like an idiot.
14. Read & Edit your work
This isn’t a typo. I just feel this point is really important because this is the time where you add the final strokes to your masterpiece. This is the time to polish your work and make it remarkable. If you find and fix the errors yourself, you’ve just made the blog owners life a lot easier.
15. Chill on the inbound links
Most guest bloggers get a section at the bottom of the post with their bio. This is where you can add a link to your blog and your twitter profile. Don’t go crazy linking to your articles from within the post itself. It looks bad and self-serving. Check out my bio below.. :0)
What tips would you add to get your posts accepted? Leave them in the comments below..
This is a guest post by Hector Cuevas from InboundPro.net, where he writes about lessons learned through blogging, taking fearless action and successfully building a blogging audience. You grab his 8-Part Inbound Marketing course here at no charge..
Photo credit: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid
