One of the major things that many people don’t consider, when they work full time as writers and when they’re offering copywriting services is to offer guest posts to carefully selected sites. Guest posts – like this one – are designed to highlight your expertise to the people reading the post. In my case, I could talk about copywriting services, or SEO support or a myriad of other things I do daily as a copywriter. But the key thing is that it’s about YOUR expertise. Without it, your guest post might not work as well as you’d hope.
Prospect Boosting
However, there are several things you can do to boost your guest blogging prospects.
- Approach professionally – your pitch should cover only three things: your qualifications to write on the subject, your pitch idea and your target demographic (bonus, if you read their blog, say so – if you’re sure of their target demographic, make sure the article is pitched at them).
- Don’t include: Personal information about your family (unless it’s relevant to the article), a rant as to why you should be accepted, it should be spell and grammar checked and addressed to the right person – addressing it to ‘whom it may concern’ is probably a very bad idea.
- If your article is accepted and you don’t want to write it, or can’t for any reason – definitely hire a copywriting services provider. Don’t back out of the post, especially if it’s on a high profile blog. Places like Huffington Post and Copyblogger are the pinnacle of blogging for guest posts, so aim high and hire a good copywriter if you can’t do it yourself.
- Create a title that speaks to your readers and include it in your pitch. Copywriting services often cover this for business owners. If you’re not your company’s primary writer, it’s important to look at what has been used and what works for you and your company.
- Use an article pattern that works for the information you’re sharing – Many people find that a “problem – story – solution” layout works for sharing information in industries where the main service provided solves problems. People talking about health might offer tips. Your article should have a point – so ensure that you’re writing with the beginning, middle and end firmly in mind. That should allow you to deliver the on the ‘promise’ of your title.
- Formatting is your friend – ensure that you not only know what formatting they like for the blog post and use it, but ensure that you know what you’re doing. If they ask for the posts to be formatted, by all means provide them like that. If not, don’t worry too much – just keep it as clean as you can.
Don’t be Shy – Share!
Once the blog goes live, remember to share far and wide – it’s important to replay the opportunity they’ve given you and let your own loyal fans cross over and read your article. It’s also important to ensure that your article is read as much as possible, so share it and post on all of your social networks.
Whether you’re advertising copywriting services, or talking about your next book, guest blogging is an opportunity waiting to happen to your business and will give you the chance to share your knowledge with people that might not otherwise have seen your work. Don’t waste it!
Copywriting services can be integral to the success of a guest post – ensure yours works for you and gives you the best return.
Photo by jerrysgold.com
Guest blogging is often left in the dust or forgotten. “REALLY? You can post on B2C? You can SUBMIT to SiteProNews?” (I was once the newbie asking those questions in shock). We have gotten traffic, rankings and clients from the quality guest blogs we’ve put out. (Keyword: quality!) Great post.