Guest Bloggers Now Have An Ally
How many of you write guest articles for other blogs or websites? I must admit I have written only two guest posts in the past year. I’ve been so busy working on my own projects that I have not put much effort into soliciting other blogs to offer my contributions.
But that may soon change.
Thanks to a new site launched in November 2009—My Blog Guest—I may be doing some more guest writing. The more immediate plan, however, is that I will begin to allow people to contribute to four of my blogs, opening up this site, Auto Trends, and a pair of customer owned blogs.
Ann Smarty started My Blog Guest, someone whose name should be familiar to people who run with the SEO crowd. I am not sure how long I’ve been following Ann, but I remember finding links to her articles on Sphinn–the internet marketing site–which launched in 2007.
Last week I found a wonderful guest article Ann wrote and contributed to Daily Writing Tips where she explained how people can find guest writing opportunities. Though that article was immensely helpful and encouraged me to tweak some of the information on my blogs to attract guest bloggers, the best part is that Ann founded My Blog Guest as a way to bring like-minded people together.
My Blog Guest serves to connect people who would like to write guest posts as well as help bloggers find these people. By joining the site you can search for bloggers by tag or category or go to the forum and find direct solicitations. One forum is dedicated to help you find guest bloggers, another one allows you to post your information, while there are three other sections set up for introducing yourself to the community, asking for help, and general chat.
So why guest post? For several reasons including getting your name out there and gaining one or two backlinks to your site. Sure, the latter can be exploited therefore make sure that you and your guest have everything understood clearly before proceeding. If you are looking for a guest blogger you will want someone who writes well, contributes unique work, and can add value to your site.
That last requirement is why I haven’t used too many guest bloggers on my customer’s two blogs as the quality of most posts did not measure up. Naturally, that is one reason why you will want to see samples of the blogger’s work first.
My Blog Guest is all about unpaid opportunities, so if you are looking for paid freelance work, then you will need to look elsewhere.
Tags: Ann Smarty, Daily Writing Tips, guest blogger, guest posts, My Blog Guest, SEO
SEO | Matthew C. Keegan, 1 Feb 10
By Ileane, February 1, 2010 @ 6:58 am
Hi Matt,
I joined MyBlogGuest last month and it’s been a hot bed of activity. I’m seeing new members, blog exchanges and guest posts being listed daily. I plan on doing some guest blogging this month and MyBlogGuest is the place to start looking. Ann Smarty has done a great job of bringing bloggers together this way.
Thanks for the post.
@Ileane
.-= Ileane´s last blog ..Some Serious Blog Engagement =-.
By Matthew C. Keegan, February 1, 2010 @ 7:05 am
Thank you for your feedback, Ileane. I think Ann’s idea will take root by opening up additional guest blogging opportunities for many people.
I am glad to have discovered the site while it is still relatively young. It will be interesting to watch how it grows over the weeks and months ahead.
By Debra Matthews, February 1, 2010 @ 9:42 am
Matt,
Great post!
In working with both buyers and sellers of income generating websites, I am constantly stressign the importance of a Blog as a way to provide added value and drive traffic. The first “excuse” and it is one, that I get is I don;t have time to write posts. Finally MyBlogGuest eliminates that excuse – as business owners we all need to look for “reasons to accomplish things rather than excuses not to”.
By Matthew C. Keegan, February 1, 2010 @ 9:58 am
You raise a valid point, Debra. We no longer have an excuse — Ann Smarty has put everything we need in one place. Sure, you can still hunt around for opportunities, but why bother? Now we can look at what sites are available and who is interested in guest blogging.
By Peter Duran, February 2, 2010 @ 11:21 am
I was writing for a couple of hollywood blogs and that was full of fun. I was doing this on my free time and the blogger is happy to see the hits to his blogs. I now planning to join with him and I think the way I planned to do so is right?
By Matthew C. Keegan, February 2, 2010 @ 11:31 am
Peter, if it works for you then have at it. However, beyond an occasional guest post you should be paid for your work. After all, if the blog owner is deriving a financial benefit from his site, then you should be compensated even if only for a token amount.
By Charleston, February 3, 2010 @ 3:20 am
Matt,
Thanks for the good post. I would like to do some guest writing too as I personally believe in contributing. And it’s a win win situation too lol.. but time may not allow it now.
Regards
.-= Charleston´s last blog ..How to Password Protect and Encrypt a File in USB Drive =-.
By Matthew C. Keegan, February 3, 2010 @ 12:52 pm
I am in the same boat, Charleston. I am all signed up but I do not have the time to write elsewhere nor do I have the time to invite guest bloggers. But, I will catch a break in the future and then see how this arrangement works for me as well as for my guests.
By Nate Moller, February 9, 2010 @ 12:03 am
Thanks for the article Matt. I’m excited to be part of My Blog Guest too and look forward to helping out however I can.
.-= Nate Moller´s last blog ..How to Choose the Best Dropship Products =-.
By David, February 9, 2010 @ 12:08 am
Ah yes i signed up last month, sorry Ann I haven’t submitted a guest post yet. That will be one of the goals for this month.
It seems such an awesome idea, and well yes it makes sense to share
.-= David´s last blog ..Comments now powered by JS-Kit Echo =-.
By Matthew C. Keegan, February 9, 2010 @ 5:31 am
@Nate — Welcome! I’m glad to meet up with like-minded people. Ann has provided a solid place where we can write and accept quality articles from other writers.
@David — I’m in the same boat as you. I’m signed up, but I haven’t had the time to write or accept a guest writer. That time will certainly come soon for both of us.
By Doug Stewart, February 11, 2010 @ 11:48 am
Hi Matt. Just signed up on My Blog Guest. I’ll give it a try. Thanks for telling us about it.
.-= Doug Stewart´s last blog ..Interview with Troy Vossoller: Example of a Small Business Using Twitter Right =-.
By Matthew C. Keegan, February 11, 2010 @ 3:37 pm
Glad to help out, Doug. I’m working on getting my first guest post for one of my blogs so it remains to be seen how well this will work out for me.
By Ray Paquette, February 23, 2010 @ 6:22 pm
Hi Matt,
You wrote a great post. I recently joined myblogguest to find good quality sites that I could provide good content in exchange for links to my commerce website silverlandjewelry.com.
I don’t have time to write the content but I pay to have someone write a lot of quality content for me and I have original quality content if I can find good sites to post it on.
You can see the quality of the articles by going to ezine articles and searching for Laura Firenza and Guy Antonelli as authors.
I would appreciate any suggestions you have. I live in Raleigh close to you and I recently opened a brick and mortar store selling the same jewelry that we sell online(I know that is backward from the way people normally do it) so I hope you will drop by if you are in the area.
By Barbara Brenner, March 24, 2010 @ 8:14 am
Hello, Matt. I just joined My Blog Guest today, and added Ann’s Twitter list of people I’m now following. I just found Ann today, through an email from The Blog Zone on LinkedIn, a group I belong to. I think it’s a great idea and I’m going to spend some time looking at the forum on MBG. I’ve never guest blogged, but would love to do it.
.-= Barbara Brenner´s last blog ..Engineering Change by Inclusion =-.
By Matthew C. Keegan, March 24, 2010 @ 8:32 am
Welcome, Barbara!
Guest blogging is a terrific way to get your name out there as well as finding customers. I’ve blogged elsewhere, too, and have found that my articles have been well received, the host blogger is happy and I’ve been able to connect with more readers.
I’ve got a few opportunities posted on My Blog Guest so if you’re interested, feel free to contact me accordingly.
By Hesham, May 29, 2010 @ 3:12 pm
I have joined “My Blog Guest” more than 3 months back, and I actually partnered with Ann and we have organized the first successful Guest Blogging Contest ever! I must say that we have expanded our network and had a lot of fun, friends and blog posts for our multi-authors blog!
Thank you Matt for the nice post!
.-= Hesham´s last blog ..How to Keyword Stuffing Without Stuffing Keywords =-.
By Matthew C. Keegan, May 29, 2010 @ 3:19 pm
Hesham, I’ve seen you around on Ann’s site. I’m glad that is working well for you as it is for me.
I’ll be checking out your contests too. I may come up with something myself in the near future. Perhaps we’ll collaborate on something too.
By Kaila | Vertical Measures, May 31, 2010 @ 3:39 pm
I’ve used My Blog Guest for a few months and have really found value in utilizing the forums and searching through the posts. I’m really trying to brand myself and help get the company I work for some notoriety and exposure as well. Other guest blogging opportunities have presented themselves as a result of others seeing my guest blog posts. Guest blogging has many advantages!
.-= Kaila | Vertical Measures´s last blog ..How and Why Corporate Blogging Can Help Your Site =-.
By Matthew C. Keegan, June 1, 2010 @ 4:41 am
Kaila, I love your enthusiasm! If you have an article idea concerning writing, blogging, search, SEO and the like, why not consider offering that article to me for publishing here? I’m open to what you may have in mind.