Lessons I Learned In Writing Guest Posts

One of the many tips that you always see when you read advices on how to get more readers is to do guest posts on other people’s blogs. And true enough, this tip is really effective. Not only does it provide you with an opportunity for exposure, it also gives you the chance to develop a relationship with a fellow blogger.

Now, isn’t that great?

Being asked to produce a guest post for someone else’s blog, be it someone popular or a newbie blogger, is a win-win situation both for you and the blog owner.

Why is it a win-win situation?
On your end, guest posting is a great way to meet people. Although it’s inevitable for you to run into people whose attitude you may not appreciate, you’ll find that most bloggers are really cool and nice people.

Aside from that, you up your online visibility by having your work published in another site aside from yours. The exposure you get from making a guest appearance on someone else’s blog can also increase the number of visits you have on your own blog. This, of course depends on how well the guest post goes.

On the part of the blog owner, they win because they get to learn something new from you or get something useful out of you or your guest post. And if you’re somewhat of a popular blog figure, appearing on their blog could help add to their page visits, as well.

Some considerations
It’s easy to say yes when asked to make guest posts. But you have to remember that there are still considerations that you’d have to keep in mind before you agree to doing one.

One, don’t say yes to everything. You have to remember that you can only do so much. You have your own site, first and foremost, to take care of. Take on as many guest post engagements as you think you can, provided that it doesn’t interfere with your main priorities.

Two, don’t pretend to know stuff when you really don’t. There’s always a polite way to decline an invitation for a guest post. Learn it and use it when necessary. Unless you can find a new way to approach the subject, it’s okay to say no. Sometimes, people can tell if you’re forcing yourself to sound like you know what you’re talking about.

Three, don’t let other people coerce you into following their ideas for a guest post. Ideas are nice and helpful, but you’re still the boss of your guest post. It wouldn’t hurt to hear out ideas from people who want to pitch in and help, but it’s okay to decline. You’ll be the one writing the post, after all.

Guest posts are fun, so long as you keep to a point where it doesn’t meddle with what’s important. The most important thing you should ask yourself, though, is, can you handle it?

What do you think?