Leading with Content

If you use a blog to deliver content to prospects, then the methods of growing traffic to your blog apply, even if most of the advice was developed for and by entrepreneurs. One powerful technique is guest posting.

Guest Posting is Writing For Others

In guest posting you write (or have your ghost-blogger write for you) a post for another blog. It will be published under your name and usually with a small bio at the end where you can link back to your blog. In a way, it's like authoring an article to be published in a relevant trade magazine, which is a technique you may have used in the past.

You should not need to pay for the privilege of guest posting nor should you expect payment. You are giving the host blogger a piece of great content to share with their readers that they do not have to write and in return you are receiving access to those readers, who you hope will soon become your readers.

The Strategic Side of Guest Posting

Since the primary goal of guest posting is to attract readers who you hope will become prospects and customers, it is not generally appropriate to approach a direct competitor. Now if you both have areas where your product lines do not overlap and want to swap posts discussing those, maybe, but, in general, they're probably not going to want their readers to know about you.

So you will need to identify blogs by suppliers and customers. Blogs that are kept by trade publications or research firms might also welcome a guest post. Look for both corporate blogs and blogs by individuals that have a passion for something that relates to the products or services you offer the manufacturing community. Even related hobby blogs can be useful, since others who share that hobby could be employed within your target market. For maximum effect, you will want to vary which blogs you guest post to.

The Tactical Side of Guest Posting

Read the blog first. Think of a topic that you can present in a style that would fit with the posts that are already there. For example, most blogs are not going to want you to talk directly about your products or put in a sales pitch. Most bloggers want something that will interest their audience more broadly, but still reflects your unique perspective. 

If there are currently no guest posts on the blog then you may want to spend some time relationship building first. Leave useful and relevant comments. Strike up a conversation via email. Then offer up a post. Depending on the situation, you can also offer to swap guest posts.

If there are guest posts on the blog then you may be able to email the request to start with. Just remember to focus on how the content you will provide will benefit them and their audience, not just you. Relationship building first is still a good approach to take, of course. Remember that you are probably getting more of the exchange than they are. 

More on Guest Posting

These four articles from Problogger go into more detail. They are primarily intended for blogging entrepreneur's but the majority of the advice applies:

• Finding New Readers for Your Blog with Guest Posting
• How to Be a Good Guest Blogger
• Do You Make These Mistakes in Guest Posting?
• How to Guest Post to Promote Your Blog

An Invitation

Would you like to write a guest post to be published on Leading with Content?

I am interested in additional perspectives from those of you in a manufacturing or chemical company doing marketing or even if you are in a related business where manufacturers are your customers. I'd also be interested in hearing how the online marketing techniques of other companies in the industry have affected your purchasing decisions. Just contact me with an idea and we'll talk about it from there.