A guest post by Bamboo Forest of Pun Intended
When you do a guest posts for blogs, you’re doing them a far greater service than they’re doing you. You should be appreciative for the opportunity, certainly, but really, who’s getting the better deal? I think the answer should be obvious.
Think about it: You’re giving them free content for the exchange of some exposure (often very little). If your guest post does well on StumleUpon or on Digg, or attracts large numbers of comments, it is guaranteed to be a huge boon for the blog publishing it. You, on the other hand, may only receive a tiny number of subscribers and a marginal number of click-troughs. That’s just the way it works.
Further, some blogs would crumble if they weren’t constantly fed a steady diet of guest posts. Their posting frequency would dip to levels so low — their reputation would be on the line.
What am I getting at with all this you may be wondering?
Simple: be insistent about certain things when submitting a guest post. It’s your writing. You put lots of time and effort into it, right? You deserve to have your hard work pay off as much as possible.
What You Should Insist Upon Because You Love Yourself
When submitting a guest post, be sure to request having your byline placed at the end of the post. I once did a guest post for a blog and guess what… when it was finally put up, I discovered the byline at the top of the post and nothing to be found at the end where it’s most critical. What gives, my man?
Something else you should be highly cognizant of is that it will unquestionably work in your favor if you write your own byline. The byline is extremely important because the information it includes will have a huge impact on how many people decide it’s worth clicking over to your blog. That’s the primary reason you decided to guest post in the first place, isn’t it? The byline gives a short description of what your blog has to offer, who better to write it than yourself?
The importance of a byline is similar to the importance of a headline; the more catchy and accurate it is, the more interest it has the potential to create.
Here’s a good example of a byline that puts it all together:
Bamboo Forest writes for Pun Intended, a blog that blends humor with inspiration. To ensure you never miss a good hearty laugh or a good dose of inspiration, subscribe here.
That’s a lot more interesting, then, let’s say — “You can read more from Bamboo Forest at Pun Intended.”
The above makes you want to click over about as much as a bushel of freshly steamed brussels sprouts makes you want to eat. Am I right?
James Chartrand of Men with Pens recommends having a link to your RSS feed in the byline; I think that’s a splendid idea. It gives people a subtle reminder that, “Hey, you may want to subscribe to this shizle-dip.”
Also, if a blog has a habit of informing its readers with tiny print that requires a high powered microscope to decipher it’s a guest post — it would be wise to withhold submitting to that blog. If none of the readers are going to recognize your published post is a guest post, it won’t do you a whole lot of good.
Protect Your Writing
I dislike having my writing in a guest post altered without being made aware of it prior to publishing. I’ve got news — whatever’s posted is going to have my name on it forever. Therefore, if any blog reserves the right to edit where they see fit without first letting me know, I reserve the right to never submit to them.
I’m not against having my work edited. Nor am I against being told to go back and revise — far from it. I just wouldn’t appreciate having something altered and then published without being made aware of it and agreeing to it first. I think that’s a pretty reasonable stance.
Here’s what William Zinsser, the author of On Writing Well has to say about protecting his work:
“I’ve always felt that my “style”—the careful projection onto paper of who I think I am—is my main marketable asset, the one possession that might set me apart from other writers. Therefore I’ve never wanted anyone to tinker with it, and after I submit an article I protect it fiercely.” [Bold Emphasis Mine]
I love guest posting. It’s a great way to help your blog grow and improve your writing. It’s even been known to put hair on your chest, which is especially important for me. But let’s be realistic about who’s getting the greatest returns with a guest post. It’s not the guest poster; it’s the blog receiving the free content a writer spent his or her valuable time putting together. And, it is free regardless of the benefits.
Considering who’s getting the bulk of the reward for using our guest posts, I think we bloggers should ensure certain demands be met before our hard work gets published.
Do you agree?
Bamboo Forest creates the funk over at Pun Intended, where he blogs on humor and inspiration. Grab his RSS feed today. Booya 
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Image by Seier.
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{ 14 comments }
Great post,
You have some great tips on guest posting that I will be mindful of next time I guest post. I found the example of the byline very helpful.
Thanks for such great tips!
Jarrod
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed the post.
Hey Bamboo Forest, thanks for sharing this. I had two suspicious guests registered in my blog, i notice they just registered and didn’t attend to come back
Greetings.
You’re welcome. Thank you for the comment.
Thanks for giving such a amazing tips on gust posting. It will be help full to remind the mistakes those are doing while accepting guest posting.
My pleasure. Guest posting is lots of fun. I highly recommend giving it a shot.
I have not done any guest posting as yet. I am kinda new to blogging and I am going to try it out soon. Thanks for the tips.
Yeah, give it a shot. It’s fun to write for a different audience than your own. Forces you to write in ways you may not write for your own blog which can help you become a better writer.
Thanks for the tip about making an interesting byline. I think most of us take this part of our post for granted. I appreciate how you helped us recognize its importance.
@ Julius: You’re welcome. It’s very important in my mind. It’s also kinda fun trying to craft a byline that’s highly effective.
I hadn’t even considered that a blog owner would want to edit a guest post. It seems like if a blog owner is offering guest post opportunities, it’s either all or nothing. Publish the article as submitted or if there’s an issue, skip publication. Great reminder to clear this up with the blog owner before submitting a guest post.
I have mixed feelings about the blog owner altering one’s submission. I certainly don’t like it–but I won’t start a war over it, either.
I think it’s really unnecessary if the submitted post is reasonably clear. If so, why alter the text?
So, my stance now is that I won’t start a war over it. I’ll probably let it go. But that doesn’t mean I like it. I don’t think anyone likes when their post is altered.
Hmm guest posting is great – but it seems you are only concentrating on the social side of – the exposure of yourself and your blog to new readers. From an SEO point of view there are several cirticial things – first you must be able to link with your chosen keywords – for example I would rather people linked to my blog by its title “Passive Income Online” not the url which is my name. Second the link has to be “do follow” – it usually is but you should check before wasting your tiem and Third – from an SEO point of view the anchored link – in the byline probably should be at the top of the post – higher on the page is better -though its not as important as my other two points.
Just my 2c
This post covers many aspects of guest posting but not all of them. With any article written, there’s going to be a focus, naturally.
With my blog ‘Pun Intended’ I don’t use anchor text in the byline simply because I feel this kind of blog isn’t going to benefit much from SEO. I could be wrong, of course. With my other site that launched March 1st, I do use anchor text for it when I guest post. But I submitted this article prior to its launching.
Thank you for your comment.