If you’re sick of getting your guest posts rejected and tossed back at you, you might feel hurt, rejected and even be close to giving up on guest posts. That would be a real shame as guest posting is the best way to get exposure to a completely new audience and high quality backlinks to your site.
Here are a few tricks that will get just about any blogger to accept your guest post with open arms:
Become Their Customer
It’s really, really hard to say no to a customer.
Most authority blogs sell some sort of product or service. If you’re dying to get your post accepted, buy their product and send them an email telling them how much you loved it.
Once they get back to you, ask them if they’d be kind enough to accept a top-notch guest post you just wrote for their site.
BYOA (Bring Your Own Article)
One of the biggest mistakes bloggers make when guest posting is emailing the site asking them a) if they accept guest posts and b) what topics they want people to write about.
Popular bloggers are frantically busy and don’t have time to hold your hand through the article creation process. Instead, study their existing content, write an original guest post and send them a polished, final draft. That way, they only need 30-seconds to copy and paste the content on their site.
This may seem simple, but this trick has literally tripled the response rate I receive from site owners since I started my guest posting campaign for my surveys for money site Survey Spencer.
Personalize the Post
It goes without saying that you should always write a post for a specific site, being super-duper careful not to repeat a topic that’s been done to death. But for an extra-personalized touch, I try to mention (and link to) a tip or post that the blog has already covered that’s related to my post.
For example:
“As Joe already mentioned in this excellent post, guest blogging may be the most underutilized form of backlink building on the planet.”
Make Them Money
Most bloggers include a “no affiliate link” clause in their guest posting guidelines. However, if you read between the lines they really mean: don’t put any of your affiliate links.
To give them an extra incentive to accept your post, sprinkle in some helpful resources into your guest post that have affiliate programs.
When you submit your article, let the blogger know that resources X,Y and Z have high converting offers and they’re free to put their affiliate links in your post.
Add an Infographic
Readers love infographics because they present a complex idea into a fun and colorful form of visual media.
However, because they’re a hassle to put together and don’t get spidered by search engines like a regular article, many bloggers don’t use infographics as often as they should. But they have no problem with you taking on the trouble and expense of creating a clean, helpful and professional infographic and giving it to them in exchange for a link.
Are there any tricks that you’ve used to accelerate the guest posting process? If so, feel free to post your tip in a comment here.
Hi Spencer, thanks for your post and tricks about guest blogging!
Hi Spencer,
These are some great tips on guest posting!
Having the post ready-to-go before even contacting the site owner is a very valuable tip and I can vouch that it works.
And I would add to not spend time chasing bloggers – have several opportunities in your pipeline that way if one hasn’t responded, you can just move on to the next.
Thanks for sharing!
~Christine
Hi Christine,
Thanks for the kind words : )
Great advice: there are PLENTY of bloggers that will happily take your content for you to waste time “reminding” site owners to post your stuff.
Spencer. Great post and I completely agree with the approaches! One that I learned from Danny Iny is to cross-link to a lot of their previous posts in advance too (related to the “personalizing” point. Thanks for sharing your tips!
I thought I invented that Tom! It’s sooo helpful. I’ve had bloggers actually thank me for doing that. Who doesn’t love a bit of personalization?
Excellent post! The smallest value adds such as quotes, graphics, infographics or even video can prove successful for your acceptance rate.
Thanks Daniel! I totally agree. 90% of people are looking for the quick post but that extra inch can really make a difference to the site owner.
My pleasure, Chris : )
Basically as long as you read the blog for some time and you know what they post it’s easy to come up with a material that will get accepted.
Absolutely. Taking the time to actually read their blog is half the battle.
Hi Spencer,
Great idea on looking for relevant affiliate offers when writing an important guest post. I can see how that can be a hook that makes your post stick.
On the point of having an article ready before writing a guest post pitch, I agree and disagree. Having about three likely articles in my experience converts more than just sending one option.
People like choice and the very fact you are sending three ideas can demonstrate your expert status – especially if the ideas are great.
Great tips!
Hi Yeremi,
Affiliate links aren’t something I usually need to do but it’s one way to show that you care about the webmaster.
You’re 100% right about pitching article ideas: some people rather give you a topic that they’ve been meaning to cover. I usually ask in the rare case they weren’t a fan of the guest post I sent to them.
Thanks,
Spencer
Hey Spencer,
Timely post to say the least.
I’ve been getting people send me guest posts that don’t hit the mark.
We have information for them to read but some people an not grasp it.
But they should look at the content the blog currently publishes and create something that fits the blog well for the best chance of getting published.
Hi Simmeon,
You definitely have to be picky about what you publish –it reflects just as much on you as it does on the guest poster!
Thanks,
Spencer
Nice tips Spencer, I like your idea of make them money because if we make them money than every blogger will accept our guest post.
Thanks Ehsan. It’s definitely something to consider to help grease the wheels!
Brilliant tips to get accepted as a guest blogger. I have written a few posts for some top bloggers and have reaped the rewards as well. Becoming their customer seems like a good idea. First buy their product and then come back again. That’s a good concept actually.
Thanks Shalu. It’s hard to say no to a paying customer!
golfbug.tv accepts guest posts from people who want to write about golf. PR 4 website and backlinks given
Thanks for the heads up Mike.
Love the photo haha. The bring your own article is a great tip, just write a good quality article and they’ll more than likely accept it if they’re happy with it.
Even if they don’t get back to you about your article I’m sure you could find someone else to use it on their blog!
Exactly, Jamie. Don’t write an article just for one site: it’s always nice to be able to use it later if need be.
Brilliant tips to get accepted as a guest blogger. I have written a few posts for some top bloggers and have reaped the rewards as well. Becoming their customer seems like a good idea. First buy their product and then come back again. That’s a good concept actually.
Blog guesting is a great way, … I hope Google won’t start to penalize for that soon.
Hey Spencer,
Interesting thoughts. Since you do Guest Posting for your site Survery Spencer, do you have any idea about any good service providers regarding paid guest posting. If so, please let me know.
Many Thanks
I accept a lot of Guest post requests daily. This is a great way to publish unique content.