Attention Bloggers! (Or potential bloggers)

In my previous article, I highlighted guest blogging as a potential source of PR.

Are you interested in it, and want more information?

Now that the general public is increasingly turning to the Internet to find news and information, guest blogging is becoming more and more attractive than being a guest columnist on print media.

An advantage of guest blogging includes the magic S word of marketing – SEO. Also, when people see your name on multiple blogs, they get the impression that you're an authority on that subject. No offense if you actually are an authority in your industry, but if people don't see you, they won’t know you. Conversely, if you ask a guest blogger to blog, you enhance your own reputation and site. It could be used as a form of online networking. 

A word of warning. Bloggers are emotional. They write because they feel the topic they are writing about. It’s in their guts, and they’re spilling out their heart and soul. (Trust me, I’m a secret anime blogger). Your guest blogging or blogger should reflect this. Humans are smart, because they can immediately pick out the fakes from the genuine ones. Do not force them to sell a particular aspect of your product, let them figure it out for themselves. Also, you must provide enough incentive to do so – free membership to your product or service might just not cut it.

What are the benefits of using bloggers to sell your product and service?

Firstly, they are a third party reviewer, thus, they can afford to be objective. It’s great if you get a positive review, in the case of negative reviews, you have to keep in mind that not all negative reviews are bad. There’s always a room for improvement for everything. Also, if your guest blogger is a KPI (blog jargon for Key Person of Influence), they will attract and provoke comments – which potentially could become another source of reviews. 

After lots of deliberation, you decide to get a guest blogger, but you can’t find where to get one. Of course, if you have personal contacts, that’s great but here are some online sites you can use: 

• MyBlogGuest  
• LinkNami

Sites that I personally recommend are:

• FollowerWonk 
• Source Bottle

Otherwise, look for a guest blogging meet ups in your local area if you are looking to target a specific geographic segment. 

Finally, the most important aspect of recruiting a guest blogger is to find out if he/she is actually a Key Person of Influence. Otherwise, there’s no point at all. A way of telling whether a blogger is influential or not is to Google his/her name and check how active he/she is on social media sites. A good indicator is around 200 plus number of followers on Twitter and likes on Facebook. On the actual blog, look for comments and observe how the blogger is able to generate conversation and stimulate interest in a topic.