Ink-Dipped Advice: The Art of Being A Good Guest

 

Guest posting is terrific. I love to be a guest. I love to be a host. But anyone who runs sites knows how frustrating guests can be when they don’t behave well.

I’d planned to open one of my sites, A Biblio Paradise, to pitches for posts; however, the invited guests over the years have sometimes been such trouble, for the moment, I’m sticking with invitation-only. I’d opened it to fellow authors with several publishers – publishers that we shared, to give my colleagues more opportunities.

There will always be problems here and there, but this is what my fellow authors did after demanding a slot:

–book a slot and never send the material;

–when I asked where the material was, told me they were really busy and forgot and why hadn’t I reminded them (hello, are you a grown-up? Your schedule and commitments are YOUR responsibility);

–when I said I needed a media kit (especially to form interview questions), the response was, “Oh, I don’t know what that is. I don’t use one. Just look at my website.” First of all, you call yourself a published author and don’t have the most basic marketing tool of a media kit? Second, when someone tells you they need a specific type of marketing material, if you don’t have it or know about it, you do your research ELSEWHERE and the come up with it instead of showing your lack of professionalism; third, it’s YOUR responsibility to provide requested material. Hosts usually run multiple websites and need a streamlined process. They’re not a way to get extra hits on your site. Don’t make them do your work;

–sent me material so poorly written and badly copy-edited it was unusable;

–sent it in a format I couldn’t use and told me they “don’t do conversions; you’ll have to do it.”

In all of the above, the response is good-bye. I am not doing YOUR work.

As a guest, if you’re looking for blogs on which to appear, keep in mind the following:

–research the market to which you pitch and keep it appropriate. I currently run seven websites and six blogs. Yesterday, I got 13 of the exact same pitches from an individual with only a first name pretending to want a guest spot to sell a product for which he’s probably being paid $1 post from a content mill. The product had nothing to do with ANY of the sites.

–don’t insult the host. “Your content really sucks and you need my content to make it better” will not get you hired.

–don’t cold-pitch and demand payment that has nothing to do with guidelines. Read the guidelines. They will say IF the host pays and, usually, HOW MUCH. If the host is paying $50/post and you say you won’t work for less than $200, guess what? You won’t get the slot.

–the pitch should be short, relevant to the site, and focused.

–don’t argue if the host is interested and wants more information. If you feel the information is inappropriate to the pitch/slot, then simply say you’ve changed your mind and decline. Don’t wait until the last minute and not send anything.

–don’t commit to a date and then ask for a different one at the last minute. Most hosts book in advance. You don’t have the right to demand someone else is bumped. If there’s an emergency and you have to miss a deadline, suggest another writer you know would step in and step up.

–send clean copy!!!!!!! Proofread. The host may need to make certain edits, but send the best copy you can.

–on the day your post appears, visit the site. Respond to comments. Say thank you.

I’d like to bring up something else: If you run a blog of your own, especially if you’re a fiction author appearing on a blog run by another author, it’s nice to reciprocate by inviting your host to guest on your site. It amazes me how rarely this occurs to the same authors who shoot off poorly-worded pitches, asking to guest.

But don’t just listen to me: here are some tips from some of the best in the business: Tara Lynne Groth, Jennifer Mattern, and Lori Widmer.

Says Tara Lynne, “One of the best things a guest contributor can do is follow through. I host about one guest blogger per month and the schedule for the year fills fast. Last year, a handful of confirmed contributors never sent their submissions. They never contacted me to ask for an extension, apologize, or send their piece late. They simply never contacted me and left me with a gap on the blog, plus they took away an opportunity that someone else could have taken. Good guest bloggers are professional, meet deadlines, and extend the professional courtesy of an update should the deadline become an issue for them.”

Lori Widmer agrees: “When writers commit to a deadline, it’s a good faith promise to the person they’re working with that the content will be there on time. Every year I put together a month of guest posts for Writers Worth Month. It’s planned in advance, and if someone drops out, there’s a scramble on my side to fill it with content. Because the writers I know who post are professionals, I’ve never had to fill a space during Writers Worth Month that was left by someone who was unreliable. These writers build trust, and that goes hundreds of miles with clients. Yet I do occasionally have people promise things they never deliver.

“I had one writer disappear on me. He sent me what was clearly a cut-and-paste ‘personal’ note asking to guest post. He introduced himself and went into detail about his idea. Only problem – he already knew me because he’d posted a few other times on my site. Turn-off #1. And his idea? If he read my blog at all (Turn-off #2 because he clearly didn’t), he’d know I will never promote what he was suggesting was a great idea for finding work – content mills. Deal-breaking Turn-off #3. That is the antithesis of what I believe in. In fact, my entire blog was started based on a rant about content mills that I had to write down somewhere. But, since I knew this guy, I talked with him and we came to an agreement on what he could present. That was three months ago. Where he went is anyone’s guess.”

“Being a PR professional on top of a freelance writer and blogger, I get particularly peeved about bad guest posts,” Jennifer Mattern states. “Basically, guest posts are one of many ‘old school’ PR tactics marketers hijacked and abused. They started out, and still exist, in the realm of professionals seeking to reach the audiences of trade publications. Guest posts are just the expansion of that traditional strategy to an online medium.

“That focus hasn’t changed though. The most important aspect of good guest content is the audience or readership, even if it’s sometimes overlooked by the SEO crowd trying to exploit them in their link schemes. If you want to get the most out of guest posts, put your host’s community first. Who are a blog’s readers? And what value can you offer them?

That is the goal of a guest post done well — providing value to a reader base you can’t already reach with your own properties. That value is what helps you build legitimate links, followers, shares, and conversions if you’re hoping to make connections to reach future clients or customers. So don’t focus your guest posting on links. Focus on being of service to others.”

Lori expands on this: “My must-haves for guest posts: Commitment, a guarantee that the content will be delivered, and content that is free of any advertising. I don’t stump for other companies, and I won’t accept it for guest posts. Links to your website in your bio, great! A link or two in the post if it’s relevant to what you’re writing about, terrific! But if every other sentence has an affiliate link you’re not telling me about, you’re not getting published on my blog. I’ve spent a ton of time building up my reputation and credibility with my readers. I won’t insult them by constantly selling them something. That’s not my business model.

“My post guidelines clearly state I won’t accept content from companies. Yet last week alone, I received three pitches from companies. The worst was one that offered a post loaded with links back to their site and promised me ‘profit’ through monetizing. Really? Dangle a few pennies and that’s going to make me forget my guidelines? Not happening.

“Even worse are the writers who are now asking in droves for guest posts, saying they love my blog and want to write for it. Only…. They say ‘Hi’ and never use my name; they all send nearly identically worded pitches, and; they never suggest a topic but wait for me to say yes. Oh, and I don’t know them from anyone. While that last one isn’t a deal-breaker, it shows good faith if you actually comment on something before you pitch a guest post idea.”

All of these speak to issues I raised earlier.

Lori continues, “Etiquette should reach beyond guest posts, in fact. Once I’d arranged a webinar with a writer that had to be canceled last minute. The writer, who’d never done a webinar, got a serious case of jitters, and backed out. Unfortunately, he did so about three days from the actual event. I couldn’t line up another writer, nor could I wing it. I had to cancel, which left me looking like I was unreliable. That is not the recipe for trust among other writers. I get nervous, too. I get anxious, in fact. But if I commit, I follow through. I remember being in a hotel in Manhattan with a serious case of stomach upset the night before a big client meeting. But I went through with it. I medicated, didn’t eat before the meeting, and meditated to reestablish my balance. You don’t cancel on a client who’s got their own deadlines, and you push through no matter what. I think I’d have to be hooked to an IV before I’d cancel on a client. Then again, if the IV is on wheels, we’re good to go.”

That reflects what I tell my writing students: The only excuse for missing a deadline is death. Yours.

Deal with potential hosts with courtesy and reliability. Do your research; offer something relevant. Then fulfill your commitment.

Tara Lynne sums it up well: “Guest blogging is a great way to connect with platforms other than your own, but make sure you use that opportunity to impress and not disappoint.”

Being a courteous cyber-guest is similar to being a good houseguest, but with a wider reach.

Tara Lynne Groth:
Tara Lynne Groth writes SEO content, develops blogs and provides content marketing for site owners. Before running her writing business she was a marketing manager and public relations director. She speaks at conferences and teaches classes on best blogging practices and search engine optimization. She’s also a journalist, a poet, and writes short fiction.
www.writenaked.net
www.taralynnegroth.com

Jennifer Mattern
Jennifer Mattern is a freelance business writer and PR consultant. She also runs All Freelance Writing, where she has helped freelance writers establish and grow their own businesses since 2006.

Lori Widmer
Lori has a BA in Business Communications from Rosemont College and additional education and course work in Journalism from various colleges and universities. Add to that more than 20 years of writing experience, including writing for publications, corporations, small to mid-sized businesses, and individuals, covering topics including finance, health care, workers compensation, and sales/marketing. With over 2oo articles in various business and trade publications, she delivers compelling, relevant content that improves your message and can help boost profitability.
http://loriwidmer.com/
http://wordsonpageblog.com/

2 thoughts on “Ink-Dipped Advice: The Art of Being A Good Guest”

  1. Thanks for asking me to take part. 🙂 Bad guest posts are an ever-growing problem in all areas of blogging (to the point where I’ve stopped allowing them on most of my own sites). Being a good guest isn’t all that difficult, and it can really make you stand out. Just follow the guidelines, keep it relevant, and make it about the reader more than yourself.

  2. Devon, thank you for including me among such great company!
    Jenn is absolutely right that the marketers have hijacked guest posting tactics, and definitely not in any good way. That’s why I think we see such a proliferation of guest post requests, and you can tell when they’re getting paid to post — they start with “Hi!” or worse, they’ll try flattering you about how great your blog is, then hit you with the spiel. We’re not stupid — we can easily see who is a real contributor and who is clearly trying to make money.
    Tara is right about how being unreliable looks from the receiving end. If you agree to something — more importantly, if you pitch something — follow through, even if that follow-through is to say you can’t after all. I’d much rather hear “I can’t, sorry” than sit there for days waiting for you to respond to my emails.
    In fact, I had that once. I passed an assignment on to a writer acquaintance who’d begged for it practically. I gave her six weeks to complete it. It came due, then it was a day or three past due. I sent her an email. “Oh, it was harder than I thought, so I decided not to do it.”
    It surprises no one that she didn’t make it long at freelancing.

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