How To Get Your Guest Post Accepted By An A-List Blogger

How would you like to get your guest post published on ProBlogger, FreelanceSwitch, and likes?

One post there is better than 20 on mediocre blogs.

But you’re unsure, almost scared!

You don’t even consider the A-list blogs for guest posting.

The fear of rejection is holding you back from what can be your biggest leap towards glory.

If that rings a bell, this article is for you – it’s a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to getting your article live on ANY blog.

But first, here are two big newsflashes:

1. My guest post was recently published on ProBlogger: How To Publish Your Blog On Kindle
2. Writers Blog is now available on Amazon Kindle, click here to check it out

I’d totally love for you to go ahead and write a review of Writers Blog on Amazon. And if you own a Kindle, you can read it there for as low as $0.99/mo.

Back to the topic.

It takes time

You can’t write a post in the evening and see it on the homepage of a big blog next morning.

It took me about 3 days to write the said article… is that a lot of time?

Check this: Tommy Walker of IncomeDiary took nearly two years to write a guest post for Chris Brogan’s blog.

Be ready to invest a few hectic hours, and the outcome will be well worth every drop of your sweat.

Find a relevant blog

Most sections in this article are in favor of the host blogger, this is the only one for you.

If you’re a copywriter, a guest post on a dog training blog will be a sheer waste of time and energies.

Remember, relevancy is the key to pull in targeted audience.

At the end of the day, you’re writing the guest post to gain a benefit, and only targeted audience will grant you your wish.

Read their guidelines

The easiest way to upset any blogger is to ignore their guidelines.

Even your best piece can get rejected because of this.

Read the guidelines before you pick a topic, and one more time when sending the post… and follow them to the letter.

Connect with the blogger

Simply sharing their recent post won’t do.

They’re already getting hundreds of tweets, likes and shares, and might never know about your kind act.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t share their content; in fact you should stalk them on social media to find out their likes and dislikes, because the more you know them, the better your chances of getting a Yes are.

The best way to get connected with the blogger is dropping insightful comments on their posts.

No matter how busy a blogger is, he’ll read most of the comments and that’s where you can standout of the crowd.

Don’t comment on every post, and never comment when you don’t have something useful to say.

Get to know their audience

Skim though their recent posts, most popular posts, recent guest posts and some comments. The most commented and most shared articles will divulge the type of content their readership likes.

Choose your topics

Heads-up!

This is the most important step of all.

If you’ve chosen a relevant blog, and have done your homework to get acquainted with the audience, choosing a topic will become easy.

Just don’t write on a generic topic or the one that’s been recently published.

Again, any questions in the comments can help you. If you can identify content gaps and fill them with your write-up, you’ll surely move a notch up in the blogger’s books.

By hey! Did you notice something?

The subhead says choose your topics – not topic!

Why?

It’s quite possible that your first idea might get rejected, but if you’ve connected with the blogger, and have pitched them properly, they might ask you for a different topic.

This is what happened with me when I pitched ProBlogger.

When they asked me to come up with an alternate topic, I was at a loss.

I spent next 24 hours mining through different resources on the internet and finally conceived the idea which was accepted.

I wish I already had a backup idea that would have saved me a lot of time and effort.

Here are some tips to find a good topic:

• The easiest way is to get into their reader’s shoes and imagine what keeps them up at night
• If you can’t pick out a decent topic, check out other popular blogs, Google Trends, Google News, newspapers, or try your luck with the content generation tool
• If nothing works, head to some unusual places for inspiration
• Never ask your host to tell you what you should write. If they wanted something written, they would do it better themselves

Write a high-quality piece

Several blog posts, even books have been written on this section, but keeping the following few points in mind will help:

• Do extensive research, even if you’re a guru
• Don’t be nervous – nobody will shoot you even if you make the dumbest of mistakes
• Don’t imitate someone else, go with your own voice
• Write killer a headline
• Use simple words
• Your write-up should be as long as necessary and as short as possible
• Engage audience by asking questions
• Add internal links – most bloggers would love this
• Prove you’re an authority by adding relevant stats, quotes etc.
• Edit ruthlessly; get rid of all the needless words/sentences, and make sure there are 0 syntax errors
  (Click here for some handy tips on proofreading your own work.)

Pitch

Be polite, keep your pitch short and to the point.

Here’s the email I sent to Darren Rowse (keep an eye on the underlined pressure points):

Hey Darren,

How are you?

I know you’re a busy dude, so I’ll be brief.

I was wondering if you would be interested in publishing my guest post that I’ve written (after a week’s hard work) specifically for the Problogger readership:

How To Publish Your Blog On Amazon Kindle

I’m sure your readership will find it helpful.

Hope all is well, and hope to hear from you soon

Best regards,
Ali.

Before you send it over

Read their guidelines one more time, make any changes if need be and format the post in the stated manner.

If the blogger hasn’t specified a format, send your article in an MS Word file (for easy reading) as well as in html format (for easy publishing).

What the heck is html format?

Just paste the content in your WordPress editor, brush it up, click on Text (previously html) tab, copy/paste the content in Notepad and Save.

After it’s published

It’s time to party!

But wait a minute, you have to get the most out of your hard work.

Here are the four things to do:

1. Thank the blogger via email
2. Promote your article even if you don’t have a massive followership. Not promoting the article means disrespect. And why not impress your followers that you are on a topnotch blog?
3. Reply to comments – not all of them, but keep the ball rolling. Remember, you’re dealing with different and probably smarter people here. Only comment when you can add value, if you get a harsh comment or a question you can’t answer, leave it for the host blogger
4. Write a thank you note on your blog with a link to your guest post

Dealing with rejection (The best advice)

What if you don’t hear from them?

They’re busy, so give them at least a week or two before shooting reminder emails.

Most bloggers mention the time in their guest posting guidelines they need to get back to you. Don’t bother them during this period.

And if you don’t hear from them even after a reminder, move on; don’t waste your time.

Some big blogs might not publish the hottest of your posts, and there can be many reasons for this. To save your time, don’t try to investigate these reasons, just find another blog.

And don’t be disappointed.

Neil Gaiman, addressing the University of the Arts Class of 2012, talked about the best advice he was ever given 20 year ago that came from Stephen King when he said to Gaiman:

“So, this is really great.  You should enjoy it!”

Only, Gaiman shares, he ignored this advice and kept worrying about things that were out of his control. And he wished he had enjoyed it more…

One rejection doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. If one blogger doesn’t accept your article, another one will.

But don’t waste your precious life worrying about things you can’t control; enjoy your writing, enjoy what you do, live your best life… it’s the only one you’ll get.

A bitter experience

Never send the same post to two blogs.

I learned it the hard way.

I once sent a guest post to a blogger, she didn’t reply for 7 days and I sent it to another one who published it the next day. The same day the first blogger replied that she has scheduled my post for the upcoming week. I was embarrassed to tell her that it’s already been published, and she was furious at me for wasting her time.

Your turn…

Now go ahead and pitch some A-list blogs.

But first, share this post with others because they need it, and because I’ll be satisfied that my effort didn’t go down the drain.