This is a guest post by Brandon Yanofsky.
I’ve never met a blogger who has said to me, “You know, I have more than enough traffic. I don’t want any more.” Quite the opposite: every blogger wants more traffic.
Yet very few are actually taking actions to attract more traffic. Some may try SEO or use social media, but nothing is as effective as guest blogging.
Without a doubt, guest blogging is the most effective way of attracting traffic. In fact, the most important thing I’ve learned from Oni and YoungPrePro.com is this:
If you want to be a successful blogger, you have to guest post…a lot.
That’s why I’m calling upon all of us to start the “Guest Post a Day” Challenge.
For the next 30 days, each day, you and I will write and submit a new guest post to different blogs. At the end of the 30 days, we’ll have written and submitted 30 guest posts.
Sound daunting?
It’s not, you can do it.
To get you started, check out Oni’s “Ultimate Guide to Guest Blogging for Success”.
I’ve also included 7 of my own tips to help you accomplish this amazing task. Here they are:
1. Set Aside Writing Time
It’s much easier to accomplish this challenge if you designate a certain amount of time each day to devote to guest blogging.
It takes me about an hour to research, write, edit, and submit a guest post. So I will spend my time from 2-3pm every day writing guest posts. Figure out how long it will take you and mark the time you need in your calendar
If your day is already full, that’s not an excuse. Wake up an hour earlier. Now you have an extra hour to write.
2. Submit to Small and Large Blogs
Your natural instinct will be to submit only to the large blogs, like Copyblogger and Problogger. However, because they get so many submissions, it can be hard to get your post published.
There’s nothing more disheartening than submitting 30 posts to the big blogs and having each get denied. That’s why you should write guest posts for the smaller blogs as well. First off, you are more likely to be published on smaller blogs that get less submissions. And second, the bigger blogs will start noticing you’ve been published on the smaller blogs and will be more likely to publish your post.
3. Be Personal
Oni talks extensively about how to properly submit your guest post.
I will add one additional point: Don’t use a boiler plate template when emailing your submission. Instead, start from scratch and personalize it for each blogger. When you make it personalized, bloggers are more likely to publish your post.
4. Be Selective
Don’t go out there and use the shotgun approach by submitting to every single blog you come across. Instead, submit to the blogs you read regularly. You know these blogs and their readers well. You know what the readers like and you know what kind of articles the blogger publishes.
If you do come across a great blog you’d like to submit to, take the time to read their articles. Spend time commenting on some posts. Maybe even send tweets or emails to the blogger.
5. What Are the Popular Articles?
Bloggers are always looking for articles that their readers enjoy. How do you know what readers enjoy? Most blogs will list their popular articles in their sidebars. Look through these articles and get a sense of the popular topics. Obviously, don’t write the same article, but it’ll give you an idea what the blog’s readers like to read.
6. Don’t Repeat Topics
Bloggers don’t like to repeat topics too close together. For instance, don’t submit an article about guest blogging to a blog that’s just published an article on guest blogging a few days ago.
7. You Will Get Rejected
Undoubtedly, you will have some bloggers tell you they can’t publish your post. Don’t let this bring you down. I’ve been rejected many times before.
Don’t be afraid to ask how you can improve it. Perhaps once you improve it, they’d like you to resubmit. If not, you now know how you can improve.
Whatever you do, don’t get angry and send a nasty letter telling them they have no clue what they’re talking about. Bloggers talk. And sooner or later, you’ll get a bad reputation among the blogosphere. Plus, it’s just bad karma.
So, if you want more traffic, let’s make a pact: 30 guest post submissions in 30 days. Leave a comment below telling me you’ll be a part of this challenge. And let’s hold each other accountable.
Are you in?
Want to read more by Brandon Yanofsky? Then check out B-List Marketing, where you’ll learn how to create a business consumers know, like, and trust.
P.S. Onibalusi here. Starting from today I’m joining the guest post a day challenge and I will make sure I have written a minimum of 30 guest posts by the end of this month. I’m targeting big and small blogs alike so if you’re interested in me writing a guest post for your blog you can see the criteria here.
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1 Ping on "Get More Traffic with the “Guest Post a Day” Challenge"
55 Comments on "Get More Traffic with the “Guest Post a Day” Challenge"
Great challenge. Not sure if I have the time now but will add this as a future thing to do – guest post on other blogs.
Best time to start is now Tom
This is a good one. I hope to partake in the future.
Hope to have you start soon. I started this challenge, and my traffic is soaring.
Definitely should start as soon as possible.
That’s cool. I too hope to get something good from this challenge and I will be trying all my best to make it work for me better than how it was before. Thanks for your idea
This is a Great Challenge but I cant participate now because of my School works and Your tips are pretty Good.
I will be guest posting during the Holiday starting by mid-august.
You can still make it on weekend basis @JosyLad or what do you think?
This is cool information. Thanks Oni for this great offer
Pretty good staff! Getting excited to take the challenge myself.
Great to have you onboard Malik!
I just started a blog a couple of months ago. This is my first visit to your site and I look forward to learning from your success. Guest blogging seems to be very appealing, what are your acceptance rate for your guest blogs.
Great!!! But I am too lazy to write guest post….
Alamin-
You could do it. Just have to get in the right mindset.
You are right.Guest blogging is one of the best way to increase traffic to our site.But it is not easy to write for others daily if you have a full time job like me.
It’s not easy. But I know there are people who write over 5 blog posts a day. They are the ones who are successful.
The path to success is never easy.
Hey Brandon,
Thanks for the awesome guest posting tips!
I’m not sure about a guest post a day, but just being around Oni’s blog is powerful. It’s a raw image of what a lot of hard work can do for you. I have been working on doing much more guest posting, but I know i’ll be in over my head if I try one a day. I’m aiming for 2-3 a week.
I want those 2-3 articles to be powerful and grab a lot of attention. I have had my share of guest writing practice and I know quality matters most.
Just my 2 cents.
God bless,
William Veasley
Hey William,
It’s a great place to start.
As you get more and more done, remember this challenge. You can always start it at a later point in time.
Well guest post is sure the fasted way to build traffic to a site if you can write something that is unique, but it requires a lot of research if you are a full time blogger.
I will try to take the challenge this week
Great Valentine. Let me know how it goes.
I don’t like to give a word and not commit to it after that. But i promise that i’m going to enter that challenge as soon as possible because i know that success is all about taking instant action and being consistent.
You’re right Edgar. Consistent action is the only way to success.
This is my first visit to this site, and I am hooked. I am new to blogging, but I have learned so much already. My blog is about assisting small business owners, basically to understand that they need a website, in this digital age. I am devoted to making my blog informational with quality content to benefit my readers. My aim is to serve.
@ Daniel, You are Right, I guess I will be making use of my weekends.
Yes, this is good one to post the blogs. I always prefer to read good quality contents and I think I have found it on your post here. Thanks!
woww..
i really interested in this guest post thing..
thanks for sharing it..
You should get involved!
I really liked this post very much..
this is very interesting post about guest posting…
Really everybody is looking for more traffic, nobody says it’s enough!
True that.
Guest blogging really works. I am telling you judging my own experience, but now I have stopped doing it as I am worn out and need a change and a new challenge for me. Those who haven’t tried it, do it and you will see how many new things will come into your lives.
It is definitely a very wearing task, but very satisfying.
This is really great challenge and i appreciate your work. Keep going.
Great thing to do. I have almost done something similar this last month. I wrote and submitted 25 guest posts and got about 20 published. I can surely see the rapid increase in the traffic (and I should say it is not a spike, but a constant and plateaued sign).
Jane.
I see the exact same results when I do a bunch of guest posts. I’m hoping people will really try this challenge so they too can see what a difference it makes for their site’s traffic.
Thanks for your best suggestion …I will try Guest post
And Onibalusi Your site really rocks:)
Thanks Navneet
I am in, this is such a great opportunity. I post guest blogging opportunities from bloggers looking for guest post on the Gig Logo Facebook page if anyone needs this type of information to help them with the challenge (not you experts of course, but the newbies who may want to join the challenge and may need the extra help).
Thanks for offering this Karla
yea Brandon, i like the aspect of rejection- just bcos you re rejected doesn’t mean you should give up.for every one of them that says NO there will always be TWO that will say YES
Or even the other way. You could get 99 rejections before you get your first It took Edison thousands of tries before creating the lightbulb.
Should he have stopped after try 3?
Great Challenge! I would like to join hope I have time to do that
Welcome aboard Latief,
If you have the motivation to do it, you’ll find the time.
You are saying of the nice could really work
Thanks for this information. I see guest posting has more to offer than I thought.
Hey Sparkle,
Guest posting is the BEST way to get traffic to your site.
I’m seriously happy to discover this great site the future of this blog is getting good and more useful for me thanks and god bless you.
Wow, excellent idea!
Hi Oni and Brandon,
Having written quite a few guest posts so far I relate to all your points. I believe those who follow all 7 of them have a solid blueprint to succeed. I particularly like that you included the “rejection” aspect of it. Success is proportional to ones failures and rejections, after all. Great post!
Very true Matthew, and glad you got some great tips from the post.
And also, side note, thanks for the comment at my blog.
I don’t even dare to consider writing a guest post per day – as much as I would love to!
It’s a brilliant idea though and I absolutely agree that it’s one of the best ways to get your name out there and start driving quality targeted traffic, Brandon.
Ana
Nice work!, I’ve just sent a guest post across… ;]
I’m in… I’m gonna punch August in the face!!
Well, I salute anyone who could do that. I think it would be pretty hard especially when you regularly experience writer’s block.
Brandon Yanofsky.!!! Thats great challenge but to be honest its no easy to write 1post/day
I hope I am not late but whichever way, I seriously looking for ways to get traffic to my blog, so I would simply take the challenge…thanks for an informative blog post