If you want to be a guest blogger and have your submission posted, there are some basic strategies you should follow:
1. Read the Guidelines
Organized and serious guest blogger programs have established guidelines to assist you with topic, format and general information, such as blogger compensation and post length.
2. Follow the Guidelines
The guidelines are there to save you and the blog owner time. Sending an off-topic post is a waste of time and may ensure that future blogs from you are not even read, be they on topic or not.
3. Proof Read
Have your post proof read before you send it. Submitting a post with too many spelling and grammatical errors is a surefire way to make sure it isn’t posted. The blog owner expects to edit, not to rewrite it.
4. Have Thick Skin
If you want your piece to be posted as is, without one change, then post it to your blog. Bloggers have a responsibility to their readers to post well-written, coherent and accurate (to their POV) information, and when it comes to business blogs, even more so. You’ve got to reconcile yourself to the fact your submission will be edited…period.
Shannon Mouton, Director, Marketing and Digital Media, McKinney & Associates
