Guest Posting and Guest Hosting: Best Practices

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Guest posting. What is it, and why do it? What are the pros and cons?

What is guest hosting? Why host guest bloggers?

What qualities do great guests and hosts have? What are the rules? Who makes them up?

These are some of the questions you may have about guest posting and hosting and, whatever your experience with it—as guest, host, both, or neither—you will have answers to these questions by the time you finish this post. Guaranteed.

Today I will:

1: Define guest posting and guest hosting.

2: Tell you some pros and cons about guest posting and guest hosting.

3: Provide you with some guest-i-quette and host-i-quette best practices (etiquette that guests and hosts should follow).

A Brief Intro to Guest Posting

Guests don’t always follow proper guest posting etiquette, and hosts don’t always provide clear guidelines for guests to follow. As a result, more time is often spent emailing each other back and forth instead of on the post itself, trying to figure out what’s going on, what’s expected of them, and resolving problems.

How can this situation be rectified?

The solution is actually quite simple: Know what is required of you—whether you’re a guest OR a host.

The fact is that there are often many problems that arise simply because many bloggers have not developed their own set of guidelines for their guests to follow and many guests don’t know the best practices of offering someone a guest post.

Definitions of Guest Posting and Guest Hosting

Guest posting is defined as writing a blog post and having that post published on someone else’s website. It is also called guest blogging.

Guest hosting is when you allow someone to write something for you and publish that post on your website.

just words that say guest blogging

Read More

8 Benefits of Having Guest Bloggers (and how to find them)

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Have you ever wondered how some bloggers provide content to their readers on a consistent basis?

I have… especially when I read Neil Patel’s blog. There is NO WAY that one person can create 5 or more articles a week by himself without burning out. I’ve done the math. It’s just not possible.

Neil has a team of people working for him. That’s his secret.

So do many other businesses and bloggers.

Some contribute for free, too, as guest posters.

Some are paid.

Either way, there are many benefits to having someone contribute content to your website!

Today we will look at 8 of these benefits. Read More

Time Management: Strategies Aid In Increased Guest Posts

In my attempts to become more productive and make better use of my time, I’ve been doing some reading, some planning, and some goal-making for my upcoming year. This largely resulted from past failures as well as the post I wrote last month, Overcome Writing Failure With a Personalized Writing Plan. This post has introduced me to quite a few new people, many of whom are writers and authors. (And bloggers, too!) 🙂

Planning has never really been my “thing” but it’s useful. The strategies I’ve been using and the tips that I’ve learned have helped me increase the amount of guest posts that I’ve been writing (and getting published!) and I wanted to let you in on a few sites and introduce you to a couple of people who can help you if you are struggling with planning this year. Read More

My Online Journey

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When I first got a laptop in January 2013, I never imagined that I would be where I am today, doing the things I am doing.

The online community may reach worldwide, but the internet brings us closer. The technological advances that have been made while I was raising my son, going to school, and teaching are simply astounding. They boggle my mind.

In addition to trying to put together an ebook of short stories, I started writing a book about my life. I have a timeline created, and a few chapters written. My short stories are currently being re-worked, as I needed to make some improvements (according to the people I chose to be my “beta readers”).

In my quest for learning how to do new things, I’ve also been trying to learn how to create infographics.

As you can see from my personal “infographic”, I’ve met a lot of great people online.

The famous Carol Tice is one of the people I have met. I have been reading her blog, Make A Living Writing, for many months. A few weeks ago, she was asking for guest posts. She is one of the many bloggers who pay for guest posts, too, so I was excited to see this – it was a great opportunity for me! Normally she only invites people who have taken Jon Morrow’s class OR are members of her “Freelance Writers Den.” Since I fall into neither of these groups, I never thought that I’d have the opportunity to guest post for her. However, when she decided to “break her own rule” and seek guest posts from (almost) “anyone,” I decided to give it a shot.

I thought I had a pretty good chance at being accepted since I have actually crossed paths with her on a few occasions. I also comment on her blog on occasion (when I have something noteworthy to say). I’ve entered two of my posts into her linky contests, too. (The last one was during this one, in early September. I placed 23rd out of 46 entries. Since the post I entered had nothing to do with freelancing, I’m surprised I was not last!)

Anyway, when I submitted an email to Carol Tice with my idea for a guest post, it was rejected. I wasn’t very surprised; it was not the greatest of ideas. (I can see that now!) Not letting this rejection get me down, I decided to persevere. I then spent an evening thinking of three more ideas – better ones! – to pitch to her. I was thrilled when she accepted one of them. Oddly enough, it was not the one that I thought she would select.

However, I wrote the post she requested, but not well enough to meet her standards. I had to re-write the opening paragraph, and alter things a bit. I wanted it to be perfect. When I thought it was, I sent my re-write to her. A week later, I was told that she sent it to her editor. YAY!

I have guest posted on other sites before (look at my Services page) but never for pay! Since I will be paid upon publication, I haven’t made any money yet…but I’m told that it will happen within the next few months. (She schedules her posts months ahead of time.)

Needless to say, I’m looking forward to being “featured” on her site! I’ll be sure to keep you informed of my post’s publication date, too.

To wrap things up for now, let me say that I love learning. There are so many other things that I have learned during my time online. Some of them are outlined in my post “21 Things I Learned From My 21 Days In The Scavenger Hunt”. I am adding to my list weekly, and am loving my journey.

But, enough about me…

I want to know more about YOU.

What are some of YOUR online accomplishments? Share in the comments, please!