If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ve probably noticed that once a month or so, I welcome a guest blogger. It’s usually a professional organizer, but may be anyone who is able to share some insight on a topic of interest to my audience, often one I don’t feel qualified to cover myself. In fact, guest blogging is quite popular throughout the blogosphere.

Perhaps you’re wondering why someone would go to all the trouble of writing something, just to give it to someone else to post on their blog. Unless they’re being paid for their work, you might think they’d be better off publishing it on their own blog, but there are actually many benefits to guest blogging. Here are a few:

1. Reach a Broader Audience

According to one of our polls, attracting new readers is the biggest challenge faced by many bloggers. Being a guest blogger for someone with a similar target audience to your own is an excellent way to get your name and your expertise in front of a bunch of potential new readers.

2. Grow Traffic to Your Own Blog

As a guest blogger, you will normally be allowed to include a brief bio and link to your own blog, so those who find your post of value will often click through to learn more.

3. Grow Your Subscriber Base

Once those new readers have landed on your site, there’s a good chance they’ll become subscribers, provided that your blog is engaging. You’ll find lots of tips on Your Organizing Business to help you make sure your blog represents you and your business as effectively as possible.

4. Improve Your Search Engine Positioning

Although Google keeps changing the factors it uses to determine where your blog will appear in the search results, backlinks from related sites remain very important. Social sharing now plays a role as well. Since blog posts tend to be shared frequently on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites, a guest post on a popular blog may benefit you more than a listing on an infrequently accessed directory site.

5. Build Relationships

Guest blogging is a type of joint venture, where both parties receive something of value. While the guest blogger receives the benefits listed in this post, the host has an opportunity to take a break from writing and give their readers another point of view.

6. Write About Something Different

Ideally, your blog is written for a specific audience – your target market – but you have a wealth of knowledge that goes far beyond what they would find useful. Guest blogging allows you to put on a different hat and explore another topic. Many of my guest bloggers have done just that, such as when Janice Russell shared her Secrets to Growing Your Organizing Team. I did the same thing when I wrote a guest post on Organizing Your Job Search Schedule for A Word’s Worth Resume Writing and Career Coaching Service.

I plan to talk about ways to find guest blogging opportunities in a future post, but for now, why don’t you consider writing something for Your Organizing Business? I would especially love to hear from someone who is actively using Pinterest as a marketing tool, but would welcome other topics of interest to professional organizers as well. Please read my Guest Blogging Guidelines, then complete the form at the bottom of the page to let me know what you have in mind.

Have you ever been a guest blogger? Did you find it beneficial? Please share your experience (and a link to your post, if you like) in the Comments!

Photo © Zsolt Biczó – Fotolia.com