Has someone invited you to be a guest blogger? Go for it! Guest blogging is a great way to get your name in front of potential clients, joint venture partners, and media representatives who may not yet know about you and your organizing business. But you don’t have to wait for an invitation – sometimes you have to make the first move!

Here are a few things to keep in mind when you’re searching for guest blogging opportunities.

1. Do your homework.

Don’t expect to land guest blogging opportunities by random cold-calling (or cold-emailing). You’ve got to know who you are contacting and how you will be an asset to them. It’s best to start by approaching bloggers you know and whose blogs you read and comment on regularly. They’ll be much more open to your offer if you’ve taken the time to engage with them than if they see you as a total stranger who’s only looking for free exposure.

Take the time to look for Guest Blogger Guidelines on the site, and follow them to the letter. The blog owner has taken the time to write and publish those guidelines for a reason. If none are posted, consider the following tips as your guidelines.

2. Make it original.

Don’t submit content you’ve already published elsewhere. Write something original for the blog you are sending it to, and relate it to their audience as much as possible. Again, this is where knowing the blogger becomes a big help. For example, for Cena Block’s blog for mompreneurs, I wrote a guest post about Time-Saving Tips for Bloggers.

Similarly, you shouldn’t write a post and then submit it to several bloggers for consideration. Instead, draft a list of suggested topics they can choose from. If more than one person selects the same topic, you then have the option of writing two unique posts, or letting the second one know that article is no longer available.

3. Edit, Edit, Edit.

Sometimes you’re in a hurry and miss a typo or two, but you sure don’t want to do that when you’re asking someone else to publish your work on their blog. Don’t let this scare you off – a reasonable blogger will tell you of any edits they’d like to see – but you need to edit your work thoroughly before you send it out. Of course, you never want to do sloppy work, but this is definitely not the time to cut corners.

4. Flatter or promote the blogger.

It may help to tastefully compliment the blogger you’re contacting about something you’re impressed by. This should be sincere and well thought out, as a generic comment like “I have been following your blog for a while. I can say without hesitation that you have done some remarkable work and put a great and informative content on it” will likely be viewed as spam. You might also consider mentioning or promoting their blog or product in one of your blog posts.

5. Be confident.

I welcome guest bloggers here on Your Organizing Business, because they allow me to share valuable information with you without having to spend time researching and writing every subject myself. If your proposed topic is a good fit for the other blog, you have a very good chance of getting accepted.

6. Don’t be a pest.

Popular blogs receive a large number of offers to guest post, so if you don’t receive a response and you sincerely believe that your proposed post is a good fit, send a polite follow-up message, then leave it at that. Don’t beg and plead or get nasty. (I know YOU would never do that, but I’ve received messages like that myself…)

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