Annabel Candy, along with Steve Pavlina, were two of my very first blogging role models when I began my own Personal Development blog. I first read one of Annabel’s guest posts on Problogger by Darren Rowse. It was something about Annabel’s appearance, perhaps that it was friendly and motherly, that drew me in. Her appearance, coupled with her dominant presence online, peaked my curiosity in her blog. I began to read, post comments and added her blog to my blogroll. We have since become blogging buddies and Annabel continues to amaze me with her kindness as I watch her blog take-off as a result of her hard work and daily activity. Little by little, Annabel is creating a blogging empire, hehe . Since she has me hooked, I know there are others who will grow to enjoy her site and all she has to offer. One of the great things about Annabel is that she never forgets the “little people”, the beginners and newbies that can be so easily forgotten online.

As you may know, one of the most effective strategies that Annabel implements for her blog is writing guest posts on other blogs. When I first discovered guest posting, I was amazed by its incredible magic. I immediately connected the process of guest posting to the power of giving.

When you guest post on another blog, you are giving some of your own work away for free. In turn, the other blog receives content and satisfied readers. You receive visitors from their blog and promotion for your site. You have the opportunity to convert new readers from their blog into subscribers and promote your work. Despite the mutually beneficial nature of guest posting, I view it as more than just merely symbiotic. I view it as an amazing display of the power of giving.

The great part about guest blogging and one of the reasons I love it so much is that it displays the truly remarkable power of generosity. When you unselfishly give, the benefits you receive will often amaze you. Giving is an expression of abundance. To give something away, you have to have it in the first place. Thus, when you give your writing away you are expressing the fact that you have plenty of more great writing to share.

Guest posting is a fabulous process because it displays giving as magical and powerful. Similarly with guest posting, the more you give, the more you will see the tremendous process in action. The first guest post I wrote was not my highest quality writing, not my best effort and I submitted it with eagerness. I just wanted to get my first guest post out there. It was only 500 words and received 0 comments. Readers could see through my selfishness. I would not advise to do what I did with my first guest post.I have compiled a list below for unlocking the true magic and greatness of guest posting.

10 TIps for Better Guest Blog Posts
1.) Be generous- Obviously the theme of this post is generosity so I encourage you to put your “all” into your guest posts. Spend the same amount of time and effort as you would on a normal post for your very own blog. Make it even better if you want to see even better results. Give it your total concentrated effort and don’t be selfish with it. Revise, revise, revise as with any other post.
2.) Pick the proper blog- I successfully picked the proper blog for my first guest post. It was in a related niche (Personal Development and Blog Tips) and I had plenty of content I could have shared with its readers. It had a large subscriber base and a thriving community. Unfortunately, I did not write the proper post or make it of the highest quality.
3.) Write the proper post- This was the mistake I made with my first guest post.I didn’t write the proper content for all those potentially interested readers. The point is not to change yourself for the audience but rather to choose the right part of you to display. Imagine that you have a collection of articles to write and you must be careful to pick the proper one for your audience.
4.) Be patient- In contrast to what I did, it is best to be patient when you are writing a guest post. Being patient will allow you to put as much time into the post as it truly deserves without becoming eager about submitting it. You might want to consider letting a draft of your post sit on your site for a day or so. This way you can work on revisiting it in your spare time. You don’t want to have to contact the guest blog to make changes to your content and often times they may be too busy to answer your requests. Make sure everything is the way you want it to be before you submit. Be patient for results to come back from your post and do not be overly anxious if no one comments or visits your blog. Learn from your mistakes and move on.
5.) Introduce yourself- At the beginning of this post, I made sure to introduce myself and my relationship with Annabel. This helped you guys, the readers, to understand my story and where I am on my own journey instead of just reading a post full of objective content. Also, it is more than likely that there will be others who are in the same situation as you who will read your post.
6.) Be you- This is also very important. As always, be yourself. Not only is it important to be yourself to maintain transparency but it is also important for consistency. When readers go back to check out your blog you want them to be able to find more posts written in the same style they fell in love with. Be sure to give them a real sample of what they will get from your blog, make sure your passion comes across through your writing. This should happen naturally as long as you are not trying to get too fancy or impress the readers too much.
7.) Encourage comments- At the end of your post be sure to ask for reader responses with a few sentences. Always include your background information and a few links to your site for further browsing.
8.) Make it readable but not too short- Pack the post with info. Err on the side of too much information as opposed to making it readable and lacking content. It sounds like it would be hard to make this mistake but believe me I would caution you against it. Even if you were not intentionally being selfish, you want to make sure you display your best self with your post.
9.) Support with links- Include links in the post to your top posts and other posts from the blog you’re posting to. This lets you give readers some further information to review and comment on. Remember to include a byline with links to your blog.
10.) Interact- If your post receives comments on the guest blog, be sure to answer them. This will help you to establish a presence and interact with readers. Also, you can answer any questions and potentially form new relationships.

Be generous like Annabel. You will create and discover doors to places you didn’t know existed. Guest posting is the best!

Comments? Please share them with me.