Feel like you’re talking to the same five people in your audience all the time? Wondering how you can reach people you *know* are out there who need your services but somehow don’t follow you on social media? Ready to get in front of a brand new pool of eager customers?

Then, my friend, you need to start guest posting.

…But what’s guest posting, Crunch? 

Never fear – we’re digging into all the good stuff about guest posting in this post, including what guest posting is, why it’s such a useful tool for the business owner who’s ready to grow to the next level, and where to get started guest posting. I also have a little bonus section on what you should be guest posting + some tips to be the perfect guest poster, so keep reading!

What in The World is Guest Posting?

If you’re not from the world of blogging, you may be scratching your head wondering what this is all about. In practice, it’s a fairly simple concept.

Basically, guest posting refers to publishing your content on someone else’s website, as a guest. Is that weird? Not quite.

If you’re familiar with podcasts, you may have realized that podcast hosts don’t often do solo episodes. Instead, they invite a guest expert or someone with an interesting perspective on their show and have them share their insights.

A guest post on someone else’s blog or website is a similar concept, just in the written form. An expert (that’s you, my friend!) shares their knowledge and insights on someone else’s platform. And that’s all there is to it!

Why is Guest Posting So Great?

Sounds like a lot of work to write a whole entire article just for someone else to publish it on their site? Yes, it’s a lot of work, but it is also a wonderful tool for several reasons.

1. Create Visibility & Traffic 🚥

If you want to tap into a new audience, guest posting can help you put yourself in front of a brand new audience who needs what you offer! All the people who visit your host’s blog or website will see your content, and if it interests or intrigues them, you can be sure they’ll be clicking over to your website to find out more about what you do.

In line with that, guest posting helps generate traffic to your own website. It’s pretty much like being a podcast guest, but with words. In fact, it’s a really simple trick to easily double your audience (or more, depending on how big of a following your host has)!

2.  Build Authority 🤓

I don’t know about you, but if someone I respect introduces someone else as an expert, I’m fairly (okay, like 98%) likely to believe them. Why? Because I trust that this person I know has done their research and knows what they’re talking about.

Similarly, when you guest post content as an expert on someone else’s platform, it’s almost as if the host has introduced you to their audience saying “This person here – they’re an expert. I want you to hear what they’re saying!” Because essentially, that’s what they’re doing by giving you an opportunity on their platform.

Take this chance to build up authority for yourself, and establish yourself as an expert by providing new insights, perspectives, and information that adds value to your host’s audience.

3. Great for SEO 🔍

When you write content as a guest for another well-ranked website, your own website gets a boost in search rankings. Why does this happen? It’s a bit more technical, but basically because when you link back to your website as the author or cross-reference other content you’ve created on your own website in your article, search engines take note of this. They then recognize that your website is a place that other websites are linking to, and automatically bump you up in search results.

Additionally, the more text-based and searchable content you have under your name or linked to your website, the better your website performs in searches – making it easier for ideal clients to find the solutions you’re offering.

Where Should You Guest Post?

So, now that you’re convinced your health and wellness business could benefit from getting published on other websites, you may be wondering – where in the world you should be guest posting?

Well, it would be great to get published as a guest expert in The New York Times or The Washington Post but who are we kidding – that’s pretty damn hard. Although, if you get an opportunity to write for a well-established publication like that, JUMP. ON. IT.

For the rest of us, let’s look a little closer to home, and a good way to get started brainstorming ideas is to ask yourself – Who in your network has an audience that would benefit from the information you have to share?

Now, note that we’re not looking for people in our network who are in our ideal audience, although that could work in certain cases. What we’re actually focusing on is people in our network who have people in their network who need what we offer.

I like to think of them as adjacent businesses.

For example:

💪 If you’re a health coach, perhaps a massage therapist, or a nutritionist.

🧘 If you’re a yoga teacher, perhaps a physiotherapist or Reiki practitioner.

🤰 If you’re a doula, perhaps a prenatal yoga teacher, or a baby sleep trainer.

The possibilities are endless, all it takes is a little creativity to start figuring out who might be open to hosting your guest posts!

Pro Tip: Scroll through your Facebook friends / Instagram followers / LinkedIn connections, see who’s following you that has an adjacent business. Reach out to them and propose a guest post, and maybe they’ll say yes! You can also pitch it by saying that you’ll be saving them a week of content creation, and who would say no to that??

Writing the Best Guest Post

So you’ve decided to give guest posting a shot, and heck, maybe you’ve already secured an invitation to share your content on a fellow business owner’s blog. Congratulations!! But now you’re sweating buckets, staring at the Blank Page of Doom wondering – WHAT am I even going to write?

Before you start spiraling into panic, take a deep breath in…hold it…let it out.

Okay, now that we’ve cleared our heads – here are three tips that are going to make writing your first (or fiftieth!) guest post a breeze.

• Make it relevant to their audience

This seems really obvious, but the most important thing to keep in mind when choosing your topic for a guest post is … *their* audience. Ask yourself: Who is going to be reading their blog? What are their interests? What do they need to know that would improve their lives?

Sometimes, your host might point you in the right direction, but other times, you may need to do a bit of research by investigating your host’s blog or website to understand their audience. Once you know who their audience is, you easily figure out the next bit which is….

• Share useful tips or information that showcases your expertise

What tips or info can you share that showcases your expertise while creating value for their audience? We all have a ton of expertise and knowledge in our fields. We’ve done years of study, countless trainings, read hundreds of books on our topic, all of that good stuff. While it can be tempting to brain dump all of that into an article in an attempt to seem like the most qualified expert in your field – DON’T.

Instead, think about a single topic that would most benefit your host’s audience, and write about that. For example, if you’re a yoga teacher writing for a physiotherapist’s blog, you’d probably have more success sharing “5 back stretches for office workers”, rather than “3 teachings of yoga philosophy” – even if you are an expert in yoga philosophy!

• It’s not about you – don’t be self-promotional

And this brings us to the third tip: Don’t make the guest post about you. It’s not. A guest post is not an opportunity to self-promote or talk exclusively about your work and offerings.  Nobody cares that you wrote a book that you’re super proud of. (I mean, I care, and I’m super proud of you but.) People are kinda self-interested. They want to read stuff that will benefit them. And people tend to be surprisingly good at picking up self-promotion, so the minute you start sounding like you’re selling something, you’ve lost them.

The goal of your guest post is to educate and inform, so avoid rambling on for six paragraphs about how your nutrition plans have helped 2000 people. Instead, provide concrete actions people can implement immediately, or offer advice that will create an instant change in their perspective, or even make them sit up and say “huh, I never thought about that!”

Pro Tip: Avoid being self-promotional, but don’t forget to include a call to action at the end of the post for people to learn more about your work, book a consultation call with you, or download a freebie! Just check with your host that they’re okay with that before including it.

Some other tips to help you write the best guest post – 

• Try to match the blog’s content and style 
• Include relevant links (both to other content on the host’s site and external links)
• Be yourself!

Guest blogging is a great opportunity to showcase your expertise, put yourself in front of a new audience, and grow your business. Have fun with it!

Interested in doing more guest blogging but hate writing, or just can’t think of any topic ideas? Book a free discovery call with me to have a chat about how I can support you!