Guest posting is one of the best content marketing strategies to grow your audience and get more eyes on your website.

I'll be honest, it isn’t the easiest way to grow your audience, but it can be highly effective. 

If you've never tried being a guest blogger before, or you haven't had any luck getting published on other blogs, I've put together a list of guest blogging tips to help get you started. 

How to pick the right blogs to submit to? They should all meet this criteria:

- A blog site that is interesting. Ask yourself, would you visit that blog regularly? Or is it full of advertisements and poorly written posts?

- A blog that is relevant. Obviously, you want to reach your target audience. Pick a blog that your audience will be reading.

- A blog that allows linking back to your social media / website.

Once you’ve selected some awesome blogs, do a little more research about these blogs (aka: stalk them). Read their content and leave comments. Follow them on social media and interact with their posts. Email the owner about a certain article you really enjoy. 

Now that you’ve formed a relationship (remember my marketing maxim: Be the friend you want to have), you can begin putting together your guest post pitch.

- See what is popular on their blog.

- See what guest posts they’ve accepted before.

Now that you’ve narrowed down the best topic and written your post, draft your email pitch using the following tips:

- Be personal. The more personal you are, the more likely they are to respond positively to your pitch. This is where all that stalking legwork comes in handy; you should know a little about them. Use that to open your pitch.

- Tell them how the readers will benefit. They want great posts for their readers. Explain how your post could help their readers learn something, find out something new, or be entertained.

- Do the formatting for them. Make sure everything is polished, images are included, and it is in a .txt format so they have to do as little work as possible to post your article. 

- It’s ok to brag. If you’ve posted elsewhere or won some awards in your industry, mention those to give yourself more legitimacy. Bloggers want someone who is going to help them reach a bigger audience or make them look good.

- Offer a little quid pro quo. What can do you for them? Perhaps you’re filling in while they are taking a break. Maybe you’ll post their content on your website. Make sure you promise to share their blog on all your social sites, or promote them on your own blog.

Now that you’ve got the tips in your pocket, you can get to work. Guest posting does take work, but it can have huge payoffs if you’re willing to invest the time.

Good luck!