Archive for April, 2008

Guest posting: What It’s *Really* Like

A common strategy used by bloggers looking to generate a bigger audience for their own blog is guest posting. Study the progression of bloggers like Leo and Skellie and you’ll notice that one of the key strategies they used (at least in the beginning) to drive traffic to their own blogs and grow their readership [...]

A common strategy used by bloggers looking to generate a bigger audience for their own blog is guest posting. Study the progression of bloggers like Leo and Skellie and you’ll notice that one of the key strategies they used (at least in the beginning) to drive traffic to their own blogs and grow their readership was to guest post on other bigger, relevant blogs in their niches.

But bloggers like Maki took a different route and demonstrated that whilst guest posting has become the route-du-jour of blog growth, it isn’t the only way to do it.

For a while I experimented with guest posting, firstly as a challenge to test the strength and quality of my own writing and secondly to help promote the LIP blog as it grew. I have guest-posted at Problogger, Vagablogging, Zenhabits, Web Worker Daily, Dumb Little Man, Ririan Project and of course at Freelance Switch (most links should take you to my guest posts).

What did I learn? That it’s not easy and that actually, it can be pretty stressful!

Here’s what’s great:

• You get to connect with some really cool people who are happy to take the time to help out smaller, newer bloggers establish themselves.

• You do get traffic back to your own site – but how much of it sticks depends upon a couple of things: (i) What topic you guest-posted about on which blog and therefore (ii) How relevant your own blog content is to the people who visit your blog from your guest post.

• You get to really challenge and hone your writing skills on other peoples’ blogs which in turn has always helped improved writing on my own blogs.
• If you’ve got something useful, valuable or interesting to say that doesn’t fit on your own blog, guest posting is a great way to get it out there.

Here’s what’s not so great:

• Posting on blogs where the community can be harsh, volatile and impatient is stressful, particularly when your post receives criticism.
• I find it much harder writing for a blog where you don’t really know the readership like you know your own and you’re not sure how they’ll react to something you write; ideally the blog owner will edit where necessary and you should do your own research before writing the post.
• It is time-consuming – if you’re guest-posting on bigger blogs than yours, you obviously want to make a good impression. Crafting and honing a post can take ages, especially if you’re a new blogger, still developing your voice.

My tips for guest-posting:

1. Clearly identify your goals for guest posting: Is it to increase your traffic? To increase your subscribers? Is it to raise your profile? To give yourself more credibility? Is it to spread an idea? To generate interest?
2. Target the blogs you’d like to guest post at carefully; a few well-considered choices on some smaller blogs may hit your objectives far better than one guest post at a huge blog.
3. Find out how a blog owner prefers to receive guest post submissions before you steam ahead and write an article.
4. Do your research and look back through the archives: Check out what kinds of topics the blog covers, what their readers respond to and also what they may be missing. The chances of your idea/post being accepted are higher if you’re adding value to the blog that perhaps the blogger himself can’t provide.
5. Measure the impact that your guest-posting has on your site; did it help you achieve your objectives? Was it worth the effort? What would you do differently next time?

Where have you guest-posted and what did you learn from it?

LinkedIn Recommendations: What People Say And What They Really Mean!

Are you on LinkedIn? Do you have any recommendations in your profile from clients, colleagues or co-workers?
I joined ages ago and had the common reaction: “Now what?” but I’ve recently been using LinkedIn rather a lot and have found it an excellent tool. So far…

I’ve been interviewed as a blogging expert by Monique Carradine in [...]

Are you on LinkedIn? Do you have any recommendations in your profile from clients, colleagues or co-workers?

I joined ages ago and had the common reaction: “Now what?” but I’ve recently been using LinkedIn rather a lot and have found it an excellent tool. So far…

• I’ve been interviewed as a blogging expert by Monique Carradine in the US
• We’ve generated 2 new clients for Project Woodward
• Project Woodward has hooked up with another very useful supplier
• I’ve been interviewed as a potential case study for a book on web working and the use of social media in business

But the best thing about LinkedIn is reading through the profile recommendations that people have and that they give and trying to figure out what they *really* mean…for example:

“…was prepared to engage with people at all levels” – you mean they deigned to speak to the minions beneath them?

“…is always direct and honest” – you mean they often offend people and have caused numerous office tussles?

“is a very good communicator with strong influencing skills” – you mean they’re manipulative and know how to use their charms and wiles to get what they want?

“…is a mature individual” – maybe this is ok when the person being recommended is just out of college, but when they’re obviously in their late 30s/early 40s is it really necessary?

“…is a results-oriented and focused professional” – you mean they’re ruthless, ambitious and will stop at nothing to get what they want?

Perhaps it’s the cynic in me but if you want a lesson in spin, look no further than LinkedIn recommendations!

P.S. If you’re interested in how to use LinkedIn for business purposes to help you position yourself as an expert, generate new business and network with great people, join our monthly ezine, Business Success Secrets, for an article on LinkedIn coming up in the next few months. You can sign up in the box over there on the right hand side of the site >>>

How To Outsource If You’re A Control Freak (Like Me)

My latest article on Freelance Switch – which talks about outsourcing for freelancers – was one I was hesitant to publish. Why?
Because I suspected the somewhat volatile commenting community might just shoot it down in flames and hurl personal insults at me. But with the exception of just one commenter who noted…
“The author sounds like [...]

My latest article on Freelance Switch – which talks about outsourcing for freelancers – was one I was hesitant to publish. Why?

Because I suspected the somewhat volatile commenting community might just shoot it down in flames and hurl personal insults at me. But with the exception of just one commenter who noted…

“The author sounds like a complete idiot who hasn’t done any real research on this matter.” LOL!

…the rest of the community had an intelligent, sensible discussion about an important topic. As for “real research”, I wonder if the fact that I outsource to two different people (one in the Philippines, one in the US) counts as real???

Some of the commenters had some valid points – outsourcing isn’t for everyone and I for one had always wondered just how a control freak (like myself) could bring oneself to let go of the reins and start letting other people do some important stuff in our business.

Here is what we outsource:

• Market research tasks like identifying and gathering potential prospects for the different solutions we offer.
• Technical build of some of the blogs we design for clients.
• Personal and LIP-related tasks like initial research for flights, hotel and other accommodation.
• More complex technical tasks we’re asked to do that we could figure out ourselves but it’d be time-consuming and not the best use of our time to do so.

The point is, we outsource a combination of things we can’t do ourselves (therefore enabling us to offer a better, more comprehensive service to our clients) and things we can do ourselves but choose not to (therefore enabling us to spend time on the things we’d rather do and the things we’re better at).

And for me, that’s the key to outsourcing for control freaks…identifying the *right* things to outsource that:

• You find boring
• You can’t actually do yourself
• You can just about live with not having to do yourself