Helping You Rock Out Your Site Like A Rockstar!

Are you a blogger that accepts guest bloggers quite frequently? You might want to think about how you label your site, especially if you are wanting to strengthen your own brand.

Guest blogging can be really great for blog owners as it is a means to supplement content when it cannot be published as frequently. It is a way for fresh faces to be heard with topics that echo that of the blog owner’s views. However, it is a supplement- not to be used frequently.

In allowing frequent guest bloggers, it becomes a permanent crutch, leaving you unable to break out on top.

I have found it quite alarming that there are individuals that believe themselves to be influential in their niche, but it is more like an article submission website. Of course you are going to build a good reputation opening up your site to guest bloggers, but your circle is going to only attract that following. Individual voices will mesh together with others. That is great! I know this sounds harsh, but it is true. Sometimes I visit a site in order to read the blog owner’s work, not the 10 other posts done by other people.

I find it a bit disturbing if the one person who own’s a site where only a percentage of articles were written by them is claiming credit for building such a site. Also, I find it even more disturbing if the site is being monetized and the blog owner is not doing some sort of revenue share system. It does take money to keep a site up, but there is a line that has to be drawn.

(Example – and the site shall remain nameless: I had guest blogged at a site about freelancing and web designing, and it became quite popular. When I was busy with conferences, the blog owner constantly was asking me to submit an article. I was not being paid, nor did I ever agree to regular submissions because of my schedule.

When I did write up my last post for that site, the owner sent a mass email to his newsletter and his contributors to say that he sold the site to someone else. Soon after that, I was contacted by the new owners, and after seeing my work used to line someone else’s pockets without a flinch of remorse, I could not agree to contribute and asked for my work to be pulled off.

I still guest post at several places, but I am cautious to take on others that may be doing the same thing.)

A community blog is more suited title for such sites. It gives the community that contributed the credit it deserves. If you want to build authority, having a community blog is not the route to go. Your voice gets diluted in between your guest bloggers’ posts.

If you plan to become an influential blogger, make it your goal to put together a plan in regards to guest post submission. You need to determine how many posts in between should your guest bloggers be published. Your ratio of your own posts to your guest posts should be in favor of your end.

Blog communities are not bad and there can be a wealth of information found at those sites. In no way will I ever say that they should be avoided. They can be a great place to meet other bloggers!

However, building your brand and engaging with others should be priority. The guest posts will roll in, and as your site grows, you can become more selective about what is submitted.

What are your thoughts? Have you ever had any experiences with guest blogging that left you feeling sour?

Starting your own blog does take courage. You are starting it with the obvious intent to reach out to others, whether it to provide information, provide inspiration, make money, for therapeutic reasons, or other reasons.

Before you start a blog, you really have no need to be monetizing it yet. Of course, you can implement Adsense, but without traffic and clicks, you make nothing and appear to be all in for the money.

Get your priorities in order before you start a blog.

Planning your blog is the best place to start.

What do you want to do with your site? Do you want to teach people something? Do you want to make money? You want to create a sturdy focus, specifically on what you want to cover or have a great interest to learn about. Unfortunately, just picking something to blog about will not cover it. Why? Well, you are more than likely to become disinterested. That is why a lot of bloggers and social media consultants will urge you to have a real passion for what you write about.

Once you have what you want to write about, create a site. Whether it is using WordPress, Google Blogger, or some other platform, you need a medium to become your blog headquarters.

When you get that site, just do not let it sit idle for one moment! Write your first post. Make it your introductory. Include:

• A little bit about yourself.
• Your intentions for your blog.
• Topics that will be covered.

Be prepared to blog more than just an introductory posts. You can always save a post on draft mode and publish when you are ready. The fact of the matter is- blog! This is where you take your first step into the open.

Do not worry about the design. Do not worry about the monetizing. Your content needs to come first.

How are you going to invite people to your site if there is nothing there to welcome them? Your blog is much like a home. If you have nothing to make people feel at home, why would they want to stay… let alone come back.

Most blog platforms and content management systems have at least a pleasant default theme. Some bloggers wait until they have a perfectly design site to make their debut. However, what about all the time waiting for that theme to be finished, or the time to find the right one?

You could be blogging and already engaging with people!

So many people want to worry about making money, playing with their site to optimize it for the search engines, and more….however, you really do not have to focus on that so much. Search engines becoming social oriented, other than normal algorithms. So, that means, your visitors will be the ones to say your site has more authority, and not just a bot.

After you have written your content and actually started driving in readers, you can think about all the other luxuries to add to your site.

There are so many blogs out there and a lot of people are unsure of how to take their site to their next step. t is important to keep some type of plan, much like a business. Even if your site only has advertising or even if you are just wanting people to hear what you have to say, you need a plan!

Here are 5 steps to building a business plan for your blog.

Write your site’s focus. This is what you will refer back to when things are not going well. You will put what you want your site to do, who you want to reach, and how you will go about doing it?
Set some long and short term goals. Sites fail because they only have a short term goal. It is important that long term plans are put into place in order to keep your site relevant to your visitors and for the times. The Internet has changed a lot throughout the years and putting goals out will allow your site to last.
Site design and content are important. This must be planned out and executed carefully. It does not need to be perfect, but your site should be planned so you are directing your visitors to what you want them to see. If you are selling something, you need to convey that by having a banner or something to draw your visitors attention, even if you have a blog. As you build your influence and reputation, people will inquire about your special services or products.
Have a monetizing strategy. Whether it is banner advertising, text link ads, paid to blog entries, or just selling your own services, you need to decide what is best for your site and for your visitors. You could literally hurt your own earnings in choosing the wrong services.
Having a marketing strategy for your site. Even if you are on a budget, there are still plenty of ways to get the word out. Making a marketing plan to promote your site is important because frankly, if you never tell people… how will you get traffic? You have to be knowledgeable of where it is best to promote your site- find the niche you best fit in.

These are just a few general steps to building a business plan. This is important for practically all bloggers out there. It can also give you a clue on how much time and money you are willing to spend working on the site and eventually get a return on your investment.

What other steps do you have for newbie bloggers needing a direction with planning their blog’s future?

It is not uncommon to read from a lot of blogs about blogging that guest blogging has a lot of benefits. However, with all these people guest blogging and sites publishing these articles, are people really taking advantage of this in the best way possible.

The benefits of guest blogging is a two-way street. Both the site owner and the blogger benefit. So, in order to cover how you can make the most of guest blogging, I need to address both sides of the street.

For the Site Owner:

• While you want to follow the focus of your site, be open to new things. It may be because you are not familiar with new techniques or news in your niche as you thought you were. There will always be someone with a leg up on your knowledge in your niche. Let them bring that knowledge in and enhance your site.
• Make sure that you place guidelines for guest posts if you decide to open your site to outside writers. It would be pointless to keep rejecting articles that do not fit your site’s criteria, especially if you do not list any in the first place. Do not assume people will write exactly what you want.
• Be courteous with your guest bloggers and make sure you do background searches on them. They are doing you a favor by providing you quality content. Even if you promise pay for regular writing, they are still doing a larger favor.
• Make sure you do background searches your guest writers. No, you do not have to do a full research, but find out what your guest writers are writing about on their own websites. There are a lot of bloggers who pull information almost out of thin air and that could hurt your site. You want your site to be able to offer the right information, not the wrong.

  For example, I recently read an article, to which I will not name, that had quite a few points that showed a lack of experience in the area. In fact, the article probably should have either been revised or not been published at the site as it contradicted other articles on the site that had a similar topic.

For the Guest Blogger:

• If a site owner has criteria, follow it. If you are unsure of the requirements for guest blogging at a website, ask.
• Do not expect your article to always be approved. Site owners try to make sure the articles fit their site before publishing. If your site does not meet the owner’s expectations, you can take the article to another site for consideration.
• Your guest post is not a free ticket to make money by throwing in an affiliate link or slipping in an article you are getting paid for by an outside company, even for SEO. This is wrong. That is why there are places for that (like your own blog and article publishing sites.) As social media marketing has become popular, people are looking for transparency – not people writing and making money off someone else’s blog for a guest post. In that case, pay the site owner their cut for hosting your paid blog post.
• It is fine to insert keywords, but they should be related to a direct business or place that you have control over. Again, this relates somewhat to the previous point mentioned.
• One of the purposes of guest blogging is to build a healthy relationship with readers in your niche. That should be what you set your sights on building. Once you have, you will find people eager to read your own site, connect more with you, or even do business with you.

Are there other ways that you can make the most of guest blogging?

A lot of people like to use forums and social networks for communicating. Did you know you can have your own community, much like those forums through your blog’s comment system? Did you know that it should be one of your goals to convert people to comment on your blog?

Well, its true!

Each person who comes by and leaves a comment, is leaving their mark on your site and might have a good opinion… even if it does not completely agree with you. Those comments make your site dynamic as no other site will have the same exact comment from each and every person. Some of those might have information that help you, as well as others who visit. Some may be questions you can answer, or even, other readers can answer too!

Communication is a beautiful thing if encouraged correctly. You can build a sturdy community around your blog comments by doing a couple basic things:

1. Write thought provoking content. You could even end with a question. This leaves the floor open to your readers to decide if they want to jump in and share their opinion.

2. Reply back to comments. The thing is… if you reply to a comment and they come back, you just successfully converted them! They were interested enough not only to comment once, but to come back and reply.

3. Return the favor by commenting at your commenters’ blogs. This is going that extra step forward and being active to go outside of your own site and help carry on the conversation at your readers’ sites. This is a win-win as you end up helping to build two communities instead of one.

4. Try a Top Commenter of the Month contest. Not everyone does this, but from time to time, it might be something to integrate into a contest where your top commenter might win a prize.

5. Implement the Commentluv plugin. (This plugin has versions for both WordPress and Blogger.) Commentluv gives your commenters an incentive to comment. When they submit a comment, the Commentluv plugin pulls the most recent post from that person’s site and places the link to it with the published comment.

These are merely a few ways to build a solid community around your blog. How have you encouraged your readers to comment on your site?

I have a couple favorite bloggers I like to read, and I know you do too. While not everyone has the financial means to support their favorite bloggers, here are 8 ways you can support yours.

1. Leave a comment. This is the easiest way you can support your favorite blogger, especially if you regularly read their articles. Comments are awesome and allow the blog author to know your thoughts on what they wrote. It also is fuel to carry on the topic. Remember, even though an article might say a lot, the conversation does not have to end and be one-sided.

2. Share articles you have read on social network sites. Like and share posts on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and other social networks.

3. Social bookmark blog posts written by your favorite blogger. Not only are you giving their article potential exposure to others, but with a lot of social bookmark sites, you are helping with their authority in their niche.

4. Become a fan or follow your favorite blogger on the social network sites. If your favorite blogger has a Facebook fan page, Twitter handle, or any other social network account, following them is a simple and free way to support your favorite blogger.

5. Take a moment to click on the Adsense or text link campaigns on your favorite blogger’s website. While most of these services are ones that say that the site owner cannot beg you to click on links, it is obvious that your favorite blogger is trying to make a little money. Taking a couple seconds of your time to click on their adsense and other text link campaigns can add up.

6. Consider guest posting at your favorite blogger’s site. If you love the site and like to cover similar topics, offering to contribute a guest post is great support. It is a win-win as your site gets a back link, and your favorite blogger gets more content. Furthermore, if you do submit, be prepared to return comments on your guest post to encourage others to become active on your favorite blogger’s site.

7. If you see a donate button, send $5 or $10 or $20 to your favorite blogger. If they do not, ask them if they accept donations and how you can do so. While it might not seem much, it is sure to be accepted with much appreciation.

8. If the blogger has a side business, consider purchasing their product or services. Whether it is an e-book, hosting from their small hosting business, web design services, or other products, this is the ultimate form of support.

Supporting your favorite blogger is important. It allows them to know who is reading and what they are taking away from their experience. Every little bit helps, even if it is done for free. While there are many ways a blogger can monetize their own website, none of that can be done without traffic. And having website traffic means having visitors come to read and perhaps engage.

The paid suggestions were added to the end of the list due to the fact that the most important are great blog foundation building tools to go by, especially for beginner bloggers. These are the things necessary to gain authority, learn how to engage, and overall, to learn what it takes to grow a sturdy blog that will get better with time.

What are other ways you can support your favorite blogger that has not been mentioned?

You’ve got a pretty cool blog, right? However, you keep hitting these plateaus and not being able to talk with other bloggers as easily as you would like. What is the deal? Are you snubbing your blog competition?

With 15% of the Internet powered by WordPress alone, and many others hosted on other blog host services or with other content management services, there are a lot of websites that are out there sharing all sorts of information. Each person is trying to gain readers.

Of course, you want your own readers, and there are ways to entice… like writing good content and engaging with others on the social network sites. However, what if the people you are talking to also have topics that you cover on your own site?

Simple – Keep engaging. That is what is awesome about the blogging community. Because each person is different, each person has a different angle on any topic. You can learn and get feedback from your competition.

And you know what… it could even prove to fuel your blog’s future posts.

Now, I know that maybe the issue of copying might come up and really, if you are writing your own articles, you should not have to worry about any complaints on plagiarizing. It is pretty easy to see who is just writing to cover a topic, and who is actually interested in what they wrote.

The most important thing is to make sure your blog is not all about you on a podium. Anyone can do that, but what about the people listening? Your peers in your niche can be the biggest help, especially if you are sharing and commenting on their sites. Most of the bloggers who are top in their niche, despite being busy, try their best to take the time and leave a reciprocal comment or return a share on Twitter, Facebook, other social network sites, or social bookmark sites.

When you are friendly and engage, your visitors and competition are more than likely willing to link you too!!! Free link juice is awesome!

Don’t be a blog snob. You will hurt your site more than anything.

Writing product reviews is not always easy. It does involve actually having used the product, being able to describe the item or service, and a lot of times, you may have to make sure you have a disclosure just in case you get compensation for your review.

Here is a guide to writing product reviews on your blog.

Set up a Site Disclosure Policy

You should have a site wide disclosure and also disclose on the posts you are receiving compensation for. In the United States you are required to disclose paid endorsements. Some of the paid to blog services like Pay Per Post (an Izea property) requires that you have a site wide and a post disclosure.

The policy should state that your blog will from time to time publish paid reviews on products.

Blog with Integrity

If you did not try out a product or service and just threw a post together, while some people might not notice, those who did use the product might call your bluff. Making money is always nice, but if you are sacrificing your integrity, you are basically lying to your readers… for chump change.

Your honesty is important. There are companies out there that really want to know your honest opinion. In not writing a truthful product review, you really risk your reputation with brands wanting to approach you to review their product or service.

There are sites out there, like Fiverr for example, that have opportunities for you to make money by posting fake reviews. Do not get caught up in this as it does nothing but shoot your reputation down. Only take review opportunities that encourage your honest feedback.

Choose Products or Services to Review that are Relevant to Your Site

If you have a review about diapers and your blog is about tech gear, this is not an ideal post to publish. Choose opportunities that match your site’s focus. In choosing every opportunity under the sun, you risk confusing your readers. Products that are relevant to your site will help build the authority you need to grow your blog.

Be Thorough When Writing A Product Review

You want to be as informative as possible so being thorough is extremely important with product reviews. If you do not write enough information, your review could be seen as you did not like the product or there really was not much to say about it.

Other than your own opinion, you can even do some research on the product and maybe share some of the reactions out on the social network sites. Twitter can be a great example of a site you can pull reactions Just do a search on the product or service and all the people who have mentioned it on Twitter will show up in the results.

Think of every angle you can cover to make your review better than other sites in your niche that may also be talking about the same thing.

Of course, there are other tips, but I would love to know what are some of your suggestions to people writing product reviews on their blogs?