content marketing – Page 2 – Nicole Munoz Consulting

27 Ways to Get Other People to Create Content For You

Getting other people to create your online content is one of the most painless ways to save time and ensure your blog, website and article directories are packed with top-quality, original content.

Let’s take a look at 27 different ways to make this happen.

1. Pay Copywriters or Ghostwriters

A ghostwriter usually writes articles, blog posts, eBooks, white papers and reports, and a copywriter often specializes in sales and landing pages, as well as email series – though there is often no difference between the two.

A good ghost/copywriter will increase your site SEO value with professional, original writing – in your “voice”.

2. Pay a VA

Many virtual assistants add copywriting to their services, so this way you can kill two birds with one stone, if you need an assistant too. Just be sure to check what type of writing they specialize in.

3. Guest Authors

This used to be a top way to get others to provide you with quality content – and it still is. But you should know that Google is now penalizing overly-promotional “guest posts” and “guest posters”, so follow these three tips and you won’t be the guest poster in trouble – nor will your guests.

Call them “guest authors”. Seriously!
Make sure their content is original and highly relevant to your audience
Get your “rel=author” tag and validate yourself with Google through your Google+ profile

Sure, it’s a pain to set up, but don’t neglect it. Your validation as a Google-recognized author is like gold in the SEO bank.

4. Embedding Other People’s Material

Ask permission to embed slide shows, videos, .MP3s and other material on your site. This can add richness and extra flavor, if you choose material that enhances and adds value to yours (as well as pleasing your visitors!)

5. Testimonials

If you ever receive great compliments on your services or products, these become priceless recommendations (or “testimonials”) that you can put on your website or in sales letters for that relevant product or service package.

If someone posts a testimonial on a highly public forum, you can technically print it without permission, but always ask (you may get more than if you “sneaked” it in: E.G. a headshot provided and permission to use their full name).

6. Insert Ads

Ads can bring income directly to you through your site, so choose blog themes that allow you to insert ad buttons and banners.

Avoid Google AdSense themes, however. The quality of ads has noticeably deteriorated this year, and you cannot guarantee that your site won’t become tainted by adult or inappropriate material you don’t want.

7. Comments

If you write a hot blog post, you’ll soon know it: It will incite a flurry of comments. Do put some screening in place for comments, however, so that you are not inundated with damaging spam. The Akismet spam filter is a “must”; and it’s a good idea to set your comments options to require moderation on the first post from a poster.

8. Have it Transcribed

Running a webinar or teleseminar is a painless way to create content, but make the most of it by having it transcribed into text.

Then you can offer your transcription as your blog content for that day – or you can offer it as a bonus to a paid offer or signup.

9. Create a “Round-up”

Another way to use other people’s content fairly: Create a Round-up of snippets from different sources dealing with a single topics. For example, “Top 10 Graphic Websites in 2013”; “Facebook Follies”.

10. Public Domain Visual Media

While it’s always best to commission or take your own original photos, finding public domain graphics can be a quick and handy solution. (Make sure they really are public domain, however!)

Here are three sources with multitudes of public domain photos and other visual media such as fonts and clipart…

11. Free Resources

You can insert resources such as calculators and dictionaries on your website simply by copying code into your HTML, such as TheFreeDictionary webmaster tools, which allows you to select options such as “Word of the Day” or “Quote of the Day”, among other features.

Just make sure your free resource is from a reputable site, and there’s no hidden code allowing traffic mining.

This type of HTML resource formatting is a good choice when your host website doesn’t allow App scripts.

12. Apps and Widgets

Better on blogs or websites written in .PHP rather than HTML. You can find apps for quizzes, polls, surveys, quotes – all the features available as HTML resources – and more. You can provide interactive, ever-changing content: E. G. a widget that displays Twitter tweets.

13. Plug-ins

You can do much the same thing with plugins and there is a wide selection to choose from at WordPress.org.

You can also download commercial plugins such as the nRelate related-content plugin.

14. Press Releases

Reprint press releases relevant to your target market’s interests on your website.

15. Intern Created Content

If you decide to take on an intern, one of her duties could be to create content for you.

16. Regular Features

You can create daily, weekly or monthly features that rely on externally-driven content. For example, regular “Guest Column” featuring different guest experts.

17. Using Quotes

One quick way to produce an article: Pick a topic and present “Top 10 Quotes About [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][your keyword]”. Then run a quick search, picking the best quotes from quotes aggregation sites such as BrainyQuote and The Quote Garden.

Don’t select all your quotes from one site, however. Mix and match.

18. Content Curation

Another practice that is quickly becoming a trend: Content curation – present content from aggregated sources. As free curation site, Storify says, “Make the Web tell a story”.

19. Templates

Templates may not be “content” as such, but they can help you quickly and instantly install or display content, doing the formatting part of the work for you.

And many WordPress themes incorporate widgets that add extra content to your site, such as blogrolls and archives.

You can get other templates too, to help fast-track your content creation. (E.g. review templates, blog post templates).

20. Public Domain material

You can build a blog or even just a week of posts around material that is truly in the public domain.

21. JV Partner Offers

You can insert ads from JV partners on your website – and free ones add special value.

Put them in a separate add banner or within your header. Very often, your JV partners will do the rest (sign up, sales or download pages).

In fact, ask them to provide their ad, too.

22. Reader Submissions

Invite readers to submit relevant written material to your blog, with the “prize” being publication (unless your blog serves professional writers, who would expect to be paid, of course).

Three popular types of writing you can invite:

Poetry
“Postcard” mini-writing contests
Asking for anecdotes regarding a specific topic: E.g. “What is your most embarrassing memory about learning to ride a horse?”

23. Reader Photographs or Artwork

Another type of contest people enjoy: Original artwork or photograpy.

Not only does featuring the results give you lots of free content, it also increases reader engagement and interest.

24. “[Something] of the Day”

Another type of reader-driven content that increases engagement: “[Something] of the Day” features.

Try:

Tip
Word
Quote
Horoscope
Thought
Photo

25. Recipes

You don’t have to be running a cooking blog or website to invite readers to share their favorite recipes, if your demographic is female. In fact, all you need to do is post an appetite-stimulating photo and a post that gets your readers salivating.

It’s like the Pet niche: Just as people love nothing more than writing in about their particular, unique, cuddly pet so do many love sharing their favorite recipes.

26. Retrospectives

Feature your own or others’ most popular past articles, photos, stories or other content.

Done right, this tactic can help build and strengthen your online community by making readers feel they have a “say” in your site.

27. Run a Themed Site

Creating a themed site entirely from reader-driven content (like accepting reviews for example) can be a virtually painless way to provide high quality, unique content as a background for displaying ads.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Profitable Webinars Made Easy

by Nicole Munoz

Webinars are a profitable and popular way to disseminate information to a lot of people at one time. It’s just like an in person seminar except that it’s performed over the Internet. You give presentations just like you would in person with slides, handouts, and other companion information. It is essentially a web based seminar. You can teach a class, deliver a lecture, conduct a workshop, and host an interactive Q & A event via webinar.

The technology allows event hosts to deliver their information to multiple locations at the same time because the attendee simply needs to be able to sign on to a computer terminal with Internet access to participate in the event. Usually attendees can participate in a variety of ways from chatting in a chat room, to raising their hand electronically to speech, by using a microphone.

If you have a lot of information you want to disseminate to a number of individuals or groups but don’t want to spend a lot of money doing it, a webinar is your answer. Participants can join from anywhere, home, work, any country — as long as they have a computer and an Internet connection they can join.

They are economically feasible for small or large groups. What’s more, they are secure, in that unauthorized people cannot enter the webinar. In most cases the participants only have to download a small program to help them access the event, have ear phones with a microphone, the special link or password to join, and they are in.

Why Have a Webinar?

Many reasons for having webinars were mentioned above, but let’s get specific. Hosting a webinar can advance your business to the next level. It can jump start and excite affiliates, and customers alike. Face it, events are fun but they can be expensive and hard to plan. Webinars can be planned from the comfort of your home office, or from any location with computer access and an Internet connection.

Lead Generation

Webinars are an effective way to generate more leads. But you’ll need to book speakers that excite your target audience. A targeted topic will also help draw both speakers and attendees. By providing targeted content through a webinar platform with planned speakers you will position yourself to become a thought leader who provides credible, valuable and usable information about your niche.

To generate leads with a webinar you’ll need to ask for information at registration. That information should be sent to an email marketing mailing list segmented for potential webinar attendees. In this way you will be collecting leads via your webinar sign up process. By marketing the webinar, you’re marketing your email list.

Earn More Money

Another great reason to host a webinar is to make more money. Even if your initial goal is to get more subscribers, with more targeted subscribers you’re going to generate more income in the long run. But, if you charge for your webinar you could make more money in an hour than you thought possible. Imagine if you sold the hour for just 10 dollars each. If just 100 people attend the webinar you will have earned 1000 dollars for the hour. Granted you have to spend time developing the event, but imagine if you perfect the event and create a series conducting weekly webinars. How will that add to your bottom line?

Advance Content Marketing

The other thing that webinars do is simply disseminate content in a new way. From one hour long webinar you can create a year’s worth of content all from one event if you set it up right. Just get four to six speakers, record the event, then repackage the event in multiple ways to generate almost unlimited content all year long.

Once a webinar is over you can break it down to shorts that you use in your email marketing blurbs or as an eCourse. You can also transcribe it and create an eReport out of the event. Some people are creating Kindle books out of webinar materials. The sky is the limit with the amount of and different forms the content can take from just one webinar event.

Customer Satisfaction

Sometimes your goal is simply to improve customer satisfaction over a product. You might invite only people who have bought your product or service to a webinar that is exclusive to them. Your goal in this case is perhaps to conduct a Q & A to help customers utilize a product or service more fully.

Your objectives for having the webinar can be more than one of the above, but it’s better if you focus on just one or two objectives in order to create marketing materials that work. Determining objectives and setting goals indicates what metrics to study when deciding whether your event was a success or a failure. Having metrics to look at will assist you in perfecting future webinar events by identifying what works and what doesn’t work. By doing so, you’ll be able to develop a best practices manual for webinars of your own that is fully targeted to your unique market.

Top 10 Copywriting Information Sources

by Nicole Munoz

Close up on tha hand of young woman writing down on a paper using smart phone and notebook –

Whether you use video, audio or text in your web marketing, you still rely on words. Compelling words are what attract web visitors, get them on your mailing list and get them to buy your products. The art of compiling compelling words is known as copywriting and it is an essential skill for any online business. If you’re looking for copywriting information, here are top 10 sources for you.

Site #1: Which Test Won

http://whichtestwon.com

A very informative and real-world blog by Anne Holland. Each week, Anne posts two versions of an advertisement or sales piece so that readers can get guess which performed better. After you guess, you can click through to find detailed information on which test won and why.

Site #2: John Carlton

http://www.john-carlton.com

John Carlton is a long time copywriter who refers to himself as the “most ripped-off writer on the web.” In short, people steal his approaches because they work and he readily shares them. His blog is very colorful, thought-provoking and may sometimes offend, but is usually at the top of the list for people serious about learning copywriting.

Site #3: Michel Fortin

http://michelfortin.com

With a background in sales and working as a copywriter to big Internet marketing, Michel has plenty of real-world experience and test results under his belt. Michel often refers to himself as an “avid tester” and is constantly tracking and testing copy to improve conversions. Thankfully, Michel is very open about sharing those results on his blog, in speaking engagements and more.

Site #4: Marketing Experiments

http://www.marketingexperiments.com

Marketing Experiments specializing in conducting research and testing to optimize marketing results. Website visitor can get access to a huge library of test results and read the blog for free. A podcast is also available.

Site #5: Ben Settle

http://bensettle.com/blog

Ben Settle is a no-nonsense marketer that focuses on teaching the power email marketing. With praise from Gary Bencivenga, Ken McCarthy, Brian Clark and Ray Edwards, you know he’s someone worth listening to. Visitors can sign up to get a daily email marketing tip and get other helpful advice.

Site #6: Gary Halbert

http://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com

Unfortunately, Gary Halbert passed away several years ago, but his “The Gary Halbert Letter” still remains on the web and serves as an invaluable resources for copywriters and business owners. Click on “View our Newsletter” archive to be treated to a treasure trove of great writing and thought-provoking advice.

Site #7: Bob Bly

http://bly.com

Robert (Bob) Bly is a freelance copywriter with over 30 years of experience and plenty of client experience. Many know Bob from the 70+ books he has written, but plenty of great advice is to be found on his blog.

Site #8: Karon Thackston

http://www.marketingwords.com

Karon Thackston is a no-nonsense freelance copywriter whose forte rests in teaching copywriting and SEO to others. Her straightforward, no-nonsense advice makes the complicated seem simple.

Site #9: David Garfinkel

http://world-copywriting-institute.typepad.com

If you’re looking for someone who not only know what they’re talking about when it comes to copywriting, but also knows how to explain it, look no further. While David’s blog is not always updated frequently, you’ll find plenty of gems there.

Site #10: Perry Marshall

http://www.perrymarshall.com

While Perry Marshall isn’t someone we immediately think of when think of “copywriting,” he certainly has plenty to offer in this area. As the leading Adwords and pay-per-click advertising expert, you can find great advice on his blog. Visitors to his website can download free guides, read articles and check Perry’s speaking schedule.

Mistake #1: Forgetting to Promote Content

If you’re like many content publishers, you take great pride in your work and painstakingly create awesome content for your readers. But no matter how great our content is, if we don’t actively promote it then we’re cutting our opportunities short.

When you publish any content, make sure you put in as much effort into spreading the word as you did to creating it in the first place.

Share your content with your mailing list.
Announce your content on your social media accounts.
Redistribute your content to other websites.
Ask friends in your niche to share your content.
Make sure you have social sharing options for the readers of your website.
Provide affiliate links to your content, so your affiliates can share it too.
Use paid advertising options to promote your content even further.

The important lesson here is that creating content is only one piece of the puzzle. You also need to work to get people to read it.

Mistake #2: Failing to Reuse and Repurpose

If you’ve been publishing in your niche for a while, you’ve probably created a ton of content and covered a wide variety of topics. The great thing about all the work you’ve done is that you can use it over and over again. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel each time you create new content because you’ve already done a ton of the legwork.

Here are a few ideas for you:

Articles can be bundled up into a special report and given away freely, as a bonus, or even sold as part of a product.
If you have a report, it can be broken up into articles and redistributed.
Submit your content to print publications like newspapers, magazines and local newsletters.
Create a video or slide show presentation out of your how-to articles.
Have your audio and video materials transcribed into written format.
Build on existing content by expanding certain points, introducing new ideas and more.
Share older popular content with new members of your audience.

There’s no sense in letting your hard work just fade away. Keep your content working for you instead.

Mistake #3: Missing Call to Action

For many, content creation is a labor of love. We love the topics we cover and are passionate about our subjects. We just hope that somehow that passion will turn into profit. We’re told that if we create content, people will see us as experts and they’ll buy our products and use our services.

But here’s the problem with that idea.

If you don’t tell your readers about your products and services, they aren’t going to know they can buy them.

Each piece of content should have a purpose and a call-to-action. Whether it’s to get a quote for your roofing services or an opportunity to get a free crochet pattern, it doesn’t matter. Content should always have a purpose and you should know what that purpose is.

Mistake #4: Not Understanding Your Target Market

Having a deep understanding of your target market is key to content marketing success. If you don’t know what makes your readers tick, how can you possibly create the content they’re looking for?

An understanding of your target market can come in a number of ways:

Keyword research that shows you what people are searching for in your subject area.
Paying attention to blog and social media comments.
Asking your readers questions. What are they concerned about? What do they want to know?
Consulting published market research, but understanding that this is just a start point because your unique audience may have different interests.

Know who you are marketing to and the right topic ideas will be easier to find.

Mistake #5: Creating All Your Own Content

We’ve already established that content marketing isn’t simply about creating content. There’s plenty of planning and marketing involved outside of what gets typed on a screen.

The most successful content publishers get help with their content and rarely write it all themselves. Guest writers can add fresh and new perspectives to your website.

When you get help in creating your content, you can focus more on getting results from your content.

Mistake #6: Lack of Relevance

Have you ever signed up for a mailing list and then scratched your chin at some of the stuff the list owner sent to you?

For example, you sign up for a mailing list about work at home and suddenly the owner sends you offers for weight loss products. Sure, we can make the connection between working at home and weight loss. After all, those of us who work at home can attest to the fact that getting enough exercise and maintaining one’s weight can be an issue, but it’s not what we signed up for when we subscribed.

The more relevant you can be, the better your results will be in the long term. Your readers will know what to expect and you will continue to grow your understanding of what your audience really wants. Be relevant. Every time.

Mistake #7: Not Prioritizing Content

There are many options when it comes to content publishing. You can write and distribute articles. You can blog. You can email your list. You can post a video to YouTube. The possibilities are nearly endless.

But one thing becomes quite clear – different methods will work better for you than others. It’s important to focus on those methods and make them a priority.

There’s no sense in trying to juggle too much and do everything in a mediocre fashion. Figure out where you really shine and put your focus there.

Mistake #8: Not Sharing Other People’s Content

It’s natural to stay focused on one’s own content. After all, we’ve taken the time to create the content and it has been designed to promote our business. However, there are a couple of benefits to sharing other people’s content.

First, by sharing content with your audience, you can be seen as a valuable resource for great content. Introducing your readers to new perspectives and ideas is a good thing.

Second, by sharing you’re forging relationships with your fellow publishers. If you readily share content, people are more likely to share yours.

Take the time to find some useful content for your readers and share it via email, on your blog or through your social media accounts. Make it a habit and see what happens.

Mistake #9: Not Interacting With Your Audience

There’s no getting around it. Today’s web is interactive and our readers expect interaction. As a content publisher, you should be prepared to respond to comments, answer questions and engage your audience frequently.

This doesn’t mean that you have to open yourself up to answer phone calls and individual emails every day. That’s not a good use of your time. But do be available through the content channels you operate on. There is no such thing as a one way conversation.

Mistake #10: Quantity over Quality

It’s true that more content gives you more opportunity to be seen, but focusing on quality means your content can go even further. Take time to produce more detailed content. Make it more visually appealing. Publish it in a variety of media. Take the time to do things well.

When you do things well, people will recommend your content. They will come back for more.

If you instead publish thin and barely helpful content, they won’t tell anyone else and they sure won’t be back for more.

If there’s anything that’s clear from these 10 content marketing mistakes, it’s that you need to put your focus into what works and to put in a complete effort to reap the full benefits. Publishing content…even great content…simply isn’t enough to grow your business. There are many pieces to the content marketing puzzle, but once you put them together, the results can be amazing.

8 Post-Penguin Link-building Tactics

by Nicole Munoz

In many ways, the Google Penguin update really tossed up a lot of what the internet marketing world thought they knew about SEO. Many old link-building tactics, such as buying .edu links, mass blog comment posting or article directory submissions not only lost value, but could actually come back and hurt your rankings.

Today, the search engine game has more and more become about getting real, genuine backlinks back to your website. Low quality backlinks have lost massive value, while high quality backlinks are gaining more weight.

In addition, Google is placing more emphasis on person to person relationships. In other words, social media relationships are beginning to play more of a part in search engine rankings.

It’s safe to assume that Google Penguin won’t be Google’s last big tossup. As search engine technology and especially the AI technology that was developed for Panda evolve, we can expect more big changes to roll out. More likely than not, these changes will further deemphasize low quality linking and prop up high quality linking even more.

So in the post-panda world, what can you do to build more backlinks and build your rankings? Read on.

1) Guest Blogging

One fantastic way to build links to any website is to write guest blogs. What’s amazing about guest blogging is that not only do you get high quality links back to your website, but you also get to put your content right in front of real people in your industry.

There are a few different ways to write guest blogs. The easiest way is to head over to MyBlogGuest.com and find other blogs in your industry who want your content.

This is fantastic for links, but most high quality, high traffic blogs won’t be advertising for guest posts this way.

Instead, you need to approach them directly. Try to build a relationship with them by commenting on their blogs and interacting with them over Twitter. Build high quality content on your own website.

Then, when you think you can provide something of value to their audience, send them a message directly with your proposal.

2) Help a Reporter Out

One of the best ways to get in contact with reporters who need stories is Help a Reporter Out (HARO.) This is a free site where reporters who need sources go to post what they need.

Sign up for their newsletter. Anytime a reporter requests a source in your area of expertise, contact them. Get in touch and let them pick your brains about the topic.

This benefits you in a few ways. First, they’ll often link to your website right then and there. Make sure you ask them to make the link active, as often newspapers will just write your site in text without linking.

Second however, you build a relationship with that journalist. If you keep doing this, you’ll soon have a small rolodex of press people who’re in your debt. When you next launch a creative or edgy product, you can get in touch with them and manufacture your own press blitz.

3) Contact Your Commenters

If you run a blog, discussion board or website that has any kind of social interaction, chances are other people who also have websites are going to contact you.

Whenever you receive a comment from someone who says they love your site, get in touch with them. See if you can arrange some sort of backlink deal with them.

These people already love your content. Getting them to agree to have you write a guest post or even give a free link back to you on a relevant page shouldn’t be too difficult.

4) Build Real Relationships

Go to conferences and cultivate real, genuine relationships. Meet people face to face and engender goodwill.

A lot of people will link to you if they like you and you ask. In fact, for many high profile individuals that’s the only way you can get them to link back to you.

People with massive twitter followings or blog followings are very rarely going to link to you if you just ask them out of the blue. They don’t know you and receive a dozen such requests every day.

On the other hand, if you meet them in person, have a good conversation and develop a rapport, there’s a very good chance they’ll do you that favor. That’s how you get the PR5 and PR6 backlinks – Through real personal relationships.

5) Social Bookmarking Websites

Getting your content to the front of a social bookmarking website like Reddit, Digg or StumbleUpon is a fantastic way to drive tons and tons of traffic your way. If you’re making this a genuine goal of yours, make sure your server is setup to handle the traffic.

If you do manage to get your post ranked highly on a social bookmarking site, you’ll see tens of thousands of people flooding into your website. Don’t be alarmed if the bounce rate is much higher than usual or the time on site much lower. The quality of traffic from these sites tends to be lower, as people on these sites click many links in a short period of time.

The real value you’ll get from getting on the front of a social bookmarking site is through the links you’ll build. If you land on the front of reddit, you’re going to get dozens or even hundreds of backlinks in a matter of hours or days. These will help your rankings for the rest of your site’s life.

6) Build a Strong Social Media Presence

Google is paying more and more attention to social media. Already Google +1s carry a ton of weight. If someone +1s any of your content, there’s a great chance that your site will be popping up very often in the search results.

Create a popular fan page. Be active on Twitter. Get Google +1s. If you’re not already active on social media, now is the time. The time for webmasters to “wait and see if it matters” is over.

Experts have said it. Web stats have said it. Users have said it and now the search engines are saying it: Social media matters. Today, not only will it drive visitors, but it’ll drive rankings as well.

Social media links might not matter in the traditional PageRank passing sense, but having a strong social media presence will still certainly help your rankings.

Business Rockstars Ken Rutkowski and Nicole Munoz

7) Do an Interview

Find experts in your niche and interview them about the subject.

When you do this, the expert will often link to you. Other people will link to you. It’ll be fantastic for search rankings, for Twitter, for Facebook, for your email list and for building traction all around.

Again, the key to getting people to agree to be interviewed is to build personal relationships. Either that, or build relationships with key networkers who can introduce you to other influential people.

8) Start a Video Series

Videos are a fantastic way to both get new visitors and improve your relationship with your old ones.

Start a video series and publish it regularly. Get people in the habit of receiving content from you. People who love your content will watch and share your videos regularly. Keyword optimize your videos and there’s a great chance that you’ll rank highly on Google or YouTube.

These are nine linkbuilding tactics you can use today to generate real, genuine links that post-penguin Google will love. What’s more is that these linkbuilding tactics will almost definitely survive the next Google update, and the one after that. These links aren’t built on quick-fix solutions, but actually get you real endorsements from real people.

Blogging Tips – Bonus Slide Shows!

by Nicole Munoz

Blog Media Showing 3d Character On Weblog Website

8 Simple Ways to Come up with Topics for Your Blog

8 simple ways to come up with topics for your blog from Nicole Munoz

8 Great Places to Get Images for Your Blog

8 great places to get images for your blog from Nicole Munoz

Guest Blogging Byline Tips & Templates

by Nicole Munoz

One of the main benefits of guest blogging is having the opportunity for a byline or resource box that tells the reader about you and includes a link back to your site. Some blogs may have specific byline guidelines and if they do, you should follow them accordingly. This document will give you additional tips and some quick templates to help you along.

Tips:

Check for byline guidelines on the blog you’re writing for before proceeding.
Make the link in your byline highly-relevant to your content. Readers will be more likely to click. This may mean linking to a specific page of your website, a special offer, etc.
Include keywords in your link for search engine benefit. Conduct keyword research at http://wordtracker.com or using your favorite keyword tool to find a very specific keyword phrase that is readily searched for and describes your link.
Include a specific call-to-action. Don’t just say, “My website is XXX” as it’s not compelling enough to get a click. Ask readers to sign up for your mailing list, download some free software, ask for a quote, etc.

What to Offer in Your Byline’s Call-to-Action

As noted in the tips above, we encouraged you to include a call-to-action in your byline. That doesn’t mean you have to ask people to buy something, but if you want the most results from your guest post, you want to ask readers to specifically do something.

You can offer:

A subscription to your newsletter
Invitation to a webinar.
A free report.
A free consultation.
Software download.
Tool download – think spreadsheet, worksheet, template, etc.
Instructional / step-by-step video or tutorial related to the article.

Anything you can offer of value is perfect your call-to-action.

Byline Templates

You can use the templates below as a ready-made guideline for your guest posting bylines. Feel free to use them as is and replace the red text with your own information. Or you can use bits and pieces. Whatever works for you.

Template: Free sign up for newsletter, publication, webinar etc.

[Your name] makes it easy for you [insert how you help people]. Sign up for [his/her] highly-acclaimed and surprisingly free [insert publication, etc] to find out how to [enter a specific result], [quickly, easily, inexpensively, etc].

Template: Free webinar / teleseminar series sign up

[Your name] is your host of the [frequency – daily, monthly, etc] [catchy name of webinar / teleminar series] that shows you how to [insert benefit / desired result]. Sign up to instantly download your first lesson free.

Template: Free report

Need a little extra help? For a complete guide that shows you exactly how to [insert specific and main benefit, related to the article], grab a copy of [name]’s [name of report]. It’s yours free and will save you plenty of [headache, time, money – be specific].

Template: Free consultation

For a free, no-obligation consultation, contact [insert name] by completing the [3-step / quick-response / something that shows it’s simple to do it] form at [insert location of form]. Set aside just [amount of time for consultation] and [he’ll/she’ll] how you can [benefit of your consultation/service].

Template: Software or Tool

[Insert your name] can help make the job go [X] times faster with her highly-acclaimed [insert software/tool name]. It allows you to [what it does + benefit], saving you tons of [benefit of the benefit]. [Download yours free / get a free trial] at [insert location].

Template: Instructional Video

Need a little visual? [insert name] shows you exactly how to [what you‘re teaching] [benefit – in 6 easy steps, etc.]. Go to [insert location] to watch a step-by-step video to get started [insert project, task] right away.

Template: Step-by-step Instructions

Need a breakdown, step-by-step? [insert name], your go-to source for [subject matter / product type], breaks it down for you, making it simpler than ever to [insert project / task]. Go to [insert location] for a complete and easy-to-follow tutorial.

Writing A Guest Blog Post Checklist

by Nicole Munoz

Before putting together any guest post, make sure to review this checklist. It will ensure you cover all your bases when providing quality content and making it as easy as possible for the target blog to publish your content.

Note: “target blog” simply refers to the blog on which you want your blog post published.

Post Content:

Put your best foot forward with the content of your post. Here are some tips to help you do that.

Read Through the Blog: Look at recent posts and dig deep into the category you want to write about. You do not want to duplicate something that has already been done. Take note of the voice and style to see how your writing might fit in well. Also, take note of the perspective the blogger takes on certain subjects. While there may room for varying perspectives, you do not want to directly contradict the opinions of the blog owner.

Read the Comments: Understand the people who are reading the blog. What posts do they seem to resonate with? What questions do they have? How can you help with something they seem to be looking for?

Create a Quality Post: Obviously, you want to make sure your post is of the highest quality possible. If you want it to be noticed by the blogger and to make an impact on the audience, it just has to be.

Create an Original Post: You will also be creating completely original content and offering exclusive publishing rights, unless the blog does not require it. While you can write on topics you’ve covered before, make the text is original.

Create a Targeted Post: In addition to having a quality and original post, you want it highly targeted to the audience. Mention things that are relevant to the readers and link to previous posts and any relevant products the blogger may have.

Post Formatting

Formatting is also important. It shows extra care and attention and makes it easier for the target blog to publish your post.

Use good web writing format by using short sentences and paragraphs. Use bullet points and subheadlines to make your content easy to read.
Format your subheadings with <h2> tags or whatever is appropriate for the blog.
Format your links, so they can be pasted into a blog and be clickable. For example:

Jeff recently <a href=”http://clickme.com/previous-post”>fly fishing</a> here.

Include images as they can add interest to the post. Make sure you have created the images or you have permission to publish them. You can host the image on your site and include the html code for the blog to automatically, but you may want to also attach the image, so they can upload it themselves. Name the image something descriptive and make sure the file size is appropriate for web publishing (i.e. Not too big!).
Do keyword research and optimize the post for a relevant keyword. Don’t let SEO take over as the quality of your post is key, but doing that extra bit of work will make your post attractive to the target blog and will more likely result in long-term benefit for you.

Overall, it’s important to put your best foot forward. Don’t skimp on quality or polishing your post before submitting it. Do your homework, write your best work, check it twice and you’ll do just fine.

How to Find Guest Blogging Opportunities

by Nicole Munoz

There are a number of ways to find guest blogging opportunities and this guide will provide you an illustrated tour of how you can get great exposure through guest posting. Whether you search for blogs that publicly accept submissions, approach blogs directly, use a guest blogging site or a combination of all those methods, there are plenty of opportunities to be found.

Assessing the Quality of the Opportunity

There are a number of factors to consider when deciding whether or not you want to write for a particular blog. While you may have other considerations, the factors we cover in this guide include targeted audience, traffic and community interaction. How much weight you add to each factor is completely up to you and depends on what is most important for you.

Quality Assessment Method #1: Targeted Audience

Before you write your first word, make sure the audience is truly targeted for you. Would they make good readers of your blog and customers for your products? While there may be plenty of blogs who write on the same subject matter as you, they may not be the right fit.

For example, if you write on political subjects, writing for a blog that doesn’t match your ideology may not be the best idea.

Or if you have a cooking site that features “from scratch” recipes, you may not find the opportunity to write for a blog that promotes quick and packaged fixes for meals a good fit for you either.

Ultimately, it’s up to you decide if the target audience is right for you, but do your homework first.

Quality Assessment Method #2: Traffic

There is no sure method of knowing a blog’s true traffic, unless they tell you. If the blog accepts advertising or requests content submissions, you might be able to find this information published on their website. If you can’t find that, you can use a tool like Alexa.com to assess their traffic.

TIP: Never base your assessment on traffic alone. The higher the traffic, the more competitive it is likely to get posted. Use your judgement accordingly.

Here is an example of estimated traffic ranking of mashable.com. Below, you can see the average traffic rank worldwide (in green) and in the US (you can customize the data for any country, if you prefer). The lower the number, the more popular the site.

In this case, Alexa says that mashable.com is the 222^nd most popular website on the web. The ranking is based on users who use the Alexa toolbar and is often skewed in providing website with web savvy audiences higher rankings. However, any site that ranks in the top 10,000 or so is very likely to have a large volume of traffic.

To get a better picture of the popularity of a site, instead of relying on the single ranking from Alexa, you can compare the ranking to other similar sites.

First, you can click the “Related Links” tab to find related sites:

Because some of these are social networking sites, rather than targeted blogs, that mashable.com tends to write about, we’ll disregard Twitter, Twitpic, Tweetmeme and FriendFeed. In this case, TechCrunch, Reader/Write/Web, Wired, Search Engine Journal and/or Lifehacker seem to more closely suit our needs for comparison.

TIP: You can compare any related sites that you want. You don’t have to only compare the ones Alexa suggests.

We can compare traffic ranking by clicking the “Traffic Stats” tab.

Then you’ll see a traffic graph and below that, you can enter sites to compare. We have decided to compare Techcrunch, Wired and Lifehacker and clicked “traffic rank”.

From the graph above, we can see that Mashable and TechCrunch have comparable traffic, but Mashable seems to come out the winner more consistently. Wired and Lifehacker appear to have lower traffic levels.

If you want to see specific numbers of any of the sites you are comparing, you can simply search for that site in the Alexa search box.

Quality Assessment Method #3: Community Interaction

If interaction is important to you, you may want to look at how people comment and interact on the site. However, realize that commenting doesn’t always give an accurate reflection of a blog’s traffic. Some blogs are more interactive than others and most blog visitors will read and never post a comment.

That said, understanding the vocal audience of a blog may give you an idea of whether or not this is the type of audience you want to write for. Some blogs may be more controversial than you were bargaining for or may not moderate or control their community in a way that you are comfortable with. On the other hand, you may find a lower traffic blog with a very tuned in and thoughtful audience of people you would like to connect with. In that case, the guest blogging opportunity might be a good one for you.

Finding Blogs

Some blogs you come across may include guest post submission guidelines. If so, always make sure you follow the guidelines to the letter. If there is no submission information, don’t let this stop you from submitting a post for consideration. To find submission guidelines, always look in the website menus (top, side and bottom) of the page or search on Google for “websitename.com submission guidelines”, “websitename.com submit post” etc.

Whatever method or methods you use to find blogs, make sure you do a quality assessment before jumping right in.

Finding Method #1: Google

A Google search is simple. Enter your topic plus “blog” and browse the results. In the example below, we’ve looked for “basket weaving blog”:

Technorati

Technorati is a large directory and search engine for blogs. You can browse through categories, by selecting from the top of the page:

You can also use the search box at the very top of the page to either search for blogs OR posts on certain topics. In the example below, we are searching for “stamp collecting” blogs:

Technorati lists the blog according to their own ranking algorithm:

Alexa Related Links

When you already have some sites in mind or ones you’ve already submitted to, you may want to find related sites to consider.

We already talk about Alexa’s Related Links feature and it will come in handy for finding additional blogs to potentially submit to. In this example, we have searched for sites related to comicsalliance.com:

In addition to the list above, if you scroll down a bit, you can search sites by category as well.

Using a Guest Blogging Site

There are sites and communities popping up where you can collaborate with other blog owners.

One such site is MyBlogGuest.com. It’s a free site where you can connect to find guest blogging opportunities and even to find guest bloggers to write for your site. Let’s take a quick look at how this site works.

MyBlogGuest

You can sign up for free at MyBlogGuest.com. When you sign up, you will be prompted to complete your profile, including your social networking accounts, a photo of yourself, your websites, your blogging experience and more. This will make it easier for a potential blog to evaluate whether or not they want to work with you.

Once you’re all set up, you can navigate to the Forum and find the “Looking for a guest for my blog” forum. There you can find blogs who are looking for people to post.

You can also post your own offers in the “Looking for a blog to guest post”, so other blogs can view your information.

Final Thoughts:

As you can probably see, once you start finding site to guest post for, it becomes even easier to find more. You can also use your experience on certain blogs as leverage to get other blogs to readily publish your posts. Finding opportunities isn’t hard, if you know how to look.

How To Find Images For Your Blog

by Nicole Munoz

High quality, professional images will help your blog make a much stronger impression. It’ll help make your blog appear more credible, help you catch attention and help you hold and your reader’s interest. It can also help you hammer a point home.

In some cases, you’ll be able to generate your own images for your blog yourself. For example, you might take your own step-by-step pictures for a DIY homebuilding project you’re doing. Or you might take your own screenshots for a tech demonstration you’re doing.

But in many cases, that won’t be an option. Or you just won’t want to because of how much work it’ll take. In many cases, it just makes sense to find high quality existing images instead of making your own.

When you do, the #1 thing you need to look out for is the image’s license. You need to make sure you find the perfect image for the perfect post, but you also need to make sure you can get the appropriate license to use the image. So where do you find these images? Let’s take a look at some image sources, along with their licenses.

Source #1: Morgue File

Morgue File one of the best free stock image sources on the internet. The files on Morgue File can generally be used for any purpose without attribution.

You can reproduce the image, alter the image, use just a part or the whole thing, create derivative works and even redistribute the image. It’s as close to no license as you’re going to get. Note that images might have more stringent licenses. Make sure you check the license for the specific image you plan on using.

Source #2: Stock.xchng

Stock.xchng is another free stock image website. It also has an enormous selection of images. If you’re looking for free images, try checking both SXC.hu and Morgue File before making your selection.

The image license on Stock.xchng is quite similar to Morgue File, but a little more stringent. You can use the image in whole or in part and you can alter the image. You can create derivative works. You cannot give redistribution rights and you need to ask permission before using the images for print media.

Again, check the specific license for the image you’re using.

Source #3: iStockPhoto

iStockPhoto is one of the most well known stock photo sites on the internet. They have millions of extremely high quality images to choose from.

Stock photos you get on paid sites are almost always far higher quality than photos you’d find on free stock photo sites. Often time’s you’ll only be able to find a good photo on a paid stock photo site.

Generally these sites work on a sliding scale, depending on the resolution you need. The higher the resolution of the photo, the more you pay. Instead of using cash, iStockPhoto uses a credit system. You buy credits, then spend them on images.

Source #4: Dreamstime

Dreamstime is another major paid stock image website. Much like iStockPhoto, Dreamstime uses a credit system. They are generally less expensive than iStockPhoto, but the quality of the images also seems to be lower.

Dreamstime allows you to buy different kinds of licenses for your images. Two common licenses are their “Royalty Free” license and their “Extended License” license.

The Royalty Free license allows you to use the image on the internet, on advertising material, CD covers, presentations and other kinds of single-use media. The Extended License allows you to redistribute the image in web templates, in screensavers, on T-Shirts and other kinds of redistribution media.

Source #5: Open Clipart

Clipart is a very different kind of art. Clipart is generally made from vector graphics. It’s created graphics rather than photographed graphics.

Clipart generally isn’t used as the primary graphic. Instead, it’s used to supplement other images. For example, you might look for thought bubbles or “light bulb over the head” kind of graphics on a clipart site.

You could also use it to find arrows, checkmarks and other formatting related images.

Open Clipart is one of the biggest free clipart sites on the net. From the home page of this site, they say the images in the public domain, meaning you can use it without attribution in any way you want.

Source #6: Flickr Creative Commons

A lot of people on Flickr choose to license their images with creative commons. There are a variety of types of creative commons licenses that Flickr supports. Note that almost all the licenses on Flickr require attribution. Some of them allow you to alter the image, while others don’t. Some allow you to print the image, but you should read the license specifics. Some allow you to redistribute the image, others don’t.

Fortunately, Flickr sorts all the different kinds of licenses out for you. Just click below, then select the type of images you want to see:

http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/

Once you’re in one license category, you can browse all of those images by hand, or search for what you’re looking for.

Source #7: Google Advanced Image Search

Another great place to look is Google’s advanced image search. Google allows you to search for images based on image license. To access the advanced search menu, click the “Settings” button on the right hand side of Google Image Search:

To select the license type to search, scroll all the way to the bottom.

Enter your keywords and any other specifications, such as size or geographic region, then hit “Advanced Search.” Only images of the license type you selected will be displayed.

Note that Google may not be 100% accurate, so make sure you double-check the license before you use it.

Source #8: Using Photo Dropper

Photo Dropper is a WordPress plugin that searches Creative Commons and licensable images for you, then drops it directly into your WordPress post. It’s very easy to use. Instead of having to go to an outside site to get an image, you can do it all within your WordPress interface.

Once you have Photo Dropper installed, just go to your post or page screens to use it. Click the Photo Dropper button to bring up the plugin.

Type in a search term. A number of search results will be displayed. Click the one that appeals to you most, but double check the appropriate license as the plugin is not foolproof.

Hit “Insert into Post” and the image will be added into your post. You’ll be given the option to edit the image, just as you would with any other kind of image insertion. You can change the size of the image, add alt text, add a link, change alignment or add CSS styles.

These are eight images different places you can find images for your blog on the internet. Again, make sure that you double-check the licenses for each image you use, as different images can be licensed differently, even on the same site.