The Ultimate Guide to Guest Blogging

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have been guest blogging for few weeks now and within that period I have written several guest posts,. A lot of my guest posts were written solely for the sake of getting traffic and subscribers, and to improve my sphere of influence. Others were written solely for the purpose of experimenting and learning new things as far as guest blogging is concerned.
To say I haven’t learnt anything when it comes to guest blogging would be a lie.
Let me discuss with you what I have learnt so far.

What is Guest Blogging?
The first question that will come to your mind when guest blogging is mentioned is, ‘what exactly is guest blogging?’ A lot of us know that forum marketing is the act of marketing our blog/website on forums. Most of us know that blog commenting is the act of commenting on other blogs. But what is guest blogging?
Guest blogging is the act of writing for another blog, with the hope of getting quality back-links, getting traffic, gaining exposure and building relationships.

Who Can Use Guest Blogging?
Guest blogging definitely has a lot of advantages, (which I’ll be getting into soon) but one major concern I have been getting from readers is that they only see guest blogging being used in the make-money-online niche. They ask me if it is really effective in other niches. Since guest blogging is based on you giving away free content with the hopes of getting link/traffic/exposure, it is really practical and effective in other niches.
The problem is that it might be a little difficult to find blogs to write for in niches other than the MMO niche. However, this also means that the blogs you’re after would’ve only had a few guest bloggers competing to write for them. This gives you the chance to get even more results from your guest posts.

Anybody can use guest blogging, in any niche: as long as there are blogs within your niche – guest blogging is possible.

Benefits of Guest Blogging
There are various reasons to guest post, and I’m a firm believer in the fact that your reason for guest posting will determine the kind of guest post you write, and the kind of blog you write for. I’ve written a previous post on some of the major benefits of guest blogging but I also think it will be better if I highlight some of the major reasons why I personally guest post below.

• To Gain Quality Traffic: In most cases this is the only reason I guest post. From my observation I have discovered that guest blogging is one of the best ways to get quality traffic that sticks and converts into subscribers. A recent guest post of mine on Problogger sent me over 1000 visitors in less than a week with very low bounce rate and quality time on site. So many of these visitors even go on to engage with me in other places. Guest blogging is by far my best traffic source.
• To Gain Subscribers: To me, this is the joy of guest blogging because there is no point in having traffic that doesn’t stick. I have gotten as much as 2000 visitors in one day from Stumbleupon alone, but you’ll find it difficult to believe that none of those visitors subscribed to my blog, and even though my guest posts on big blogs send me an average of 400-500 visitors I still get over 100 subscribers from each and every one of them. In fact, my recent guest post on Problogger (which is my highest-performing one ever) sent me over 400 subscribers in the first 3 days – and I keep on getting subscribers from it every day.

• To Build Backlinks: I once started an experiment (which has now been paused) to see how effective guest blogging is for link building. Guest blogging is the easiest and most effective way to build quality and authoritative backlinks to your blog. For this reason some of my posts are ranking on page one of Google for their desired keywords, most of my posts are indexed and ranked as soon as they’re published, and I now get over 4,000 visitors from Google alone every month. Guest blogging is definitely the best way to build authority backlinks to your blog and domain name – and the fact that it is also the easiest makes it the best.

• To Gain Exposure: Do you know that Problogger gets as much as 40k visitors every single day? Let’s say I was able to get a guest post published on Problogger. In a matter of one week the guest post would have been viewed by at least 10k people. This means that number of people have also seen my name. You might not see great value in this but considering the fact that people have to see a brand at least 7-8 times before they become really familiar with it, you will easily gain exposure and build your brand by repeatedly getting featured on the top blogs in your niche.

• It Helps Build Your Brand: Even though I get thousands of visitors from search engines every single month my blog name and my name are the most searched keywords readers look for. This is mainly as a result of my guest blogging (because I get the most searches when a guest post of mine is published on a big blog). I have also noticed that visitors who arrive from the search engines through my blog’s name (or my name) are those who end up spending the most time on my site. So, it doesn’t matter what people think works or not, guest blogging is one of the most effective ways to build a great brand.

• To Gain Credibility: What is the best way to start making a lot of sales when you launch a new product? Or what is the best way to get a lot of affiliates to jump on board? The truth is your traffic counts but the big players will only help you promote your stuff when they know they can count on you. There is no better way for people to know they can trust you than for them to repeatedly see your work on some of the biggest blogs in their niche. Guest blogging helps build your credibility and makes it easy for people to trust you and take your word for it.

I’ve done quite a job explaining the benefits of guest blogging and considering this isn’t the main area we’re touching on today, let’s move on.
Proof that Guest Blogging Works
Just so you know I’m serious when I talk about guest blogging (and that I get results from my efforts) I’ll show you some screenshots from some of my successful guest posts.
While you’re at it, I’ll also like you to know that even though my results might be mouth watering, they aren’t typical. I have seen people get more/fewer results than I do. This post will be based on my approach to guest blogging and I believe that by following my approach you will be able to get better results than I did.
Over 1K Visitors from Only One Guest Post
By Bamidele ( writers in charge)

My 5 Rules for Guest Blogging

have rules for guest blogging, and my rules have never failed me. This particular rule has helped me get my guest post published on some of the biggest blogs in the blogosphere and I hope that by following them, you will be able to achieve the same thing.
My 5 guest blogging rules are Research, Writing, Proofreading, Submitting and Interaction and I’ll be explaining them below.
• Research: When getting ready to guest blog the first thing I do is research. And when I refer to research I’m not just talking about researching the post idea or anything of that nature – but researching the blog itself to be familiar with it so I can get my first submission published. I know my first efforts didn’t get me published on most big blogs and that is exactly why I formed this rule. Effectively researching before submitting your guest post makes it easy for you to understand how a blog works, who is the key person behind the blog, what kind of content is allowed, and what you must do to easily get published on the blog. For example, if I’m just trying to get published on a big blog for the first time I will take a look at the last 30 posts published on the blog (both by the blog author and guest bloggers), because that will give me an idea of what is accepted and published there. I’ll also read the most recent guest posts to have a better idea of what is common among the guest bloggers. For example, I see writing completely different, specific and unique posts works best on SmartPassiveIncome. Highly informative list posts work well on DailyBlogTips. And looking for new ways to effectively present your ideas work well on Problogger. By researching, I have also noticed that DailyBlogTips don’t accept SEO’d anchor texts, and Problogger has no problems with links within the content of your guest posts, as long as your links are highly relevant. Every blog host is different. They have different rules and beliefs and you have to understand that before trying to write for their blogs.
• Writing: Even though I have a standard for writing when it comes to my blog, I try to raise my standard when it comes to my guest posts because I know there are a lot of people competing for the attention of my potential host, so only the best guest posts will stand out. I try to research effectively when it comes to my writing. I also do my best to ensure my guest post is unique, detailed and informative. As a result – every one of my guest posts on big blogs are thousands of words long. This is not because I am specific about the length but because I try to do my best to make my content as detailed, informative, practical and as presentable as possible. Another thing I have noticed is that the more unique and informative my guest post is, the more results I get from it.
• Proofreading: I always fail whenever I try to submit a guest post to a blog without proofreading it. What this shows is that my writing isn’t perfect – none of us are. Proofreading your guest posts makes them as clear and as presentable as possible – thus making them easy for your host to read. I have published guest posts on this blog just because of how effective and clear the grammar is, and I’m sure a lot of bloggers will do the same. I often take more time proofreading my guest posts than writing them because the secret lies in proofreading. Your guest post is never complete without you proofreading it.
• Submitting: This is one of the most crucial aspects of guest blogging. Some people believe in pitching before writing but I believe in writing before pitching and it has always helped me. So many bloggers prefer it too because it is a time saver. If you tell me you have a guest post for me and I tell you to go ahead and write it, you will be more disappointed if I don’t accept it. But if you send the post along with your first query email I can easily give it a quick scan to see if it is right for my blog or not. It is also important that you do your best to make sure you’re as polite as possible in your email. Bloggers hate rude guest bloggers so they won’t even bother replying you if you’re rude. Just to give you an idea of which kind of email works I will be attaching two of the emails I have sent to bloggers below.
• Sample Email for DailyBlogTips Guest Post
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• Sample Email for Problogger Guest Post
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• Interaction: I know some of you who are familiar with my guest posts on Problogger and DailyBlogTips will say I don’t interact in the comments section. This isn’t because I don’t want to, but because my IP has been blacklisted by Akismet and these blogs get a lot of spam comments every day. It will be very difficult for me to constantly disturb the bloggers to fish out my comments from their spam section. Otherwise, I always interact in the comment section of my guest posts because a lot of my readers told me that’s how they found me. It is a good thing to get your guest post published, but interacting in the comments section of the blog that published your guest post is really important because it tells the readers of that blog you really care and are not just there for the link or the traffic.
It’s that simple, the above are my five rules for successful guest blogging and I’m so optimistic about them working for anyone who tries to use them effectively.
We’ve talked about the process of guest blogging so it’s now time to visit some other important aspects.

These People Are Getting Paid to Write. Here’s Why You Might Not...

Have you ever asked yourself what it is that really separates average freelance writers from really successful ones?

A while back, I shared quick lessons from my cold pitching experiment, and I shared what was working for me and what I felt wasn’t working.

Two days after, I got the following email from a reader (Nabankita):

“Thanks a lot for this wonderful article. I tried the ways you told to write a cold pitch and it really worked! I got 2 response emails already within 48 hours out of the 8-10 emails I had sent. Thank you for your article. Have a good day.”

Essentially, this reader read my email, acted immediately and started to see results within 48 hours.

I also got the following email from another reader, Afatah, in response to the same email about my cold pitching experiment:

“I normally just subscribe to stuff but I don’t know how I decided to act on your cold pitch experiment.

Here is my first:”

(He then attached the screenshot below. You can click the image to make the image bigger and bolder)

By immediately acting on the lessons I shared in my email, Afatah was able to get a major publication to agree to pay him $80 for an article.

As you can see from the screenshot he sent, Afatah was asked to mention his rate and he asked for $80, which the client instantly agreed to. If he wanted, he could probably have asked for more.

Afatah is also based in a third world country but he did not create mental blocks or excuses for himself such as “I am based in a third world country, will clients take me serious?” or “I’m not really sure this will work, what if {this and that}?” Or “Oh, I’m a non-native English writer. I’m worried I’m not qualified to be paid well to write”

Instead, Afatah got to work. He sent his pitch, and you can see the result.

ACTION. That’s The Key Word.

Afatah’s success, Nabankita’s success, mine and that of the many successful writers you admire is hinged on action.

At the end of the day, the key to success lies in taking action… not reading.

There’s an abundance of information, over-abundance even, on what to do and what not to do but you’ll only ever know if something works if you take action.

The two examples are from readers who acted on my free advice, and I have even more success stories from students of my premium programs (Anca, Clement, Hassan and many others).

Ultimately, it’s not about whether the information you get is free or paid, it’s about whether you act on it.

Early in my writing career, in 2011, I remember reading an article by Carol Tice calling writers out for not being bold enough to ask for what they want. She encouraged writers to embrace their “inner bitch” (now, some will find the language too strong and it’s not something I’d use myself but I focused on the message of that article, which she expressed articulately)

I was earning $80 – $100 per article and I wasn’t bold enough to ask my clients to pay more; “what if they say no?” After reading that article, I decided to start charging new clients $150 per article; not a single client complained. I later demanded $200 per article, and there was no complaint either. I have charged clients more, and I basically charge anything I want now; if I decide to go lower, there’s a strategic reason behind it.

At the end of the day, the reason Carol’s advice worked for me was because I acted. I started telling new clients “this is what I want” and I got it.

So, if you want to get clients, take action by reaching out to businesses on a consistent basis; you’ll get hired in no time!

If you want to earn more, don’t be afraid to raise your rates; ask for it, and you’ll be surprised at how much you can be worth.

Don’t just read, act. That’s the key to getting results.

- See more at: http://www.writersincharge.com/key-to-getting-paid-to-write/#sthash.Y5YAQBcF.dpuf

Young Consultants, Make Your Mark

• Start Now!
  Many consultants later regret neglecting their personal brand during the early stages of their career. For the current generation of young consultants, widespread use of social media has certainly changed how many young consultants build their brand; but has also posed a threat to the sanctity of the personal brand. Grant stressed the importance of working on our personal brand through a range of mediums, as soon as possible, and in doing so giving ourselves more time to shape our personal brand to fit our long-term career objectives. “Start now – the earlier the better.”

• Be Your Own Marketing Department
  Many consultants are already aware of the need to continually push ourselves to achieve higher standards and better quality work, but it is equally important to make those around us aware of our achievements and strengths. You need to be front of mind when a client faces a challenging issue; a difficult place to occupy when clients are bombarded with information personally and professionally every day. So you need a personal brand that’s memorable, strong and trusted. One of the best pieces of advice Grant had received early in his career from a senior partner was to learn when and how to ‘blow your own trumpet’ in a way that celebrates success and builds brand recognition, but isn’t arrogant or disingenuous. Be thoughtful and persistent in building your own branding campaign, just like a marketing department for a large company would be. 

• Understand Your Natural Assets

• Our personal brand can be thought of as one of our primary natural asset. It is an expression of our natural strengths and capabilities. One effective method of determining what your personal brand ought to be is to ask yourself: “What do I want to be famous for?” In other words, how and what will we be remembered for as individuals and employees? Using this question can help us develop our Personal Brand in a genuine and unique way. Interestingly, as time goes by and we grow and develop, the answer to the question tends to change. This change is mimicked by our personal brand, making us ‘naturally unique’ over time.

shocking-the-most-promising-retail-markets-in-africa-are-in-the-countries-people-rarely-talk-about/

It is rarely mentioned countries, like Gabon, Botswana and Angola, that are increasingly becoming attractive for multinational retailers looking to launch and expand on the African continent, according to a new report. These countries are small and dynamic, their income levels are growing and their retail markets are unsaturated—offering ample opportunity for the enterprising retailer.

Daily Digest

"There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love. There’s only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.”

"The fact that you are willing to say, 'I do not understand, and it is fine,' is the greatest understanding you could exhibit."

Small Business Risk Management Tips

Small Business Risk Management Tips

While most business owners know that risk is a part of business, small businesses tend to overlook risk management. This leaves them open to negative impacts, loss, and business failure. Coming up with a small business risk management plan can help to mitigate risk and protect profitability.

What is Risk Management?

Risk management is a process for identifying risk, measuring its potential impacts, and coming up with ways to eliminate or minimize sources of risk. A small business risk management plan is a written policy that takes into account as many of the sources of risk to the business as possible. It may include evacuation plans for fires, floods, and other natural disasters, as well as ways to minimize risk from financial decisions, client default on payments, and other business concerns. Small businesses can be particularly vulnerable to risk because of their small sizes and low operating budgets.

Identifying Risks

The best place to begin a small business risk management plan is by identifying risks associated with doing business. These risks are generally business or industry-specific. The first step is to go through the business plan and look at every area of the business. Make a list of areas where risk is possible and brainstorm negative events that could happen, from the likely to the very unlikely. Approximating how likely these events are to happen will help in deciding which risks need to be addressed first. The next step is coming up with a way to manage the risks.

Mitigating Risk

There are four basic categories of strategies for managing risk. The potential negative effects of a risk can be reduced, for instance by instituting a back-up plan for computer data. A risk can be managed by transferring the risk to another party, usually an insurance company. This strategy works for risks that are fairly common, like fire or theft. Accepting the consequences of a risk and budgeting for it can work in areas where the negative impact is likely to be fairly small. Finally, risk can be avoided entirely by eliminating a high-risk area of business or outsourcing it.

Managing Risk

Once the organization has come up with a small business management plan, it is time to implement it. While large companies often have risk management departments to handle risk management, a small business most likely has one person or a small committee in charge of compliance and monitoring. Risk management is an ongoing process in any business, as it is important to keep tabs on how effective the plan is and if it needs updates. In addition, employees must be trained in risk management procedures, particularly in safety and disaster readiness.

How to Get Help

Small business risk management may be more complicated than risk management for larger companies, if only because a small business may not be able to hire a person whose only job is risk management. Small business owners may want to hire an outside consultant or risk evaluator to help with the identification of risks and with coming up with a risk management plan. These consultants may be fire marshals or other compliance officers. They will also need to comply with OSHA and other legal regulations, so it’s important to do research before coming up with a plan.

Small business risk management planning is often overlooked as a part of beginning a business, but it is crucial to the smooth running of any business. Make sure that your small business has a risk management plan before it opens its doors!

The world’s first self-driving public shuttle is smart, efficient, and adorable

Watch it, Google. (Courtesy of WEPods.nl)

Meet the cheery little WEpod: the first-ever driverless shuttle to travel on public roads.

Made for transporting six passengers at a time, the shuttle—which has only been tested in private areas until now—will debut on a route between two towns in the Netherlands starting in November, The Telegraph reports. The project is the child of French vehicle manufacturer EasyMile and EU-funded transportation initiative Citymobil2, which has already helped transport 19,000 passengers in similar driverless shuttles in Finland.

Though various forms of automated public transport already exist in cities around the world, the Netherlands’ WEpod will be the first to drive in normal human traffic. Passengers can use an app to book rides on the shuttle, which is expected to expand from its initial one-line route to serve various other Dutch regions by next summer.

The vehicle will travel at a slow crawl of 25 kilometers (15 miles) per hour, and will not—at least for now—attempt to travel at night or in bad weather.

Image courtesy of WEpods.nl

Autonomous public transport has long been of interest to local governments, who see it as a way to replace outdated transit systems with safer, cost-efficient vehicles. But as transportation experts have pointed out, it’s not as simple as mastering the technology.

The infrastructure of mass transport itself needs to be rethought—a daunting task to which no company experimenting with driverless technology, not even Google or Uber, has yet risen. A recent report from the Center for Urban Transportation Research in Florida found that in the US, at least, autonomous vehicle technology is far more advanced in the automotive industry than in the lagging public transit industry.

The EU’s Citymobil2 program aims to make the latter a priority. Already, it’s helped launch autonomous shuttles in pedestrian areas in Switzerland, and put a driverless bus in central Greece.

Watch a demonstration of the WEpod technology below:

Why I wouldn’t bet my house on LTE in Africa

Young people expect broadband internet to be cheap and fast, an advantage for Wi-Fi.(Reuters/Enrique de la Osa)

I saw a recent article from Quartz Africa about Smile Telecoms raising money to expand 4G LTE networks into Africa. It’s a good story. Wireless broadband is the future, and Africa is the continent of opportunity.

I just don’t buy the strategy.

Telecoms is a long-term business with long-term investments and long-term rewards. Building for the long term means ensuring your foundations are rock-solid.

It’s one thing expanding off an existing base of profitability, i.e.: MTN or Vodacom. It’s an entirely different thing starting data networks from scratch, especially when you rely on a competitive advantage provided by LTE spectrum.

“Spectrum” is another word for “frequency” and refers to the specific portion of the airwaves that a wireless operator uses to offer voice and data services. The first GSM networks operated on 900MHz and 3G operates on 1,8GHz

Unfortunately, spectrum rights are not rock solid. What the government has granted, the government can take away.

Not only do you pay through your nose for the spectrum rights, but you’re burdened with license obligations for infinity. These obligations are not set-in-stone. Every year the regulator makes up new obligations.

“Oh look, he looks like he’s making money, let’s force him to connect another 1,000 schools to the Internet for free.”

This is all well and good with voice networks. The high margins means there is plenty of cash to go around.

The data pricing paradox

The problem is data. People expect data to be free. That means data networks must be lean and mean. There is no room for surprises. Especially surprise costs. Worse than unexpected expenses is the risk of one day getting a letter saying your spectrum has been nationalized.

Some people think this is impossible. No government would jeopardize such an important industry by messing with property rights. And yet that is exactly what the South African government did for mineral rights. It cancelled all mining licenses and asked companies to reapply. And they did this to the single biggest earner of foreign exchange in the country.

The rationale makes sense to me. Redistribution of economic interests in the economy can’t happen without radical intervention. The Afrikaners did it when they took control from the United Party in the 50’s. Now it’s the turn of non-white communities.

You can’t cure cancer without chemotherapy.

This happens all over the world, not just Africa. The only way to mitigate this risk is to bribe politicians. “I’ll pay you to maintain the status quo.”

In the age of the Internet I wouldn’t want to build a business based on bribery. That’s not a rock solid foundation. There are no more secrets. The Internet is here.

And anyway, bribery only gets you so far.

People want cheap fast broadband. WiFi is a standards-based technology with global adoption and fast-accelerating device footprint thanks to smartphones.

How do stop the WiFi wave?

 The future of wireless broadband in Africa is WiFi. No regulators, no license fees, no uncertainty over property rights. 

You can’t. If the customer wants hotdogs, don’t sell him hamburgers. People want WiFi. You must rather figure out a way to build data networks that let you make a profit whilst selling fast cheap broadband.

The future of wireless broadband in Africa is WiFi. Wireless broadband over public spectrum. No regulators, no license fees, no uncertainty over property rights.

If you’re a new kid on the block you are faced with two paths: Go down the LTE path and deal with the incumbents, governments and the risk of signal interference technology rendering your spectrum worthless before you’ve generated sufficient return on capital.

Or, go down the WiFi path. There are already tens of thousands of profitable WiFi operators across the world offering fast affordable wireless broadband, so its not a risky business model.

Remember Moore’s Law

It’s just a question of whether you believe the original Moore’s Law, i.e.: transistors on integrated circuits will double every year, applies to WiFi technology.

Warren Buffet talks about his two golden rules:

1. Don’t lose money.
2. Never forget rule No 1.

In my opinion you are guaranteed to lose money building a business from scratch on LTE spectrum. The best way to avoid trouble on a dangerous path is to not take that path.

Steve Jobs said Apple is a company that chooses which horse to ride technologically. Apple wants to rides upward curves which is why it abandoned Flash and floppy drives when it became apparent they were becoming obsolete. More than 75% of internet video was in flash when Apple killed support. Today Flash doesn’t exist.

WiFi is the upward curve. LTE is the new Flash.

Smile is unlikely to make money for shareholders by paying dividends. It will probably make money by being sold to a big telco that is desperate for LTE spectrum.

Regardless of who owns the spectrum, it will fail to meet the expectations of shareholders.

LTE is the new telecoms bubble, and just like the 3G bubble of the late 90’s, this one will end in tears.