This is a great guest post from Jessica Freeman.
Guest blog posts give you an opportunity for great exposure. You get to attract the readers of popular blogs with your own ideas. Plus, you get high-quality backlinks that bring you traffic on the long run. If you get your posts published by influential bloggers, you’ll build quite a reputation for your own site.
It doesn’t matter how hard you promote your posts via all social media platforms. You’ll still need to include guest posting in your content strategy if you want to attract more traffic to your site. Exposure, credibility, links, and social media growth – these are only few of the many benefits you’ll gain through guest posts.
The Elements of Proper Guest Blogging
Have you seen the Yoga International site? It’s a great example for successful guest blogging. Aspiring and established yoga teachers write high-quality posts that cement their status as authorities in the niche. They grow their business through such an exposure. If you submit your pitches to websites that get tons of visitors, you can achieve the same effect.
The only question is: how do you get your content featured on high-quality blogs? You don’t want to waste your time and intellect by submitting posts to blogs that get no visitors and shares. You want the best!
Locating the most popular blogs in your niche is easy enough. You’ve done your research, so you’re already aware of the big names. The only question is: how do you impress these bloggers? How do you convince them to feature your content? Everything starts with an outreach letter. That’s what today’s post is all about: writing outreach letters. You’ll get practical tips that will help you communicate with the webmasters in the right way.
Writing Outreach Letters: The Traces to Follow
1. Don’t forget the subject line!
What’s the first thing you write when trying to send an outreach letter? The subject line, of course! There’s nothing worse than sending an email with an empty subject. But, how exactly do you name your email message?
- It’s easy to grab the blogger’s attention if you mention something specific about their blog. For example, you can write “A guest post pitch for your marketing tips category.”
- You don’t have to complicate things. You can go for a simple subject, such as “Content suggestion for your blog” or “A guest post for your blog”.
2. A simple hello is sometimes enough
This is the hardest part: how do you start writing the email? Do you leave the message body empty and simply attach your outline? No!
- What’s the blogger’s name? You’ll find it in the about section of the blog, and all over the site. Bloggers like getting friendly and personal with their readers, and they expect the same level of affection.
Hello Tim,
My name is Laura. I’m the author of *your blog’s name with link here*. I have an idea for a blog post for your blog’s Oily Skin Foundation section.
See? That’s a nice message starter because it’s personalized, but also goes straight to the point.
3. Make the outreach letter short, but informative
When someone maintains an influential blog, they are dealing with their own posts. Plus, they have to communicate with the audience and promote their posts on different platforms. They also get dozens of guest blogging requests on a daily basis. Do you think they want to waste time on long email messages? That’s out of the question!
- Don’t write an entire essay in the body of the message. If you’re submitting an outline, mention that you’re attaching the document.
- Don’t get us wrong: the message needs to be short, but it still needs to provide the information this blogger needs. Explain who you are and throw a pitch for the title.
Remember the example we provided above? My name is Laura, and I’m the author of *your blog’s name with link here*. I have an idea for a blog post for your blog’s Oily Skin Foundation section. It’s important to tell the webmaster who you are, so they can check out your content and see if your style is suitable for their site. You need only 2-3 sentences to introduce yourself and make your offer. Use them well.
4. Make it easy to read
If you go through the most popular blogs in your niche, how would you define their style? Bloggers stick to simplicity, because that’s how the audience likes its content. That’s how bloggers like their emails, too.
- Stay away from abstract descriptions.
- Use Hemingway App to make sure your outreach letter is grammatically correct. The app will also warn you about complex words and sentences, so you can simplify the text before sending the message.
5. Avoid too formal and old-school phrases
Hello Miss Julie,
I was wondering if you would consider my suggestion for a blog post. I’ve been an avid reader of your blog since its very beginnings, and I would love to make my contributions. You will find my outline in the attachment.
Sincerely hoping for your feedback,
Michelle
What was wrong with that example? Everything! It seems like it belongs in the 19th century. Bloggers are friendly in nature, so you’re allowed to be relaxed when writing to them. Be natural and write as you speak!
6. Avoid slang, too
If you understand the blogger’s own slang, it’s okay to use it. If this blog is famous for curse words, it’s okay to use them. If you want a safe bet, it’s best to avoid all slang.
- You need to make sure this blogger understands your message, so make it universal. Millennials use cool words, but sometimes they get carried away with them. Not everyone knows that hundo p means 100%. So, it would be best to stick to simple style. You can do it!
7. Break up the text in paragraphs
- One paragraph for your hello;
- Another one to introduce yourself and show your appreciation for the blogger’s work;
- A separate paragraph to describe your pitch;
- Another paragraph for your closing points.
It’s important to make the content easy to read, and that’s impossible thing to achieve with a huge chunk of text.
8. Provide alternatives
What if the blogger doesn’t like your idea? What if they already have a post like that on their site? It’s important to have other cards up your sleeve, so you’ll have more chances of landing the guest blogging opportunity.
- Provide at least three ideas, with headlines and brief descriptions.
- If the blogger requests outlines, write one for each idea. An outline doesn’t take much time to complete, and you can always use it for another pitch if this blogger doesn’t accept it.
9. Don’t skip the closing phrase
The closing phrase is part of the email etiquette. Some of the usual closures seem outdated, but even they can work when you have no idea how to finish the outreach letter.
- All the best
- Best regards
- Looking forward to hearing back from you
- Sincerely
All these phrases are simple, but they work. There’s no need to overthink this part; just pick a phrase.
10. Sign the letter
Maybe you introduced yourself at the start of the outreach letter, but you still need to leave a signature. Those closing phrases above seem dry without leaving a name under, don’t they?
- Write your first and last name in the signature.
- Add your blog’s name, with a link that leads to it.
Best Regards,
Marry from ILoveFood.com
That’s simple, isn’t it?
Your Outreach Letters Determine Your Success as a Guest Blogger
Guest blogging is not a simple strategy. First of all, you have to write awesome posts and communicate with several bloggers to make things happen. None of that would be possible without writing perfect outreach letters. Hopefully, the tips you just went through will give you a foundation for building a bright future as a successful guest blogger.
Jessica Freeman is passionate about content writing and journalism. She finds her calling in making others interested in topics of education, essay writing, and marketing developments. Jessica often contributes her content writing pieces to Australianwritings.com. Get in touch with her on Twitter.
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