Guest posting is probably one of the hottest subjects to happen in search for 2012, with the Google Penguin update, SEOs and Link Builders have been particularly careful now of only been linked to from quality sites.

Image Credit to e_walk – from Flickr

Simply put guest posting is now why of the most white hat and natural ways of gaining links to help your website rank better. Sound easy? Well to be honest its not, countless people talk about the value of guest post links and quite frankly there is more talk than actual action.
So how can we take the edge off of guest posting and reaching out to potential bloggers, these 5 tips will help to cut the edge off and help you become a better blogger outreach specialist.

1) Give it some Personality
Recently reported from Julia Hobsbawm within the City AM the founder of media networkingbusiness Editorial Intelligence and honorary visiting professor in networking at the Cass Business School in London. She discusses that what us professionals see as the “working world” constantly are faced with blending in work and our personal lives. So whatever situation or industry you are faced with when guest posting inject your own finesse into the guest posts to help make them stand out from the rest of the crowd. Content publishers will appreciate the fact that you added a unique angle to an already dry subject area will be spotted a mile off!

2) Be Curious with Your Posts
Although its said curiosity killed thecat, the more you know about your subject area the better the long term results will be according to Hobsbawm, “Curiosity is one of the single best things a person can bring to networking” – so bring this to your guest posting opportunities. Discuss with your clients hot topics at the moment in the industry as they are bound to know more than you!

3) Personalisation
When reaching out to people add trust factors into your outreach emails as potential bloggers like you are curious about you, and are more likely to accept you by adding these simple social signals for example shown below, at the end of the guest posting request pitch:

Many thanks for your time and I really look forward to hearing from you soon!

Warm regards
Jo Blogs
@joblogs
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/joblogs
Contact Number (01206) 999 999

Not only does this add trust but also helps to make sure you are not a spammer!

4) Hedge Your Bets
The hardest and most painful part of guest posting is the outreach, looking finding and applying. However its all about safety in numbers, if you expect that by sending 10 outreach emails you will receive a 10/10 success rate, you will be highly hopeful. So try to have around 30 ideal bloggers in mind then target them, that way if you are aiming for 10 blog posts you are not relying on those 10 sources but more!

5) It’s all about the Bigger Picture
It is a tough one, but guest posting and getting all those nice links is not going to happen overnight, once you understand that and accept it the better, like SEO these things take time but you will be sure to reap the benefits in the long term.

About Author | This post was written on behalf of a leading Chinese SEO agency Qumin – A “Full Service Chinese Digital Marketing Agency in London, UK.”