I get lots of requests for guest posts on my site. I’m happy to help others build their platform while also sharing their wisdom with me and my followers. I have a few guidelines and instructions for those wishing to guest post.
Guidelines:
- The content of the article should have to do with leadership, business, careers, self-development, management, business, success, teamwork, etc… I am pretty flexible on topics, but just want to keep things in that general focus area.
- The article should be around 600 words maximum if written. I am open to receiving longer posts, but they need to be packed with great content, not filler. If you want to submit a video, make sure it is no longer than 5 Minutes.
- I am too busy to edit other people’s work, so before sending it make sure it is well written, properly formatted, and punctuated. Have some people read it to make sure it is OK. Read it out-loud to see how it flows.
- The article should provide good information and not be an advertisement for yourself. No selling will be allowed in guest posts. The only exception to this might be for a book or product launch – subject to my approval.
- The entire article should be on ToddNielsen.com. Writing half a post and then linking to your site to read the rest of the content, is a no – no.
- The article MUST be original and CANNOT be duplicated on another website. I use copywriting add-ons to check the originality of posts. Google dislikes duplicate content. You can read about it here: Duplicate Content
Expectations:
Good articles are 20% great content and 80% promotion. I expect guest writers to promote the article as much as possible, I will be doing the same for you. Followers of ToddNielsen.com and personal followers of “Todd Nielsen”, are worldwide. For this reason you cannot just post your article once on a social media channel and expect success. Here are some guidelines:
Twitter: I love Twitter. You should be posting 5 to 15 times a day on twitter, for at least a week. Yes I know that sounds a lot, but if you want people to notice from all over the world, you have to let people know. The number of times depends often on how many followers you have. I am happy to give you my thoughts on the exact number based on your followers.
- Use a URL shortening service to shorten the url to the post.
- Use a program like Buffer to schedule your posts throughout the day.
- Come up with several different titles or questions to tweet about that point to your article. Sometimes one way will be a dud and one way will go viral. I have seen this happen many times.
- Use quotes and other tidbits from your articles for you tweets as well, always include the URL back to the article
- Try to include “via @toddbnielsen” – without quotes, that way my followers will pick-up the posts. For example here is a possible Tweet format: “Blog Title” URL-TO-BLOG-POST.com by@YourTwitterHandle via @toddbnielsen #leadership #someotherhashtag”
- Keep it up for at least a week to a month for maximum exposure. I have had cases where I am tweeting an article for a number of days until finally the right follower with a HUGE follower takes interest in the article and tweets it to their following. When I personally guest post on another site I generally start out tweeting a lot for the first week or two , then tone it down to to 4 to 7 tweets a day for about 3 months, then it goes on a list for 1 time a day.
- It is important to use hashtags in your tweets as much as possible. A example of a hashtag is: #leadership. Hashtags are important because it allows others searching for content to find your article. Mix it up, try different ones, use multiple hashtags if you have room in your tweet.
Facebook: Please friend me on Facebook before the article goes live. This way we will increase exposure of the article by mentioning each other in posts. Facebook time-lines are well, tricky. You cannot use a program to post to Facebook for you or it will only appear on your timeline and not your wall. So you need to do it manually. Also Facebook removes posts from walls when they are not getting traction. You might need to post it several different times. You can say different things each time throughout the week, i.e. “In case you missed this article…,” or, “A lot of great traffic and comments on my article at…”, etc…
Google+: Please add me to one of your circles and I will do the same before the article is live. Make sure you post the article and keep tabs on who else is posting, so you can +1 their posts. Please do the same for me when I post it.
LinkedIn: You will want to post it to your status several times, but more importantly you need to post it to groups. When clicking the share button on the post for LinkedIn, it is best to only share one group at a time. So share with one group, close the LinkedIn dialogue, then click the LinkedIn button on your post to share the post with another Linked group. It can take a little time, but it is well worth the 5 minutes it might take to perform this. Usually best to also add a discussion oriented question to the subject line or many group managers will delete the post.
Pinterest: Is getting more and more powerful these days. Please Pin it up under an appropriate tag for the article. If you need an invitation to Pinterest, let me know and I will send one if I have invites left.
StumbleUpon & Digg: 1 share on each of the channels by you is usually sufficient. Just click the buttons.
Other Social Channels: There are many other social channels out there. Please feel free to post to others you use.
*A Pointer Article: One of the most powerful methods of spreading the word about your article is to post a short abbreviated version to your blog that links back to the post on ToddNielsen.com. Type out a post that is around 75 words and does not repeat anything and link it back to here. Here is a pointer article I did for a guest post that I wrote: Four Strategies to Make Your Vision a Reality
Comments: I want authors to stay connected and create conversations around their article. Please respond intelligently to all comments. And come back often to check for additional comments.
How to Submit:
To Submit an article fill out the form below, Once I receive the submission and approve the article, I will email you and ask for the full article as well as some other information, such as an extended bio and social media profiles. I look forward to hearing from you!
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