Today I had yet another request to publish a guest post for a website. The writing style made me chuckle (in a “you complete idiot” kind of way) so I decided to create a poor “infographic” (annotated some text in Google Draw) and waste some precious time sharing it here. I will ping it over to Pinterest later as that is the cool thing to do these days.
In case you are incapable of reading the huge graphic above, here is a copy of what I received today, presented in more search engine friendly reader friendly text. I have changed the domains to protect the innocent. The guilty do not really deserve protecting, but then they do not deserve a link either. I have added emphasis in bold, just for the hell of it.
Hi
I found your blog, really enchanting and
I am really impressed with your way of managing a blog.
The stuff in your blog is really interesting and catching.I am interested in a paid blog post on your blog.We want you to publish a post in your site related to exams or
certification in which you are required to add our site link which is “*********.com”.You will be paid $30 for one post. If you are intrested then please let me know because we start to work on it as soon as possible.
We will hope to get positive response from your site.Emma.
I really is funny in a sad way. Do some people actually accept these offers? I guess some bloggers really do not give a flying monkey’s so take the cash – although from where these emails come from, $30 is probably a lot of cash to cough up. I’d be surprised if it was a case of “we can only pay 6 years after publication” tricks.
How To Entice Me To Publish Your Guest Post
OK, so if you want me to publish a guest post, here is what you should do:
- Start by introducing yourself and if you are an SEO or marketing agent, say so.
- Say why you wish to publish your post on my blog, tell me why you think I am great (flattery gets you everywhere!)
- Understand that if you offer cash I will naturally add nofollow to the post, so instead offer the post for free, but make it a really, really good article with photos.
- Try not to piss me off.
Simple as that really. If I was to approach someone I would probably go about it like this.:
Hello Tim,
I came across your website while doing some research for a client of mine. I noticed that you have published guest posts in the past, and as my client is also interested in turnips I took the liberty of working on an article with him.
I have attached the article. It would be great if you could take a look and consider publishing it on the site. I am happy to supply a suitable stock image too if you wish.
My involvement is that I am helping my client to build links, so I would just ask that you keep the link in the footer intact if you use it.
I hope it is of interest/use to you. Hope to hear back from you soon.
Many thanks,
Jon.
Webologist.co.uk
Tel. blah blah blah etc.
Notes:
- Find out the name of the blogger or chief editor.
- Send the article over with the email, allow them to make a decision straight away rather than attempting to negotiate by email. They may just post it straight away as it is.
- Be totally open about what you are trying to achieve – there is nothing wrong with saying “we are link building”. Honesty is the best policy!
So, there you go. Just for the record, I do not have any more articles about turnips, they have all been published already.
If you get mails like this, check out the solution that Ann Smarty provides over at MyBlogGuest.com.
