Guest Blogging Made Easy: The Hottest Trend for High Quality Linkbacks

Saturday, February 4th, 2012 at 10:02 am

Guest posting is one of the hottest trends and most effective strategies for networking with other writers, blogs and their communities. As well, guest posting is one of, if not the most powerful link building tactics used at this time.

Guest posting doesn’t have to be an unpleasant, time-consuming task driven by tracking down guest post friendly blogs. Surprisingly, it’s as easy as joining MyBlogGuest.com. Memberships are free with the option to upgrade to a pro account.

If you make up excuses for not posting to your blog, you’re going to love this!

If you’re not familiar with MyBlogGuest, here are a few key benefits to all who join in.

Networking Opportunities

At the moment, MBG is near 23,000 registered members, with a consistent, steady growth. Many of registered members manage multiple blog accounts, making the networking supply all the more savory. While the number of contacts is impressive, what I think most impressive is how MBG adheres to high quality standards.

When I first joined MBG, it was relatively new; going through the apparent growing pains many websites do. It didn’t take long for Ann Smarty to devise a way that would ensure quality content for MBG members.

Not everything is perfect; you sometimes encounter members who don’t understand what guest posting is all about; who may not provide material that meets your personal standards. You’re in the drivers seat and have the option of accepting or declining any offer that’s sent your way. If you know what you’re doing, it doesn’t take long to discover the opportunities that suit you perfectly. Regardless of niche; whether you want to focus on submitting content or if your primary goal is to provide guest articles on your website, MBG is the most accommodating, centralized place to achieve these individually, or in unison.

MyBlogGuest Delivers in Spades

My Blog Guest has been designed to operate fluidly as a strong guest posting environment. The core of this community is the forum broken into sections that provide means in finding guest authors, finding blogs to host content, requesting and supporting social media sharing help. There’s also a private area with advanced tips and tricks to maximize your guest blogging efforts..

In addition to the forum, there is an article gallery. The gallery is where writers and bloggers distribute and seek fresh content. The format is easy to use and works beautifully for the designated purposes. The user interface is extremely easy for all participants to find exactly what they want in a short amount of time.

Time Management at Its Best

The days of tracking down and contacting webmasters in the effort to wrangle guest-posting opportunities at random are all but over.

I’ve been a member in this community for almost a year. I’ve checked back a few times, but the last time, I am sure I experienced what Ann Smarty intended.

There are a growing number of serious webmasters and brilliant content creators within the community. Those members are what makes MGB a superb resource for guest posting and a valuable source for any webmaster looking to expand their web presence, while taking in the added benefits of productive collaborations and partnerships with like-minded people.

The forum is perfect for networking, but the real success comes from the Article Gallery. As of this writing, more just fewer than 33,000 articles have been distributed through the gallery: original, high quality articles, across a mass of niches, written by hundreds of authors from every imaginable background.

The article gallery simplifies the process of locating content for your blog by categorically arranging guest posts that may be searched by various criteria. Members may select by topic, then cut it down to author score that’s based on member feedback, blog page rank and more.

There are hundreds of original articles every day. You may request publication rights with a single mouse click – it’s that simple. If you’re a writer, you simply add original article to the gallery. In most cases, it won’t last but a few hours until you’re getting offers from interested webmasters wishing to publish it.

Quality Links That Even Google Can’t Argue With

My Blog Guest offers a solid base of users who “get” what guest posting is all about, and who understand the general advantages when guest posting is done the right way.

My Blog Guest is not an automated link-building tool. My Blog Guest does not provide content that looks for those slimy, underhanded, linking tricks designed to deceive Google. MBG is a place where bloggers can exhibit high quality partnerships with strong webmasters and content creators.

To sum it up: My Blog Guest is a simple, powerful, time-saving tool for those who understand the importance of matching a good link with quality content.

Sign up for MyBlogGuest and connect with me – my profile is Gayla

If you’d prefer not to manage your own MyGuestBlog profile, you can still benefit from guest blogging. I’d be happy to submit guest blog posts on your behalf. Drop me an email to discuss.

17-year-old Girl & Her Million-Dollar Website

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011 at 5:34 am

Comments (2)

I recall reading about Ashley Qualls a few years back. I remember being overcome with inspiration and admiration for her ability to recognize a need and do something about it.

Girl Power – WhateverLife.com – No rich relatives? No professional mentors? No problem. Ashley Qualls, 17, has built a million-dollar web site. She’s LOL all the way to the bank.

"At 17 going on 37 (at least), Ashley is very much an Internet professional. In the less than two years since Whateverlife took off, she has dropped out of high school, bought a house, helped launch artists such as Lily Allen, and rejected offers to buy her young company. Although Ashley was flattered to be offered $1.5 million and a car of her choice–as long as the price tag wasn’t more than $100,000–she responded, in effect, Whatever.

Ashley is evidence of the meritocracy on the Internet that allows even companies run by neophyte entrepreneurs to compete, regardless of funding, location, size, or experience–and she’s a reminder that ingenuity is ageless. She has taken in more than $1 million, thanks to a now-familiar Web-friendly business model. Her MySpace page layouts are available for the bargain price of…nothing. They’re free for the taking. Her only significant source of revenue so far is advertising."

Of all the inspirational stories of finding success in the world of online business, Ashley’s story is one of the few that resonated with me.

So what exactly are her keys to success?

While I do recommend you read the article entirely, the take-away items I found are:

MICRO-NICHE – Ashley didn’t just offer Myspace layouts, she offered them to teenage girls.

KNOWLEDGE – Ashley found a subject matter she knew a lot about. Everything she offered was targeting girls just like her and her friends. It was easy to figure out what was hot and what was not.

PASSION – As you read the entire article you will see just how her life and her passion for layouts merge.

DETERMINATION – Nothing gets in her way!

DEDICATION – Even at 17, Ashley was committed to working hard. Of course hard work comes easy when it’s something you’re passionate about.

As my eyes popped open at 2:30 this morning, they unleashed the gears of my imagination. My thoughts raced around my time working online and from home. I’ve thought about the levels of success I’ve experienced and the pitfalls I’ve endured. The one single element that separated the two was PASSION!

When I was at the height of my success and raking in as much as $8,000 a month, I was doing so with such ease.

It certainly wasn’t backed with an abundance of technical web knowledge – in fact, my first website looked like a cut-n-paste project thrown together by a blindfolded kindergarten class.

No, my success was built on passion. A passion to help people. A passion to make a difference in the world.

In those days I spent so little time focusing on making my website look good and more time on providing valuable information, providing support and developing valuable relationships.

The last few years I’ve fallen under the spell that has left me focusing more on the making money aspect and it’s all but proven to me that is not the best course of action. My desire to write has been crippled and it’s almost as if I’ve become some sort of internet introvert by not interacting and socializing more in the subjects I am most passionate about. And by passion, I don’t necessarily mean I’m an expert – one subject matter I actually knew very little about but was eager to learn. As I was learning, I was sharing my lessons – I thought if I was interested in learning and having so much difficulty finding the ‘real’ and ‘valuable’ information – others were likely having the same difficulties – so I shared honest and educational information.

So where exactly does this leave me? Well, it leaves me thinking I’m NEED to get back to what I love. This ‘work at home’ blog has always been a ‘service’ I provide in hopes of preventing people from making the mistake of investing in a scam and helping others uncover their own passion. Believe me, making money websites is NOT where the money is at! At least not for me.

I will continue to provide information as it comes available and when I feel it is of value to you – however, the days of me stressing over posting or not posting everyday or multiple times per week are over.

If you have something of value you’d like to add to this site, I’d love to offer up the space to do just that. I’m not worried about page rank. I’ve never really written for Google before, always for my readers. SO my dears, if you have an existing post on your site and you’d like to guest post it here – you are very welcome. Just make sure you include an author bio at the end of your post. If this is something you’d be interested in doing once a week or more, let me know – I’m happy to provide you your own user account.

And for what it’s worth – duplicate content is NOT an issue when a link to the original post is provided. I’ve done a great deal of research on syndication lately and will be providing details very soon on my findings and just how you can use syndication without stressing over a Google slap. Just trust me for now – it’s okay to share posts on different sites. Really!

In fact here’s a snip of what Google has to say:

Syndicate carefully: If you syndicate your content on other sites, Google will always show the version we think is most appropriate for users in each given search, which may or may not be the version you’d prefer. However, it is helpful to ensure that each site on which your content is syndicated includes a link back to your original article. You can also ask those who use your syndicated material to use the noindex meta tag to prevent search engines from indexing their version of the content.

Before I go, I encourage you to look deep inside and ask yourself what are you passionate about? What do you love to talk about? What is it that makes your face light up and your eyes sparkle? Think about it! Blog about it and there my friend YOU will find your pot of gold.

xoxox

Gayla

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My way of saying “Thank You!”

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Become an Authority in Your Niche

Friday, March 11th, 2011 at 6:15 am

Comments (1)

Online content is generally created to share information or an opinion with others. For web publishers and marketers, content is created as in order to generate income.

While the benefits of profit are great, you really shouldn’t view content as a means to the immediate benefits of revenue or traffic, you’ll likely set yourself up for disappointment if you do.

Your content isn’t just a bunch of text thrown out into the blogosphere to generate page views, it is actually a tool that can be used to enhance other factors like trust, relationships and your reputation.

One of the best ways to develop a solid reputation, trust and relationships is to become an authority within your niche. So exactly what kind of content does it take for to position yourself as an authority in your niche?

Let’s take an in-depth look at how your content can be used as a tool to develop the perception of authority.

Defining Authority: An authority is someone who cultivates special knowledge to share with others, and through sharing this knowledge, has developed a reputation as an expert within the specified topic.

Bloggers are in the information business and a bloggers business model deals with the packaging and dissemination of content and ideas.

For blogging niche experts this knowledge becomes an asset only when it is shared with an audience. Freely sharing knowledge allows the experts reputation to grow.

Characteristics of experts:

Well informed and up to date on industry news – The need to be informed cannot be emphasized enough. Experts stay abreast of all the latest happenings within their niche because this allows them to comment when questions are posed by clients or readers. Some experts occasionally break news because they are well connected within their niche.

Aggregate and filter information for readers – Experts serve as aggregators and filters for their audience. Because of their extensive knowledge, they are able to weed out the junk and extract the best from content that’s circulating.

Conducts rigorous research – Experts conduct ongoing analysis on current events or case studies to extract data that may be of benefit to readers.

Makes knowledge accessible for general readership - The expert knows how to package information and make it understandable for the non-specialist audience.

Content Development Strategies to Establish Authority:

To achieve the perceived status of an expert, you’ll need a set strategy that focuses on the publication of specialized content. Aspiring experts should consistently write about the same topics with increasing depth.

Here are a few tactics to help position yourself as a authority in the specific field:

Optimize Your Site Copy – You want to include social proof elements. Testimonials from clients, recommendations from experts, awards and professional certifications. At the very least, optimize your about page to emphasize your experience/knowledge in the specific field. If you are offering paid services, ensure that your sales page includes a few testimonials from satisfied clients.

Communicate and Invite Queries – The more you help people solve their problems, the more you win over people who believe in you. Invite people to email or contact you with questions. Create a new page for feedback or provide an easily accessible option to leave comments.

Guest Blog – It’s very useful to publish articles on similar and related blogs. It enhances your visibility within the niche. You will want to choose the blogs already considered to be authorities in the same field. Branding yourself is most critical at this point. Traffic isn’t as important as visibility. Remember to include keywords in your byline. You want your name to be associated with your topic as much as possible. Provide links to your guest blogging spots in your about page.

Create an Article Series – Writing an article series is a great way to give your blog solid focus and can be particularly helpful when you feel your blog lacks consistency. A good series of articles provides an entry point for recommendations.

Create an eBook – Publishing an ebook on a topic establishes you as someone who is interested in the field almost immediately. Most amateurs won’t invest the time or the energy in developing such publications. An ebook is valuable way to market your brand. They are illustrations of your knowledge and are easily distributed from one person to another.

Join Conversations – Monitor conversations around your topic. Participate and actively offer advice on forums or communities within your niche. Publish an article in response to some of the more general queries and drive traffic from the communities to your response. You might wish to set up a Google Alert for specific keywords in your field. Ping them via trackbacks or write comments on their articles with a link to your own. This is a slow but easy way to develop your reputation from a very basic grass roots effort.

Achievements – People think differently about your brand, based on input from others. It only makes sense to make special note of your achievements. Offer those achievements page all their own on your blog or in an individual blog post. Be sure to include mentions of your site notable lists, detail special awards, media coverage and interviews you have participated in.

It goes without saying that you will be recognized as an expert when you are really passionate in your chosen field. It is important to nurture the characteristics of authority and combining them with content development strategies that will support your display of knowledge.

The development of authority is certainly not limited to those mentioned here, as these are entirely content related. All of the tactics and factors I have listed deal with how your content can be created to offer up the perception of authority.

How would you define authority or expertise? What steps have you taken or tactics have you used to become one?

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My way of saying “Thank You!”

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