Nathan Hangen

The Problem with Guest Posts

What happens if you give all of your good content away?

Some say you should keep your best content for your own Internet property, while others say that you should never be afraid to give away the best you have to offer. I’ve been thinking about this for some time, especially since I write guest posts frequently. Since I’m being given a special place on someone else’s blog, I always offer the best writing that I can for that particular post. In fact, many of my guest posts are better than much of my own blog content. In the past, I’d say this is OK because I’m building up readership that will eventually look through my blog and find my best posts. However, these days I’m starting to re-think my strategy.

Now, I don’t mean that I’m going to submit less than exceptional posts to other blogs, but from time to time I’m going to keep a guest post on hold for my own blog. It’s no surprise that I spend more time and energy writing a decent guest post, but it is a surprise to me that I don’t treat my own posts the same. If my blog is where I expect everyone to end up, why would I shortchange myself and give away my best content on other blogs? It doesn’t make sense and it is a failing strategy.

There’s nothing wrong with giving away your good stuff, but keep some of it for yourself from time to time. If you set out to write a few guest posts, write 3 and then read them. Find out which one suits your blog the best and keep it. It doesn’t have to be the best, but it should be good. If people read great stuff on another blog and see crap on yours, then they probably won’t come back, even if your guest post was great. In order to really break through in the blogging scene and develop a firm foundation, you’ll need to constantly create great content. There isn’t any other way around it. Free eBooks and videos won’t do it alone.

In my experience, guest posting does a great job of building backlinks and attracting new fans, but you’ve got to find a way to keep them around. Encourage comments, follow up with those that leave a remark, and make sure to create a custom landing page when you submit a guest post to a high profile blog. Drive them to your best stuff on your own blog, and then politely ask them to sign up for your newsletter. The process works, but you’ve got to have the chops to pull it off. It took me a while to figure it out, but now you know what not to do.

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