Are you using guest blogging to promote your business? If no, then you might be missing on something really big as far as your marketing effort is concerned. This article will provide 5 ways that you can benefit from guest blogging.

Here they are…

Reputation Building

The first advantage of guest blogging is that it can help you build your brand on the internet. Indeed, by publishing content on some authority sites you can help other people become acquainted to your brand and hence build a reputation online. But, for this to happen, you will need to make sure that your articles are really useful and that they really add value for your readers. After a short while people will begin to consider you as an expert in the field.

Massive Traffic

Another advantage of guest blogging is that it can help you get some really good traffic without relying solely on the search engines. Normally if your post is good enough, people will be interested to visit your site in order to learn more about you. And, if you published your post in some related sites you will be in a position to get some targeted traffic that may boost your sales. This benefit of guest blogging can be really useful for new blogs that have yet to get a ranking in the search engines.

New Market

Guest blogging can also help you target a market that you may have thought impossible before. By guest posting on some other blogs, you may be able to place your product in front of people that you would not have considered before. This can help you generate some new ideas that may be helpful when it comes to developing your business.

SEO

If you are a seasoned internet marketer you will know that the whole SEO game revolves around backlinks. Backlinks from real blogs that have real traffic can be really useful when it comes to boosting your site in the SERPs. This is why it might be useful that you look for blogs that have high PR and Alexa rank in order to get the most benefit.

Guest blogging can also be a useful alternative to article submissions. Following the Google Panda update, article directories have lost some of their effectiveness, and guest blogging can be a capable replacement when it comes to link building.

Social Media Benefits

Another advantage associated with guest blogging is that it allows you to take advantage of the host blog’s strength in social media. In the majority of cases, your article will be shared to the host blog’s Twitter followers or Facebook Fanpage, thus allowing you to take advantage of the site’s strength with social media sites. One idea will be to make it easy for visitors to share your content across social media sites. Place your Twitter and Facebook button in a visible position to encourage the sharing of your site on the different social media sites.

New Contacts

Guest blogging can also be instrumental when it comes to making new contacts. This can indeed create some opportunities for you to meet new people – not only fellow webmasters but also some readers of the host blogs. This can be a great opportunity for you to meet some other business professionals that might be interested in a possible joint-venture.

Guest blogging can be really effective when it comes to promoting your business online. It can help your site get instant traffic, break into new markets, improve your SERPs and also allow you to increase your social media reach. Whatever your business might be, you are definitely going to benefit from guest blogging.

About the Author

Robert Bellarmine is the writer behind Visitask.com where he covers topics related to project management and other management topics.

This may sound too good to be true for some. For others, this may be only a fraction of what they make from their blogs.

No matter which category you fall in, $750 is easily obtainable by implementing various money-making strategies. However, I’ve recently been introduced to a new blogging network that will actually pay you up to $750 per month. Sound crazy? Perhaps…

Blogging Network that Pays You

Guest blogging is super popular these days, and if you’re subscribed to my blog, you’ll know that I regularly publish guest posts on here. I know a lot of other bloggers who allow guest posts on their blogs as well. It’s a great way to build relationships with fellow bloggers/authors and introduce them to a new audience of readers.

But…

Guest blogging doesn’t have any monetary gain whatsoever. The guest author doesn’t get paid, and the hosting blog owner doesn’t get paid. This isn’t a bad thing at all, and frankly, that’s the way it should be. There are plenty of other benefits for both parties involved that don’t involve money.

However, this is about advertisers wanting to get in front of a target market, and they’re willing to pay to be seen.

What if there was a way to get paid for hosting guest posts? Would you be interested?

That’s exactly what WebTrafficControl.com does. They connect advertisers with blog owners and will pay you $15 for every guest post you publish to your blog. This isn’t your normal advertisement/sales type posts, though. The posts are useful, helpful, and don’t try to sell you anything.

They’re essentially no different than any other guest post that you would find on a blog, including this one.

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons to get a better understanding of what WebTrafficControl is all about.

The Pros

I had a chance to email one of the guys behind the blogging network back and forth regarding functionality and what all the blog owner could control regarding the content their blogs would receive.

Here are some of the pros that really stood out to me after some of my key questions were answered:

• Quick process to add WordPress blog to system
• Clean and user-friendly member dashboard
• Built-in moderation system in place to ensure quality content only
• Blog owners can accept/deny each post that is received
• Once approved, articles are automatically posted to the blog via an Author account, with relevant categories
• Each post is relevant and targeted to your blog and your readers
• Posts are informative in nature and not a sales letter
• “Advertisers” download reports of all posts, able to see which articles were left on your blog

My main issue was the blog owner level of moderation, which they just recently implemented. This was important to me as I wouldn’t want an irrelevant/non-targeted post on my blog. My other issue was whether the “advertisers” would know that their articles were being published to my blog.

I was happy to know that both issues were fully addressed with systems in place. Overall, I was quite satisfied with what I found out.

Cons

The only issue I could see, that I find with any form of guest blogging, is the author coming to the blog and replying to comments left on their post. While the authors can download a report of their posts, there’s no guarantee that they will visit the blog/s to reply to comments being left.

I see this as a con only because I’m someone who encourages community and author/reader interaction. Replying to comments is something I require of my guest bloggers, and while it doesn’t always happen, I feel it’s better than no requirement at all. Most are more than happy to, as they also see the value in engaging readers.

Final Thoughts

I have added my blog to the network about a month ago but have yet to receive any articles to add to the blog. They provide you with up to 10 categories you can add your blog to, which increases the amount of articles your blog could receive. So, I would recommend adding your blog to 10 categories if at all possible as it may be a while before you start receiving articles for your blog.

All in all, I feel this blogging network could be good for supplementing your blog with additional, relevant articles, all the while increasing your monthly income.

Your Thoughts?

What do you think? Do you agree with my concerns about moderation and reader interaction?

After reading this, would you be inclined to add your blog to the network as well?

Please do share your thoughts by leaving a comment below…

Why Guest Blogging?

I’m a firm believer in guest blogging and have written about the subject in the past. Guest blogging is a win-win for both parties involved. It’s a win for the guest poster as it helps them expand their reach to a new audience and bring in new readership, along with building quality backlinks. It’s also a win for the host blog as it provides their readers with a new, fresh face and a different style of writing, along with unique content.

Knowing the benefits of guest blogging, I opened up my blog to guest writers last year and received an overwhelming response from writers wanting to write for my blog. I couldn’t have been happier. That told me that people valued my blog and liked what I had going on here and wanted to expand their brand to my current readership. This year (2011) is already seeing much of the same.

In 2010, I also did a little guest blogging of my own. Many of the blogs I follow allow guest bloggers and have a solid reader base, and I wanted to get myself in front of that new audience. Other bloggers came to me requesting I write for their blogs, which of course I agreed.

I plan to do a fair share of guest blogging this year and the years to come, but I wanted to showcase my current guest posts as I never really shared them on here before. I alluded to a couple of them in previous posts, but I want to dedicate this post to all of my guest posts for 2010.

What I’ll also be doing is creating a permanent “Guest Posts” page that contains every guest post I have already written, as well as any and all new guest posts that have yet to come. I already a couple of guest posts in the works as I type this, so I know there will be new ones to add to the list.

Without further ado, here are my guest posts from last year.

My Guest Blog Posts of 2010

When is the Right Time to Monetize a Blog

Does More Traffic Mean More Sales?

Best Ways to Market Your Online Business

3 Tips to a Better Blog

What Will Happen to My Blog When I Die?

Can You Really Make Money on the Internet?

Some posts received a lot of response, while others received very little. Knowing this, I can plan future guest posts accordingly. I also have a list of other blogs I plan to write posts for, and I plan to write more posts for some of the blogs above. All will be added to my Guest Posts page once I get it up.

I invite you to check out my guest posts and leave a comment on them. Your feedback is appreciated.

Why Write For Us?

I’ll get straight to the point. By writing for this blog, you benefit in several ways.

Take advantage of:

• High PageRank: PR 4
• High Alexa Rank: 86,771 (as of Oct. 6, 2010)
• Blog Subscribers: 99 (as of Oct. 6, 2010)

You also get:

• Quality backlinks to your site
• Exposure to 500+ newsletter subscribers
• Quality and targeted traffic

Why Am I Looking For Writers?

My goal is to provide my readers with top quality content that they can learn from and put into use for their own websites/blogs/internet businesses. I realize that there are others out there just like me who also want to provide value to others, and I want to give you the opportunity to get in front of new readers who are interested and eager to read what you have to write.

My blog benefits from the unique and quality content, and my readers benefit by hearing from someone new in the field that they can learn from. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.

Are You A Good Writer?

I’m looking for people that understand the value of writing top quality posts. It’s not just enough to write something “good.” It needs to be GREAT! I want my readers to be engaged and compelled and find real value in what they read.

This is the perfect opportunity for you to showcase your writing skill, your expertise, technical “KNOW HOW”, marketing insights, etc. to a completely new audience of readers. First impressions are everything, so be sure to make it the best you have.

Is this something you can provide? If so, there are some guidelines that I ask you follow.

Guest Post Guidelines

1. Must be a minimum of 600 words.
2. Must be related to one of the categories listed on the blog.
3. Must be unique content and not posted anywhere else on the internet.
4. Absolutely no blatant advertising or product reviews, unless you contact me first and/or an affiliate program is involved.
5. Please respect common formatting rules when writing your post for possible consideration.
6. You are allowed 2 “do follow” links within the post body or author bio.
7. You are allowed to create your own custom author bio that will go at the end of your post. If one is not created, I may or may not create one for you.
8. I have the right to edit, reject and accept guest posts for this blog.
9. Your guest post will become the property of ReplaceYourSalary.com once it is published on the blog, with you being given credit as the author.
10. I give no guarantee as to when your guest post will be published. There are many variables at play that determine the order at which posts are published on this blog.
11. You MUST subscribe to all comments for your guest post and reply to comments left by others on your post. Failure to do so could result in me deleting your post and subsequent backlinks. I strongly believe in community and will enforce this rule.

Following these rules will be to your advantage and will greatly benefit both of our websites.

What Now?

When you are ready to submit your guest post, please use the form below, making sure to complete all “required” fields.

I will then notify you that I have received your guest post and when you can expect it to be published on the blog.

That’s all there is to it. Have any questions? Leave a comment below or contact me.

Thanks!

This summer is going by so quickly… too quickly. July was a crazy month for me, mainly due to the fact that my fiance broke up with me. That was tough emotionally and physically. It took a while to get over the fact and finally move on. I knew that if I didn’t… my professional life would suffer dramatically, and I didn’t want that.

I’m back on track with some exciting new things going on. I’ll update you on them later on. For now…. let’s take a look at the blog posts from last month…

June Comment Contest Winners!

Adapting Your Style: Make Your Writing Work for You

Is Your Blog Grabbing Your Visitors’ Attention?

How to Increase Fan Numbers on Your Facebook Fan Page

Anatomy of Credit Card Processing

Take a second to leave a comment on any you may have missed. I hope to do more sponsored posts in the future as it adds a different flavor to the blog, as pointed out by Jason. The guest posts are also a nice addition, and I hope you’ve been enjoying them so far. Expect to see them around frequently.

Got any comments, questions or concerns, leave your thoughts below or send me an email.

Thanks for being a reader here, and I’ll see ya soon.

This is a guest post by Sam Bakker. If you would like to guest post on this blog, please Contact me.

When I first started my own home-based business a few years ago, I thought that no matter what my first home business website would work. I thought I had everything important in place and the website was looking great. But the reality of my situation had to sink in eventually; even though I had an excellent website, and what I thought was successful home business information I was missing visitors, rendering my online presence useless.

Two years later, I took a second look, but this time with a careful look at all options. I would learn about Search Engine Optimization and how it can influence a business. Through it, I was able to add life to my websites as well as a sizeable amount of money.

If your website is currently suffering from a lack of visitors, the first place to look for answers is your website’s keywords and their search engine performance. Often we can build links for our website, writing content with the intention of ranking it. But none of that will matter if you don’t have the right keywords. There is a lot of money to be made in internet marketing if this step is taken seriously.

First of all, check the keywords you decided to compete for when you started your campaign. Review their usefulness and relative competition. Once you have done so, visit Google’s Adwords Keywords tool or use WordTracker. These tools will help you see clearly where opportunities in your niche could be for keywords.

If you are able to find some additional keywords that you should be ranking your website for, construct a plan outlining what on-page and off-page content will need to be produced. This is to get your website appearing on the front page for that term. Once your plan has been completed, stay focused on the job at hand. To rank higher in the search engines, you need to be consistently taking action.

As internet marketers, we often get excited and dive into projects without spending enough time working through our foundations. Looking for keywords is an essential step; a website cannot succeed in the search engines without it. Make sure you take the time to review your website’s keywords and take action if necessary so that your website doesn’t stay hidden from your potential customers.

About the Author: Sam Bakker has been in the internet marketing industry for the past 7 years. If you would like to find out more about Sam or learn some free internet marketing tips then you can visit his website at SamBakker.com

As promised yesterday, here’s the list of May’s awesome blog posts that you may not have gotten a chance to check out or comment on. BTW, there’s only 9 days left for a chance to win in this month’s comment contest, so check out these posts and get commenting!

Without further ado, here they are:

Free Teleseminar – Learn How To Build A Profitable Business In Today’s Economy – This post will be updated whenever there is a new teleseminar scheduled. Right now you can register for the one on June 23rd.

5 Things to Consider Before Publishing a Guest Post on Your Blog

My Blog Guest – An Active Community of Guest Bloggers and Blog Owners

Don’t Make The Same Stupid Mistake I Made… Seriously! – You definitely want to check this post out… One of my toughest website lessons ever learned is talked about here. Don’t let happen to you what happened to me.

Where Do You Get Images and Photos For Your Website or Blog?

There you have it. If you haven’t yet checked these posts out then I invite you to do so.

Don’t forget… The comment contest ends on June 30th at whatever time at night I check the list for the final time. Right now Cebu is commanding a strong lead with Mici close behind. It’s anyone’s game at this point. Don’t give up now!