By Karin Beery

Are you looking to spread the word about your business or books? Are you trying to reach more people? A great way to get your name out there is to volunteer to write guest posts for other people’s blogs—you can share your expertise with someone else’s audience (like I’m doing here!).

If you’re going to write a guest post, however, you need to be professional about it. Here are my top five tips for being a better guest blogger.

  1. Follow the guidelines. If a blogger with 10,000 followers lets you write a post, then you need to write the same type of post the readers expect. If they only write top-ten lists, then write a top-ten list. Also, use proper formatting and honor the word limit.
  2. Stay on topic. If you’re a guest at someone else’s house, you don’t go in and rearrange the furniture to fit your style. The same is true of guest blogging. You’re not writing on whatever topic you want to discuss. The content of your post needs to fit within the main topic of the blog. Make sure it does.
  3. Put it on your calendar. If you volunteer to provide a guest post, then it’s your responsibility to know when to submit it to the blog owner. Don’t make them chase you down and beg for the post—write it and submit it on time (early is better!).
  4. Communicate. If the blog host contacts you, respond. Make sure he or she knows that you’re getting the e-mails and are still available.
  5. Edit. Never submit your first draft. Ever. Even I never send a first draft. I proofread everything. If you’re not sure your post will work, submit it early and ask for feedback from the blog owner.

If you can do these five things regularly, you can become an in-demand guest blogger. And the more in-demand you become, the bigger the audience you can reach.

Happy blogging!

Owner of Write Now Editing and Copywriting Services, Karin Beery specializes in fiction and professional business copy. She is an active member of American Christian Fiction Writers and the American Christian Writers Association. A Christian Proofreaders and Editors Network member, she is the Substantive Editing for Fiction instructor for the PEN Institute. Karin is represented by literary agent Steve Hutson at Word Wise Media. You can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, or at her website, www.karinbeery.com.