Would you like to explode your blog’s traffic and exposure? Want to make a name for yourself in the Blogosphere? If your answer is yes to either of these questions, you should definitely consider guest posting. Guest posting is a fantastic method to establish yourself as an authority in a particular niche, and get loyal readers to your own blog.

Still not convinced?

Take a recent success story from a blogger you may be familiar with - Skellie

With over 2500 subscribers (1,050 in only three months), Skellie has quickly established herself as a key figure in the productivity, blogging, and make money online niche, largely due to her spectacular guest posts on several high profile blogs including ProBlogger. Here’s what she had to say on the matter:

The benefits of guest-posting shouldn’t be viewed in terms of traffic alone. If you write a guest-post on a blog with 30,000 daily visitors, only 300 might click back to your blog, but 30,000 people will have seen your name. The capacity for brand-building is just as valuable as the traffic. - Skellie

How’s that for convincing reasons to start guest posting?

Tips on Crafting the Perfect Guest Post

1. Give More (Much More) Than You Take

The idea of spending hours toiling on a post that’s going to make another blog look good doesn’t appeal to some bloggers. Now I’m not saying you have to spend hours, but you must put your heart and soul into the post. The reality is, if it’s not your best work you wont attract loyal readers. Furthermore, a sizzling guest post will almost 100% guarantee that your future guest posts will be accepted. The most important lessons to learn is that in guest posting, the more you put into a post, the more you get out of it.

2. Be BOLD

It’s all in what you say. Readers don’t want the same old opinions. Be unique, fresh, and give it all you’ve got. Set the tone of the post from the very first line and you’ll have visitors reading untill the very end. If you bring a strong opinion, make sure you back it up with strong examples, and supporting content.

3. Tailor the Post to the Blog’s Audience

Choose a topic that will suit the blog’s readers, and is inline with the blog’s focus. Be sure that their audience will be interested in the topic and will benefit from the information you give them. Searching through the blog’s archives so you can experience firsthand the topics they write on, is a MUST before writing a guest post. The more useful, informative, or thought-provoking your post is, the more potential subscribers/readers/customers you will attain.

4. Look For Spaces to be Filled

Is there a interesting topic that hasn’t been covered on the blog? Write a post on it! A post on a less covered (but still appealing) topic has a great chance of being a huge hit on the blog. You’ll be doing the readers a huge favor by writing it… and remember what I said about giving more than you take?

5. Check Your Work for Spelling and Grammar

There’s nothing that makes me cringe more than reading a guest post with obvious spelling or grammar mistakes in it. It’s a perfect way to create a bad first impression, which is something you just can’t afford if you want to be successful. You’re going to go through all the work to craft the perfect guest post, so doesn’t it make sense to spend two minutes of your time to check your spelings? (No Pun Intended)

If followed correctly, these five tips should provide you with a fantastic recipe to getting started with guest posting. Writing for another blog might seem like a lot of work in the beginning, but will pay dividends in the end. An interesting post on an established blog like John Cow has a huge potential to become viral, as it already has a strong reader base. So what are you waiting for? Have a killer post idea? Register on John Cow. Increase your traffic, exposure, and establish yourself as an authority. You’ll never look back.

Hafiz Dhanani is a fourteen-year-old blogger who has a brand new blog - Make Money Blogging - where you will able to find can find tips, insights, and anything else related to blogging and making money online. If you enjoyed this post, make sure to subscribe to his RSS feed.