Archive for Writing
Guidelines for Write Speak Sell Guest Blog Posts
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve been thinking that I should establish guidelines for guest posts on my blog, and have been tooling around the web and reading the guidelines of other folks who accept guest blogs. I wrote about this earlier and said I’d be drawing up a list of guidelines, so here they are.
It’s not that I’m such a big shot that people are clamoring to write for me and I’m holding them off with a stick. No, it’s more that I want to avoid miscommunications or hurt feelings when I receive a guest post (which I most likely have requested) and it’s not quite right for my blog.
These are not engraved in stone, so I’d appreciate your suggestions. Here goes:
- The post needs to align with my brand: business writing that sells. Is your blog relevant to my audience? I reserve the right to make exceptions. Sometimes a piece is so good, even if it’s a little off the subject, that I’ll run with it.
- It should be from 300-600 words with an image supplied by the author.
- It needs to be well written (I know this seems obvious) and grammatically correct.
- Every guest post by definition is self-promoting but it can’t be an outright sales pitch.
- No affiliate links.
- Internal links should be limited to your own blog and to sources that support the article’s main points.
- My preference is for an original article. I’m agreeable to posting blogs that were previously published if they are chock full of information that would benefit my readers. But I need to know in advance so I can indicate the original source of the blog. The blog can’t infringe on anyone else’s copyrighted material.
- If I use a guest post, which links back to the author’s site, I’d appreciate a link back to my site.
- The author’s bio should be about 50 words with a link back to the writer’s site. It will go at the bottom of the post with a possible comment by me.
- If a guest post on my site receives comments, then the author should respond to each one. It’s only common courtesy
- It would be hard to think I wouldn’t publish a post because it doesn’t meet my criteria, but I do need to reserve that right.
So, what do you think? Anything to add?
Wow. Website Grader Gives My Blog a Top Ranking
Posted by: | CommentsWebsite Grader is a HubSpot program and gives your site an overall grade. Today I received an email from the company that said: “Your Website Grade improved by 4 points, from 93 to 97.” That means writespeaksell.com scores higher than 97% of the 2,646,608 websites that have been ranked so far.
Now I’m going for a grade of 100! Don’t know if I’ll make it, but I’m ready to try, with the help of my blogging buddies and my loyal readers.
Here is what the program analyzes:
- Content: blogs, Google indexed pages and readability level
- Optimization: metadata, headings, images, and interior page analysis
- Promotion: how you rank on social media sites
As I read through the report, I also found that my Alexa Traffic Rank is in the top 6.38% of all websites. Alexa is an online service that measures traffic for millions of sites on the Internet in a similar way to Nielsen television show ratings.
Why is This Important to My Readers?
I’m feeling pretty good about my rankings. But here’s what’s important: apparently my content is helping my readers to solve a problem, learn something new or share my perspective on a current event. That’s my real goal: to provide value to people who take some of their precious time to visit my blog.
I’m blogging and writing for a living – having rebranded myself early last year as a Business Writer. I had held senior marketing communications positions with major corporations and agencies. But I felt it was time to re-invent myself. The world of social media was opening up and I wanted to be part of the action. I walked through the door into the blogosphere and I haven’t looked back.
I’m hooked. I love discovering new subjects to explore and I am very happy, dear readers, that you are visiting with me and enjoying what I have to say.
Thank you.
Analogies and Metaphors Paint Images for Readers
Posted by: | Comments“Buzz is already taking a chunk out of Twitter, Facebook, and other social media services. That’ll only grow as brands and advertisers better understand what they can do with Buzz and its millions of users. Buzz is equivalent to throwing a giant super magnet into a room filled with nails.”
I don’t know about Buzz challenging its rivals, but this paragraph is a lively example of how analogies and metaphors enrich our writing and paint images for our readers. Buzz is like a giant super magnet attracting new users – a powerful visual image.
Writers often confuse analogies and metaphors. In a story on the CBS News Opinion page “Political Analogies Are Like Toothbrushes,” the headline is an analogy comparing two dissimilar things to clarify a point or create an image. Something is like something else. Then throughout the article the writer mistakes analogies for metaphors in which one object becomes another object, i.e., “Obama is Abraham Lincoln in 1860.”
This is probably nitpicking, because my point is that analogies and metaphors can enhance our writing.
I decided to re-read a few of my past blog posts to see how I might improve them with an analogy or metaphor. Here’s one that I think could be better (italicized words added): “This is a golden opportunity for companies to find out what customers are looking for and to respond to their needs directly one-to-one, like a good mother responds to her child’s need for a hug.”
Here’s another blog about the importance of facial cues in business: “We’ve all had the experience of talking to someone who gives us absolutely no facial or verbal cues. It’s like trying to get a response from General Lee’s image on Stone Mountain.”
A writer is a like a painter, using imagery to entertain, provoke and educate with the fervent hope of not being a bore. Your thoughts, good readers?
Get the Most out of Guest Blogs with Some Practical Guidelines
Posted by: | CommentsI don’t know about you, but I’m writing more guest blogs and inviting more people to write guest blogs for my site. It has happened sort of organically, but I’m also aware that it helps SEO if you link to another blog or they link to you.
So, if I’m going to continue to ask for guest posts, I need to create some guidelines for writers so that there are no misunderstandings or hurt feelings. Just as important, I need to be more strategic in asking for columns that align with my brand and are providing useful information for my readers. In turn, I need to be sure that I’m not saving the best for my own blog, but offering content-rich posts for other blogs.
Here are several sets of guidelines that I liked after a search of the web. I’ll pick out a few good tips from each to share in this post and you can go in and read them if you like.
Danny Brown. He actually set down some rules for when you write guest posts but they are just as relevant for your guest writers. Under “Make it Great” he asks these very relevant questions:
- Would I be happy posting this on my own blog?
- Is this the best this post can possibly be on this topic?
- Am I being relevant to the audience of the blog I’m posting on?
The Bloggers Bulletin. This is a LinkedIn subgroup of The Blog Zone. I actually write guest posts for the group and these tips come from a post by Karen Fleeting.
- Check the article writer’s credentials. Can they write?
- Set the bar. The blog must be up to your quality standards.
- Edit. Correct grammar and spell-check.
- Ask for a link. You’re linking the post to their blog; ask for one in return.
Business.Gov. I was surprised, and delighted, to learn that the U.S. Small Business Administration accepts guest blogs for its Industry Word Guest Blog (this is something I will definitely check out). They have quite a few guidelines, and here are a few:
- Avoid posting spam, pornography, offensive content, excessive spelling/grammatical errors or profanity.
- Bloggers will offer unique advice and insight that is informational and apolitical in nature.
- Bloggers agree to reply to comments. (this one is a must)
I’ll be writing up my guidelines soon. Leave a comment if you’d like me to send them to you. And I’d be interested in guest blog guidelines from my readers, too.
