Content Sharing and Repurposing – Guest Blogging

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Magalog Guy

As we’ve been taking this journey on sharing and repurposing content, I hope one thing you’ve already gotten out of this series is thinking beyond the confines of your blog.

So many people (including myself when I started) see a blog as the beginning and the end. In other words, an article is created for your blog and it doesn’t go much further.

However, as we’re seeing now – and will continue to see – there’s so much more we can do with content. Best of all, most of these ideas cost little or no money.

If you’re already writing articles for your blog, it’s not a big stretch to write articles for other blogs. Better still if you can use articles you’ve already written.

As a blogger, you already know what it’s like to need content. Most other bloggers are in the same boat. There’s no reason you can’t help each other out.

Finding Your Blogging Power Partners

When I was a member of Business Network International, I was encouraged to find my power partners. These would be people who had a business that was complimentary to mine.

In a sense, you created a super team with your power partners, benefiting not only the partners, but the customers.

As a direct market graphic designer, my natural power partner is a copywriter or a printer. Another example of power partners is real estate agents and mortgage brokers. With a power partner, it’s very easy to share leads and work together.

Guest blogging can also work under the power partner idea.

Here’s the quick way to explore power partner relationships:

  • What are complimentary industries to yours?
  • Are there people in those industries who blog?
  • Do they accept guest articles?

So what happens when your articles appear on someone else’s blog?

  1. You develop a deeper bond with the other blogger. If you’ve followed me for even a small amount of time, you know that I often talk about increasing sales and building deeper connections. A wonderful by-product of guest blogging is building those deeper connections. You should be developing deeper connections with colleagues just as you would with customers and prospects.
  2. Your name is in front of a new audience that you might not ever reach on your own. And your blogging partner gets his or her name in front of different audience. After all, both of you will be promoting this article to your separate audiences, right?

Recycling Content or New Content?

Some bloggers who use guest articles would prefer brand new content. Others will be happy to use an article that might be a year or so old.

Part of the value of content is its search engine value. So if the same article is scattered in a dozen or so places, that can sometimes be a turn-off to someone who works with guest bloggers.

Over the years, I’ve done both… I’ve shared existing content with other bloggers, and I’ve written fresh content for them. Always be upfront and say if content you’re offering has been used before, where it was used, and when.

And while this should probably go without saying, if you’re going to be a guest blogger for others, allow other bloggers to be a guest on your site.

If You’re Stuck Finding a Partner

If you’re struggling to come up with people to approach, there’s a great, free resource that connects people who have content with people who want content. It’s called BloggerLinkUp.

You’ll get daily e-mails with a list of articles that are available, and a list of people who are looking for specific articles. If you find a good fit, you’ll be able to contact them directly.

One final note… if you’re a blogger wanting to offer articles to other sites, do what I’m going to do right now…

If you’re looking for blog content for your site, contact me to see how we might work together to help inspire and educate your audience.

Other articles in this series:

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Your Starting Point

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Twitter

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Facebook

Content Sharing and Repurposing – LinkedIn

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Google Plus

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Guides & Reports

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Books & eBooks

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Content Sharing and Repurposing – Books & eBooks

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Magalog Guy

As great as you or I may think our blog articles are, it’s the rare newcomer who will read through years worth of them.

Like I mentioned with guides and reports, it’s a shame that some great articles get lost in the archives. So how can we continue to breathe new life into that useful content?

How about packaging the best articles into a book or eBook?

Before I lose you with the thought of how much work a book is, let me assure you that while it will take some effort, I’m not suggesting you start a book from scratch. (Although if you’re game, go for it.) If you’ve had a blog for a decent length of time, you’ve already been writing a potential book. You just might not have known it.

For most bloggers, there’s an overall theme. This blog started with a focus on magalogs, but then grew to cover content marketing and direct marketing in general.

So it didn’t take long before I had a number of complimentary articles that could be compiled into a book.

My book, Increase Sales & Build Deeper Connections, is primarily made up of articles from this blog. The articles were logically organized and, where necessary, tweaked a bit when I said something that was dated or specific to the time I originally wrote it.

While I use a professional-level layout program for my book, you could just as easily use Word, Pages, or some other word processing tool.

I’ve got a book. Now what?

At 130-plus pages, I could sell my book either on my site or digitally through Amazon or Apple. But I decided I wanted to use my book to get sign-ups to my monthly newsletter on content marketing and repurposing.

My book is a PDF but is designed like a traditional book. That way, if I ever want to print physical copies to sell or give away, I don’t have to do much beyond creating a back cover and spine.

If you think you might print your book, talk to a professional designer. If you know it will just be a basic PDF and you’re comfortable with your layout abilities, feel free to tackle it on your own.

While I mentioned in the article about guides and reports that covers aren’t required, you do need to come up with a cover for a book.

You can see that my cover isn’t fancy. I like to keep things simple. If this book was going to sit on a bookstore shelf, I’d need to rethink the cover. Again, whether you need a pro is dependent on how confident you are in your layout abilities.

My book is also handy when I’m talking to prospects. It gives me something a real value to offer beyond just trying to sell my services. And let me remind you about value. If there’s no real value in your book, people will feel like you’ve wasted their time even if your book is free.

And here’s another great thing use for a book… simple joint ventures.

As you’re probably aware, there are thousands of people who offer bonuses if you buy something from them. A colleague of mine was selling a new book and wanted to offer bonuses to entice more people to buy.

She put out the word that she was looking for other downloadable material that she could offer to buyers of her book. I offered my book as a bonus and suddenly I had new people downloading my book that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise reached.

Finally, let me talk about perception. I’m a huge believer in the value of perception… not in a sneaky or dishonest way, but in a way that helps you stand out from competitors.

There are very few direct market designers who do the types of marketing I do, including writing a book. So when prospects come to my site, not only will they see my samples and my blog (as well as other content we’ll talk about in this series), they’ll also see my book.

While anyone can write a book these days, relatively few do. And the initial perception is that if you’ve written a book, you must be, at some level, an expert in your field.

Of course, a book doesn’t always mean you’re an expert. But it does cause people to give you the benefit of the doubt as they’re getting to know you.

In fact, it was my book that led to an offer to speak to a business-building conference in Australia earlier this year. It was an amazing experience and probably would have never happened had the conference leader not stumbled across my book.

So let me ask you… might a book be a tool you could leverage in your marketing efforts in some way? If you’re not sure, give me a call for a quick, free chat to bounce around some ideas. You’re under no obligation to hire me for anything. It’s just a sincere offer to help you get started because I know the power a book can have.

Other articles in this series:

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Your Starting Point

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Twitter

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Facebook

Content Sharing and Repurposing – LinkedIn

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Google Plus

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Guides & Reports

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Content Sharing and Repurposing – Guides & Reports

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Magalog Guy

To this point, we’ve talked about taking content we’ve created and sharing it in social networking channels.

Now we’re going to shift gears a bit and talk about content repurposing, also known as content recycling. We’ll obviously share the fact that this repurposed content is available, but we’re going to packing it in a different way first.

As a quick reminder, we’re using a blog as the hub, or starting point, of our content. While it doesn’t have to be a blog, that’s one of the most common starting points.

The one thing you quickly notice about a blog, though, is that “new” content quickly becomes “old” content as your write newer articles.

Those older articles get pushed into the archives. They might be found through a search, or a “related links” tag on your blog, but the spotlight is definitely shining on the latest article.

But just because that content is no longer on the main page doesn’t mean it no longer has value. Many of the articles I write for my blog (including this one) are what we call evergreen. In other words, the content is still good whether you’re reading it the day after it was written, or three years down the line.

We can breathe new life into that evergreen content by lifting it off the blog and putting it into a guide or report. What you choose to call it probably doesn’t matter, although report may sound a bit stuffier than guide.

Let me show you a quick example of how I put together my guides.

Take a look at this article from a blog on one of my other sites. It’s called, Here’s a Novel Idea: Connect With Your Connections.

The article still gets found with a Google search or some reference that another person makes to it. But that article in particular struck a chord with people when I wrote it. For that reason, I wanted to put it into a different format so I could use it in other ways.

So I created a PDF which allowed me to format the content a little nicer, giving it a more professional appearance. (Click on the cover graphic to see the PDF.)

I also put it with other guides on a Resources section of that site. The interest in this guide may lead to interest in some of the others. I can also e-mail it to prospects or partners when appropriate.

If you’re not a designer, don’t worry. Simple covers like I’ve done aren’t difficult to create and may not even be necessary. They certainly look nice on your site to entice people, but it’s the information that people want.

And don’t miss the opportunity to include a plug for yourself. If you look at any of my guides, you’ll find an About page at the end. While I always hope the guides help people, there is a business aspect to them and, for me, the guides can lead to new clients.

By the way, it’s not a rule that guides have to be digital. If you want to print them to send to targeted prospects, go right ahead.

Speaking of printing, be aware that many people will print a digital report for later reading. With that in mind, stick to a traditional 8.5 x 11 (or 11 x 8.5) size. This will be easier to print. I tend to do mine as 11 inches wide by 8.5 inches high which is a landscape orientation because that’s the orientation of most computer monitors. But it still prints fine on a regular sheet of paper.

Also, go easy on color. People who print your guide don’t appreciate you burning through their non-black color ink.

Of course, as soon as any of my reports are created, I go back to the social networking channels to share a link to them. And that’s something you’ll always want to keep in mind… taking something you’ve done in one channel and promoting it all the other appropriate channels you use.

Other articles in this series:

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Your Starting Point

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Twitter

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Facebook

Content Sharing and Repurposing – LinkedIn

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Google Plus

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