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Whenever we talk about guest blogging, the conversation usually focuses on the link building benefits of guest blogging. And while this is certainly one of the best reasons to guest post, I’ve personally found that the increased exposure and the ability to position yourself as an expert in your niche are the most profitable effects of guest blogging.

Let me explain.

I’ve been fortunate enough to guest post on several popular marketing blogs throughout the internet. At first, the only reason I was doing this was to get quality back links to my website. But as time went on, I started realizing that I was getting far more from my guest blogging efforts than some good link juice.

Suddenly, I was getting contacted by readers of my guest posts who were interested in becoming clients. I was also getting contacted by other bloggers who wanted me to contribute a post to their blog as well.

But I’m not the only one this happens to. Even in the comments of the post I linked to earlier, Ann Smarty admits

“The most recognition, client work, business contacts came from guest posts. I think I owe my whole marketing career to just a few awesome pieces I posted elsewhere.”

Why does this happen when you guest post? For a few reasons:

1. You’re reaching a new audience—No matter how much effort you put into growing your own blog, any time you guest post, you’ll be reaching some new people. Guest blogging is a great tool for building your network. To get the most from your guest blogging efforts, make sure to respond to all comments left on your post. And don’t just respond with a “Thanks for leaving a comment.” Instead, take the time to push the conversation forward by truly engaging with the commenter. This helps you build relationships with this new audience.
2. Guest blogging positions you as an expert—Being seen as a thought leader in your industry certainly has its advantages. As an expert, you’ll attract the top-shelf clients who are willing to pay more to get the services of an industry leader. You’ll also have an easier time earning the trust of new customers, a challenge for all online businesses.
3. Guest posts act as an endorsement from the other blogger—Think about it. If another blogger allows you to write a post on his or her blog, that’s their way of saying “I endorse this blogger, and I think he has something of value to share with the community.” It’s like whenever a President endorses someone running for Congress. The endorsement builds your credibility and name recognition.

Tips for Guest Blogging Success

• submit your best content. This is your one chance to make a good impression on a new audience.
• Interact in the comments to build relationships
• Always look for guest blogging opportunities, even outside of your niche
• Use MyBlogGuest to find the latest guest blogging opportunities

Do you guest blog on a regular basis? How has it helped you? Share your experiences by leaving a comment.

This is a guest post byPerri Blake Gorman aka @bethebutterflyPerri is an expat living in Hong Kong, connector of experts, Twitter passionista, social media trainer and consultant, blogger, environmentalist, lover of children & animals, & citizen of the world.

Right now Foursquare is in a major growth phase with new users joining at a rapid rate and the availability rolling out in cities around the world.

People are getting on board, becoming Mayors, unlocking badges and vying for top of the leaderboard.

Ok – first for all of you out there that still don’t know about Foursquare, it is ok.   It is very simple to understand and get going.

You can find this section on the help menu of Foursquare.com.  Each phone has a detailed page of how to download the application and how to adjust phone settings if necessary.

Considerations & Room For Improvement

Invitations:

How many of us really “know” the people we meet on Twitter? We are essentially out there making Foursquare friends with strangers as people sync their Twitter with their Foursquare.  I know: Only accept people you know, but this is realistically not what is happening because of the invitation system.  I can see this becoming an issue somewhere down the line.  “Woman Gets Stalked Via Foursquare” is not a difficult headline to foresee.  I have done a bit of browsing of profiles on Foursquare, and like the way people have opened up Facebook to strangers, by the sheer volume of friends you can imagine it is a result of just syncing with Twitter.

I think if you meet people and add them to Foursquare it is really useful  (if you can actually find them on the database).  You get all of their information all at once: Facebook, Twitter, email, or whatever information they have logged into the system. While I am not using that aspect to its full potential, Robert Scoble makes some really interesting points about how he is in his blog.

Check-in Reliability & Relevance

Sometimes people check-in after they leave, so Foursquare isn’t always a reliable way of finding your friends.  The status also stays there until they check-in again somewhere else. Tweeting or SMS is a far more reliable way to meet up.  People also have a habit of checking in at the post office, their office, the MTR, or their house.  It kind of kills the point.  The leaderboard and points system drive that kind of behavior.  I can only speak for Hong Kong, but do you really need to be the Mayor of the Ferry Terminal?

Quality of Venue Data

What you put in is what you get out.   It will be sometime before Foursquare is filled in to a high level with accurate information and good tips. Some people put in cool tips about happy hours and deals but I haven’t seen much of that in Hong Kong. Therefore, Foursquare may end up doing very well in some cities and fail in others.

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There are hundreds, if not thousands of different ways you can acquire links. Every link buildling tactic comes with pros and cons. I have found that the most effective way to build links is by taking the time to build relationships with experts in your industry, than to just dropping a link in a directory or forum. I understand this is a time intensive process and it requires a lot more work, but the end result are highly relevant, authoritative links. Below is a step by step process to effectively approach potential link partners.

Follow this 4 step process:

1. Make a Potential Link Partner List

If you read industry blogs, than you probably have a pretty good idea who the major influencers are in the industry. Start by generating a list of potential experts/bloggers you would like to contact. Take note of their blog (if they have one), what sites they contribute to, and any social media sites they engage in.

2. Start Following Them

Before you even begin contacting anyone, start following them. If they are on Twitter, start following them. Pay attention to what they tweet about, who they tweet about, who they are tweeting with, and pay attention to their style/personality.

If they manage or contribute to a blog, sign up for their RSS feed and being reading recent and upcoming posts. Start to understand their style of writing, how often they blog, and what topics they cover.

If they use social bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit, start following their bookmarks. See what type of sites interest them. Find out if they have other types of passions besides just the industry you are in. You may be able to connect with someone on a deeper level (similar intersts, location, background, experience).

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Thanks to a recent feature story in Entrepreneur magazine, ghost Tweeting has once again become a hotly debated subject. So, I thought I’d throw in my $.02 on the subject.

Note: For those who don’t know, ghost Tweeting is when you hire someone else to Tweet under your name.

• It goes against the whole point of social media—Call me crazy, but isn’t the whole point of social media to be, umm, social? Social media is about interacting, building relationships, getting to know one another, and just being yourself. Now, if someone else is Tweeting under your personal name, doesn’t that violate all of this? It’s like when a 50 year old fat guy in a chat room pretends to be a 21 year old blonde chick. Not cool, man.
• It can distort the brand image—Celebrities and high-profile execs are usually the ones who hire people to ghost Tweet for them, and I get it. They’re busy. The last thing they have time for is to Tweet all day, but they also want to build their brand and keep their name out there. However, I think this is a bit dangerous and can easily backfire. Even if the ghost writer is good at capturing your exact tone and personality, there’s no way they can know the celeb’s thoughts on every subject they Tweet about. Sooner or later, something will be Tweeted that isn’t in line with the celeb’s “personal brand”, and this will distort that image and confuse their audience.
• The speed of Twitter makes it difficult to edit—I understand ghost blogging because the ghost writer has time to interact with the credited author to get ideas for posts and edits on their writing. But Twitter is a real-time conversation. There’s no time for editing and approving every single Tweet before it gets published. This creates a dangerous environment where the ghost writer can very easily slip up by Tweeting something they shouldn’t, and as a result, it’s the celebrity who ends up paying for it.

Alternatives to Ghost Tweeting

• Hire a social media consultant to train you on how best to use Twitter.
• Tweet when you have time. Quality over quantity.
• Don’t Tweet at all

Chrome Seo for modern search engine optimizers, search engine marketers and webmasters. Now more than ever seo is tied directly to the live web and real-time actions. Blog farms and scrapers, gave way to mass social spam and vote rigging. Brokering links was safe, then unsafe for Google whitehat seo, and everything in between. Page rank was abandoned even though its still with us. No-follow links and page sculpting turned out to be a shame, even with proof of concept.

Now oddly like once before we must track the structure and wider statistics. Serp rank, page rank, site rankings and social authority all now weigh against the new real-time focus. Links are still important but reputation global impact and social reach are just as much a search ranking factor in modern search analysis.

Google’s chrome browser has been with us now for many month but only recently opened the extension arsenal to the world. Social tools, blog extensions, seo plugins and more can all be found. That was half the problem. With so many changes happening every day in the world of search more than the same old tools were needed. With so many old idea once again seeing the light of viable search marketing use, the old tools were sorely needed.

After weeks of trolling the Google extensions directory I was able to round up a multi-layer seo toolkit of chrome extensions. Combine they can take a large chunk of dismay in your conversion to chrome, the extensions we need to assess our clients sites, links and reputation are now includable. The list includes three sections of focus, seo data, site research and technical helpers for the search marketers and seo’s trade.

The SEO ranking and Analysis Section:

Chrome SEO

The Google Chrome SEO extension provides easy access to Search Engine Optimization Tools that can help you with Competitive Analysis, Keyword Research, Backlink Checks and other daily SEO tasks. [link]

Current functions list:

• Pages Indexed on: Bing, Google, Yahoo
• Backlinks as reported by : Alexa, Bing, Google, MajesticSeo, Yahoo
• Current Traffic and Rankings as reported by : Alexa, Compete, Google PageRank, Quantcast, SEMRush, Technorati
• Social Bookmark counts on : Delicious, Digg, Dmoz, StumbleUpon,
• Cached Versions of the website from : Archive.org, CoralCDN, Google, WebCite
• Domain Details such as : DNS, IP Address, Server Location, Whois details

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A friend of mine reported seeing these new options in Google and sent me this screen shot and video. Notice you now see additional search options above the search by time frame options. The new search options read, everything, images, videos, news, blogs, updates, books, maps, shopping, more.

I did not see these new search options on my end, but I have some similar options as you can see by the second screen shot below. Notice the options are similar but slightly different. In this second example you also see forums as an additional search option.

Full video of new Google search options

I can’t help but wonder is Google is doing split testing live? Possibly a realtime multivariant test by the king of search. Let me know what you unveil to in the comments

For those looking to spread their message far and wide on Twitter, attracting ReTweets (RT) is a must. When your followers RT your content, it can create a snowball effect.—Your followers RT it, then their followers RT it, and then their followers RT it, and so on.

But to enjoy that snowball effect, it all starts with knowing how to attract those initial RTs. Here are 13 tips for getting more people to RT your content.

1. Message your friends to ask for them—I’m assuming you have at least a few close friends on Twitter. To get that snowball rolling, shoot them an email or an IM asking them to RT your content. Most times, they’ll be happy to help. Just make sure you don’t constantly bombard them with RT requests. Moderation is key.
2. Include “Please RT” on your tweet—It might seem a little desperate, but adding “Please RT” at the beginning or end of a tweet can help you get some good RT action. Again, this is something you don’t want to overdo as your followers will begin to ignore you. I prefer only using “Please RT” for important causes, rather than something that just benefits me.
3. Install a Twitter button on your blog—Placing a TweetMeme button on your blog makes it easy for your readers to instantly share your content on Twitter with only a single click. Make sure the button is placed above the fold so readers easily see it.
4. Include @mentions to those referenced in the post—Sometimes, you might quote or reference someone else in your post. Whenever you do this, include an @mention of that person. For example: “33 Copywriting Tips found on Twitter (include link) w/tips from @Copywritings @heatherlloyd and more” These @ mentions put you on the radar of those people, and it could lead to them ReTweeting your content.
5. Don’t just drop a link. Add something to it—Take a look at the 50 most recent Tweets from your followers. I bet probably half of them are links to articles or blog posts. We’re constantly being bombarded with links on Twitter. To stand out, you need to add something to your link drop that makes it more intriguing.

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This is a guest post by Daniel Mcgonagle. Daniel writes about link building and SEO at his blog.

Source: Diamanx

The best types of backlinks come from amidst contextual content published on sites very closely related to the sites you’re getting links to.

Adding or getting blog roll or sitewide links provides less SEO value, linkjuice and potential Page Rank “pass-down” than could be achieved with just one article published on the correct type of site.

Getting your content published on other related sites (not just relevant categories) does a lot of tihngs for you.

If site is a top quality site, then it will already have RSS subcribers who will read your content, and these are REAL “eyeballs” who will be reading content they have already expressed interest in, hence their RSS subscription, and they may consider you a new source for top quality information.

This generally leads to increased RSS readership for you and your site if your content is good enough and gets put on the best types of sites, in the right way (good relevant sites, good information being delivered, etc…)

These types of sites are generally called “Optimal Link Targets” which means they’re the best (optimal) places from which you could hope to get a backlink.

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By now, you’re undoubtedly familiar with the reasons to use Twitter for your business. However, most conversations on the subject rarely offer specific strategies for using Twitter for your business, and instead they consist of vague statements like connect with and engage your audience or build your brand.

Today, we’re going to take a look at specific actions you can take on Twitter to help your business.

1. Provide customer support—While I certainly don’t recommend using Twitter as your main source of customer support, it’s helpful as an additional option for customers. JetBlue and Comcast are just two major companies that provide customer support through Twitter. Make sure the employee providing customer service over Twitter is trained properly to solve problems and to offer excellent service every time.
2. Hold contests—Twitter is an excellent medium for holding a contest for your business. Last year, @HostGator held a contest where the company gave away an iPhone every day for a month. To enter the contest, entrants had to Tweet the details of the contest each day. This created thousands upon thousands of mentions about the web hosting company, making the contest a viral success.
3. Alert customers about special sales—Many companies use Twitter to update customers about special sales and coupon codes. @MarcJacobsSales and @DellOutlet are two examples of Twitter accounts where you can learn of the latest and greatest deals.
4. Poll audience for data gathering—One of the most overlooked ways to use Twitter is to gain deep insight from your target audience. Polling customers can involve anything from getting their thoughts on new product ideas to finding out which topics they’d like to see you blog about.
5. Let customers know your location (for mobile businesses)—Several mobile businesses (e.g. taco trucks, ice cream trucks, waffle trucks, etc.) use Twitter to let customers know where they are. This drives foot traffic to the business, helping increase sales.
6. Monitor your reputation—If your target audience is on Twitter, there’s a good chance your company could get mentioned at some point. Guess what? These mentions might not always be so positive. Subscribe to company-specific keywords on Twitter search so that you’re alerted every time someone mentions your brand.
7. Tell customers when you have an opening—One of the most creative uses of Twitter I’ve seen is @Laundryroom. This Twitter account alerts residents at Olin College’s West Hall every time a washing machine in the Laundromat is available.
8. Promote special events—Does your company host after hours events or special parties? Twitter is the perfect way to promote the event so you can have an excellent turnout.
9. Post company news—Keep your customers, partners, and employees up to date with the latest news on your company through Twitter. This can be anything from updates on big projects to information about new products you’re releasing.

How does your business use Twitter? Leave a comment with your suggestions for effective business Tweeting.

This is a guest post: by Alisa Bowman. In addition to being a friend of mine, Alisa is also a freelance writer and blogger. She gives free marriage advice and help. at her blog ProjectHappilyEverAfter.com. You can find her on Twitter @AlisaBowman.

About six months ago, I had 1500 blog subscribers—all of whom left few if any comments. On a good day, I would get maybe 8 comments.

On a bad day, I might get zero

It hurt my feelings more than a little.

And it made me wonder: Is anyone actually reading my blog? Or are all of these people pressing the delete button whenever my blog feeds into their inbox? Am I the most unloved blogger on the planet?

I thought about throwing a De-Lurking Party, as I’d read about other bloggers doing that sort of thing. But that seemed, well. In a word? Terrifying. What if I held a party and no one showed?

No, I couldn’t do that. No. No. No. A De-Lurking Party? That was waaaaay too risky.

So I did all of the usual things that people tell you to do in order to get more comments. I ended each post with this line, “Please leave a comment.” I installed the Comment Luv and the Subscribe To Comments plugins. I begged my Twitter followers to please comment on my blog.

Nothing.

Then, one day, I accidentally purchased the wrong size of bed sheets. I opened the package and washed them before realizing the issue. I didn’t know what to do with the dang things, so in the middle of a post Of Cobwebs, Bedsheets and Butter I wrote: Would you like a set of free Bakugan bed sheets? Leave a comment on today’s post that makes me laugh and forget all of my life’s problems and they are yours.

It was a joke. I didn’t think anyone would want them. I mean, seriously? They were kid’s bed sheets. They were already out of the package.

They had Bakugan designs on them.

That post? It generated 23 comments. As the comments flowed in, I danced around my room saying, “Who-hoo. People really do read my blog. Who-ho. People love me.”

Reward Your Readers

Let me tell you something. I. Did. Not. Want. To. Come. Down. From. That. 23 Comments. High.

Did not.

So I decided to give away more stuff.

I included a line from Where the Wild Things Are in one post’s headline and offered to send a chocolate bar to the first reader who figured out the book from which I’d stolen the line.

I won a bunch of dildos at a conference (don’t you just wish you were at THAT conference?), so I gave two away to my readers.

I re-gifted swag. I gave away crap that I didn’t want anymore. I gave, and I gave, and I gave.

Here are some other things that I did:

Created a Reader of the Month award. I give it to one frequent commenter each month.

Thanked my readers. I thanked them in my posts. I thanked them in the comments area. I told them just how much their comments helped inspire me. I told them just had crappy I felt whenever a post did not generate a lot of comments.

Started a Reader Participation post. I did the first one on a morning when I was busy and didn’t have enough time to write a real post. So I posed a question, asking, “What was the best marriage advice you ever got?” In the body, I told readers that they would write the post instead of me. I would, however, reward one commenter with a subscription to Wired magazine. That post? It got 46 comments. Now I regularly post questions—usually ones that were sent to me by readers—and I ask my readers to answer them.

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