As a massage therapist, you probably have no shortage of topics to write about on your business blog. But if you're looking for a sure-fire way to invigorate your blog – and reap other tangible benefits at the same time – consider asking for guest bloggers, or guest contributors.
Naturally, you should seek out contributors who have something worthwhile to say that can inform, educate, entertain, or otherwise enrich the lives of your clients – as well as those who pose no competitive threat to your business. You can make the most of your search by simultaneously looking for opportunities to be a guest blogger yourself.
The top five benefits of guest blogging almost always cut both ways – and are usually recursive in nature.
Consider:
Guest blogging opens the door to linking and greater Internet traffic since the “host” should provide a link in the blog that shepherds readers directly to the writer's website. As long as the links are minimal and of high quality, Google, Yahoo, Bing and other search engines will take notice – and reward you with an elevated status.
Guest blogging attracts new readers and potential new clients. This means that you should have the protocols in place to track, convert and maintain these new relationships. Otherwise, the effort – whether hosting a guest blogger or being one yourself – will be moot. A common practice is to have a subscribe option on your blog, where the reader agrees to get email updates about your new blog posts.
Guest blogging unlocks untold marketing opportunities once you make that new, initial connection. Strategize in terms of both technology-based outreach efforts – especially your ongoing email campaigns – and face-to-face encounters such as open houses and seminars.
Guest blogging can increase your social media following. You should neither host nor write a guest blog without trumpeting the news on your social media network. More traffic should then find its way to your blog and website, especially if the content is so good that it gets people talking and making referrals. Search engines will take notice of all this activity and “bump” your ranking accordingly.
Guest blogging allows you to burnish your reputation – as someone truly vested in enhancing the lives of your clients as a host and as an expert in your field as a guest blogger.
Whether you're hosting a guest blogger on your website or writing for someone else's, be certain to:
Include a link from the blog to the writer's website
Promote the blog on social media
Include a heartfelt “thank you for the opportunity” message
Respond promptly to comments or questions inspired by the blog
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