Photo under Flickr Creative Commons from Mshades
Who has the time to read guest posts nowadays?
Certainly not people like James Chartrand, Derek Halpern, Stuart Mills, Marcus Sheridan and a bunch of other big names.
And not only them, but I bet you don’t read all guest post submissions on sites like Problogger, Copyblogger, Freelance Switch, Write to Done, etc… Well, why should you?
I’ve talked with a lot of people about the impressions they get when they see a guest post on someone else’s blog, and here’s what most of them had to say.
Is no one reading guest posts anymore?
“None of the big names are reading blogs.” – James
No one is reading them, so why should you be writing them at all? All that hard work and research and no one is reading them.
That’s quite a shame if you ask me. Instead of reading guest posts, people with successful blogs and businesses of their own are out doing their own thing.
Not following every blog on the planet. Not subscribing to every new blogger in the biz. Their making stuff happen on their own terms.
Guest posts won’t get you everyone’s attention
“If you want attention, do something worthy of attention… on your own site.” – Derek
Derek’s right. If you’re guest posting on someone else’s blog, you won’t get the attention of every single one who reads it.
I recently did a little study and some sleuthing by plain out asking several people about their impressions on guest posts. I got some shocking results. Well, shocking for me at least.
I learned that only 20% of all the people I interviewed actually click through the guest poster’s byline to check out their site. And on top of that, less than 10% of them are actually interested in signing up to a list.
Imagine that. Almost no one is reading guest posts, and almost no one is interested in signing up to another email list.
Now, why should you be reading guest posts again?
Guest posts don’t attract everyone, but…
“If I read an article that ‘gets me’, then I will click through.” – Stuart
But they attract the right people.
Who are the “right people”? Since no one clicks through your byline on your guest posts, who’s left to actually notice you?
They are your target customers. Your real audience. They are the people who you should be writing to, and not everyone else who just skips past your content. They are the people who are actually looking for someone to help them with their problems. They are the people who need your services. Prospect clients who need your freelance writing services.
You don’t need everyone on your list. You don’t need everyone to read your blog. You just need the right people.
The ones who are not only there to read your content, but also believe in the product or idea that you are sending out. Not the ones who are ‘on the fence’. Not your haters. They’re not going to buy your book anyway. They’re not going to purchase your software.
The big names were guest posters too
“Most A-listers, once they reach a certain point, stop guest posting.” – Mane Man Marcus
Leo Babauta, Brian Clark, Danny Iny, Jon Morrow and the ones I already mentioned above are all big names in their field. They don’t read guest posts anymore, nor do they spend time reading other blogs because quite frankly, they’re too busy for that.
They’ve done their share, and now it’s our turn. It’s our turn to write guest posts that no one but the “right people” will read. Write for the right people, they always say.
Remember, what’s important is not the traffic spike that you get after your guest posts is published. It’s the conversion. It’s how many of the right people you’ve convinced to follow your lead.
If no one reads your guest posts, so what?
That’s right. So what?
The big names might not be reading them, but your target readers are. The real purpose of doing the whole thing is not to attract the big names, but to get seen by the people who resonate with you.
Whether you’re a freelance writer, consultant, life coach or web design dude, you need to get out there and be seen by prospect customers.
No one reads guest posts. No one subscribes to your list. No one but the right people.
Let me pick your brain
How many guest posts on other blogs do you read on a daily basis? Are you too busy reading guest posts, or are you busy actually writing guest posts? And finally, what’s your take on getting only the right people to sign up to your list, and not everyone else. Let’s talk about it in the comments section below.
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About Josh Sarz
Hi Josh,
A very interesting topic, and one which could spark a debate if enough people join in!
As I said in the e-mail, the majority of guest posts I read don’t attract me enough to visit the writer’s own blog. One example is ProBlogger, where the majority of posts are guest posts. I read quite a few of these, but I’ve only visited a small handful of these writer’s own websites. The rest don’t interest me enough.
Great idea Josh
Stuart wants to share…Why It Must Hurt Before Anything Else Happens
I’ve been reading almost every one of them. But I realized that A LOT of people actually write guest posts everywhere. People don’t really follow every single one of these, do they? That’s why I started asking around. And it gave me an idea to write about it.
Guest posts are still great through, for honing down on your target audience. Not getting everyone in.
Hey Josh, first of all: FANTASTIC headline. That’s what a lot of top bloggers spend hours crafting in their posts, and you nailed it with this one.
Second, I think it depends on the guest post or poster. Sometimes I like to help newer bloggers out by posting a guest post or featuring them in a series (like the 21 Christmas Bloggers posts I did), but even still, I handle all the copyediting and formatting myself. If I don’t think their title is catchy enough, I work with it, and I am selective with what I post. (Never anything like “5 Living Conditions to Make Life Easier for Senior Citizens” – I SWEAR I saw this on a guest post. Really?? Seniors??)
You’ve got good chops, Josh. Keep it up, bro!
Bryan Thompson wants to share…What Do You Do When You Don’t Feel the Love Anymore?
Yup. If you’re only writing guest posts for the sole reason of backlinks and getting subscribers, you would need to make the topic a little generic.
But the problem with doing it this way, is that the people that you’ll be attracting might not be the ‘right people’ for your business. People should write guests posts with topics that ONLY get the right people to click through, so that they won’t be wasting time trying to please EVERYONE, and just focus on capturing the attention of prospect clients/readers.
Thanks for dropping by, Bryan. Have a great day.
I agree about the headline, and I agree about the message
Awesome stuff Josh.
If I understand correctly: “No one reads guest posts but the right people.”
I look at guest posts more as ‘collaborations’.
If you look at every successful form of media, they all have some form of collaboration.
When blogs first debuted, we had very little understanding of how to collaborate. With the debut of guest posts, blogs had an ‘official’ collaboration tool. Whether ‘everyone reads them’ or not, guest posts pave the way for collaboration in the blog world.
Personally, I want to evolve it, and create ‘ACTUAL’ collaborations.
When I hear a song like Otis by Jay-Z + Kanye, or Let’s Roll (Yelawolf + Kid Rock), my attention is peaked. Their combined artistry impresses.
I am a sublimely creative person, consistently over-delivering, and I’m psyched to meet the person who’s the right fit for a blog remix
Sexy Success meets Social Media Blog, or Sexy Success meets Traffic Generation Blog, or Sexy Success meets Red Carpet Blog. Yeah!
Jason Fonceca wants to share…Why Superstars Are So Famous, And So Trusted
Great point about collaborations. Thanks for dropping by Jason.
Hi Josh,
The right people always read guest posts, but they actually want to hear more from the owner of a particular blog.
Let say if they don’t read, then they ‘ll make zero improvement to themsleves, anyway.
Just likes you, you asked other people to write about this, right? (reading is important.)
Ferb
Ferb wants to share…5 Reasons Why you Should use Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) For Window
Yeah Ferb. The right people read guest posts. If you see a guest post about something important but has nothing to do with you or your business, you shouldn’t be reading that post, right?
People read only what interests them. If a guest post on Problogger talks about Blogging and Writing, everyone who is not interested in improving their writing wouldn’t bother reading that.
Guest posts are like commercials, they say something like “I can help you improve your blog, with a touch of copywriting.” Only the ones who need something along the lines of improving their blog, or improving their website copy will read the post.
Thanks for visiting again Ferb.
I would read them because every posts that published have their own unique writing and content.
Ferb wants to share…Blog Posts Writing Applications
As a ‘newbie’ but geriatric blogger, I read everything by everyone at the moment to try to improve my writing style and get my head round what this blogging is all about! Not sure if it constitutes plagiarism, but I nab style and ‘sound’ from all over the place to make what I have to say more interesting. The uniqueness of others’ work is very helpful – and I really appreciate the sort of stuff I find on blogs like this!
linda wants to share…Middle Age Rafting on the River Mur
That’s great. Reading other people’s work is really what got me to improve.
Pretty good post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I’ll be subscribing to your feed
Well first i thought you were saying something else but after going through I discover that it was a great content.
Thanks for publishing this
Odesanya Taiwo wants to share…United States Into Semifinals With 13-0 Rout of Guatemala
Thanks for saying that.
That’s some great advice Josh! I am living proof, as I found your site through Onibalusi’s site Young Pre Pro. Marketing is about attracting the right people. Who needs an endless number of visitors who are just going to waste your bandwidth? Go for conversions, not traffic. Of course, if you write on the right blogs you might be able to get both.
Kalen wants to share…Make Smart Decisions When Investing in Internet Marketing Tools
Exactly, Kalen. You don’t need traffic that doesn’t convert into subscribers OR clients.
Hi Josh,
Nice post josh, but personally I feel that blogger dont write post so that other bloggers would come n read them. I personally write the posts for the general audience. & those people dont mind the kind of author, may it be the admin or any other, the content is important for them & not the personality!
Zainil Dedhia wants to share…LG X3 – The First LG Device to Feature Ice Cream Sandwich
We all have reasons why we’re blogging. Some people want to sell a product, I would like to sell my freelance writing services. It depends on your personal goals, but I still believe that guest posting is just for getting the right people to find you.
Personally, I love guest posting!
You are right about the fact that everyone will not read what we write, but that is just life. We cannot win every battle. There will be many people that do not even give us the “time of day”, but then there will be people we inspire, at least if we put forth effort. I have been through the struggle of guest posting and as a matter of fact, I am still struggling! It is still hard for me to impress everyone I want, but in the end, I will never quit trying.
We cannot make progress if we give up too early to notice it.
Guest posting takes a lot of time. That is mainly because I try only to promote my best work. I do not have much time, but I always try to make time to work on a article. One thing that I know is that guest posting will pay off in due time.
Great article! It was an awesome read. Keep up the good work!
God bless,
William Veasley
Guest posting definitely is worth all the hard work. It’s not going to bring in multitudes of people, but it gets the right ones to start listening to you.
Thanks for stopping by, William.
Writing guest blog posts has become the not new thing to do for internet marketers and for good reason. It’s an excellent way to show off your expertise to a different audience and expand your reach, but there is another important benefit that isn’t always mentioned – creating high quality back links to your own site.
That’s true. The backlinks are there.
attracting even one visitor who is interested in your niche is better than a hundred visitors who just bounce back! You were right on the mone here!
Narendran N wants to share…Building Trust – Credibility On The Web – Return Visitors : How To Blog/How Do You Blog
Exactly, Narenran. Thanks for dropping by.
I want to find this because I want to make a website that is almost completely reliant on guest posts.