The music industry’s very own Rocket Man has recently reached the coveted number 1 spot in the charts at the ripe old age of 74. But Elton John didn’t get there entirely under his own steam. His latest hit, Cold Heart, although consisting of a mash up of four of his own songs, is a joint effort with 26-year-old singer songwriter Dua Lipa. It’s a prime example of a successful cross over release and a great illustration of what can be achieved by joining forces – each artist effectively reaching an additional audience, as well as their usual fans. What, you may be thinking, has this got to do with PR? Well, the answer is; I think it’s a perfect analogy for guest blogging!
Last month I was delighted to be able to publish, on my wesbsite and in my digital newsletter, a guest blog by business development specialist Doug McPherson on why your law firm should focus marketing on specific industries or sectors and I like to think this was a win-win for both of us. My readers got the benefit of Doug’s expertise on a topic I am not a specialist in and Doug hopefully got to reach readers he wouldn’t otherwise have had contact with, expanding his connections and building his audience – there really was no downside.
For law firms and other professional services, there will be plenty of opportunities to collaborate with contacts and referrers by inviting blogs on to your own website or newsletter or by offering content. For example, family lawyers could collaborate with a relationship therapist or even a forensic accountant, property lawyers could collaborate with a surveying firm while a private client team could work with a wealth manager.
So, how can you make guest blogging work for you – either as a writer or a host?
- If you are going to the trouble of writing a blog and providing it to a third party, make sure you are targeting the right audience. Will that platform and/or site reach the right people for you? There’s no point investing the time and energy writing something if readers are not the people your business is interested in.
- If you are hoping to reach a totally new audience, make sure they know who you are, no point in being anonymous. Introduce yourself and explain who you are and what services you provide. This can be done within the blog or you could ask your host to put up your bio.
- An obvious point but, make sure your blog contains a link back to your website as well as any details of your Instagram/Twitter handle etc.. This will help your SEO and make it simple for people to find you.
- As a host, if a guest blogger is offering you a blog, it’s understandable you will be keen to take such ready-made content. However, the wrong content may be worse than no content. Make sure what they are offering is relevant to your followers, is the topic they are writing on relevant, or of interest to your readers?
- As a host, make sure you are happy with the content and that the guest blog is not saying anything that may upset your audience or conflict with your advice or stance on an issue.
- Publishing blogs on topics which are connected but not identical to the host’s expertise may be helpful and enhance reputation for thought leadership.
Guest blogging allows a writer to enjoy some reflected prestige from their host. Equally, if a business can persuade a popular or trendy blogger to appear on their site it will look relevant and “on trend”.
All in all, guest blogging is an easy way for both host and writer to take their business into a different orbit and, hopefully, reach those stars!
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Need some help with PR? Feel free to drop me an email to arrange a 30 minute complimentary call or take a look at some of the packages I offer law firms, accountancy practices and other b2b businesses.