If you are just starting out with your first book, it can be difficult to get people to notice you. You don’t have a huge mailing list, you don’t have a huge social media following, so how are you going to let people know about your new awesome book?

Here’s an idea. Write a guest blog post!

If you search around in the niche of your book, you will find that there are already communities formed around various topics. Many of the web hosts are happy to have guest bloggers because, let’s face it…writing fresh new content is time consuming! But if you offer to write a guest blog post, then they get great content and you get access to their audience. It’s a win win!

I reached out to the Visionary Fiction Alliance about a month ago inquiring about possibly being a guest blogger, and I’m glad I did! They were happy to schedule me for an upcoming slot for August 1st. They have been very kind and helpful along the way.

Here are a few pro tips writing you first guest blog post:

1. Lead with value – make sure you are offering more give than take. Offer the audience valuable information. It may be available somewhere else, but perhaps you’ve done the heavy lifting of compiling it all together into an easy to understand article.

2. Know the audience – your blog article should be written from the point of view of the blog’s audience. Make sure you’ve read several other blog posts, especially from guest bloggers. Get a feel for what the audience likes to read. Be sure to tailor your post to your intended audience.

3. Do your homework – You’re already on the right track with reading this article. But guess what, there are 100s of other articles just like this one out there that tell you the DOs and DON’Ts of guest blogging. GO READ THEM! Here’s a few to get you started:

MichaelHyatt.com – 7 Steps to Writing a Successful Guest Post
CopyBlogger.com – Successful Guest Blogging
HubSpot.com – 17 Foolish Mistakes to Avoid as a Guest Blogger
The Ultimate Guide to Guest Blogging
9 Tips to Perfect Your Guest Blog Pitch

And finally, be sure to check out my guest blog post at the Visionary Fiction Alliance.

Thanks for reading!

Always dream big!