Getting in front of a new audience is critical for any small business. But with all the things that you need to do for your business, how do you have time to do that?

Let’s face it…

You LOVE your business.

You LOVE working in your business NOT on your business.

You want to create products.

You want to create services.

You want to improve your current offerings.

You want to talk and get to know your current clients.

You don’t want to have to focus on getting in front of new audiences so how it is possible to do that.

LOOKING AT FREELANCE BLOGGERS IN A NEW WAY

I am sure that you know the benefits of having a blog on your website. If you don’t already have one that is helping to build your brand authority, let’s chat! This blog post isn’t about your blog though. This blog post is meant to show you how a freelance blogger can help you grow your brand in new and unique ways.

So what is a freelance blogger?

It is the same thing as a freelance writer except that we focus only on blogs. That means, that when someone hires me to write a blog for them, I will create a blog using the topic that is discussed. Here is how it will work…

Step One| We meet, virtually or in person.

We talk about your business. I want to get to know you and your business. Your business is a piece of you so by getting to know you, I will get to see an inside glimpse of the pieces that light you up, your why, and how you are doing all your magnificent things.

Step Two| We figure out a game plan.

This is where I will come up with creative content ideas and you can approve them or not. These content ideas will show your expertise, relate back to anything that is upcoming in your business, and start to build that authority that you already have.

Depending on how many blog posts you choose will depend on the game plan that is created.

Step Three| I begin to research the topic and start writing a blog post.

This is my process. I will work on a blog post for you. It will be anywhere from 1500 to 2500 words in length. You will get a first draft of the blog post and then from there, I will finish editing it.

The blog post will contain the SEO needed to help you start building up your expertise. I will do keyword research on the topic so that this blog post will help you the most that it can. I do want you to remember that SEO still takes time to build. Blogging is a long-game strategy.

Step Four| Once you either approve the post or give me the edits, I will edit it.

This will be the final version that you will receive. In this step, I will also create 1 to 2 graphics that you can use in your blog post.

Step Five| Publish it.

Once the blog post is sent to you, you can publish it on your website. My name will not be attached to the blog post in any way. (I may ask if I can use it in my portfolio but that is totally voluntary.)

You can even have the opportunity to have me do all of the management of your blog as well as write the posts. That would be discussed in step one.

That process is repeated over and over again as many times as you want it to be.

What if this process could be done to make you get in front of new audiences and build your clientele up even more?

BUILDING YOUR BUSINESS AUDIENCE WITH THE HELP OF A FREELANCE BLOGGER

I often talk about using outreach as part of your blogging journey. It is, after all, one of the nine categories that I break down for your blogging vision.

What do I mean by outreach?

I mean using your expertise to get in front of new audiences. A few ways that you could do outreach are…

• Podcasts
• IG lives
• FB lives
• IG story takeovers
• Guest blogging

We are going to talk specifically about using a freelance blogger to help you expand your business through guest blogging.

The benefits of guest blogging are…

• Getting in front of an already established audience that is different than yours
• Help with your SEO through quality backlinks
• Improve your domain authority
• Targeting a specific audience

Guest blogging is the same thing as regular blogging except that the blog post you create is being published on another site. You will ONLY publish that content on the other site because you do not want to create duplicate content.

When choosing who to send a guest blog post to, there are a few things that you are going to want to look for.

1| You want to make sure that their blog is active.

It won’t help much with your domain authority if their blog is not active. You want to make sure that they are posting to their blog at least once a month. Plus you want to check their social media platforms to see if they are actively sharing their blogs. If they aren’t sharing their blog posts with their audience, it will make it harder for their audience to know that the blog even exists.

2| You want to make sure that you are writing a guest blog post for someone in your niche or in one of your shoulder niches.

Yes, I said it, IN YOUR NICHE.

I want you to throw away the idea of competition. Those who are already in your niche have an established audience that is going to match your ideal audience. This can create a long-term collaborative relationship with this other business.

Your shoulder niches are those niches that are related to the one that your business is in. So let’s say that you are a baker. Your shoulder niches could be party planners, coffee shops, local restaurants, and so on. You want to connect with these shoulder niches as well because again, your audience is similar.

3| You want to make sure that the guest blog post is going to benefit both of you.

What do I mean? Well, you want to make sure that you are writing a blog post that will benefit their audience and teach them something. You also want to make sure that you benefit from sharing this with that audience.

That means that you both share to your social media platforms and create excitement around the guest blog post. Talk about the opportunity BEFORE it goes live. Start commenting on their social media feeds. Build that relationship up so that when publish is hit on that blog post, you will both be getting the most out of it.

GETTING STARTED WITH BRAND OUTREACH

I always say that you can’t be too prepared. Create a list of those you want to work with. When I create my list, I focus on different areas.

1. Who could I work with right now that doesn’t feel out of reach
2. Who could I work with in 6-12 months from now
3. Who could I work with in 1-3 years from now

Once this list is created, you are going to do some online stalking but in a pleasant way.

You are going to check out their social media platforms and check out their websites. When I do this, I grab a piece of paper and write their name. Under their name, I will put their details. I include…

• What their title is
• If they have a blog on their website
• How many followers do they have on social media
• If their blog is active/when the last blog post was written

I will then comment on 2-3 of their posts. This will start getting my name in front of them so that they can begin to recognize it. Just make sure that when you are engaging, you are making the comments meaningful and related to the topic.

This list will come in handy when it comes to your freelance blogger. They can help you brainstorm ideas that will be unique for the different guest blogging options. Then all that needs to be done is for the outreach to begin.

Once your homework is done, start reaching out to potential accounts. When you reach out, do so via email and make it authentic. Things to include in your email are…

• Who you are
• A favourite blog post or social media post that you love of theirs
• What you do
• How you found them online
• How you want to work with them (you want to write a guest blog post for their website)

I wouldn’t give them the topic ideas until they agree that they would love to have you write for them. You can give them 2-3 ideas on what you would like to talk about and they can choose. They may even give you a topic idea that they want to be covered and you can agree to it if you are comfortable with it.

Guest blogging is the perfect way to help build your reputation as an expert in your niche and create meaningful connections with already-established audiences. Using a freelance blogger to help you with blog outreach is a great way to build up your business while not putting the stress on yourself to do so.

If you would like to discuss blog outreach and freelance blogging, let’s connect. I would love to help you grow your business through blogging.