A Guest Blogger is someone who writes a post for a blog that is not owned by him. In order to become a good guest blogger a few points need to be kept in mind. For instance, find a blog that is similar to yours. Do your research. It’s best to write for a blog that caters to a niche and has a good readership. Write your guest post keeping the host’s target audience in mind.

The benefits of Guest blogging are as follows:

1. Backlinks: In your guest post, leave relevant links to your own blog or website. This is really helpful in terms of SEO.  When it comes to Search Engine Ranking, the more backlinks you have the better
2. Increased readership: As a guest blogger you are displaying your blog to a new set of audience.  If this new audience likes your post, they will start following your blog which leads to increased readership
3. Traffic: You are directing a lot of traffic to your own blog by leaving relevant links in your guest post
4. Exposure: Relevant exposure is one of the major reasons for guest blogging. Good content and the right amount of exposure is very important for a blogger
5. Cost-effective: Most of the time guest blogging is free as it is mutually beneficial to both the host and the guest blogger

Contributed by Jade D’costa

• How to effectively connect with your target audience through Social Media (1)
• Social Media Marketing:Our Journey (0)

Brands these days use Social Media to increase their credibility; it has revolutionized communication across all levels. It has given people and businesses a platform to share their views with the world. Engaging with consumers adds value and helps strengthen a brand’s identity. This is almost as effective as word of mouth but has an impact on a  larger number of people. Social Media plays a significant role in influencing the buying decision of consumers since people now search, read, review, discuss and then consider before making a purchase.

In order to build an effective brand communication through Social Media, you should be aware of your audience. This makes it easier to focus your activities across various Social Media channels. These channels can be categorized in this way:

Social Networking – With the advent of sites like Facebook, Orkut and LinkedIn, people have found a new way to stay connected with friends, colleagues and acquaintances. These sites can be used to target potential customers and prospects by sharing articles, videos and other interesting business links. This helps to establish relationships with customers and increase credibility.

Bookmarking – Increases brand visibility and enhances Search Engine rankings. Bookmarking web links of a home page and other sections of a website can improve search results in Google.

Micro-blogging – Twitter is the most popular site for micro-blogging. It is an interactive medium and is a powerful way to spread messages faster. To increase followers on Twitter, one needs to frequently update status and post interesting tweets. These tweets can include both promotional and non-promotional activity links.

Blogging – Creating a blog, posting interesting videos and articles and constantly updating content helps increase brand awareness. These blogs can also be bookmarked to increase traffic to the site.

Video Sharing – This tool can be used to effectively communicate a message in a few seconds. A well-made video, syndicated across sites like You Tube, MetaCafe and MySpace can help drive traffic and increase awareness of your brand. Creative and interesting videos can help reach out to a wider audience and facilitate viral marketing.

Discussion Groups and Forums - These are places where one can learn how consumers feel about a product or brand. Participating in discussions helps understand consumers well and accordingly position the product.

It is important not to adopt the “one-size-fits-all” approach to reach out to the target audience. you should select the right channel to develop a trustworthy relationship with the audience and get an edge over your competitors.

• Ghost Blogging: Does it pass blogging best practices and blogging ethics? (0)
• Engagement – The cornerstone for social media marketing success (2)
• Twitter Business Guide, Google+ Business Profile and much more… | Best of the Week (0)