Comments on: [SpecialtyBuzz] Staff Blogger Extraordinaire Ali Hale

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By: 25 Lessons You Can Learn From Ali Hale | Blogging Tips From Jade Craven

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By: Ali Hale

Ali Hale — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:56:44 +0000

Good question: I always write the whole thing, though of course I can see why you’re reluctant to do that. I usually look for blogs that regularly have guest posts so that I’m pretty sure they can use mine – http://www.dumblittleman.com and http://www.problogger.net are a couple you might like to look at (though I’m not sure what your main topics/interests are).

I’ve never had a guest post turned down, but I may just have been lucky so far!

On the other hand, guest posts themselves don’t pay — they can be a good foot in the door, but I’ve never been offered money for them (several times, they’ve led to jobs, and others I wrote not in the hope of a job but simply to build up my profile and reputation online and to reach a wider audience).

Hope that helps!

Ali

By: Bumbles

Bumbles — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:46:54 +0000

Hi Ali! Thanks for the response. You mentioned sending a guest post with an e-mail looking for a job. But is it worthwhile writing a full article/post versus giving a tease paragraph to the topic and linking to other existing samples? I don’t want to spend the energy writing a post that may never see the light of day. I could always put it up on my personal blog I suppose. Or am I going about this the wrong way – looking for work and letting it dictate the post rather than writing the post to create the job?
Bumbles´s last blog ..ON TRAVEL ~ Road Trip…

By: Ali Hale

Ali Hale — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:05:09 +0000

Apologies for the delay in replying – have had a busy few days!

@Bumbles – Regarding finding who to contact, it can be a tricky one. If you can figure out the editor’s name and the standard format of emails at the site/company (eg. firstname.lastname@url.com is quite common), you can sometimes make a good stab at guessing their email address!

I’d never thought of trying snail mail: it might be worth a go. I imagine it’d certainly stand out, compared with all the emails!

Even if a blog’s not advertising, it’s definitely worth dropping them an email (I’d advise sending a guest post if they use them). Sometimes you’ll hit lucky and they’ll take you on — this has happened to me several times — or, alternatively, they’ll have you in mind when a vacancy does arise.

I got my first staff blogging position by dumb luck too.

Also, it sounds like you have some brilliant guest post ideas that could give a bit of a twist to the usual bloggy advice! Have you considered doing a guest post for http://www.problogger.net? I’ve had a few guest posts on there, and it’s great for getting your name in front of a community of bloggers (and potential blogger-hirers!)

By: Haraye

Haraye — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:48:18 +0000

Super-Duper site! I am loving it!! Will come back again – taking you feeds also, Thanks.

By: Bumbles

Bumbles — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:05:50 +0000

Anything for you Jenn. Your posts like this series are terrific for newbies like me.

By: Jenn Escalona

Jenn Escalona — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:56:37 +0000

See? That’s zillions of post ideas. I do like the falling ass backwards post, though. The real question is, would you have time to appear over here or are you far too busy for us little people with your fancy new blogging career?

(To be serious, congratulations on the staff blogging position! I want to see your work!)

By: Bumbles

Bumbles — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:53:29 +0000

Hmmm – lets see – how to fall ass backwards into a pay by post position. No excuse for shyness on the internet – e-mail is your BFF. Big dreams, small pay. New website game – guess who the editor is. How to take pride in low SEO stats. How to make yourself feel better by pretending those job posts are beneath you when you really have no idea what the terminology means, and therefore you realize you have no business applying – nah, that one’s too depressing. Baseball for dummies – educating SAHM’s one post at a time so you can write about what you want and still have visitors. That’s all I’ve got.

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