As regular followers will know, I love to blog, and do so on a number of different websites.  As such I'm a staunch advocate of the benefits to be gained from guest blogging.  So I thought I'd put together ten tips to help you get the most from your guest blogging.

1. Target the right blogs – An obvious one you may say, but if you don't get this one right then everything that follows won't bring you the results you want.  So think through some criteria to analyse the blogs in your hitlist.  Obviously you could go after the biggest blog you can find, but you have to be realistic.  Getting that gig at TechCrunch could take a little while.  Don't be afraid to start small and work your way up.
2. Figure out what you'll write about – Always try and keep in mind what you're hoping to achieve from your guest posts.  They have to sell you and your knowledge well.  Thrash around some ideas that are both relevant to the blog you're writing for and that promote your knowledge well.  Think of it as a teaser that will entice people to click through to your own blog.  When they get there, they'll be expecting to find similar content to the article they've just read.
3. Get in touch with the blogger – Now it should be said that a lot of people skip the first two steps and just email as many bloggers as they can with random crap, so you're already one step ahead of the game by this point, but next you need to actually pitch your idea to the blogger.  Put yourself in their shoes for a minute here and ask yourself how you respond to blog requests.  If your idea is well suited to their audience and fits in well with previous content, you should be on safe ground pitching the idea to them.  I recommend getting approval before you write your article though as it saves you a lot of time.
4. Write some tip top stuff – I always believe that the stuff you write for other sites should be your best material.  Yes, even better than the content you publish on your own blog.  It seems a simple equation, but the better quality of your writing, the better results you'll have.
5. Tell readers who you are – Most blogs give you a bio area so you can share a bit about yourself with their readers.  This is essentially your elevator pitch, and just as with those, it's often pretty tough to shrink yourself down into a couple of paragraphs.  So give it some thought and try to conjure up something that entices a bit of interest in you and your thoughts.
6. Create a great landing page – You can see the journey we're on here right?  You have a great article.  Check.  People have liked it enough to read your bio.  Check.  They're interested enough in that to click through to your site.  Check.  Then what?  What do you want them to find when they get there?  Remember that they'll make a judgement in the first few seconds of landing, so you need to make it good.
7. Make it easy for readers to subscribe – This could be via email or it could be via RSS or Twitter, but you want to make it easy for people to pull in your content to their world.  Remember they've already got an interest in your content from the great guest post you wrote, and your landing page has piqued that interest further.  Now they're ready to sign up for a regular stream of you, make it easy for them.
8. Don't forget the social – Social media is social, y'know?  So if you write an article don't forget to follow up on any comments readers leave.  It's a good habit to subscribe to your own post, that way you get emailed whenever a comment is left and you won't miss any.  Take some time to interact with the readers and you'll soon build some strong rapport.
9. Share, share and share some more – Whilst the host blog will obviously have its own promotional channels, you certainly want to promote your guest post yourself too.  Not only does it give your followers some great extra content but it also shows them that you're cool enough to get published elsewhere.  Oh, and it makes the blogger extra happy that you're giving their site some great free publicity.  If you can send them lots of great traffic your chances of a repeat gig are greatly increased.
10. Spread the love – I do like to write regularly for a number of blogs as that way you build a good relationship with that audience, but don't forget to spread yourself around a bit so that you're reaching new people.  The chances are strong that each new blog will have a new audience so it's a great way to get your name in front of new people.