Guest Blogging for Artists: Get More Web Traffic Quickly

image via allthingslearning

Artists often ask me how to get more traffic to their websites. Guest blogging can be a highly effective way to do that. By writing a blog post for other bloggers you solve the problem of giving them some extra content to publish, and then you get in front of their audience. If you do a good job, you can end up with a bunch of new potentially interested people visiting your website. (First you’ll want to be sure that you’ve developed your own blog that will make art collectors swoon.)

In addition, a well-placed guest post with links back to your site can help your search engine rankings quite a lot. That’s how TAA ranks so highly for terms like How to Sell Art.

How to Find Blogs to Guest Post for

If you’re on TAA’s mailing list, then you’ve seen this blog post on how to research your online art market. The same tools and techniques used there can be applied to find blogs to guest post for. Try looking for blogs that have larger reach than your own.

Look outside of the areas you might normally spend time. In addition to art blogs, you might look at blogs related to your subject matter or the causes you are interested in. For example, if you love wildlife art, try guest posting on blogs about wildlife conservation and climate change. If you are a fantasy artist, try taking advantage of the popular zeitgeist and do a guest post on a pop culture blog about the Hobbit or Game of Thrones.

You should be able to find 30 – 40 blogs to guest post for without any problem at all.

What to Blog About

You may say that you’re a visual artist and not much of a writer. That’s okay. You can create other content. If you’re an illustrator you might create some interesting or amusing infographics. If you are a fine artist, you might do a small quick study of that blog’s emotional state or impact in the world.

You can also do video blogs, or even a simple curated list of your favorite art related to that blog. Buzzfeed does this on a regular basis with posts like 7 Disney Princesses Who Actually Belong in Star Wars. That is simply a curated list of art from the website deviantArt.com. With your list of of 30 blogs, write up 2 – 3 ideas for each blog that you can pitch to them.

How to Pitch Your Guest Post

The rules for pitching blog posts are similar to the rules for pitching interviews.

• Read a bunch of what has already been published
• Make sure your pitch suggests something that hasn’t already been covered, or covers something from a new perspective
• Flatter the blogger
• Tell a compelling story in your pitch email
• Keep it short and relevant
• Follow up appropriately
• Follow submission guidelines (most popular blogs have them – do a google search for Name of the blog + guest post guidelines)

Here is one of the best pitch emails I’ve ever received:

Hi Cory,

My name is Kimberly and I’m writing to propose an idea for a guest post on The Abundant Artist.

I’m a freelance copywriter, lapsed photographer, and lifelong creative.  I absolutely loved the guest post by Steff Metal, “Artists Who Sell: How to Write a Killer Sales Page (and why).” I even saved it to my “copywriting resources” file for easy access next time I’m writing a sales page for a creative entrepreneur.  : )

Note how she points out why she likes TAA and that she’s read the TAA Guest Posting Guidelines

I also read through the articles by Melissa Dinwiddie (wow – what an amazing story of perseverance!), Natasha Wescoat, Hannah Piper Burns, and several other articles on your site as well. 

I’d like to propose two topics that that I think your audience of creative entrepreneurs would find valuable:

Up to now, Kimberly’s pitch has been short, succinct, and to the point. Paragraphs are broken up into single lines of text, making it easy to scan, and there’s no superfluous back story.

How to Create a Free Opt-in Offer Your Target Audience Will Love:  Many creative entrepreneurs know they need to build an email list, but don’t get started because they struggle with what kind of free opt-in offer to create to get subscribers interested in signing up to their list.  My post would cover at least a dozen ideas for [edited for length]

6 Ways to Differentiate Yourself Online to Attract Your Ideal Clients:  One of the biggest challenges of marketing online is to stand out among hundreds of other creative entrepreneurs who offer a similar product or service….[edited for length]

The titles of the proposed post are bolded so I can scan them. If the title interests me, I can read more about what she has planned, without having to read the entire already-written post. This is awesome stuff. You can read her published post on free opt-in offers here.

I recently had a guest post featured on Create Hype: Marketing Tips for Creative Entrepreneurs called Convert Website Visitors to Email Subscribers with Irresistible Opt-In Form Copy which you can check out here if you’d like:

http://createhype.com/convert-visitors-to-email-subscribers-with-irresistible-opt-in-form-copy/

Showing me credibility and examples of her writing. At this point I was already leaning toward having her post, but this put it over the top for me.

Thanks very much for your time, and let me know if either one of these guest post ideas would be a good fit for The Abundant Artist audience!

What to Do Before Your Guest Post Goes Live

Make sure that your own digital house is in order. Have your own website with your art displayed. If you have an email newsletter, be sure that your newsletter opt-in form is on the page. Follow the guidelines in the Artist Website Checklist.

If you have a guest post on a very popular blog, you might consider putting up a blog post welcoming new visitors and pointing them to the best art and blog posts on your site.

Be sure to pay attention to how your post does on the blog. Reply to the comments on the post. Share it with your own network, and respond to social media mentions. Here are some great examples of other artists using their blog to great effect: 7 Inspiring Artists Who Blog, and some simple tips on what to write about on your own blog: What Should Artists Blog About?

Want to Write for TAA?

Are you an artist who has some useful experiences and insights on selling art? Feel free to check out our guest posting guidelines and send us a proposal. We’re also looking for recurring writers and editors if you’re interested.