Why Darren Rowse, John Chow and Brian Clark Scare Me:
How Guest Blogging Helped Me to Overcome Fear
by Yuwanda Black
[Want to start a successful career as a freelance writer? Click here.]

“Why?” you might be wondering. “Well, I’m glad you asked.”

Using Guest Blogging to Overcome Fear

When I was in my mid-to late teens, I used to compete in beauty pageants (hey, I was raised in the South and it’s one of the things we do, ok?). The Q&A part scared the bejeezus out of me. My heart pounded, my legs trembled and my voice shook something terrible.

For the loud mouth I was in every other part of my life, being asked some benign question by a toupe-wearing ole judge terrified me.

It took me years to overcome this fear of public speaking. Now, you don’t even have to pay me to get up in front of people; I’m all for it. What does this have to do with Darren, John and Brian? Well, they are established online presences – and interacting with them is as intimidating as public speaking.

John Chow Presents a Guest Blogging Opportunity

That all changed, however, on Thursday, May 8^th. I ran across a guest blogging opportunity on JohnChow.com during my normal morning browsing. If you don’t know who he is, then just know that he brings in $25-$30K/month with via his blog – and has way over 25,000 subscribers to his feed.

I immediately wrote up a post and sent it in. As of this writing, I don’t know if/when it’ll be published. But, I was so pumped from doing this one, that I scoured the web for more guest posting opportunities on popular blogs.

FreelanceSwitch Presents a Guest Blogging Opportunity

And, I swear to the powers that be, it seems as if they were smiling down on me. For, I ran across one on FreelanceSwitch.com too. Their contribution center had been closed for months. But, it had recently beenopend back up again to contributors. So, I wrote an article and submitted it to them.

This site has over 24,000 subscribers to its feed (I saw it somewhere on the site, but couldn’t locate it for this article) and gets close to 8,000 visitors a day according to BrainStat.com. The very next day, Skellie, wrote back to me saying that my article had been accepted – and I would get $60 for it too!

At this point I’m thinking, hey, maybe I do have something to say and maybe it is good enough for the big guy (and gal!) sites.

FreelanceWritingGigs Presents a Guest Blogging Opportunity

The next day, Friday, May 9^th, I ran across a guest posting opportunity on FreelanceWritingGigs, another popular site for freelance writers. So, I submitted a post there. And, lo and behold, it was published today. The post is entitled, Why Freelance Writers Should Apply to Full-Time Jobs. Enjoy it!

Hot damn! I’m on a roll now.

How One Guest Blogging Opportunity Opened the Door for a Possible Steady Gig

I ditched my regular writing work and spent the rest of the day ((Thursday, May 8^th) hunting down guest posting opportunities. I wrote six guests posts that day. To date (5/22), three of them have been picked up and I’ve written two more that will be published on popular blogs. 

Of the ones that were picked up, one was for a major career site (remember, I was a recruiter for 10 years). I had pitched the journalist of a popular career blog who started the site. This blogger also happens to write a career column for a major newspaper.

She then forwarded the post I’d sent to her to the website’s managing editor. He contacted me asking if he could use the post on the career site (instead of the journalists blog), and said that he’d be interested in discussing ideas I had for other pieces on an ongoing basis.

By now I’m thinking, “This guest posting thing is da bomb!” I have tons of experience and a lot of knowledge to impart. I know I write well, so I thought to myself, “Insecure or not, I’m gonna write posts and submit them to popular sites relevant to my niche.”

All they can say is, “No thanks.” Or worse, no response whatsoever.

Even though they weren’t advertising for guest posters, I submitted posts to CopyBlogger and Problogger. To date, I haven’t heard anything. FYI, site owners won’t respond with a yes or no; they’ll just publish the piece if they decide to use it.

In the end, all any site wants is great content that engages their readers. Heck, I can provide that! Read on for more.
********************************
Read here how I routinely make $250+/day as an SEO writer – and you can too!
********************************