Freelancing has become oversaturated; establishing yourself and standing out, especially as a Nigerian freelancer, can be very frustrating if you don’t have the right strategy. This brings us to the question every Nigerian freelancer, especially a newbie, asks.
How can you promote yourself as a Nigerian freelancer?
Guest blogging…
There I said it.
Guest blogging has been proven to be one of the most effective strategies to up your freelance writing game.
In this post, I’ll tell you exactly how to use guest blogging to promote yourself as a Nigerian freelancer and how you can create guest posts that every blog editor would love to publish.
So, stay with me!
Table of Contents
What is Guest Blogging?
Guest blogging, also known as ‘Guest posting or guest posts,’ involves writing and publishing articles for other blogs or websites. This content marketing strategy doesn’t always receive monetary compensation; instead, you are rewarded with benefits that can help you as a Nigerian freelancer.
You might be wondering…
Why would I give out my best content for free?
Why would I write for a website that won’t pay me?
Let’s go over why writing for free does pay off for Nigerian freelancers.
Benefits of guest blogging
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Starting your career
If you are a new Nigerian freelancer without experience, you can use guest blogging to promote yourself.
Send articles to guest posting sites and get experience.
Having your guest post on an authoritative website is advantageous to your portfolio; these guest posts can serve as your initial portfolio pieces as a new writer.
In addition, every client wants to see good samples that show that you’re good at what you do. So what better way to build samples if not guest blogging?
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Instant exposure and visibility
One great thing about guest blogging is that it’s one of the fastest ways to get exposure.
When you consistently submit articles on guest blogging sites, people will begin to notice you.
It’s an opportunity for you to showcase your writing skills, especially as a beginner, and land high-paying clients who know what you can offer as a freelance writer in Nigeria.
Building a brand as a freelancer becomes easier through high-quality guest posts on guest posting sites. However, something every successful freelancer has that isn’t so easy to get is ‘brand visibility.
Well, guess what?
With guest blogging, you get a lot of eyes on your brand, blog, or website, especially if your guest post is on high-performing sites with a large and active audience. As a result, you open doors to a greater audience and potential clients.
Imagine if you wrote a guest blog on ‘Article marketing’ and 5000 people read your guest post, and only 300 of them checked your website; chances are at least 10 could request your services.
Depending on your consistency, they’ll start seeing you as a credible writer in that niche and remember you when they need a blog post on ‘article marketing.
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Positions you as an expert
I strongly agree with the expression “practice makes perfect.” The more repeatedly you publish quality guest posts on authoritative sites, the more credibility you build and the more status you gain as an expert in your niche.
Suppose you want people to remember you and trust you enough to give you their projects, especially in a country whose name is synonymous with the word ‘scam.’ You need to be known as an expert.
How else can you achieve this if not through guest blogging?
Read also: The Best Blogging Niches for Nigerian Writers
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It enlarges your network
Each time you submit a guest post is a fantastic opportunity to expand your network.
As a freelance writer in Nigeria, the relationships you build can promote you, bring you clients and increase your influence in the writing society.
Guest blogging offers this benefit to freelancers if they are ready to utilize it. I’ve gotten freelance writing jobs through referrals from relationships I built through guest posting.
It’s amazing how writing a guest blog post connects you with people, influencers, co-author posts, and other freelancers in your industry and other industries. These relationships I made helped me discover new and exciting things in my niche and gave me confidence as a Nigerian freelancer.
After writing a guest post, don’t just stop there; build your network. Interact with the audience in the comment section, share the post and continue to check in with the blog owner to show that you care about the community.
Eventually, these will open doors to long-term friendships and other writing opportunities.
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It improves your writing skills
One way to know if you’re good at writing is through guest blogging. Many sites are usually picky when it comes to accepting guest posts; they only accept high-quality articles that are well written.
These guest post sites provide submission guidelines designed according to the type of readers they have.
These guidelines will help you know what type of content works for your audience. Navigating these diverse styles and audiences will go a long way in making your writing better.
Are you truly interested in developing your writing skills? Are you new to the writing industry, or do you truly want to give writing a chance? Do so today by joining the Insight writers community, where you meet with other writers with who you both share the same ideas and thoughts.
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It generates traffic and backlinks
Backlinks and traffic generation are one of the obvious benefits of guest blogging. If you are a Nigerian freelancer with a blog or website, you should consider guest blogging if you want to build authority with your blog.
Guest blogging is known for the referral traffic it can drive to your site. Right there, in your guest post, you have the opportunity to include links that will direct visitors to your site. These backlinks are very valuable to your site as a freelancer, making it look more authoritative and credible and increasing your search ranking.
With guest blogging, you can get these backlinks for free. New writers can also get traffic to their social media pages without a website. Guest post sites allow writers to include an author’s bio, where you can add your social media handles.
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It builds your audience and social media following
It is easy to gain a new audience who are prone to share your posts on their socials through guest posting. It exposes you to someone else’s audience, which is a fast way to grow yours.
The higher traffic you can get to your website, the higher your chances of getting leads (potential clients).
Another way you can use guest blogging to promote yourself as a Nigerian freelancer is by leveraging the huge opportunity to grow your social media following.
The good thing about this is these guest posting sites share their latest content with their large social media followers.
So writing content for them means that your content gets shared with a large number of people, which can, in turn, gain you new followers.
Imagine writing a guest post for three different blogs, and each of these blogs shares your post with their followers; chances are you’ll get a lot of followers from this.
These followers grow your credibility in the writing industry.
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It opens the bag of gold
This is the icing on the cake! Guest blogging gets you clients, assuming your writing’s good.
As a Nigerian freelancer, I know how hard it is to get freelance writing jobs in Nigeria, and I’m not talking about job boards; I mean high-paying freelance writing jobs.
When you write a high-quality guest post that showcases your level of expertise for an authoritative blog in your industry, many readers or other blogs may approach you to write for them.
If your post gets lots of comments and shares, you might even be contacted by the blog for a paid post. I bet you’re ready to start guest posting right away after seeing these mouth-watering benefits. However, there are still a few more steps you need to take.
Read also: 12 Lucrative Ways to Make Money from Blogging in Nigeria
How to Become a Guest Blogger as a Beginner
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Establish your Goals
Before you start reaching out to sites, you need to answer these questions:
“Why do you want to guest blog?” – If you’re reading this post. You likely want to use guest blogging to promote yourself as a freelancer in Nigeria.
“What do you intend to achieve?” – E.g.
- To land clients
- To get exposure to your site (backlinks)
- To increase your social following
- To build your brand
“Who do you want to blog for?” – Your Audience.
You need to have these goals outlined first, not to make a mess of things. These goals will be needed to decide what website will be best to write for.
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Find blogs or sites to write guest posts for
Not all websites or blogs accept guest posts; you need to find those that do and are related to your niche. These are ways you can find guest posting opportunities:
- Explore google
Google is the largest search engine in the world and is a great place to find the right blogs. Use your niche keywords + search phrases.
Keyword + ‘write for us.’
Keyword + ‘guest post.’
Keyword + ‘submit a post.’
Keyword + ‘contributor guidelines’
Keyword + ‘guest blogger.’
E.g., If you are a health writer, search ‘health + write for us’ on Google. You’ll be led straight to their guest post submission guidelines.
- Check websites other writers are guest posting for
Search for other writers in your niche that has made guest posts before. Then, find the sites they’ve published on and submit your guest posts there.
- Explore social media platforms
Many guest posting sites and writers tend to share their posts on social platforms. Input the phrases ‘Keyword + guest post’ on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn and visit the site for guest posting opportunities.
Top Nigerian Sites to Submit Your Guest Posts
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Insight.ng
Insight.ng is a leading digital media company established in Nigeria. They cover topics on Entrepreneurship, Career, Personal Development, Freelancing, and Digital Trends with some spices of a happy Lifestyle.
Insight.ng is always on the lookout for experienced writers who are passionate about writing. The great thing about submitting your content on insight is the quick response you get.
If your content meets their guidelines, it will be published.
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InfoGuide Nigeria
InfoGuide Nigeria is a multi-author blog founded by Ifiokobong Ibanga. They publish articles in several categories such as how-to-articles, resources, where to find things, business, interviews, and reviews.
To get started, visit their submission guideline page.
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Blog Mall Nigeria
Blog Mall Nigeria is a leading native digital news, events, entertainment, lifestyle, fashion, beauty, inspiration, daily bible quotes, music/video download, e-learning portal, etc.
Visit their guidelines page to submit your guest posts.
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Entrepreneurs.ng
Entrepreneur.ng is owned by ReDahila. They offer business solutions and support, ranging from business consulting services to providing information for entrepreneurs and business leaders.
They only accept guest posts that align with their submission guidelines.
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Small Business Digest or Invoice.ng
Invoice.ng is an online magazine and publication for small business owners, entrepreneurs, and freelancers. They share insights that help small businesses grow. Their guidelines are clearly stated here.
Read also: Top 20 Business Blogs for Entrepreneurs in Nigeria
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Establish a relationship with the blog owner
If you want to raise the probability of your post getting accepted on the blog you’ve chosen, you must first build a connection with the site owners.
Few weeks before sending your pitch to your target blog, get to know the site, engage with their latest post on social media, and sign up for their newsletter. Establish a real relationship with them, that way; your pitch won’t get rejected.
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Send your guest blogging pitch
The reason why many pitches get sent to the trash is that they are copied and pasted. While it’s great to have a template to follow when sending these pitches, it’s more important to be as personal as possible.
Do your research about the site. You need to know what type of readers they have. For example, it’s not plausible to pitch a topic on “benefits of telehealth” to a food site whose audiences are foodies.
Check guest posts written by other guest bloggers on the site, see what worked for them, and what type of people they are.
If you type in ‘health + guest posts’ on Google, Not all blogs that come up accept guest posts from freelancers, many of them only accept posts from health practitioners. So sending a pitch to these sites as a freelance writer in Nigeria is a waste of your time.
Look through their bios and see what’s common; this will help you in your pitch.
Keep your pitch concise.
Here’s a sample template you can follow when writing your next pitch; remember to personalize your pitch!
Subject line: Your subject is very important as it’s the first thing the site owner sees. Make your subject line interesting (never use click baits, they are extremely annoying), or use the title of the guest post as your subject line. Many sites give you what to use as a subject line in their guidelines; follow them strictly.
E.g., Amazing post about (a blog post on their site)
Hi, name,
I came across the article you did about (a blog post on their site), loved the section about (a notable section in the blog post to show you read the blog post)
Reading through your blog posts and audience comments, I thought your audience might be interested in these topics. Since I’m a writer, I’ll like to create content that aligns with your reader’s needs.
- Topic based on their type of content
- Topic2
- Topic3
I would love to discuss potentially writing a guest post if any of these topics sound interesting to you.
Would you mind if I sent over a draft post?
Sincerely
(Your name)
You need to read the submission guidelines carefully. For example, find out if the guideline asks you to submit just the topic idea or the whole post and do so in your pitch.
Read also: Pro Tips to Becoming a Successful Blogger in Nigeria
Conclusion
If you want to keep getting opportunities to guest post, always promote your post. Share them with your audience on social media and persuade them to engage.
Try to reply to comments and questions on your guest post. Don’t just publish and leave. Doing this will improve your freelance career tremendously. When are you sending your next guest post pitch?
If you still have questions, let me know in the comments section.
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About Author
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Esther Onyeije is a freelance content writer who specializes in writing Blog posts, Articles, and social media posts for blogs and websites.
She uses her background in writing to provide solutions to the pain points of your target audience and create clear and accessible content that makes challenging topics easy for any reader.
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