Contacting someone “cold calling” is not a good idea. You have nothing to base your reputation on or for them to know more about you.

Now, this doesn’t apply to editorial blogs or ezines or online magazines who hire professional writers – that’s a different subject. But bloggers like bloggers and prefer to work with bloggers they “know”.

To get a guestblogging gig on a popular blog all you do is mail the person telling them you have an article, once they seem interested you mail them the article – if they approve they will put it on their website.

Actually, with guest blogging, it is a combination.

I would not permit a guest blogger on my blog unless they had a blogging history. I’m not talking about 10 years (I’m one of the few who can claim that), but more than six months of steady, self-improvement driven blogging. How else would I know they can write?

It’s like a resume. You have to prove you can do it. Get known by those who do it, too. Become friends. Exchange information. Show respect. And then gently let it be known that you would be interested. I cover much of this in The Art of Blogging: How Does Guest Blogging Work?.

Non-famous is a relative term. I have several guest bloggers on my blog right now who consider themselves total unknowns and newbies. There are many forums and blogs which are open to new contributors, places where you can “cut your teeth” on blogging on other blogs and gain exposure.

It isn’t about being famous. It’s about being known by the right people for the quality and reputation of your work.

A long-time editor and publisher of a famous technical magazine once told me about how all these kids come to him at conferences and shows, fresh out of college with eager faces, telling him that he needs to hire them because they will “change his magazine” and how invaluable they are.

He looks at them sincerely, in his curmudgeon way, and says, “Get away from me, kid. Come back and see me when you are about 40 or 50 and have been around the block of hard knocks. Then I will know you really have the experience to do this job.”

While he semi-jests, his point is very clear. When people expose their blogs to a stranger, that stranger better 1) know what they are doing, 2) know what they will write about, 3) have the qualifications for that trust, and 4) be a friend.

It’s a scary thing to have guest bloggers, trust me. And the ones I have on my blog have earned my trust, not lust for their fame or mine.

Guest Blogging is something i jumped straight into without considering the points i made in that post. The biggest mistake was of course guest blogging on Harpzon.com – I’ve never revealed where i took my research from until now!

I made a post, ‘Why loyal readers are worth 20x more than casual readers’ that was my first major article now with only three relatively short posts on my blog when this article went on harpzons blogs i lost every benefit it could of brought.

I’m going to stop now as it’s becoming an overgrown comment – i should probably compiled it into a followup post. Anyway i just hope people learn from my mistake and i wish you all the best for guest blogging. I will make a return to my quest of blogging relatively soon at the moment it’s just news ect..