Top 10 Guest Blog Posts of the First Half of 2012

Today’s guest post is written by Lisa Gerber. 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It’s time for the Spin Sucks Semi-Annual Top 10 Guest Blog posts.

Our guest bloggers create about 30 percent of the content on the blog, and we love having you because we get to showcase some of the great talent within our community (cough, with a few exceptions, cough).

So, much like Nordstrom does with their Half Yearly Sale, we want to thank you.

Let’s get right to it. We pulled the top 10 posts from January 1st through June 30th by page visits and here they are.

The Top 10 Guest Blogs on Spin Sucks for 2012

1. Three Little Known Ways to Use Pinterest to Promote Your Business by Jessica Lawlor (April 9)
2. The Art of Storytelling, by Lindsay Bell (January 2)
3. Media Relations Without the News Release, by Keredy Andrews (January 12)
4. Big Data: Five Essential Skills for Public Relations to Master by Kami Huyse (March 27)
5. Is Content More Important Than the Conversation? by Brian Carter (February 6)
6. Five Reasons QR Codes Suck by John Fitzgerald  (January 24)
7. How To Measure Results When It’s Not Tied to Sales by Jenn Whinnem, (April 18)
8. Five Inappropriate Ways to Respond to Criticism by Margie Clayman (March 8)
9. 2012 Marketing: Five Ways to Power it Up by Mana Ionescu (January 2)
10. How a Non-Writer Cranks Out Content by Brad Farris (June 21)

What Does this Tell Us About You? 

• Oh, Pinterest. Will you ever get old?
• You like things in chunks of five. Knowing there are five ways, five steps, five reasons… is achievable without being overwhelming.
• The word “sucks” is very popular. And that makes us happy, because it is, after all, in the title of our blog. By the way, “Packers suck” still is ranking very high. And, in December, Why Twitter is Beginning to Suck was in our Top 10 list.

Which Content Generates the Most Content

While pulling the top 10 posts, we took a look at which content, in general, is generating the most traffic to Spin Sucks (not just the guest posts.) I thought some of the insight would be worth sharing.

• List posts really do work. I know, I know. Some argue the list post is a way of  “selling out.” I disagree. List posts are tactical. If we all talked deep thoughts, theory, and strategy all day long, nothing would ever get done. Tactical posts do have value.
• The “vs.” posts really do work – our top posts are things such as Public Relations. vs Marketing and Owned vs. Earned Media: Measuring the ROI.
• It’s clear we all love to read, because reading lists are very popular, be it for fiction, summer reading, top 10 all-time favorites, or books PR pros should be reading. In other words, posts that involve the community get more traffic. Given the opportunity to contribute your own favorites, you do so, and you share with others.

Want to Guest Blog for Spin Sucks? 

We get many pitches every day to be a guest blogger for Spin Sucks. Some are great and many suck.

Curious to know what we’re looking for?

As the chief content officer, I get to screen these pitches and decide what would appeal to you and what might not. I look for more than just a thought-provoking topic that will generate conversation.

We like to see someone who is genuinely interested in being a part of the community; who has passion about the topic and wants to get involved in the conversation in the comments. I’ve learned a lesson or two along the way. Of course, not all topics resonate, and I find some of our guests don’t either.

If you are interested in guest blogging for us (and want to be in contention for the prized Top 10 list in December!), please submit your topic idea; not an entire post via email to me. And also note, it takes a few days to respond. As is the case for most of you, the blog isn’t our full-time job.

And, to our guest bloggers, thank you for participating!