So you have a blog (or want to start one) and you need content. Your time is limited. What can you do?

First, don’t assume you need to spend hours writing your posts. As I’ve written before, a post can be a few paragraphs that take just a few minutes to write. It can be as simple as taking something you read online and adding your comments. Tell why you agree, or disagree, link to another post that provides a different viewpoint or additional information, or share a story from your practice that illustrates the points in the article.

For longer posts, you have several alternatives:

• Re-purpose something else you wrote (newsletter, article, speech, brief, report, interview, etc.)
• Hire a freelancer (www.elance.com, www.guru.com, www.craigslist.com, etc.)
• Hire a student (e.g., an English or Journalism major; they will often work for free for the experience or writing credits)
• Have someone in your office write it (or the first draft)

One of the best ways to get original content for your blog is through guest posts. Someone else writes the post in return for a byline and link to their blog.

The benefits to you are

• You get content you don’t have to research or write, from experts in their field
• You get traffic to your blog and, possibly, opt-ins to your list. Presumably, the writer will tell his or her readers about the guest post and some of them will come to see it.
• Your readers get valuable content and they appreciate you for providing it.

The benefits to the guest blogger are

• They get to demonstrate their expertise to your readers and get traffic to their blog
• They get additional writing credit they can use with other blogs
• Their readers see them being endorsed by you, elevating their status

Now, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. If guest posts are a good way to get exposure and traffic, why not offer to do some guest posting yourself? Find blogs that write for your target market and offer to do a guest post. Here are 21 tips for landing guest posts.

Perhaps the biggest benefit of guest posts is that they allow both parties to make a new connection. This can lead to referrals, introductions, advice, interviews, endorsements, networking and cross marketing opportunities.

Start looking for blogs that reach your target market. Invite them to write a guest post for your blog or offer to do the same for theirs.