Stephanie from Utah asks,
What is one of the biggest mistakes a blogger makes when starting?
Let’s talk scams for a minute, shall we…
When I first started blogging (within my first year), I had a lady email me. She seemed nice.
She spun the initial email contact something like this…
I will give YOU a high quality SEO’d article for FREE that YOUR readers will love.
It was a great email. Something I believed right away. Awesome…an article my audience will love…for free…sign me up!
Freelancing Scam You’ve Fallen For
Here’s another one. An actual email I received a few days ago…
Sounds great, right?!
Wrong…it’s a fake freelancer scam. It’s cheating you out of money and here’s how.
Disclaimer: Before I go on, please know that there are LOTS of genuine freelancers out there just trying to help you and simply want to get their name out there. This does not apply to every freelancer, but this does apply to every blogger. About 90% of the “freelancer” emails I get are scams; only 5-10% are legit in what I’ve personally experienced. So, be careful!
The trick is that they want to put a high quality article on your site, and it IS well written. BUT, it’s technically a sponsored post! NOT a guest post.
See, every link that you put on your site to another site is VALUABLE. Did you know that? You’re telling Google you like that website you link to. And scammy freelancers, what do they do? They slip in a link or two to a couple sites and bam…you just got played. Companies hire them to get their links on sites. You give them a DO-follow link (the best kinda link you can give) because the article was free and they just got a $300 sponsored post for FREE AND a do-follow link from your unsuspecting blog!
I remember falling for this exact same trick when I first started. It wasn’t until I learned the value of do-follow links as well as sponsored posts (some bloggers get paid thousands of dollars PER sponsored post; it’s all based on traffic!)
I kept asking her questions about her debt-free journey (the post in which she wanted to write on) and she’d feed me a line here or there, but in my gut, I felt like something was off. She was giving me very little information and someone who is honest, would be proud of their journey. I could tell she was hiding something, but I didn’t know what. I felt like, since I was a new blogger, she knew better than me (and boy did she!)
About a year later, I realized it, and I pulled the article off my site. She tricked me and I know it. She placed two different companies links in the article.
The more popular your site is, the LESS you will get those emails. Why? Because you know now. You’ve already been tricked and you know what they are doing. But it’s something that no one talks about. WHY?
It’s not my intention with this article to speak negatively about anyone or to ruffle any feathers, again, not all freelancers are scammers. However, it IS my intention to talk about something that no one else seems willing to talk about. My job is to protect you, to warn you of dangers, even when it’s not fun.
Be careful out there. When someone says they want to give me a guest post, for free, that my audience will love, red flags always go off in my mind. Those red flags should go off in your mind too. This is, upon review most of the time, just a thinly veiled sponsored post in which you should be paid for.
Don’t fall for the trap.
But how can you tell which freelancers are legit or not? Which ones are just trying to get a sponsored post for free and which ones are freelance scammers?
Easy…ask them questions (be polite!)
- What (if any) links are you planning on putting in your article? (If none, they are most likely legit)
- What is your blog? (Most freelancers that are not trying to just get a sponsored post for free, will have a blog to promote themselves!)
Asking either of those two questions will help you get to the meat of things SUPER quick. Most of the time, they won’t write you back. They know you’re educated and you solved the problem very politely.
Remember, do NOT be mean. They are just trying to make a living doing exactly what they are paid to do.
Now, concerning guest posts by other bloggers, this IS absolutely legit and something you SHOULD participate in, both receiving guest posts and placing your own guest posts on others sites. It is incredibly valuable and most all top bloggers welcome guest posts, from their colleagues, with open arms. I LOVE helping other bloggers when and where I can, but I do not love helping companies scam me. There’s a big difference.
About No Follow/Do Follow Links
While I won’t get into the massive learning curve behind do follow and no follow links, basically, it comes down to this…
Google rules are, currently, that any time you receive any sort of compensation for a post (sponsored posts, affiliates, cash, free products, etc.), you MUST set the link as no-follow. All other links can be do-follow.
How to set a link as no follow?
When composing a post, simply go to add your link, then click the gear button for more options.
After clicking the gear button, this is the screen you will see.
Enter your URL you wish to link to and check mark the box that says, “Add rel=”no follow” to link.”
That’s it! Your link will now be no follow.
Remember, if you get any types of emails like described above…use extreme caution!
