SmallBusinessNewz

I wrote about this for WebProNews, but the more I think about it, this is something that small business owners might find useful so I thought talking about it here too would be appropriate. I was visiting the blog for popular online video service Hulu, when I discovered a guest post from filmmaker Kevin Smith (commonly known as "Silent Bob").

Smith's post talked about a movie that he claims was hugely influential on him when he started making movies, and how this movie, Slacker, is available to watch on Hulu. I think this is noteworthy, because it's a good case study of how a business blog should work, and further how a good guest post can make things on your blog more interesting.

So let's look at Smith's post from the business standpoint of Hulu. They've managed to pull in a respected (Smith will be the first to call that debatable I think) and interesting figure to write a post for their blog. Anyone that reads this, and is a fan of Smith, will be bound to find his love for this Slacker movie intriguing, particularly if they've never seen it. This is a great way to drive traffic to Hulu itself, particularly the product they're currently pushing (Slacker), which is also featured prominently on their front page.

The guest post is almost acting like a testimonial, the benefits of such a marketing strategy I have discussed in the past. So when you chalk it up, Hulu basically has from this simple celebrity blog post: views for this particular film (meaning views for the ads that accompany it), a reason for readers to keep up with their blog, a credible celebrity endorsement of their service, and frankly, just an enjoyable blog post.

Not everyone's going to be able to get a Kevin Smith to write for them, but a well placed guest post from someone well-known within your niche, or even from someone who just knows what they're talking about can increase awareness and best of all interest in your product. There are also some pretty good guidelines on guest posts here.