Here is something that took a while to figure out — and once it clicked, it changed the way I think about content entirely.
Your blog does not have to be all about what you sell.
In fact, some of the most powerful blog content you will ever publish will be about things you do not sell at all. Content written by people who are not you. Content that shows up in searches you would never rank for on your own. Content that builds credibility, drives traffic, and sends referrals your way — without you writing a single word of it.
That is the guest writer strategy. And for most salespeople, it is the most underused tool in their entire content arsenal.
Start With One Question: Who Else Is Chasing Your Ideal Client?
Every professional has a constellation of other professionals orbiting their same ideal client. And most of the time, those professionals are not competitors — they are natural referral partners who have never been asked to sit down and create something together.
If you write insurance for first-time homebuyers, who else wants that same person? The mortgage lender. The real estate agent. The home inspector. The title company. The financial planner. Each one of them is spending time and energy trying to reach the same human being — and most of them are doing it in isolation, without thinking about what they could accomplish together.
Now ask a different question: what if each of you wrote a blog article from your own area of expertise, and you published them in a way that points back to each other?
Suddenly that first-time homebuyer searching Google late at night finds an article about MSHDA loan programs, one about what to look for in a home inspection, one about getting the right homeowners insurance, and one about the best neighborhoods in St. Clair Shores to raise a family. All on sites that point to each other. All pointing at each expert individually.
That first-time buyer did not just find one person who could help them. They found a whole team — assembled before they ever picked up a phone. And the agent, lender, inspector, and insurance professional who built that system together? They all benefited every time any one of those articles got found.
“Your blog doesn’t just sell your product. It builds a neighborhood around your ideal client — and you’re the one who lives at the center of it.” — B
Why Google Rewards This — And What Link Credibility Actually Means
There is a technical reason why the cross-referral blogging strategy works — and it is worth understanding even if you are not a tech person, because it changes how you think about every piece of content you publish.
Google uses something called link credibility — sometimes called domain authority — to decide how much to trust a website. The basic principle is this: the more quality websites that point to yours, and that you point back to, the more Google trusts you. And the more Google trusts you, the higher you show up in search results. Not just for one keyword. For all of them.
When a mortgage lender’s website links to your insurance blog, Google sees that as a vote of confidence. When your blog links back to their site, that is another vote. When the home inspector links to both of you, the whole web gets stronger. Each connection you build makes every individual site more visible — and your clients are the ones who benefit, because they can find all of you faster.
This is why YouTube is so powerful, by the way. Google owns YouTube — so when your YouTube video links back to your website, that is a vote from one of the most trusted sites on the internet. The same logic applies to any quality website in your ecosystem. Build those connections intentionally and the cumulative effect on your search visibility is significant.
“The more quality websites that point to yours, and that you point back to, the more Google trusts you. And the more Google trusts you, the higher you show up in search results.” — B
The MSHDA Example — How a Referral Partnership Becomes a Content Machine
Let me make this concrete. My mother used to work with first-time homebuyers who needed help putting together a down payment. Dollar down, dollar a day. A lot of agents would not touch those deals — too much hand-holding, not enough commission. But she understood something those agents missed: those buyers refer their friends. Every single one.
And if you team up with a mortgage lender who works MSHDA programs — the Michigan State Housing Development Authority loan programs that help buyers who are not quite financially there yet — suddenly you have a referral pipeline with someone who needs you just as much as you need them. Both of you are serving the same underserved client. Both of you benefit every time the other one closes a deal.
Now add the content layer. That mortgage lender writes a blog about how MSHDA loans work and who qualifies. You write a blog about what homeowners insurance looks like for a first-time buyer and what mistakes to avoid. The home inspector writes a blog about the ten things every first-time buyer should know about a home inspection. Each article lives on its own site. Each one links to the others. Each one pulls a different search and sends it into the same ecosystem.
First-time homebuyers in that market are not just finding one expert. They are finding a team. And the team is pointing them back to each other at every step.
How to Ask — And What to Say When They Hesitate
The good news about the guest writer strategy: most people will say yes. Almost everyone is flattered to be asked, and almost everyone has something worth saying about their field that their ideal client needs to hear.
The hesitation you will run into — and you will run into it — is this: “I am not a writer.” They know they should have content. They have thought about it. They just cannot face the blank page.
That is your opening. Show them the system.
Show them Otter.ai — the transcription app that turns talking into text. Show them how they can get in their car, drive to a showing or a client appointment, and talk through their topic out loud for ten minutes. The transcript comes out the other side, they drop it into Claude or ChatGPT with a simple prompt, and the blog comes back polished and ready to post. They never sat down to write. They just talked — like they do every single day.
Most people, when they see how simple the system actually is, go from hesitant to genuinely excited. Because they have been wanting to do this — they just did not have a way in.
“Hey Claude — I’ve attached a transcript of me talking about [topic]. Please look it over and turn it into a blog article. Use a conversational tone that sounds like me talking to a client. Make sure to include these keywords and key phrases: [your keywords]. Target audience: [your ideal client]. City or region: [your area].”
A Word of Caution — Get Approval Before You Repurpose
Here is the one thing you need to be careful about once you are running a guest writer system and it is going well.
You are going to want to take that guest article and repurpose it. Rewrite it for a different city. Adapt it for a different audience. Turn it into a social post or a short video. And you absolutely can — but get their approval first.
Run the repurposed version through AI, send it back to the guest writer, and make sure they are comfortable with it before you post. When you credit them as the author and link back to their site in every version, they almost always say yes. And when they see a repurposed version driving traffic and generating calls? They will want to do it again. And again.
Treat their content with the same respect you would want them to treat yours. That respect is what keeps the relationship strong — and a strong referral relationship is worth far more than any single piece of content.
Take It Further: Build a Group Around Your Ideal Client
Here is where the strategy scales from interesting to genuinely powerful.
Once you have two or three referral partners creating content together, you have the foundation for something bigger: a group built specifically around your ideal client.
If you are a real estate agent working with first-time homebuyers, start a LinkedIn group for first-time homebuyers in your area. Invite your referral partners — the mortgage brokers, the home inspectors, the insurance people. Suddenly everyone is contributing content. Everyone is pointing back to each other. And your ideal client has one place to go to get every answer they need about the homebuying process.
You are the person who built that place. That is not just content strategy. That is positioning. That is authority. And it is the kind of trust that does not disappear when a competitor shows up with a lower rate or a flashier website.
The same model works in any industry. HVAC and property managers. Financial planners and CPAs. Commercial insurance agents and commercial real estate brokers. Think about who serves your client before you and after you — and build the table they all belong at.
“You’re not competing with your referral partners. You’re completing the picture for the client you both want.” — B
How to Start This Week — Four Practical Steps
Step One: Make the list.
Write down the names of three to five professionals who serve your ideal client before or after you do. These are people you already know and respect. Not competitors — complements. The mortgage lender to your insurance agent. The home inspector to your real estate agent. The CPA to your financial planner.
Step Two: Make the ask.
Reach out with a genuine, specific proposal. Not “we should work together sometime” — that is too vague. Something like: “I am building out a blog section for first-time homebuyers in our market. Would you be willing to write a piece on how MSHDA financing works? I will publish it on my site with your name and a link back to yours, and I’ll promote it across my social channels.” Specific. Mutual benefit. Easy to say yes to.
Step Three: Show them the system.
When they say yes but they are not sure how to write the thing — show them Otter. Show them how to talk through the topic and let AI turn it into a polished article. Offer to help them with the prompt if they need it. The easier you make it for them, the more content you get, and the stronger the relationship becomes.
Step Four: Build the link chain.
When you publish their article on your site, link back to theirs. Ask them to do the same when their content mentions topics you cover. Each link strengthens both of your positions in search. Each connection you build makes the whole ecosystem more visible — and brings your ideal client one step closer to finding exactly the help they need.
The Blog Is Already Being Written — You Just Have to Ask
The expertise that belongs in your blog is sitting in the heads of people you already know. The mortgage lender who has walked a hundred first-time buyers through the financing process. The home inspector who has seen every possible problem and knows which ones actually matter. The estate planning attorney who has seen what happens when families are not prepared.
They have not written it yet because nobody asked. And the content that would have helped your ideal client — content that could have sent that client to you — never got published.
Ask them. Show them the system. Build the network. And let the content that serves your ideal client come from every expert they need — with you at the center of it all.
“Your blog doesn’t just sell your product. It builds a neighborhood around your ideal client — and you’re the one who lives at the center of it.” — B
Make the list. Make the ask. The rest builds itself.
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This post is adapted from Salesperson’s Platbook by B, available now. If this resonated with you, reach out to DBG to learn how we help salespeople build a content ecosystem that works for them — and for everyone in their referral network.
