What does it mean when a host blog says that guest posts should be “original content”? Some bloggers think that means that it must be content the guest blogger actually wrote, or that this must be the first place it is published. It should be something the guest blogger actually wrote (or had a ghostwriter create especially for them). That means no republishing posts you have used on your blog, as guest posts on other blogs, on Facebook or anywhere else.
In general, if the blogger requests original content, that means you should give them an exclusive post that does not appear anywhere else, before or after the blogger uses it. The guest posting should not only be the first place the post is published, it should be the only place it is published. (Some bloggers are okay with you publishing the content elsewhere after they publish it, but do not assume that is true. Ask if you are not certain.)
Don’t be tempted to think that guest posts are a dumping ground for the pieces you decide are not good enough for your blog. Remember that this is a new audience for you, and your guest post is probably the first time they are learning of you or reading something you wrote. You want to make a great impression with quality content.
That doesn’t mean that you are “wasting” your best content on a guest post. You are doing this to expand your audience. And even if you may not republish the post, there are ways to repurpose that content to get additional mileage from it. Here are a couple of ideas:
Write a brief summary of the post for your blog, and link to your guest post. That not only gives you more content on your blog, it promotes the blogger who hosted your guest post. (I emphasize the word “brief” here—just a paragraph or two describing the article to entice people to read the whole thing.)
Rewrite the article completely, and use it on your site or another. This does not mean “spinning” the article and replacing a few words with synonyms, but doing a complete rewrite.
Take a new angle. For example, you might write for a different audience and customize the article for them. Instead of marketing tips for image consultants, could you revise them to become marketing tips for personal trainers?
Another way to repurpose tips articles is to expand on a single tip. For example, if you wrote a post on seven ways to save money on groceries, write seven new articles giving more details on each of the seven ways.
The more content you create, the better. That is, as long as you are creating quality content. Repurposing your existing posts, including guest posts, can help you to create more quality content in less time.