Guest blogging has become very popular. Done correctly, it helps add value to the site posting the article, and helps increase the popularity of the author's blog. But for a while I had to stop accepting guest articles because most of them were just too brief and didn't contain much worthwhile content. So I thought I would come up with some guidelines that will help me get some great content, and make your link more valuable. So if you're up to the challenge, and willing to write something really special - something that adds actual value to this blog - then I'll gladly consider your guest article. If you're only going to spend 15 minutes writing your article, you will be better off submitting it to an article directory like EzineArticles.com or GoArticles.com. Read through the guidelines below VERY carefully and send it over to me for review.

GUEST ARTICLE GUIDELINES

First, your article must be something well written, unique, and fit into one of the categories below. It MUST be more than some generic "How to get out of debt" article. In the words of one blogger, it must be "epic sh@#" otherwise it's not worth publishing, for you or for me.

1. Something creative or with a "wow" factor - Anyone can write an article about "The 5 secrets to getting out of debt". In fact, I'm the king of those types of articles, so I don't really need any more. So find a unique way to cover a topic that people will spark people's interest. Here is an example:
   10 financial blunders that prove you're not smarter than a 5th grader
2. A newsworthy or educational topic - If there are new government regulations or there's a hot news story on some issue in the financial world, this is a good opportunity to offer your interpretation or advice. Here is an example:
   Are annoying debt collectors really getting nastier these days?
3. A personal story that changed the way you look at money - Tell us a story about the lessons you learned about money, or something that happened that changed your life. Here is an example:
   The 5 truths and myths I learned the hard way about fixing your credit problems

Second, here are the rest of the guidelines. Your article must be:

• Original & related to credit, debt, or saving money. Please don't send me something that has already been used elsewhere, or you plan to use elsewhere. If it is something that is valuable, I'm open to pretty much any financial topic. I'm less concerned with the type of topic and more concerned with the quality.
• Contain at least 750 words & be well written. No, this isn't English class. And I won't be counting every single word. But in most cases you can't write something really special in 15 minutes with less than 750 words. If spelling is not one of your strong points, have a friend or colleague proofread your article first.
• Properly formatted using html. That means tags such as <p>, <b>, <a href="http://www.yourlink.com">, you get the idea. And you can include 1 link in the text of the article and 1 link in bio (or 2 links in the bio).