Guest Bloggers: Who, Why and How
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Earlier this year, we looked at a few ways to find blogs who welcome submissions from others, as well as the benefits you can receive by writing guest posts. But what about the other way around? Is there any advantage to inviting others to write for your blog?
Fortunately, this is one of those situations that’s beneficial no matter which side of the table you’re sitting on!
For starters, hosting guest bloggers allows you to offer your readers a different viewpoint from your own as well as information over and above your own expertise.
When you’re too busy to write, guest bloggers can help you to keep your blog active and free up your time to work on your other projects. Even if time is not an issue for you, hosting guest bloggers will allow you to update your blog more often, which is great for driving traffic to your site and search engine optimization.
In addition, inviting other bloggers to guest post for you allows you to build mutually beneficial relationships. Most guest bloggers are eager to share their posts with their own networks, which exposes your blog to a lot of people who might never have known about it, many of whom may become regular readers or even clients!
I’ve hosted one or two guest bloggers per month for the last three years, and have experienced all of the above benefits.
There are a number of ways to find suitable guest bloggers:
- Ask bloggers from within your own network.
- Approach other bloggers whose work you admire.
- Do an online search for experts in a particular topic you’d like to cover in your blog.
- Post a notice on your site inviting readers to contribute to your blog
Of course, you’ll need to devote some time to corresponding with your guest bloggers and screening their posts to ensure they meet your standards of quality.
No matter how you find your potential guest bloggers, clearly communicating your wants and needs will make it easier for the blogger to decide whether they can fulfill your requirements. This may include:
- Description of your blog and its target audience
- Suggested topics
- Minimum and/or maximum post length
- Timelines
- Whether the author should supply images and, if so, how many
- How many links the author may include in their post and/or bio
Providing the above information up front will also reduce the number of emails back and forth as you hash out the details.
If you’re looking for a guest blogger, please feel free to post your request in the Comments section!
Photo ©Johan Hedengran / Depositphotos
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Janet,
I started inviting guest bloggers to my Organized Artistry blog about a year ago. I mostly do it because there are times my kids don’t have school which leaves me little time for blogging. I usually go to a blog of someone I know and I scroll their blog looking for material that is related to what I write about. I even found my last guest blogger at the Blog Carnival you hosted on ‘Procrastination!’
Yes, I do have to take the time to contact the author and format the article and create links but it relieves my already crowded brain from having to write a blog post during a time when my creative juices don’t have the time or energy to flow.
Great post!
Stacey
Stacey, thank you for sharing your experience with my readers. I’m really pleased to know the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival is helping you grow your network and your blog.
If you’re interested in telling your story to a wider audience, FizzNiche has an open call for guest bloggers on the subject of Allowing Guest Blogging. They actually published something I submitted today!