Guest blogging is a great way to not only cross-promote blogs but also to build and stabilize important relationships with friends in the blogging community. But how do you find the right guest blogger for your blog?
Check Your Network
Who have you networked with lately? People you know are going to more willing to help you out with your enterprise, so look through your Twitter friends and even the comments sections in your blog for ideas. Of course direct correspondence works best, so if you regularly talk to any of your fellow bloggers, give them a shout.
Similar Topics
Go through the blogs you regularly follow; are any of them similar to yours topic-wise? Maybe share some common interest? It doesn’t have to be a direct match either; perhaps you love to blog about sea snails and they are really interested in crabs. You still have some common ground, so give them a shout!
Don’t worry about the size or popularity of your blog, either. Nobody really cares. But check the quality of your blog! Make sure if you’re a small blog propositioning a huge blog that your work is absolute top notch. Otherwise, you’re wasting everyone’s time.
Non-Bloggers
Not everyone blogs! An uncomfortable and unfortunate truth, I know, but a truth nonetheless. Consider asking one of these non-converted to guest blog for you. If you know an expert on sea snails who has a radical theory on their diet habits, ask he or she to write up a piece about it, and the results might surprise you.
They’ve probably wanted to talk about their wild theory for a while now, and this gives them an opportunity to have their voice heard! Just make sure if they’re a non-writer that you edit their piece for clarity, but don’t change the message.
Caution: Don’t Accept Spammy Posts
A recent post on the popular Problogger.net warned against accepting too many guest posts – or even accepting them at all. It warned that Google might be penalizing blogs made up of lots and lots of guest content. Fortunately, Google is smart. Even if you accept guest blogs, as long as you are doing so to better your blog, diversify your content and entertain and stimulate your readers, you should be fine. Just don’t fall into the trap of reciprocal links with spammy sites – that’s’ where you can get in trouble.
How do you choose guest bloggers for your site?
Photo Credit: Flickr/Sarah Reid
