Jan 31, 2012 / General Advice & Pro Tips

The More the Merrier

I love the idea of guest posting. In addition to exposing your own blog and writing to new audiences, it helps build community and relationships between bloggers. It’s a bit like blogging hospitality: your blog is your home and you can welcome other bloggers you respect into your writing abode.

Likewise, when you guest post on someone else’s blog, it helps you to stretch your writing skills. When you share your perspective from someone else’s platform, you get feedback that you wouldn’t normally receive. For readers who liked your post, you may gain devoted new followers. For those who didn’t, you’ll get some good ideas for how to improve.

If you think guest blogging is something that you’d like to pursue, whether inviting someone to your own blog or vice versa, the best way to get started is by doing some research. When inviting someone to guest post on your blog, give them some context: what do you usually write about? What’s your audience like? What kind of length and deadline are you looking at? When proposing a guest post on someone else’s blog, take a look at their previous posts. While you want to stay true to your style, it wouldn’t make sense to post about a recipe on a blog that deals with politics. You’ll also want to let the blog owner know the timeline you’re thinking of and stick to your own deadline.

Once you’ve gotten all the details sorted, how do you actually get everything set up? You’ll want to be added as or add your guest blogger as a user to your blog. On WordPress.com, this means going to your Users > Invite New page and inviting your guest blogger to contribute. (Full guide available here.) There are a few different types of roles available. You’ll probably only want to add your guest blogger as a contributor, which basically means they can write a post, but you’ll need to approve it, add images, and are the only one who can delete it.

Once you’ve written up your guest post, share it with your own audience. Don’t forget to moderate and reply to the comments. Especially when acting as the guest poster, communicating via comments helps you take full advantage of the experience by interacting with and getting feedback from new readers.

Have you written any guest posts yet? If so, did you find it beneficial?

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  3. Erica V. Have you written any guest posts yet? No, not that I’m aware of. If so, did you find it beneficial? I post alot of comments and I find that beneficial or interesting. I understood what you described about invitations and I agree with your conclusions. Good advice Erica V.

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  7. Guest posts? Absolutely. I did one a couple months ago and I’ll have another one up in the next week or two.

    They give me a chance to reach the (U.S.) military readers of personal finance blogs, so that they can come over to my blog and read about military-specific personal finance issues.

    I also try to comment on other PF blogs once a week or so. Eventually I’ll contact the owner and offer a guest post.

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  10. I’ve never done any guest posts, but I’ve had one which I thought was a nice change of scenery from my regular posts.
    PS
    I’m always looking for guest bloggers.
    =)

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  11. I have really gotten into this blogging in the last few months, and have had communication with many other bloggers and enjoy it so much. I can see one possible problem and that would be finding a like minded person and subject to post. But is worth a try, who dares wins !!! So lets look.

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  12. I love when blogs have guest posts as they often give me another blogger to look at if I find their post interesting. I have done one guest post before for a women’s travel blog called Travelettes. It was a great experience! If anyone is interested in writing a guest post for my blog, feel free to let me know!

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  13. This is a great idea, I hope to see others write in my blog,
    I am working at the present time to issue an ebook about the risks that surround our PLANET in which we live, and how to help protect it for the future of our children.
    Therefore, it is my pleasure to find anyone who has the desire and loves to write on this subject and see articles on my blog .

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  16. I’ve always loved the idea of having someone else writing something for my blog (or perhaps the other way around…maybe). Since I started following The Daily Post, photography has become quite a feature in my blog. I’d love to have others bring their photography to my blog! 🙂

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  17. We blame God for almost everything,
    Spoken from our mouth that bitter sting.

    God gave the world and all we know.
    Our free will was given where good or evil grow.

    Our path was set, so soon we forget
    If not seen or felt we end up an atheist.

    We have to see and feel so we can believe.
    And yet our brain is something we have not seen.

    Like children playing in a field running free.
    Is it the grass and flowers they are imagining?

    No matter what befalls our lives praying to God helps.
    Our families who have passed in Heaven are blessed.

    The Lord wants us to be with him again.
    He was crucified judged and died in pain.

    War in the spirit world before the world began
    Relives down on earth, we need to start again.

    A pristine world with everything we need.
    Water animals and food lay at our feet.

    We had to change it all, with our human insight and greed.
    Untested chemicals, botany and biology growing better seed.

    We have Celiac and intestinal disease, allergies we don’t need.
    Deformed animals a new breed to escalate, changing food we eat.

    We are never satisfied we want more and more
    We torture our own lives with material things.

    Jesus died in the flesh, tortured, flogged, and in pain
    He took a body so we could be with him again.

    He rose to heaven; that was the key to eternal life.
    So we could return to our Lord in Heaven.

    This story is not a dream, a pyramid scheme,

    A material ploy to win you over to our team.

    Instant gratification is a human need no waiting applied.
    You prayed for knowledge but did you really try?

    When at the end, withered and old, you wonder and care
    Repenting while tossing a coin in the air, too little too late.

    He gave us everything to live a life a happy way
    We destroyed it and point the finger back at him.

    Striving is the path we take, that is the break.
    The end is closer than we all think.

    If you have not felt and there is nothing spiritual
    What captured you, what spirit is in you?

    You may feel he is not there, that voice of your conscience
    Is the voice of the Lord who speaks in your ear.

    The sun, the moon, the nature of the world
    Is his song his love to you your whole life long.

    By Susan Oliver
    Written January 22nd 2010.

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    1. This Chip has no Dip.

      It does not matter where you live.
      It does not matter who you are
      At birth a chip will leave no scar.
      Your life is now a governmental law.

      Compiling statistics and so much more
      Nothing to worry about once it’s the law!
      Your statistics, for those who keep score?
      Now Big Brother will know who you are.

      Economics, in a warehouse food piles high.
      Third world countries are starving why?
      Corruption makes the world go round
      The world think tank is crucial, it decides.

      Why not send the food piled up to the door?
      Preventing their deaths won’t remove the poor.
      Statistically we should start another war.
      A great solution to deplete thousands by the score.

      The rich are rich, the poor are poor?
      The rich make jobs and profits soar.
      Who buys the junk the rich make?
      The poor who work the factory floor.

      The Government will know who you are
      Who you meet, and the house you bought.
      The car you drive and where you live
      And if you have a university intellect?

      Were you in prison, did you commit a crime?
      Are you rich or some low life without a dime?
      From the cradle to the grave everyone chipped
      Organised, we must be kept within the frame.

      Written by Susan Oliver.
      From a Poetical Life.

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  20. I most definitely found it a fun and educational experience. It was helpful as well, because I had rules to follow for the person’s blog I was guest writing for. It is definitely an experience that can go two ways. I would not be opposed to approaching someone about me writing a guest blog if I had a topic in mind that I felt was beneficial to the blog I approached. But, the traditional approach of asking someone to blog (or waiting for that ask) is much more respectful.

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  23. Guest posting would work when we identify bloggers with our style of writing or if we need some one who is a subject matter expert to write on their speciality subjects, for e.g. getting a technical expert to write about latest trends in technology. It certainly is a good way to increase the blog coverage and also provides more variety to the posts. Hmm should try it out sometime…..

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  25. I let one person guest post on my blog. I think it’s tough in my case since I run a humor blog and am very particular about the content that goes on my site. It has to be smart, funny, and thought-provoking without too much potty humor.

    That said, if anyone wants to guest post on my blog, feel free to contact me.

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    2. The Wonders of Science. A Nano Revolution.

      Now I am not a scientist but I do like to learn and after watching a documentary it really spiked my interest about nano particles and how exceptional Scientists can be.

      We as humans really know how to abuse the earth and take what ever we want from it but replacing and renewing now that is another field. In lay mans terms there are people who are actually trying to undo the stupid things we have done to the earth.

      Scientists bless them, have developed Nano Science where infinite particles are taken from the environment and through technology manipulated to control the abuse we have done to the environment and bodies.

      What is Nanotechnology? In Toronto Canada a university have been experimenting and managed to make minute particles, 80,000 particles that can fit on a finger tip. Once placed in a solution, the particles are put into the ground, and attach themselves to the poisons left by chemical factories.

      When I looked up nanotechnology I began to read and it made me want to ask “Please tell me in English”, I am not a scientist just a lay person who is dyslexic I felt like rubbing my fingers over my lips and babbling, yet my interest was heightened by the documentary I saw and I wanted to know more.

      In the Saudi desert they are promoting the energy from the sun in different ways the solar power is limitless clean and environmentally safe. They are trying to unlock the energy in many ways from trapping infra red rays in a solar cell which then can be coated or painted on any surface.

      In Mexico the Mayor of a town was worried about the arsenic they had in their drinking water and he had a dilemma and wanted to remove it from the water source. They had linked cancer to arsenic poisoning. So an experiment was tried with nanoparticles that hopefully would remove the arsenic from the ground water. It was a simple inexpensive experiment where gravel – sand- and ferrous oxide (rust) was used. The particles were held in a solution and pumped into the ground and like a sponge drew the poison out of the ground. The water was tested after the experiment and the arsenic had been removed.

      Experiments have been made to remove oil and grease from soil in the toxic areas, where different nano particles have been pumped into the ground. Clear barrels with a solution in them had to used hydrogen for the experiment which can blow up so there was a some safety issues but they were careful, and you could see the clear solution in the plastic drum turn black as the particles were drawn out of the ground and the nano particles stuck to the toxins.

      We have made many mistakes making asbestos and DDT, which kills. Hopefully Scientists can change the environment.

      In Edinburgh the air is filled with contaminates from cars and buses. Doctors found that many people who have had heart attacks had breathed in toxins into their lungs from the emissions of cars and buses, which caused them to have heart attacks. Serum oxide is used to clean combustion engines so an experiment of putting serum oxide in fuel would clean up the carbon dioxide from the fumes. Ah! The Wonders of Science. I rarely think of science but I am thankful for the brainiacs on earth who try to make it a better place.

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  28. I found this Guest Blogger Invitation on a blog that I follow and I have added it to mine. To date I haven’t had any guest bloggers but I know when people come they already know what I’m looking for. Other bloggers might find it useful if they are looking to have guest bloggers. And who knows perhaps they’ll want to guest blog on mine. 🙂 http://eat-pray-ride.com/about/guest-blogger-guidelines/

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  29. I was asked to write a guest post for a recycling blog and was really surprised by what I wrote. I’ve been inviting people to guest post on my blog these days because – quite frankly – I’m feeling totally uninspired. My last post was about a SPAM comment got – now THAT’s pretty bad! So if anybody wants to guest post on my blog, please drop by and leave me a comment which will remain private unless you want it to be public. I’m open to all suggestions.
    (Maybe I should subscribe to post a day for the ideas/prompts…wondered why I wasn’t getting those emails…)

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  30. I’ve never Guest Posted but I do encourage Guest Posting on my photography blogs. If you’ve got a image and want to tell a story about it then by all means contact me.

    Mike

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