3 Tips for Working with Guest Bloggers

by Sep 13, 2013Content | Social Media | Email0 comments

If your blog is starting to feel stale or you’re running out of ideas for posts, don’t just quit blogging. Think outside the box and start to recruit a guest blogger or two for content on your site. Posting content from others turns your blog into a true resource for your readers with diverse voices.

When you decide you want to bring on a guest blogger for a post, these tips can help you make the most out of the experience:

1. Choose the Right People

When you’re looking for a guest blogger, look within your own network for someone you already have a relationship with. It will make the process easier if you’re working with someone you know and someone who knows you and your business. You won’t have to spend extra time explaining your business to them and they can jump right in.

It’s also important to choose a guest blogger who has strong networks of their own since you’ll be asking them to promote their work on their networks as well. They should be active and have a following across most social networks. Let them know when their post will be published so they can link to it on their site and through their own social media networks.

2. Give Them Direction

“Would you like to write a post for our blog? Yes? Great, it’s due in three weeks.” That’s exactly the opposite of how you should work with guest bloggers. Have topics in mind and give your writer talking points. You’re not writing the post for them, but I can’t stress this point enough. By talking through acceptable topics and themes, your guest blogger has a solid foundation to build their post on and you’ll end up with content you can use.

3. Set Standards

This is different than giving your blogger a topic to work with. Your blog standards are something you should have set for your blog already and guest bloggers need to follow the same set of rules. You may not even think of these as standards but you should make sure your guest blogger knows the answers to these questions:

  • How long should their post be?
  • Do you expect them to include images?
  • Should they include external links? What kind of links are acceptable?

Working with guest bloggers should be fun and not take up too much of your time. These tips will help you find the right people to work with and set the tone for the project. The end result will be a piece of content that both you and your blogger are excited to promote and reaches beyond your typical network.