How to Find and Work with a Guest Blogger

The problem is inevitable once you reach a certain status as a blogger: you can’t possibly go to all the events you are invited to attend. It is definitely a good problem to have, but a problem nonetheless. Instead of spreading yourself thin and trying to attend as many events as possible, consider a guest blogger.

One the best ways to find a guest blogger is someone who is already a fan of yours or maybe someone who you interact with on Twitter. Asking family or friends to write rarely works. Remember – they have to be passionate about the subject like you are, or they won’t be motivated to write.

If you are already going to lots of tweetups and media events it is possible you may have met someone who wants to write for you. You can even post or tweet about it to see if anyone is interested. There are so many who only want to write occasionally, it presents the perfect opportunity for you to gain a guest poster.

As bloggers, most of us don’t make money from our blogs, but write as a hobby. In lieu of payment, you will give the blogger the opportunity to attend a fun event with no cost to them. In return, you are getting a post out of it, so it is win-win for everyone. And you are giving them a huge opportunity to write on a well-known blog.

In time, you can assign them their own account on your WordPress site. This allows the guest writer to log in and post, so you don’t have to spend time uploading a post and pictures. With an “author” account on WordPress they can upload a post but they can’t change any administrator settings like widgets, ads or the like.

A couple things to consider with a guest blogger:

• They won’t have the same voice or writing style as you. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it can bring in more readers.

• Limit their contributions to no more than twenty percent of your posts if you want to keep your voice or style the most prominent.

• You’ll probably have several others write for you before you find a guest blogger that is a good fit with you and your blog. So don’t get discouraged.

• Never give a guest blogger full (administrator) access to your site as they could delete everything.

There are some individuals you’ve never met who will offer you a free article. Be wary of this. Often times, these individuals are paid to build links and will have many links in any article they write for you. Not only does this not fit with the style of most bloggers, but the same article could be floating around on other sites.

Alternatively, if you are reading this and thinking about blogging but not sure if it is for you, why not reach out to a blogger you admire and ask to guest post for them? Bloggers are overwhelmed with the amount of press releases received and are happy to pass along some of their workload to someone who is willing to help.