Guest posting is a slightly controversial subject in the blog world. Most people will agree that there are some great reasons to hire on an occasional writer for your site. But others prefer to keep everything ‘in-house’, and so refuse to allow anyone to blog for them if they are not permanent members of staff. This kind of mentality is understandable, but you are missing out on a lot of great opportunities. Mainly, you are missing out on the benefits of guest blogging.
Main Benefits of Guest Bloggers
A Little Rest and Relaxation
Running a blog is a lot more work than most people realize. Not only are you trying to provide fresh and constant content, but you have to keep up with readers, deal with any technical mishaps, network and handle the day to day business associated with blog writing. It can be a lot for one person to handle when things get more busy and posts are drawing higher traffic numbers.
Sometimes, you just need to take a break. When you do this as a solo blogger, it means shutting the site down for a few days or weeks. This can work out alright, but why do that when you can have someone hold down the fort for you, even with minimal posts? Even if you aren’t going away for a time, having someone posting even once a week can significantly reduce your workload.
Increasing Readers
Every blogger knows who butters their bread: the reader. Without them, you might as well be writing emo poetry in a free Livejournal account. So it is no surprise that the number two reason for hiring a guest poster is to increase those visitors in a simple and effective way.
When you hire a guest blogger, you are likely hiring them from another blog or website. Any fans of their articles and posts will therefore be directed to your own blog to see what they are doing there. This might just get them into your own site, which will then earn you more loyal readers.
Diversifying Content
There is only so much you can write without repeating yourself. When you get burnt out you will also see that content quality slipping, which can further screw with your output and ability to provide informative and entertaining posts. Hiring someone else can create some new content and a fresh style of writing. It will also give you a new perspective.
Another fantastic consequence of this method is that you will find yourself feeding off of their talent and creativity, sparking your own. You can end up with a lot of new ideas for your own work.
How to Hire Guest Bloggers
So now you know ‘why’, and you need to know ‘how’. Where do you begin? The steps are simple:
Step One – Prepare
Preparation is important. Not because it is a complicated process to find a guest blogger, but because you have to know what it is you want before you find the right person. Which is why you have to ask yourself some important questions.
- Why do I want to hire a guest blogger?
- How much will they have to post to cover my reasons why?
- Can I pay them, or will I just offer them a byline?
- Will we trade posts on our blogs, or will this just be an one-sided arrangement?
- Will I accept a writer who doesn’t have their own site?
- How long do I want to hire them for?
All of these questions are highly relevant, as they will give you a blueprint to follow when interviewing perspective candidates, or when seeking someone out without an application process.
Step Two – Find Candidates
There are a lot of ways to find a poor of perspective writers. The first is the easiest, which is to provide a “Write For Us” section on your site. This will lead to an application, or just contact information where hopefuls can write you if interested. This is a good tactic, as it will open the opportunity up to people who frequently read your site, and so will know what you are looking for.
You can also look at websites that have been created for the purpose of hooking up bloggers for guest posts. On these sites, you can place an ad looking for someone in your niche to apply. One of the most popular places to find guest bloggers is My Blog Guest. It is free and very active. You should still be careful as there are low-quality authors there as well but overall you will be very pleased with the quality of authors there. The Articles Gallery makes it very easy to grab free quality content for your blog: all you need to do is to come, choose and article and offer your blog for it.
One thing to remember is to always ask for samples, whether in links or an online portfolio. You may also want to give them a trial run, with the understanding that they are going through a probationary period while you see how they do without any real supervision.
Step Three – Work With Your Writer
It is better to work with the writers you hire to guest post than to constantly find new ones. Work with them to show what it is you are looking for, and be patient. Create a relationship with them that will last, so you can rely on them well into the future.
Guest Posting Is Great!
There are many benefits to hiring a guest poster, not to mention to keeping them around. The process is simple enough, so if you have a blog and need some help, why not try it out?
