Helping You Rock Out Your Site Like A Rockstar!

Are you a blogger that accepts guest bloggers quite frequently? You might want to think about how you label your site, especially if you are wanting to strengthen your own brand.

Guest blogging can be really great for blog owners as it is a means to supplement content when it cannot be published as frequently. It is a way for fresh faces to be heard with topics that echo that of the blog owner’s views. However, it is a supplement- not to be used frequently.

In allowing frequent guest bloggers, it becomes a permanent crutch, leaving you unable to break out on top.

I have found it quite alarming that there are individuals that believe themselves to be influential in their niche, but it is more like an article submission website. Of course you are going to build a good reputation opening up your site to guest bloggers, but your circle is going to only attract that following. Individual voices will mesh together with others. That is great! I know this sounds harsh, but it is true. Sometimes I visit a site in order to read the blog owner’s work, not the 10 other posts done by other people.

I find it a bit disturbing if the one person who own’s a site where only a percentage of articles were written by them is claiming credit for building such a site. Also, I find it even more disturbing if the site is being monetized and the blog owner is not doing some sort of revenue share system. It does take money to keep a site up, but there is a line that has to be drawn.

(Example – and the site shall remain nameless: I had guest blogged at a site about freelancing and web designing, and it became quite popular. When I was busy with conferences, the blog owner constantly was asking me to submit an article. I was not being paid, nor did I ever agree to regular submissions because of my schedule.

When I did write up my last post for that site, the owner sent a mass email to his newsletter and his contributors to say that he sold the site to someone else. Soon after that, I was contacted by the new owners, and after seeing my work used to line someone else’s pockets without a flinch of remorse, I could not agree to contribute and asked for my work to be pulled off.

I still guest post at several places, but I am cautious to take on others that may be doing the same thing.)

A community blog is more suited title for such sites. It gives the community that contributed the credit it deserves. If you want to build authority, having a community blog is not the route to go. Your voice gets diluted in between your guest bloggers’ posts.

If you plan to become an influential blogger, make it your goal to put together a plan in regards to guest post submission. You need to determine how many posts in between should your guest bloggers be published. Your ratio of your own posts to your guest posts should be in favor of your end.

Blog communities are not bad and there can be a wealth of information found at those sites. In no way will I ever say that they should be avoided. They can be a great place to meet other bloggers!

However, building your brand and engaging with others should be priority. The guest posts will roll in, and as your site grows, you can become more selective about what is submitted.

What are your thoughts? Have you ever had any experiences with guest blogging that left you feeling sour?

Related posts:

1. The Good and Bad of Guest Blogging
2. How Guest Blogging Can Be Useful To Promote Your Business?
3. How You Can Make the Most of Guest Blogging