One thing I’ve noticed cropping up more and more, especially within the context of NaBloPoMo is the Guest Blogger.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, a guest blogger is someone who writes a post on your blog, who isn’t you. 

Bloggers typically open their blogs up to guest bloggers when they’re away on vacation… or as a recurring event… or as a favor to a fellow blogger who wants to write something they can’t discuss on their own blog.

But 99% of the time that I see posts by guest bloggers, I find myself wondering… why?

What’s the point of guest blogging?

Is it really a good thing for the host blog?  For the guest blog?  For the readers?

Of course I have my own take on the subject.  Which is basically that I’m too much of a control freak to let anyone else post on my blog, and too greedy to want to share much of my VERY LIMITED creative inspiration for anyone else to post on theirs.  And as for reading posts by guest bloggers?  Who has the time?! I barely have time to read the posts by the actual bloggers I’ve committed to!

Not much of a bloggy pal, am I?

I make myself sick.

So I’m thinking, maybe I’m missing something.  After all, there are typically two sides to the story, and I’m clearly only seeing one.  So I decided to do a little research on the pros and cons of guest blogging.  UNBIASED, of course.  Here’s what I uncovered.

Pros:

• Allowing a guest to post on your blog gives your readers fresh, new content without you having to write it yourself.
• The guest blogger gets to expose themself to new readers (he said it, I didn’t)
• The reader wins because they get to hear about the topic of the blog from a new angle.

Ok, so clearly guest blogging can be a good thing.

BUT… (there’s always a but)…

In this post, Queen Heather makes some great points about the flip-side of the issue.  Like, for example this one,

I tend to skip over guest posters… The way I see it, I come to certain blogs to read the owner of the blog because I like their style, not to read someone else’s style.

Makes sense to me. 

Perhaps this line from Ben Cook’s post on bloggingexperiment.com says it best,

While guest blogging is certainly nothing to be taken lightly (both parties need to work to ensure the quality of the blog does not suffer), it’s not nearly as difficult or mystical as many people seem to believe.

It’s the part in bold that really stood out to me.  (that’s why I BOLDED it!) ”Both parties need to WORK to ensure the quality of the blog does not suffer.” 

Ahhh… so guest blogging is neither good nor bad.  It CAN be good, and it CAN be bad.  Like pretty much everything we do with our blogs, the secret is in the strategy.

Guest blogging is probably worth a try… both hosting and guesting.  But, like so many things, it’s going to be better and more successful if you put a bit of thought and effort into it.

So, I’ve come up with some guidelines for hosting guest bloggers on your site.

1) Ask yourself WHY you want to have a guest blogger.  Use this reasoning to help you drive your selection of who you will invite.

2) Be selective.  Don’t invite people just because you think you can get them.  Choose a blogger whose tone, voice, perspective, and subject expertise is likely to be of interest to your readers. While they don’t have to be the SAME as you, they should complement your blog.

3) Give the guest blogger some context about your topic, style, and readership.  Even consider suggesting a topic that you think your readers will enjoy.

4) Don’t overdo it.  Your readers are coming to read YOUR writing.  If you don’t have time to write, maybe it’s time to rethink the blogging.

What do you think?  What has your experience been (good or bad!) with guest blogging? 

Need more?  Check out these sources for more on the topic:
A Guest Blogger on Guest Blogging
Why Guest Bloggers are Great for a Blog
John is busy slaying pandas, I’m filling in
On Guests and Fishes
The Art of Blogging: How does guest blogging work?
How to Guest Blog without Disaster

Catch more of Jenny Blackburn’s humorous anecdotes on being a mom, a woman, and a whole lot crazy at Absolutely Bananas.  If you have questions, anecdotes, or topics for “On Blogging,” email jenny[@]seattlemomblogs[dot]com.