Guest Bloggers

Hello all.

I'm back from a few days spent north of the 48 40 parallel on Lake of the Woods, Minnesota ice fishing. Here are a few sample pics for your viewing pleasure.

Cleaning fish on the ice. Four guys lived in that green,
10 x 20 foot shack for three days & 3 nights.

A couple of the guys with the green Bombardier that shuttles us out to the ice house at the beginning and end of our fishing trips. Think antique snowmobile on steroids.





We have fishing holes augered into the three-foot-thick ice and fish from the indoor warmth of the shack. There are a propane-fueled heater, lights and stove. Pretty deluxe . . . as you can clearly see. :)

Okay. Enough fishing. Back to the blog.

Today's post is about Guest Bloggers. What are they? Where do you get them? and Why would you want them?

What are "Guest Bloggers"?

I'm sure many of you already know what a Guest Blogger is. But for the rest of you kind folks, here's a quick and dirty rundown. A "Guest Blogger" is someone who writes a post for someone else's blog. Simple enough?

For example, I had the privilege of having my friend, Clay Rivers (@TuffyPants on Twitter), guest posting about writing memoirs here on Self-Publishing Central last week. So if you want to see a sample guest post, just click on the link.

Usually, a guest blogger writes a post and provides their Bio and pic so the host blog Followers know something about the poster.

Where Do You Get Guest Bloggers?

Guest bloggers can be found anywhere that others have expertise in an area of interest to your blog. Writer friends on Twitter or FaceBook, writers' groups like The Independent Author Network, or The Association of Independent Authors, or other writer blogs are all places you could find excellent guest bloggers.

Many writers and/or bloggers are more than happy to write a guest post for your blog, provided they have a message of interest to your audience. Usually, an email, or a Message to them will suffice to start a discussion on the topic. Of course, no one owes you a guest blog. So if a contact declines to write one, you shouldn't be offended. Just move on to another candidate.

Why Would You Want Guest Bloggers?

There are a whole bunch of reasons why guest bloggers are good for you, for your blog and for your blog Followers. Here are just a few:

-- You and your Followers benefit from your guest blogger's knowledge. No single blogger has the corner on useful information related to the blog's topic. Why not share the opinions of other "experts" with as many interested people as possible?

-- You get a break from the work of composing an interesting and informative blog post for a few days while your guest carries the load. Everyone goes through periods when they just can't think of something good to say to their blog's Followers. I struggle all the time. But I refuse to write a post just for the sake of posting something. I want to have a topic that I believe to be worthy of hearing before I make a post. I know that may result in fewer posts and lower blog traffic . . . but I hope I write fewer boring and/or unhelpful posts that way.

-- Both you and your guest get an opportunity to spread messages to a larger audience. For instance, Clay picked up at least a dozen new followers for his blog when he posted here last week. Self-Publishing Central picked up three new Followers. More Followers means that more people can benefit from what you have to say. And isn't that what blogging is about . . . sharing knowledge?

-- If you share your blog with a guest, some of your Followers may realize that you are open to guest posters and may contact you to ask if they can write a guest post for your blog. Or, your Followers may invite you to be a guest on their blog. Either one simply multiplies the guest blogging benefits I've already listed.

Conclusion.

I know that these aren't the only benefits of guest blogging . . . but they're the ones that came to my mind today. If you'd like to share other benefits of guest blogging, please feel free to do so by leaving a comment below.

Well . . . that's enough for now. Hope you enjoyed the post.

Thanks for stopping in.

Cheers!

John