Guest blogging; Should we allow it on our blog?

Guest blogging has become more and more popular over the months/years since blogging has really taken off. Guest blogging is allowing/asking/accepting someone to write a blog entry on your blog. It allows the guest blogger to spread their name and usually link back to their own site/blog and also gives your blog some fresh content written from a new viewpoint.

Should we allow guest blogging on our blog?
Most times there is no harm in allowing a guest blogger to write an entry in your blog. You just want to be sure that you read the entry prior to posting it live and get a sense for what the topic will be prior to accepting the offer, or asking another writer to post.

Guest blogging can be a great way to draw a new audience. Many times the guest blogger will refer to their post on your blog at their own site. This of course starts drawing traffic to your blog and hopefully to the rest of your site as well.

Just because you have a guest blogger does not mean they should write about whatever they want. Their entry should be in line with the theme/concept of your blog. So if you're blog is about wine tasting and wineries an appropriate guest blogger might be another wine aficionado talking about their wine tours.

How do we get a guest blogger?
Sometimes they will hunt you out and ask you, but more then likely you'll have to do a little asking yourself. Find a blog you like, or a friend that you know and ask them if they would be interested. Remember you can offer them a link to their website/blog. Try not to pay someone to write on your blog. Why you may ask, because you want their entry to be as honest and genuine as possible. You want them to write an entry because they want too not because they are getting paid to do so.

You may also want to consider offering to guest blog for someone else. This is a great way of getting your name and site out there, as you will most likely get a link back as well.

Remember: Networking is more then just handing out business cards, it's a whole new game with the internet.

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