The Benefits of Guest Blogging

Hey! What Happen To Matt?

Hello, John Chow is here. Matt is gone. I have taken over Net Business Blog. However, do not worry. Matt will be back soon (maybe as soon as later tonight). In mean time, I have decided to do a guest post for him on the benefits of guest blogging. Why would I do this for Matt? Because I am such a nice evil guy, and because Matt is doing a guest post for me on my blog.

How Can Guest Blogging Help Me

Being a guest blogger has many benefits. The first is you expose yourself in front of a brand new reader base, who may not know who you are. This presents an ideal opportunity to give your blog a plug (visit John Chow dot Com now!). This can really help your blog traffic if you guest blog at a blog that is much bigger than the blog you run.

Being a guest blogger can give you more creditability, especially if you guest blog with a well-known, high traffic blog. Not only will you be better known, but your blog posts will be read by a lot more people and if they like what they read, they’ll more than likely check out your blog. Unless sated otherwise, all guest bloggers are allowed to link to their home blog in a guest post.

Guest blogging present a nice change of scenery. While Net Business Blog and John Chow dot Com both blog about making money online, I could guest blog at a blog that is in a completely different industry for a nice change of pace. I’m sure there’s a few food blogs out there that wants me to review some restaurants for them.

BTW – For those asking why I write about my dining out experiences, the answer is, “If I write about it, then it becomes a business expense – that makes the entire dinner tax deductible.”
Evil at work. :)

Being a guest blogger could lead to a paid blogging position. After Tony Hung guest blogged for Problogger.net for a week, Darren offered Tony a position to blog for Problogger every Thursday. Right now, Matt is guest blogging at my blog. Depending on how the readership responds to him, I may offer him the same type of deal.

Why You Should Have Guest Bloggers

If you are going away for a few days and do not have time to update your blog, then you should consider hiring a guest blogger. Nothing kills traffic faster than zero updates. Net Business Blog will do over 100,000 page views this month. It grew this fast because of a constant stream of high quality content. If Matt were to take a week off and not update the blog, all the growth he generated would stop dead in its tracks. This is where the guest blogger comes in.

The biggest problem is finding a guest blogger that meets your quality level. The best way to do that is by visiting blogs that you like and asking the owners if he or she would like to do a few guest posts on your blog. The problem with this technique is your blog has to be a decent size in order to be attractive enough for the guest blogger to take the offer. You can always toss in some cash to sweeten the deal.

There are a few blogs that I really enjoy reading because I can tell the blogger put a lot of effort into their posts. I would hire Jane May at Career Ramblings on the spot. The same goes for Jennifer Lynn of Broke-Ass Student.

You can also try a blog exchange like what Matt and I did. It’s a lot of fun and gives your readers a fresh view point on the issues. If you foresee yourself going away in the future, then now would be the time to line up the guest bloggers. You do not want to do it the day before you board the plane to Maui. Moreover, if your blog’s a moneymakers, then you cannot afford not to keep the blog updated while you’re gone.

Guest blogging can be both fun and rewarding. I recommend you give it a try.