If you have a blog and are feeling so crunched for time you are on the verge of abandoning it, or have yet to start a blog because you fear you’ll end up in that situation, don’t give up!
The key to keeping a blog going when you’re super busy is to use guest bloggers/contributors. Not only will they help relieve the burden, but they will keep fresh content coming when you are on vacation, traveling or just overwhelmed with projects.
Guest bloggers are also a fabulous way to reach a new audience, as they will undoubtedly share their blog post with their network, and your audience will gain a fresh perspective on a topic you already cover or one that you don’t cover at all.
While all of this sounds awesome, finding guest bloggers is not always easy. Here’s the process I use:
1. What blog posts have generated the most interest?
If you haven’t done this yet, first you want to figure out what topics have resonated with your audience based on comments, likes, tweets and shares. Not only will you know what you should write about more, but you’ll be better able to give your guest bloggers some direction.
2. Who do you know?
Go through the contacts in your network and make a list of all the people who write well (or who you think might write well) and who would have something to share with your audience.
3. What would they write about?
Brainstorm the topics the people on your list could cover. They could be topics you write about, have covered before, or haven’t covered yet but think might be of interest to your audience.
4. Ask!
Start asking everyone on your list if they would be interested in writing for your blog, either occasionally, regularly, or just once. (If their blog post does well, they might be able to contribute on a more regular basis.) When you receive a “yes,” immediately ask for a bio to include in their blog post.
5. Set deadlines
As the editor for a few blogs, I have learned to set expectations and deadlines to ensure I am not left hanging. It doesn’t always work, though I have found reminder emails—and lots of them—as well as heartfelt thanks, help!
6. Provide guidelines
To make it a little easier on your guest bloggers, draft a set of guidelines for them to follow when writing and preparing their blog for publication. (If they will write for you on a regular basis, you might as well set them up with an account on your blog platform.) The guidelines should include information on formatting, links, images/photos and their attribution, blog length, adding categories and tags and anything else you require for consistency.
Image courtesy of Flickr user Elaine Vigneault (Creative Commons)
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