Your Guest Blogging Is Wasting My Time

Firstly, thanks for the link ;)

But, I completely disagree with you.

Guest blogging is primarily a great way for you to build relationships with your reader. If they're participating in the blog and in the publishing of a one-off article every once in a while, then they're much more likely to keep reading and become faithful followers - definitely on my tick-list for me.

If you feel that the guest post is a waste of your time, then that's up to you. 8 times out of 10 the post is useful and whilst the other 2 times may contain regurgitated content, the new voice can definitely be refreshing and may add in little tips and hints that you may not have caught before (on a similar topic).

On another of your points - "don't have any posts at all", I would have to disagree again. Guest posting keeps my traffic up, keeps RSS stats (mostly constant), gives out links to posters, emphazises the community spirit (which I'm all for) and makes sure that my blog is visited whilst Im away and doesn't become forgotten about. I would say that it's a win-win situation for all. If you as the reader don't like the post, then don't read on.

I know sometimes I'm gone away for longish periods and so guest posting can become tedious for subscribers (and thanks for reading btw), but it really is a way of repaying my readers and giving them something back in return.

Oh, and weren't you a guest blogger once? (http://www.blogtrepreneur.com/2007/04/16/my-best-adsense-layout-ever/)
I'm sure it benefited you as most of the comments you received were friendly and thankful for your adsense layout.

certainly I was a guest blogger once, I didn't say every guest blog post in the world was evil ;-)

"8 times out of 10 the post is useful and whilst the other 2 times may contain regurgitated content"

I just think it's the other way around, the stock copy easily outweighs the original content.

I read your blog less when i know it's in "guest blogger mode", like i said, guest posts have the flavor of paid reviews (mildly), I'm subscribed to your blog to read YOUR opinions/ideas/etc.

Don't misunderstand, i still like your blog, however I would prefer you find "some" alternative to the guest postings which offers more of YOU, I only offered those two alternatives to get the conversation started. there are probably better solutions.

Off-topic ( and I'm sorry for that ). I have always hated video posts / vlogging / podcasts / pod whatever you want to call it, and I still do. But this is the first one I watched/ listened to that I actually liked. Laid back and just a guy saying what's on his mind. Not staged and all fancy. Nice job.

And for what it's worth, I second your opinion. I am close to unsubscribing from Problogger due to all the guest posts. Plus I think he's probably said just about everything that can be said about blogging, but that's another point entirely.

@leroy - I understand some people don't like video posts but on the other hand folks like me do like them (watching and making them) so I try to keep the text to video posts at a good level of evenness.

thanks for the compliment on the video, coming from a video hater that's a big compliment ;-)

and thanks for the opinion on the guest blogging, I'm glad I'm not alone.

I don't tend to read guest posts, or at least not thoroughly. Not sure why, I guess I prefer the writing style of the blog owner hence why I subscribed. When I used to flick over problogger (I gave up subscribing as I never had time to keep up with the reading!) I can remember him going away once and rather than guest posts he set up a schedule for reposting old posts that may not get seen by newer visitors. Unless a blog is very new I don't tend to read back to the beginning so this is a good way to pick out your best posts and perhaps simply repost them or post up a link to them.

As for videos, I don't watch those either (sorry!!) ;) But this post was done in a way that your opinion was on the video (I presume) but the main points were listed below thus summarising the video and still giving me a reason to comment :) Perfect balance ;)

thanks for the input SarahG! I should do a much better job of commenting on the videos here so the "gist of things" can be picked up without watching the video if so desired. If it's happened so far it's by accident ;-) thanks for the tip

aside, the comments feed is still on the todo list, I haven't forgotten, just haven't gotten there yet.

Yeah I can understand that you wanna here my voice, if you like the guest blogger's style then I suppose you can just subscribe to their blog.

I just think that sometimes the benefits outweight the negativities.

You're right though, I know which batch of guest posts you're referring to - my last ones - and I did have too many of them lined up. Compare that to the past week where I only wrote one post because I forgot to write posts before I went on holiday and the blog seemed so bare.

I need to start writing more of my own posts and futuring them on Wordpress.

adnan - please don't take it personally, i was speaking of guest posts in general vs. an alternative, preferably the original blogger to keep blogging in some form

i see more and more blogs going to doing guest posting and I don't see anybody voicing the opinion that readers might not like guest posts, so I spoke up.

I have to say that I'm not totally amused by the whole guest blogging thing, like SarahG mentioned - if it's a guest blogger, I end up skimming it. I too, don't really know why, but I do. I can understand that this gives an opportunity for bloggers who may be relatively unknown make a mark for themselves by writing on bigger, more popular blogs and then see a bit of traffic for their article and a few more RSS readers. This is a cheap way to do a bit of online marketing.

I go to blogs to hear from the blogger - not so much joe blow from xyzblog.com ... I'm a little bummed when I realize they're not blogging it and it's that random dude.

Glad to have seen the post. I know I've been wondering the same thing.

I hear what you're saying - however here's a couple of reflections:

When I take a week off and hand my blog over to guest bloggers - my traffic almost always goes up. The guest post you've pointed out above on ProBlogger was the most linked to and read post on the blog this month.

Why is this? - I'm not sure to be honest, but I suspect my readers appreciate hearing things from a slightly different perspective in a different voice. Even if the post is something I've written about before I find that the comments that the posts get often have readers having 'ahaaa!' - or 'lights going on' moments.

I've got nothing against people leaving a blog without posts for a few days if that's what they want to do - however I guess what I'm trying to build with my blog is a community of experts rather than just a blog that centers all around me. Guest blogging is one way of drawing people in to participating and creating a sense that 'we' have the answers rather than just 'Darren' does.

Just my two cents worth.

thanks for the input empress, "I'm a little bummed when I realize they're not blogging it and it's that random dude." that sums it it up nicely.

@darren - Thanks for the input and perspective. If your traffic goes up every time that you turn your blog into "guest mode" I reckon you should probably give up the blogging then eh? lol

I reckon there are two sides of the coin, however as I mentioned to adnan, only one side of the coin is getting any face time so i spoke up.

and that reminds me, I haven't partaken in the blogging groove yet, maybe tomorrow.

Gotta say I'm with the majority here. I tend to skip guest posts in the same way as paid posts. (Maybe I'm just bitter as when I was sick recently and asked for guest posters, I didn't get a single response ;-) )

I quite like Sarah's idea of reposting old stuff, with over a years worth (500-odd), I'm sure I could find something that most readers haven't seen.

@stu - agreed sarahg had an interesting idea, especially if you could add your new experience to it.

(joke mode activated)

(quote, Darren)
When I take a week off and hand my blog over to guest bloggers - my traffic almost always goes up. The guest post you've pointed out above on ProBlogger was the most linked to and read post on the blog this month.
(end quote)

Hmm .. then maybe guest blogger`s style is more appreciate ..
:-))
(joke mode deactivated)

I`m sure that there are alternatives to guestblogging, except if is a wanted feature (certain time - guest blogging, rest regular).
Videopost, 3 lines (a jike, a quote, something), a pre-written post (kept in draft, I allways have 1, sometime even 2), post thru email and so on.

Me, I read a blog for 2 reasons : I like the writter style or I like the blog subject(s). Those blogs I visit at least twice a day, from 2 different IPs. Why ? TRAFFIC ! For them, of course .. What do I win ? Hmm .. Why would I espect a "win" while I LIKE to read there ? Why I don`t use a rss feeder so I save time and mouse-clicks ? Coz 2 unique visits and "n" hits / day I gave to certain blogs is far more usefull than reading the first 100 characters from a post ...

If anybody ask me, the above 2 reasons are majority available.

My 2 cents ...


ps : Mark, count please all my posts ended with "my 2 cents" and please send it back to me when you counted 1 US dollar. Yes, you can pay me interest, if you inssist ..

mwuahahahhahahahahahahhahahahaha

Lol Mark no offense taken - I know it wasn't personal. In the end it looks like Darren had a similar opinion to me (a new voice can help cement certain information into readers minds - and helps add to the conversation).

And Valentin - that's a nice little convo you had with yourself lol.

glad to hear it adnan

I totally agree with you Mark. I don't quite know why but I have always had a real problem with guest posts, and they don't interest me at all. Like people said I guess it's because you subscribed to that blog for the individual, and they sometimes have the air of being simply promotional tools for the guest author.

If the blog owner is going on holiday I'm quite happy to accept a week or two of no posts!

I haven't had a whole lot of guest posting on my blog, but the recent experience I had with it has been pretty positive. I agree with the relationship building stuff, too.

I do have to say that guest posting can easily get out of control, though. Readers DO visit and continue to return because of the blogger's voice rather than the information provided. Sure, the info is important, but most of it is available in a hundred different places...

good to see you tom! doing anything online these days?

@ray - "the info is important, but most of it is available in a hundred different places..." very true.

You know, frankly, I never look closely at a post's author until after I read it. It's the title and the content that interests me most. I've read some great guest posts, and I've often discovered new blogs I enjoy by reading guest posts.

Hey mark,

Not really up to much online anymore I must admit - but still reading a few of my fave blogs regularly.

Had the wedding a few weeks ago and a honeymoon in Kenya, which was pretty good. Yours is just round the corner I believe - getting nervous yet? ;)

@v.neely - usually the intro paragraph tells me it isn't the author but thanks for the input

@tom - not nervous at all, just another day ;-) Congrats on your wedding.