Guest Bloggers
March 27, 2007 Posted by Tyler CruzThe other day I was feeling a bit stressed about my blog. It may not seem like much to run a blog, but writing one post per day can, at times, be harder than you think.
Personally, I find there to be two main issues. First, it’s a time issue. On average, I spend around an hour per post. Sometimes I can write a post in 15-minutes. Other times, due to research, image creation, and fact-finding, it can take as long as 3-4 hours. But on average it’s about an hour per post.
While that may not seem like a lot of time, considering the fact that I only work around 2-3 hours per day on average, that means that almost half of my time working is taken up by my blog. The other half is usually spent dealing with e-mails, meaning that lately I’ve had literally no time to spend on my own sites, unless I add more hours to my daily 2-3 hours of work.
The second issue that gives me hardships is finding topics to write about. This isn’t as easy as it may seem either. Sure, I do a great story by investigating or reviewing something new in the industry, but such things can take very long to write about properly.
Anyhow, the other day I was feeling a bit bombarded by my own blog and it’s responsibilities, and since at the time I was doing a lot of work on it (see my previous post More Blog Updates), I was considering the idea of occasionally having a guest blogger on here.
This is nothing new. Many blogs, including John Chow’s, have used guest bloggers before. In fact, when Matt Coddington, from NetBusinessBlog guest-blogged on JohnChow.ca in late February, he wrote a great post on this very subject.
Here then, is my question to you:
Do you think, if I were to occasionally have a guest blogger on here, that it would benefit the blog, damage the blog, or not do much difference either way?
21 Responses to “Guest Bloggers”
I think it’s a great idea. I have nowhere near the readership of your blog, but I would like to do this eventually. Just not too many…and different guests each time.
Depends on what you’re after I guess.
I latched on to blogs like this to get a better understanding of how others are managing their sites (those who are earning more and give something to aspire to).
To a certain extent I’m less interested in the paths the likes of John Chow are taking. He seems to have found a niche in targeting aspiring bloggers (it seems every other reader of his blog has started on of their own in an effort to emulate his apparent success).
I don’t have a problem about such paths, but personally I’d much rather read about how the likes of John Chow manages TheTechZone and see stats about the site than the latest word press plugins.
Hey Tyler
I think having the occasional guest blogger can add real depth to a blog; just make sure that the majority of articles are still written by you though!
I would certainly be interested in writing a few articles in the future for you. Just drop me a line if you are interested.
Martin.
Having guest bloggers is a great idea. As long as the articles are interesting and relevant.
I think that it would be a great idea – get some big and upcoming names out here to get some quality content on the map.
2-3 hours per day. Wow. You’re stressing about *having* to possibly work more than 2-3 hours per day. That’s truly sad.
Tyler:
I find no fault in using guest bloggers, as long as they are relevant and give your audience what they have come to expect from your blog.
I, for instance, have JUST started working on some forum sites, and I like to hear about what you have done and what you have found successful (or not) in your journey thus far.
Maybe finding guest bloggers who are doing similar things online and can speak from a similar perspective would work well. Maybe a beginner web-entrepreneur, a fairly experienced web-entrepreneur, and an expert web-entrepreneur could make regular guest appearances (and think of the possibilities of having them all post on the same question or idea or topic!). That’s something I would like to see…
You work 2-3 hours a day and you feel bombarded.. I seriously hope to be in your shoes one day!
Regarding guest blogging bring in someone by all means!
Aww, poor Tyler Cruz can’t work more than a few hours a day. No wonder you don’t make any money online.
I don’t know about you but I’d rather work an easy 2-3 hours and live comfortably than work all day long only to make a bit more money but be stressed out and tired.
Hi Tyler,
Regarding the guest blogging, by all means you should bring someone in either on a regular basis or at time when you feel like it. Works well for all the ‘big names’ will work well for you if you stick to guests who have a focus similar to your own.
I vote against guest bloggers. If I wanted to read someone else writing I would visit their blog.
Addressing your 2-3 work hours per day, I think you should definitely increase that for many reasons. First of all, it would be simple to find things to blog about if you were spending a few hours on your sites each day. You would stumble upon some issues in the course of this work that would justify a post. This is natural, organic. Unlike forcing yourself to think of a reason to post something.
I remember reading an article about the president of a huuuuge deoderant brand with HQ in NYC. In his contract they gave him the option to have a limo drive him around everywhere. Instead, he took the subway and buses because that’s what the people using his product did. It gave him an insight he otherwise wouldn’t be able to pour into his product.
That’s what your blog needs and the reason your blog started. As insight into all the work you were doing on your other websites. Not as a standalone site that worked on it’s own. It was a by product of your experiences from your main sites.
So add a few hours a day and I bet it gets easier. Not only that, but you’ll be setting a good work ethic and generating increased income that will provide a safety net should things turn down.
DO NOT TAKE WHAT YOU HAVE FOR GRANTED.
Keep working hard and don’t look back.
I found this blog via Junkpoint (AKA sitepoint), and it was interesting because it was a sort of journal of your life and your work. Now you want to turn into some sort of Shoemoney copycat?
Stick to what the blog is. Who wants to read other people’s stuff? We could go to their blogs.
And wow… working 2 hbours a day, that’s just lame. I make twice as much as you do with my sites and I am busting my ass right now studying a hospitality course at Vancouver so I can get a job and cover any sudden income problems.
The internet is a very risky business, you never know how much you will be making tomorrow. One Google hiccup and you are gone.
“Stick to what the blog is. Who wants to read other people’s stuff? We could go to their blogs.”
The posts would mainly be to put up new content for when I am unable to post. Why not have a new post that some people may enjoy, rather than having no update that day at all?
Tyler: Exactly. I think you are sold on this idea already 😉
So long as the guest posts match the theme of your blog and compliment your blog posts, then I’d say that good content is good content, nevermind who it is written by.
This is one reason why people so many people read comments – because it’s good to have different viewpoints and perspectives.
This is exactly the reason why I don’t visit Shoemoney’s blog anymore. If I read a blog, I want to read about the owner’s life, and not about stuff that some guest blogger writes.
A blog is something personal, after all. If I want to read some boring news I’ll visit Google News instead.
So, all I want to say is: Expect to lose some visitors that are just here to read about your life and your business.
Ben
Hi Tyler. I don’t think it’s necessary to make a blog post everyday. It’s better to post something useful than just posting for the sake of posting. Nothing will drive your readers away faster than a steady stream of garbage appearing on your site. Mark Cuban (www.blogmaverick.com) is in the Technorati top 100 list and he only posts on his blog a few times each week.
The key is quality and not quantity.
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