Some of the answers are rather obvious, but there may be some you haven't thought of. And when you are grabbing guests for the purpose of marketing, there are some guests that will benefit you more than others. Let's talk about it:
- Invitation: Email other bloggers and ask them to guest blog. Most will say yes. You can also ask people who are not bloggers but if they themselves don't have an internet presence, it won't build your readership. (Though that isn't the only reason to have guests, just the reason we're talking about here.)The people who will benefit you most are people who:
- have their own following
- blog about things your readers will be interested in
- are willing to promote you the day they are on your site
- and are in some way an authority on the topic they are going to speak on
- Call for guests: Put a badge in your sidebar asking for guest bloggers. Many readers will step up. Give them a topic to blog on and they will step up even quicker.
- Interview: Interviewing another blogger counts as a guest. These are easier for bloggers to commit to because they only have to answer questions.
- Offer critiques: I'm not going to lie - critiquing other people's blogs is just as good for me as it is for you. Those people drive others to read my reviews. Matt MacNish increased my readers by thirty people with one critique!
- Host sharing: Invite people to share queries, loglines, jokes, etc. Make it a contest where other people have to vote on their favorites and you'll drive even more people to your blog.
- Write reviews: Writing book reviews can get you followers but make sure you -
- use the author's full name and title of book in your post title so search engines can find you
- email the author and let them know you are reviewing their work
- Offer to guest on other people's blogs: People like to return the favor. You do a post for them and then they kind of owe you :)
Your turn: what do you do to gather guests? I've seen some great techniques on other blogs so I know you have wisdom to share!
3 comments:
I haven't yet sought out guests. Today however, I am promoting Jessica Bell's String Bridge.
It's the first time I've promoted someone. My blog is not a template and Blogger won't allow me to put anything in the sidebar, like fun links and such, so the only way I can add content is in the body of my post. For the most part, my blog is an outlet for my writing. I have a lot of material that's not appropriate for chapters in my book. If I didn't put them in a blog...my head would get crammed. My blog also helps me hone my voice. I love your blog by the way and your blog critiques
I've posted on writer list serves or discussion boards when looking for guests, and also found opportunities to be a guest blogger that way.
Very helpful. Good advice. Thanks for sharing. I did a couple author interviews a while back, but I haven't done much with guest blogging. Besides the benefits, it's also fun.
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