On the Topic of Guest Blogging

February 5, 2014

shutterstock_125149844I recently shared a post that links to the Cvent Event Planning Blog, where I am a regular guest blogger. That got me thinking – am I a guest if it’s regular??? More so, it got me thinking about the amount of intellectual capital that I possess and if I should be sharing it with a blog that is not my own.  I recently wrote a post on a topic that I really liked. After writing it, I felt a bit of regret. Should I have saved that piece of delicious content for my own blog? Was it really delicious or is that just me being a bit dramatic? 

On the flip side, I’ve been approached by others to guest blog here on Seven Degrees. For the most part, I am open to it. But, it really needs to be from someone who I know, like and trust.  I’m not a fan of random communications where people don’t try and form a relationship and want to jump in bed with blog right away. My blog is not that kind of girl. My blog wants a guest blogger to at least buy it dinner first. OK, I kid, I digress. 

Does guest blogging demonstrate the value a company brings by proving  the network and resources it has or do guest bloggers dilute the core of the organization? As a small company, we have spent many years developing relationships with partners who supplement the work we do and allow us to provide a wider range of services.  For us, we are very transparent about who we work with and the role that they play. If any of our partners wanted to guest blog, it would be almost like another Seven Degrees team member writing. However, outside of our partner list I’m not sure if it helps or hurts our brand. Would you rather see a blog post directly from the source or would an interview format be better to tap into the brain of a subject matter expert?

I raise these point, not for just for myself, but for those of you who are struggling with writing on a regular basis and who are looking for additional sources of content.  Have you considered bringing in an outside expert to fuel your hungry blog?  Are you hoping that a guest blogger will give you additional exposure by sharing their post with their network? Are you just happy to have someone else doing the work for you?

Guest blogging can be a great way to get unique perspectives and freshen up a stale blog. But it’s not without a downside.  Please share your guest blogging stories and opinions with us.

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