Guest Bloggers: 3 Rules to Follow if You Want to be Invited Back

April 28, 2011 by Daniel Sharkov|

The following article is a guest post by Donna Anderson. She is sharing her experience with guest blogging and the three most important rules any guest blogger must follow.

Being a guest blogger is kind of like being a guest at a party. There are certain rules of etiquette you should follow if you want to be invited back. You mind your manners. You say please and thank you, you keep your feet off the furniture and you don’t smoke in the house. When you visit a friend’s blog, you should pay them similar courtesies. Here are 3 guest blogger rules of etiquette you should follow if you want to be invited back:

Read the blog

When I heard that Daniel was looking for guest bloggers, the first thing I did was visit his blog. And I’m very glad I did. At first glance it appears that he blogs about, well, blogging. How to make money blogging, to be more specific. And he seems to do a very good job of it, too. In order to find out what I, as a guest blogger, could contribute to the party, without stepping on my host’s toes, I had to read his blog.

Why am I concerned about stepping on Daniel’s toes? Because it’s his blog. He’s the host of this party. It’s extremely rude to try to one-up your host and bump him out of the spotlight. It’s like wearing white to a wedding. You don’t do it unless you’re the bride. Nobody outshines the bride at her own wedding. It’s just wrong.

Read the comments

Most bloggers who are willing to turn their site over to a guest blogger for a day already have a pretty devoted following. Otherwise, they wouldn’t take the risk. When you step in as the guest speaker you’re going to be addressing that same group of followers and it’s your responsibility to keep them intact. You’ll never be invited back if all of those loyal readers flee in fear at the mention of your name.

Reading the comments can give you additional insight into what the readers expect from that blog. For example, in one of his blog posts, ‘ Can Guest Articles Ruin Your Blog?‘ Daniel asks his readers if they think guest bloggers are a good addition or if, in the long run, they produce negative results. The response in the comments was basically in favor of guest bloggers, with one major complaint: the quality of the guest’s post.

Because I took the time to read Daniel’s blog and then read the comments I was able to come up with a topic that would compliment his blog without stepping on his toes, but also, maybe, provide some quality information that would help some of his readers. It fits perfectly without taking away any of Daniels authority. His blog is full of reviews and tips to help you make money blogging, one of those tips is to get out there and be a guest blogger, and now you have some guidelines on how to be a good guest.

Put your best foot forward

Reading the comments was a real eye-opener for me. I would never dream of giving anything less than my best effort – whether I’m writing for my own site or a site that belongs to someone else. It might not measure up in the end, but I always give it my best shot.

Apparently though, not everyone feels the same way. According to some of the comments there are actually bloggers out there who look at guest blogging opportunities as just another way to build backlinks. Will they never learn?

Considering what just happened with Google and the new algorithm you would think that everyone would finally get it through their head that it all comes down to quality of content. You can put all the links out there you want but if they don’t lead to anything worth reading, no one is going to follow them – especially Google.

It might be alright in your world to wear a T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans that hang off your butt when you go to your best friend’s party. But when you’re blogging, on someone else’s blog, it should be automatically understood that you either put on your Sunday best or stay at home. Not only are you risking your own reputation, you risk embarrassing the person who invited you to their blog. And in my world, that’s considered disgraceful behavior. Now, go wash your face and put on a suit and tie. You been invited to a party and you only have one chance to make a good first impression.

Donna Anderson is a freelance writer specializing in the How to Make Money Online niche. She writes many things, for many people, about many topics, but her first love will always be blogging. You can visit her at her blog, White Hat Writing, and follow her on Twitter at @SheWritesaLot.

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