Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Have You Ever Been Asked to Guest Blog? Advice Desired!

Used With Permission Under
Creative Commons License
When I first started this post I thought my answer to the question of being asked to guest blog was "no," but then I remembered an opportunity I did have a couple of years ago. I was pretty new to blogging myself at the time and didn't follow through with it. The request was from a reputable organization, so I wasn't worried about who was asking me. My lack of follow through was due to lack of self confidence at the time.

A colleague emailed me today because she had been asked to guest blog and wanted my advice. What should you look for? Putting your words and name on someone else's site seems very attractive, but we need to be careful where we put our words and our name, as it can reflect on our reputation down the road.

Here are some of the questions I told her I would ask. What kinds of questions would you add to this list? Please add them in the comments. All contributions are appreciated, and if you actually have guest blogging experience, it would be wonderful if you would tell a little about how that has worked out for you.


  • I would want to know who the person or organization is behind the blog and what their background/reputation/experience is in the area I'm being asked to write about.
  • I would want to know if my post would be edited in any way or if it would be posted as submitted. If edited, would I be able to see the final version and give a yea or nay as to whether it is posted?
  • If the blog I'm being asked to post on is ad free, I'd want to know if it intends to remain ad free and if not, when will it be monetized and how? 
  • If the blog is NOT ad free, I'd be careful to look at who/what they were advertising, remembering that my content could become associated with the advertisers and that my content could be making money for someone else.
  • I would want permission to cross post the content back on my own blog.

What am I leaving out? Please add your wisdom in the comments below! Thanks!