Startup Blog

Guest Bloggers: A lazy way out? Or awesome path to new content?

Posted by Mike Volpe on 2/5/10 11:00 AM

Ilya Mirman FloridaThis is a guest post by Ilya Mirman (@IlyaMirman), who has held marketing and engineering roles at several hardware and software companies. His last three gigs have been as VP of Marketing for SolidWorks (3D design software), and two venture-backed MIT spin-offs - Interactive Supercomputing (acquired by Microsoft) and Cilk Arts (acquired by Intel). During his free time, Ilya enjoys photographing rock concerts and political events. [Photo: Ilya in his "Florida Uniform"]

Serves me right. Here I was, recuperating from a bender in Vegas by relaxing with in-laws in Florida, when I saw Volpe's tweet ("I'm looking for GUEST BLOGGERS for MikeVolpe.com - @ or DM me with an article headline if you are interested") and sarcastically DM'd him the headline above.

Mike took the bait ("love it. email it over and i will print it. if u are serious") - but now I was on the hook to produce something. So here's my two cents on the topic:

7 Reasons Why Guest Blogging is a Great Thing:

#7 - Introduces new perspective, new content to your audience

#6 - At the same time - gives guest blogger a new audience to share their content with

#5 - SEO benefits for your site (broadens the scope of terms your site can rank for)

#4 - The links between your sites will make it easier for your audience to discover your guest blogger's site - and for his audience to discover yours

#3 - The links between your sites will make it easier for Google (and other search engines) to know the sites are related, and leverage each site's SEO juice to help the other

#2 - Helps establish the guest blogger as an expert on the topic

#1 - And YES... it is a bit of a lazy way out: a great way to have fresh new content on your site without actually writing it (though of course there's no free lunch - you're still your blog's editor-in-chief!)

 

Ok, if the above is wicked simplistic, and you're thinking, "Thanks, Captain Obvious!" - here's another angle: there might be something akin to Metcalfe's Law going on here. Instead of two separate audiences exposed to separate content, guest blogging exposes more people to more content, and the social nature of the web allows for that many more possible interactions - blog comments, tweets, sharing. Feels like this would be an amplifying, non-linear force in driving communication, awareness, activity - and ultimately some conversion relevant for your site.

Anyhoozle... Having guest bloggers participate is a great thing for everyone - for the people you are all trying to deliver valuable content for, for the guest blogger, and for your business - so give it a shot. (There's a few tips and tricks to doing it efficiently and successfully - perhaps a topic for another post :).

Mike Volpe

Written by Mike Volpe

Mike Volpe is a startup advisor and angel investor based in Boston.

Topics: blog, rant

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