No Visitors on Your Blog? Get Tons of Traffic Today!
 

John is Busy Slaying Pandas, I’m Filling In

written by Matt Coddington on February 25th, 2007

John begged me to do a guest post on his little personal blog here, so I figured why not? The problem is, however, I don’t know anything about $1,000 meals, wacky foreign cars, or Vancouver. But I’m going to do my best to fill John’s giant green gloves and write about something I know and that I think you guys will appreciate – blogging!

It’s no secret that one of the most important requirements for a successful blog is that it be updated often, usually on a daily basis. John talked about it in 10 Blogging Mistakes to Avoid and in Creating Content. But what do you do if you go on vacation, attend an out of state (or out of country) conference, or have a family emergency? What if you get a new job or a promotion that demands much more of your time than before? What if you just want an extra set of hands to help you out? The solution is guest blogging.

Guest blogging is basically getting a friend to help you update your blog while you’re away or just to give you a little more time for other things. Just about every blog has had or will have at least one guest blogger in its lifetime. It’s a common practice. So why is guest blogging so delicious?

It Helps the Main Blogger

As I said earlier, guest blogging has a lot of benefits for the main blogger. Allowing a guest to post on your blog gives your readers fresh, new content without you having to write it yourself. Your readers get their daily article while you have time for other things. A ton of popular blogs utilize guest bloggers. Michael Arrington of TechCrunch, for example, has a bunch of guest bloggers posting right now while he’s attending FOWA. The readers appreciate the consistent flow of content, and Arrington I’m sure appreciates not having to post it.

It Helps the Guest Blogger

While I’m busy writing this post John is probably sitting at home counting his money for his upcoming February recap. Does that bother me? No. Why? Because guest blogging isn’t just beneficial to the main blogger, it has a ton of perks for the guest blogger as well. For example, when guest blogging I have the opportunity to slyly sneak in a few sexy links back to my own blog. Hopefully you guys will enjoy this post and be interested in reading my other articles (which you’ll find via my sneaky links). I also get to expose myself to a wider audience within the industry. John has a lot of readers who may never have heard of me before. Well now you’ve heard of me. That adds to my personal branding (hopefully in a good way) – definite perk.

It Helps the Readers

At the end of the day, readers want good content to read. Guest bloggers give them new content when the main blogger doesn’t have time to. Rocket science, right?

Overall guest blogging helps everyone: the main blogger gets a break, the guest blogger gets some additional exposure, and the readers get their fill of content. So how about the next time you need a short break, have an emergancy, or are going out of town, why not try to find a guest blogger to take your spot and keep your readers happy?

Tweet This Tweet This Post!
English flagItalian flagKorean flagChinese (Simplified) flagChinese (Traditional) flagPortuguese flagGerman flagFrench flagSpanish flagJapanese flagArabic flagRussian flagGreek flagDutch flagBulgarian flagCzech flagCroatian flagDanish flagFinnish flagHindi flagPolish flagRomanian flagSwedish flagNorwegian flagCatalan flagFilipino flagHebrew flagIndonesian flagLatvian flagLithuanian flagSerbian flagSlovak flagSlovenian flagUkrainian flagVietnamese flag
By N2H
  1. Are you sure he’s not involved in a rock fight?

  2. :twisted: great post, Matt! guest blogging is only slightly sneaky and evil, but not as much as most people think! :lol:

  3. Last I heard he was training for his upcoming UFC fight next month… that’s the rumor on the streets.

    Anyway, congrats. on making the guest spot and I look forward to your input over the next… well, however long you will be guest blogging :)

  4. Matt,
    When is John going to do a guest appearance on netbusinessblog? :wink:

  5. Great post Matt. The writing fits in very well to John’s blog. Great exposure for your blog too. Congrats on being John’s chosen guest writer.

  6. I found John–he’s over at Matt’s blog!

  7. Jon

    Haha great idea – I’d be happy to guest write for John anytime :)

  8. Amazing… A post with no major spelling or grammar errors!

  9. I love this idea. Do you want to be a guest blogger on my site??

  10. The Old Switcheroo – John Chow & Matt Coddington…

    […]This evening John Chow and Matt Coddington pulled the old “switcheroo” on the entire blogosphere. They guest blogged…on each others’ blogs.

    It was great. And it really threw some people for a loop![…]

    Shine on,
    Aaron Cook

  11. I’m curious, how would you persuade, bribe, blackmail someone into guest blogging for you. Aside from just asking, is there anything you can entice them with?

  12. Both benefit insofar that you each get a “free” backlink and some fresh content. Good work guys.

  13. Matt, very nice post! I hope you know that you’re freaking lucky to be a guest blogger on this site. I’m sure you do!

  14. Haha I love how you, as a guest blogger, wrote about guest blogging.. the blog generates its own traffic quite often.

  15. Great to see you both changing things up a bit with the surprise visits. You both can do this on such high profile blogs because you have the credibility, and know the expectations of your readers and the ability for the guest blogger to deliver. Good post “feRos.” :lol:

  16. Also, with your help John, I went from having a Technorati rank of 68K, to now having a rank of 19,500. Thanks!!!

  17. Matt I went to your blog and found john there. Any way nice blog out there.

  18. Soooo, Matt. What’s you schedule look like this week? Up for a guest blog on ol’ derrich.com? :mrgreen:

  19. Love the “old switcheroo.” You and Matt switcherooed for sure. Great plan!

    For more on the switcheroo, go here: http://homebusinesstoday.blogspot.com/2007/02/old-switcheroo-john-chow-matt.html

    Shine on,
    Aaron Cook

  20. Guest blogging is really cool. Its a nice little suprise.

    I love the smiley’s

    Hey, I just posted a top ten computer problems list if anyone wants to check it out or share it with someone that you know that is not so computer savy. I hope it can be useful. I also mentioned this on Matt’s blog on the post that John wrote.

    :grin:

  21. Great post Matt…..Its was a nice surprise… :razz:

  22. One important thing guest blogging does is to add a fresh perspective to a blog that has the same author.

    If you had a close friend who was always talking with the same mentality and attitude and then for one day you switched that friend with someone new, you will probably realize the nice and important things your close friend said while learning new things from this new person at the same time. :mrgreen:

  23. Welcome Matt – I look forward to reading more of your posts here.

    Some good points – but it certainly is much easier to get a guest blogger when you have a very popular blog, right? ;)

    One thing I felt like you left out – introducing yourself properly ;) If people don’t catch the “..by Matt Coddington” part they’ve no idea who you are – well, apart from the links to your blog.

  24. so umm . . . do you have to be best friends with John to be a guest blogger? :)

  25. cool idea. it’s like when Chris Douridas comes back to fill in for Nick Harcourt on kcrw (LA radio). :wink: new trend in blogging?

    great post btw

  26. Guest blogging is interesting especially if you are in a niche market. Getting an “expert” is a good way to promote your site.

Trackbacks

  1. Sneaky, Sneaky Guest Bloggers » TRBdigital - Yorkton, Saskatchewan - February 25, 2007 at 7:02 pm
  2. Michael Kwan takes a look at ActiveRain « John Chow dot Com - February 27, 2007 at 12:08 pm
  3. Why Guest Bloggers are Great for a Blog - February 28, 2007 at 4:41 pm
  4. February Recap » Net Business Blog - March 1, 2007 at 12:22 pm
  5. Like a bat out of hell -- Young Go Getter - March 5, 2007 at 6:12 pm
  6. :: Café com Leite - Diariamente » As vantagens de blogar como convidado - March 8, 2007 at 9:39 pm