Guest posting has started to become a big hit on blogs these days.  It’s been described as a win-win for the blog owner and the guest writer, but some writers have brought in a third element: readers.

Exposed!  But in a Good Way…

Guest writers have the most to gain in that they get exposure to a new and larger audience of readers by taking the opportunity to post on a more main stream blog.  These writers believe (some rightly so, some not so much) that the reason they’re own blog isn’t popular or exploded on the scene is that they haven’t had the opportunity and that given exposure they would be popular, have thousands of readers daily, etc etc…

Hit the Snooze Button, Roll Over, and Go Back to Sleep

The gain for the blog owner is not even close to being so dramatic.  A guest written article means that it’s one less article he has to post.  He can add the regularly scheduled post to his cache of save articles, time stamped for a future day.

Risk?  What Risk??

There are risks involved with guest writers.  As ShoeMoney discovered, guest posts can be ripped off and copied by writers who hope that no one would know where their material came from.  I don’t believe that Jeremy took so much a hit to his rep, but the guest writer was flamed BIG TIME in the comments.  What made it worse was that the guest writer continued to try and defend himself in the comments.

What About Me??

The third party that no one really talks about are the readers themselves.  We go to a blog to read what that individual writer has to say.  We enjoy or get value from their articles.  Some say that they hate guest posts because they’re at that blog to read the owner’s article, not someone else’s.

From my point of view, if the guest post is well written on a subject I enjoy, that person’s mission has been accomplished!  They’ve gained a new reader.

How about you?  What do you think about guest writers?

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