Blogger Qs Answered: Should Guest Posting Be Reciprocated?

This question was submitted by Jennifer Brown Banks, of Pen and Prosper.

Pen and Prosper is a Blog devoted to supporting and advancing you in your writing career. Here you'll find information and inspiration to move you forward and keep you grounded!

Q.
Tia, My question is one of protocol or creating good karma. Do you think that it’s in good taste or form to accept and request guest posts to your blog, but to not do guest posts at other blogs? I had this happen recently. A guy who I did a guest post for told me he was “too busy” to reciprocate. Ouch! Is there something wrong with this picture? Or is it just me? Thanks!

Open Forum

I decided to make this question an open forum, because it’s a topic I’m sure a lot of people have something to say about. I don’t do much guest posting and have just recently decided to open up BizChickBlogs to guest bloggers, so this is new territory for me. I can only offer thoughts, based on what I have been observing going on in this arena.

Have thoughts? Leave a reply. There’s plenty of room for everyone’s thoughts here, and you can reply directly to each other and also add “thumbs up” to replies you think are helpful.

A.
Tough question. I don’t think it’s “just you.” Seems like something many bloggers would be wondering about. While I personally would not solicit guest posts from specific people without offering the same thing in return, I can see why a host would do that. If someone is seeking guest posts because he or she is getting too busy to write frequently and wants to keep the content fresh, it makes sense to me that that person is too busy to post elsewhere.
I see two ways of creating good blogger karma:
1. In cases where the host has an aged blog that gets a lot of targeted traffic and an engaged, active readerbase, and the guest is newer on the scene and has a younger blog with less traffic, the partnership would be mutually beneficial and a reciprocal guest post would not be necessary (but would be nice).
2. In cases where the host is in your circle, your blogs are equal in terms of growth, readership and traffic, and she or he asks you to help out and guest post, I think it’s in good form to offer a guest post in return.

Add your thoughts…

… in the comments section below. What’s your experience been, as a guest blogger or a host (or both)?

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seospidy@Internet marketing

very interesting topic thanks for great post. :)

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Udegbunam Chukwudi@Make Money Online

When I did the few guest posts I've done, I never expected another guest post in return so I really don't think we shoul have a sense of entitlement to a reciprocated guest post. BTW all blogs accepting guest posts ought to be alert as I've noticed a trend of guest bloggers spreading the same guest posts on different blogs.
.-= Udegbunam Chukwudi@Make Money Online´s last blog ..Make Your Blog 10x Faster With W3 Total Cache Plug-in =-.

SBA

The only thing wrong was the way he said "he was “too busy” to reciprocate. Although true, he could have been more diplomatic. As one reader said, there should be no assumptions. Most guest posts are one way: usually the small fry looking for an audience/exposure for his newer blog (read that 'lower page rank and subscribers') or the big fry offering to share backlinks in return for variety or ad sharing for guest posts.

Sometimes it gives the guest a chance to get out of their normal mode or niche. That was my case when I did two such posts as a 'personal favor --- the blog owner who has a high subscriber /PR rank was ill. Those posts were good fits for her blog but not what I had been posting on mine. I would not think of asking for reciprocation. Similarly, I asked a blogger who blogs parts of his novels to write a post for me on visitor traffic --- quite out of niche and successful. I hope he doesn't ask me to reciprocate. LOL

So please, reciprocation is too complex! I'd be happy to have them as a regular visitor and commentator.
My recent post Use Apture To Keep Visitors On Your Blog

bizchickblogs

All good points! I agree with you in principle: guest posting does tend to help the lesser known blogger get visibility. But, it REALLY helps the host blogger, too. In fact, I'm about to go publish the first guest post on BCB by a fantastic writer right now! Cheers!

Tia
My recent post Blogger Qs Answered: Is it better to buy my own domain name? And Wordpress or Blogspot?

Mark @ Web Design

That's a nice question. I think we should return a guest post. That will be beneficial to both the bloggers. It will give one post and the other readers. Nice post!
My recent post e-commerce

Thanks for your comments, Mark!

Monica Dennis

I would say it depends on the agreement, but the issue might be that people seasoned at doing this know to have an agreement in the first place whereas neophytes might assume it will be reciprocal. Don't assume.

I know with me, I am looking for guest bloggers to help with the diverse voices I want to have helping me out since I am trying to blog 3x a week. If someone has a blog bigger than mine, I might ask them, but I actually wouldn't expect them to ask me in return. I know they are the one doing me the favor, though I'll promote them all over the place. That's for sure.

My recent post Five Truths About Children Who Drown

Thanks, Monica. I am leaning towards always assuming that the request is one-sided. And then, if you request in return, it's up to them to accept or turn down the offer.

Shelly

I just recently did a guest post for another blogger. I didn't even think to ask her to reciprocate. This is mainly because my blog is so small that I haven't considered having guest posts yet. I had a lot of fun. It was good to write on a different subject matter, because the 'genre' of her blog is early childhood resources, not something I usually blog about, so I had to think outside my usual sphere of inspiration. However, if I did ask her to reciprocate, I would hope that she would accept, and would probably be put out if she didn't.

You could liken your blog following to your kids; you are asking your guest blogger to look after your kids. You should be willing to look after hers when the time comes or offer something that is equivalent. You, as a parent, don't think "You have had the benefit of spending time with my children and now they think you are a great babysitter. That should be enough for you". You would try to return the favour in some way, and it would be bad manners to turn her down if she asked you to babysit her kids one day.

We are all busy, but we should not be too busy to treat people with respect. We still need to use good manners.
My recent post Just Call Me 'The Baby Whisperer'...too.

Wow! Well said, Shelly. Two major thumbs up. I honestly never looked at it that way. Among blogger colleagues, it is really something to think about.

It shows that there are many sides to guest blogging and the reasons people are participating.

Ms. Freeman

I think the best answer lies in the relationship between to the two bloggers. If other "deals" were reciprocated without asking then I think it goes without saying that reciprocity could, not should be expected. But, if one just submits the post without prior conversation or dealings then you get what you get.

Agreed! If you willing submit writing for guest posting, I would think your benefit comes from being selected and featured. I guess that is why it's so important to choose wisely.

wannabe

I did a few guest postings, and i have nothing but positive to say about it. I 'used' the bigger blog sites to get my articles out there. and they benefit from my contribution. Reading one mans opinion is not something i like, i prefer to read different viewpoints. so a blog that has guestpostings is a plus to me.
My recent post The Music Box

Agreed 100%!
My recent post Blogger Qs Answered: Is it better to buy my own domain name? And Wordpress or Blogspot?

kristinglas

I don't have any experience with this but I imagine it's best to speak up with your expectations to avoid disappointed. Many people consider their blogs a business, so set up an business agreement. My 2 cents.

Hey Kristin! Your 2 cents is much appreciated. B)

It's a good way to look at it. A lot of bloggers put up Guest Posting pages and talk about how it will work. That seems to be sufficient. But still, if a blogger is a "buddy" it might be worth fleshing out whether it's going to be a trade or not. And if the host doesn't explicitly offer to reciprocate, I guess then I would assume that they are not going to and make a decision about guest posting for them based on that.

Kiesha

It definitely depends. You've answered pretty much the same way I would. If you've got a new blog, and you're guest posting on a blog that has the potential to bring more traffic to your site, that and the added exposure is your pay back. Now if a verbal commitment has been made that they would reciprocate, then that's totally different. But for the most part, I don't think it's always necessary to return the guest post, but it depends on the relationship and what has been agreed upon. All bloggers are busy, I don't think turning down a request is unreasonable, there are only so many hours in a day and it's already a challenge just producing quality content for your own site. I understand that can be disappointing to others but hopefully it's something that you can get passed.
My recent post The SocialmediaToday Community: Increase exposure to your blog

Hey Kiesha! Yeah, there are many ways to look at this question. Depends on who the host blogger is, who the guest blogger is, what the agreement is, etc. Lots of things to think about. Thanks for stopping by and weighing in. B)

V8 Supercars

Hmmm...very nice question. It all depends on the agreement. I think as a host, it's okay that you reciprocate your guest blogger. Not necessarily like a guest post too, but something like bookmark their site, promote their site.`Something like that.

Thanks for your reply. I agree that there are other ways that hosts do reciprocate; just publishing the post on their site is actually a nice thing. If they've worked hard to establish trust with a readership, then putting someone else's work in front of that group requires confidence in and appreciation of the guest blogger's talent.