There have been guest posts since I started real blogging over 14 years ago. Back then they actually used to mean something; these days they’re mainly throwaway pieces that don’t actually say anything.
standing up for principles
The same goes for posts where someone’s asked a bunch of experts their opinion on a topic and asks them for 3 things they’d recommend to others. It’s grown a lot since the first posts showed up about 10 years ago but I have the same gripe about most of them. Once again, throwaway pieces that don’t say much of anything. I’ll explain more about this in a minute or two.
I’ve partaken in doing both of these things. I’ve written guest posts for people who’ve asked me for one, though I only wrote two last year. I haven’t participated in all that many expert posts, probably because I’m not asked to play with the famous people all that often. They’ll probably be the last guest posts I ever write, and I’ve probably participated in my last experts post. I’ll tell you why… starting now.
Let’s start by talking about guest posts. Almost 2 1/2 years ago I said I probably won’t share guest posts from people’s blog and I gave a few reasons why. The third point in that article is my main reason for not wanting to share those posts any longer; the writer’s almost never respond to any comments left on those posts, and that’s quite irksome to someone like me.
Recently I did an experiment where I commented on 5 guest posts I decided to check out. Two of them were written by someone I already knew; the other three I had no idea. Want to guess how many of those folks actually responded to my comment? None!
Some of you know how I am; I never write fake or lousy comments when I have something to say. I don’t always agree with every point the author’s made, but even if I do I try to add a little bit of value to my comments, especially the original one. If I return because I want to follow up on a response my comment got, that one might not be as eloquent as the first, but I try to give people a reason to reply to me.
Earlier this year I implored blog owners to approve comments and respond to them, especially if they’re moderating comments because they’re worried about spam. My point of view is that you’ve wasted my time twice by not doing so; I wouldn’t have read your post if I knew you weren’t going to respond to my comment and I certainly wouldn’t have bothered coming up with something pithy to say. I hate being ignored in other spaces; I get ignored enough on my own space. lol
Whenever I’ve guest posted anywhere, I’ve gone back to see if there were any comments on that post. Even though it’s never translated into visitors coming to my site (like leaving comments does), I’ve always felt that I owe someone the courtesy of responding because they took the time to not only read what I’ve written but had something to say about it. I tend to be a major proponent of common courtesy; at least on that front I was raised right.
Mean Lucy ain’t playing
That brings us to the “experts” articles. I have a few problems with them, so I might as well get them out of the way; let me count them down:
1. Almost no black people. The few articles where I was asked to be an authority on, I was the only one there. I’ve noticed this as a pattern for all the articles I’ve seen over the years; only one of us, as if that’s our quota. The truth is that most of the time the blog owners are white and they don’t know all that many black bloggers; I know that because I’ve asked here and there and it’s always the answer (along with “I didn’t consider race, I only considered people I thought would be interesting”; yeah…).
2. Scattered types of answers. When I was asked to name 3 things about anything, not only did I give 3 things but I gave explanations of those 3 things to be thorough. Most of the time people will list 3 things and move on. Sometimes the mention 3 things that have nothing to do with the topic, as if they didn’t understand the question. At least the people on the last expert piece I was a part of, which was on Lisa Sicard‘s blog, actually had something to say. It’s too bad that post didn’t get any comments; those were some folk who probably would have responded to them.
3. None of those experts come back to see if someone commented on what they had to say. Hmmm, this looks familiar. I know this because I keep a list of blogs I’ve been to or been “on” for at least a couple of months afterwards to make sure I can respond to anyone who might have something to say based on my contribution. It’s never happened for me but it’s happened for a few other experts… who’ve obviously moved on and probably didn’t even remember commenting on anything.
4. Because I’m not on the list. This might seem petty, but you already saw what I wrote for #1. Even if there’s already one black person, are you telling me there’s not room for another? I’ve written one blog for 14 years, this one for 11 1/2 years. I have about 6,000 articles online and off and I’ve written 3 books; surely I have things to say that might be helpful. However, since I said I wasn’t doing any more of these types of things, I’m not going to be on any more lists (unless I know and trust the person), which means I’ll have no reason to share them.
It’s possible I’m being overly sensitive on all of this or not thinking big enough about its benefits… but I doubt it. If you agree, let me know; if you don’t, convince me.
Hi Mitch,
Yea, you’ve got to set rules and parameters.
I mean, it’s your blog, right?
That means you’re letting people come on in, sit on the couch and have a cup of coffee (I guess “tea” is more the thing these days, but I’m still with the coffee).
So you open the door to whoever the heck you like, right?
I think nowadays it’s become much more “valuable” for people to have social shares than blog comments.
I get it.
People are busy.
Even bloggers are busy so a lot of them have closed their comments section (which I think is better than just ignoring comments, like you’re too important to reply to people).
As great as social shares are, and I know they spread the word to people on platforms much bigger than any one blog site… I still like the cozy feeling of having a personal conversation with people who have come to my blog.
As for guest posts… I’ve had some on my blog, but I usually find they don’t do as well as my own articles. Even if they’re a lot better than mine!
I think it’s because people come to my blog to connect with me, not somebody else.
And I’ve only written a few guest posts myself because it just seems like too much work for very little return.
So I’ve kinda got my own little rules, and I think you’ve gotta have them.
It’s YOUR business and you must do it YOUR way 🙂
I like that you come right out and tell people where you’re at with things, and not beat around the bush. I thinks that’s one of the reasons people love your blog!
-Donna
Thanks Donna; I appreciate that. Even though it’s my policy, I try to share my thoughts with others so they can see if they agree and want to do the same or still want to share everything because it’s just what they do. I don’t mind either way, but I hate my efforts being washed because those whose posts I’m sharing don’t care. I’ll still share things overall but I won’t waste my time on other things as much.
Hi Mitch, I agree with Donna, it’s your blog and your rules. But sometimes if there are too many rules people will not participate.
I too have found my own posts usually do better than my contributor ones. But I do let contributors know if they have responded to comments to do so. It usually works 🙂 If they don’t I never have them back again! And I like them to share away as well. It’s a win-win at times as I don’t always have time to schedule a post myself.
I always see 2 sides to everything 🙂
I know folks like Ryan Biddulph closed comments. I’m not ready to do that now. I like hearing what others have to say on the blog about what I write. It usually can lead to future posts. Thanks for the mentions and if you go back to that post, there are more comments too 🙂 Have a great day. Hope you had some melting snow like we did here yesterday Mitch 🙂
Hey Lisa. You asked if this might be a bit too harsh on Twitter. I think things are only harsh if there are misstatements and misrepresentations of what I’m saying… which there aren’t. Most expert posts don’t have any real value; most expert posts have almost none or literally no black people; most expert posts don’t have almost any of the people come back to respond to a comment that might be directed at them. Most guest posts overwhelmingly don’t have the authors come back to respond to comments; most guest posts have editing issues; most guest posts don’t do as well as your own posts because people come to your blog for you and not anyone else.
Those are truths that can’t be denied, even if they’re not absolutes. You mentioned Ryan; he’s one of the few people I’ve seen go back and respond to comments on his guest posts, even after he eliminated them on his own blog. That’s class and professionalism; it’s something I don’t see all that often anymore.
I think it’s important to have people live up to our standards if they want our help in promoting them. I don’t think my standards are any higher than what I expect of myself. Over all these years, people explain bad business behavior away by saying “that’s just business”. Yet if people do the same thing back to them, they get angry.
I didn’t take an absolute stance against sharing; that’s why I highlighted the expert post you put together. It’s too bad it didn’t get any comments though. What kind of traffic did that post get if I can ask?
I don’t think I’ve ever shared a guest post. As for guest posts, in general, I get asked a lot if I allow guest posts. I used to say no, but now I tell them I accept them on two conditions. The first being they have to be of good quality and the second being that they have to reply to every comment left on their post. Failure to do so would cost them any links within the post.
Strangely enough, no one has taken me up on it lol.
That’s the reason I stopped accepting guest posts on all my properties unless I know the person well. It’s hard getting people to go back to a blog different than their own to respond to comments when it shouldn’t be hard at all. Too many people don’t understand the opportunity they’re missing; oh well… Reminds me I need to share your guest post from years ago again 🙂
Hi Mitch, I saw this post in my Feedly when it came out but didn’t get a chance to come and read it and comment. But the title immediately caught my attention.
I completely agree with almost everything you said. Bravo for you for stepping up and saying it like it is.
It drives me nuts too when I comment on a blog and never even get a “thanks” or anything. Commenting is an integral part of blogging. (Just ask Alice Elliot and her Commenting Club) lol
The one thing that I do struggle with is going back to check on comments I’ve left. mainly because everyone uses different comment plugins or systems so I can’t go to one central place to check on followup comments and I always manage to either forget or misplace a list of blogs I commented on.
Anyway, good points, stick to them.
Amanda, I keep lots of Notepad files around, and one of them I’ve titled “Check Back On”. I found a couple of years ago that subscribing to comments not only wasn’t working for me, but they build up in a file elsewhere that one day you have to go and purge. That wasn’t fun because I had to do it one at a time; ugh! lol I don’t mind going back to check, but I’m always disappointed when I don’t either see my comment or that there hasn’t been a response. Things certainly aren’t like the old days; sigh…
Couldn’t agree more. Earlier, guests posts actually had some quality. Now it is merely to get backlinks. Everyone wants a backling, and that’s understandable. But in return, blog should get quality content.
Personally, I am rejecting at least one guest post per day, and the only reason is that they do not have a single unique point to offer in their content.
I don’t get as many requests as I used to; maybe the word went out that I don’t accept them… finally! I also like visiting blogs of people I like before of their stuff, not the stuff of others… unless I like the person writing it well enough because I visit their blogs as well.
Hi Mitch,
Thanks for sharing this informative article On Guests Post. I totally agree with you that these guest posts are throwaway pieces if the author is not active on that Post for Comments.
But these Guest Posts really helps in building authority & getting exposures for many new bloggers & Marketers.
And Yes there must be a set of rules for these guest posts.
Keep up the good work…Keep sharing…
Cheers,
Abhay
Thanks for your comment Abhay. Truth be told, guest posting for authority only works on a few large blogs, and it’s possible people will comment on that particular blog without ever visiting yours. That’s been my experience; I’ve rarely gotten any visitors from a guest post over all these years.