Dear WordCount: How should I handle guest post offers?

Dear WordCount is an occasional advice column that answers your questions about freelance writing, blogging and working as a self-employed writer. During May, I’m answering questions posed by writers in the 2012 WordCount Blogathon.

Dear WordCount:

I received an email and a comment from the same sender and both say the same thing: “I would like to be a guest blogger for (your blog). Do you have submission guidelines?” I’m wary of taking a risk with someone I don’t know. How do you handle guest post inquiries from people you don’t know?

— P

Dear P:

Good question. Getting queries from potential guest bloggers comes with the territory as your blog gets more popular, so in a way, it’s a good thing because it means people are starting to notice you. But it’s a bad thing, because more often than not, pitches asking to guest post on your blog aren’t really about you, they’re about getting whoever’s making them wanting to feed off your blog to get themselves more publicity.

WordCount receives a handful of guest post requests a week. Ninety-nine out of 100 I immediately delete. They’re carpetbombing blogs like mine with guest post requests to bring traffic back to their own blogs. But they wouldn’t add any value to what I do. If they include suggested topics for posts, the topics are more often than not so generic I couldn’t use them. Once or twice I’ve agreed to have someone write the post since they were offering it for free. But the writing was such SEO-driven drivel I couldn’t use it.

Why It Pays to Do Due Diligence

A good way to decide whether you’d want a guest post from someone who contacts you out of the blue is to check their website or the website of the company or organization they represent. It like asking a guest attending a masked ball to uncloak themselves so you can get a peek at who they really are. Ask yourself:

• Does it look profession?
• Is the subject related to what I blog about?
• Would I want to be affiliated with them, even if just through a blog post?

If you answer “No” to any of those, don’t feel bad about writing back to say, “Sorry, it wouldn’t work for me.” Or just delete the request. If however, you like what you see, ask the would-be guest poster to send you a couple of their published posts and propose a couple topics, so you can further assess whether they’d fit into your blog. If what they produce doesn’t pass muster, don’t feel bad about turning them down. After all, it’s your blog, and as the publisher and editor in chief, it’s your call what you run or don’t run.

When it comes to guest posts, I’ve had better luck making the first move. I ask writers or bloggers I know if they’d be interested in writing a post. I’ve had the best luck approaching writers or bloggers who are promoting a new book, ebook, blog, etc., because they’re already in promotion/marketing mode and are happy to write something that would interest my readers and help them push their own work.

Create Guest Post Guidelines

I finally wised up and created guest post guidelines. Now when someone who seems semi-legitimate writes asking to give me a free guest post, I send them a link to the guidelines and ask them to send me ideas for a couple posts. It’s enough to scare away anyone who’s not serious. Here’s a link: WordCount guest post guidelines.

Don’t get me wrong: I love guest posts, and run them all the time. I’m just very particular about the kind of guest post I run because they, like everything else I publish, represent me.

If you’ve never run guest posts on your blog, here’s some information on how to get started: Dear WordCount: How do I run guests posts on my blog?

If you have a blog, how do you handle requests from people you don’t know to write guest posts? Share your story by leaving a comment.