These days, a lot of people understand the benefit of running an active blog, but not everyone has the time or resources to commit to posting articles and updates every day. That’s where guest blogging or guest posts can come in so useful. As well as providing you with more time to focus on other aspects of your business, guest posting allows you to give different perspectives on the same topic. Every customer, vendor, partner, or industry expert that you speak to will provide a new voice for your blog, and a new light for your readers to view the work you do. Finding someone to give you guest blogs is a simple task. There are hundreds of writers out there that are happy to offer you work. However, finding someone who can actually do an amazing job and draw clients in with their voice, is a slightly more challenging issue.

Make Sure you’re sending out the right message

One important thing that you need to remember is that although bloggers may love the work that they’re doing, it’s still their work. They’re writing for a living, and the two main things that they’re going to want from you are cash, and exposure. If you want to lure in experienced, high-quality bloggers, then you need to give them the right bait, so make sure that you come up with some good incentives. At the least, let your blogger know that they’ll be able to provide a link to the work they have done to you from their site, so they’re getting recognition for their content. Furthermore, although exposure is important, the right money never hurts, and offering a decent price for a good post will help to draw in the higher standards of writer out there. Bigger names with better credentials are going to want more money, but remember that there are a few un-noticed stars still in the mix today.

Give your bloggers guidelines

Bloggers and writers are a fairly creative bunch, but you shouldn’t expect them to come up with absolutely everything themselves. If possible, provide a complete list of guidelines on your website to show guest posters that you have a very clear business plan already set in motion. You’ll usually find that this is a great way of weeding out writers of a poorer quality, because of the guidelines look too complex, some bloggers will recognize they’re just not going to make the cut. Include:

• Your preferred word count
• Policies on adding links and pictures
• Lists of topics your writers should cover

Remember, just like searching for anything else of worth in life, you’re going to have to be patient if you want to make sure you get the best quality. Take the time to reach out to different networks and ask bloggers for samples for you commit to any individual in particular. If you can, try to build a group of writers that you can rely on to help your blog grow.