When I first began hosting guest bloggers, I thought it might be a cool idea to host up to one guest per week. And I always have a good time with my guests, but four guests per month is a lot of work. I realized this when I hosted three guests in February. If three guests is a lot of work, then four is even more so, right?
Right.
Because I not only have to coordinate, format and schedule the blogs, I also feel duty-bound to promote the heck out of them and to stick around the office the date of the blog in the event the guest needs me (like when my spam filter went gonzo a couple of guests back).
So Guest Blogger Madness continues, and it’s March, so I’m dubbing the month Guest Blogger March Madness. I have four guest bloggers in March. Two have already visited. The next two are visiting on the next two Mondays (the 16th and 23rd). After that, well, I’m taking most of April off. Only one guest scheduled to appear that month. Then three in May. June and thereafter, I plan to narrow the schedule to no more than two guest bloggers per month. That’s a schedule I feel I can maintain without feeling too restricted by, well, a schedule.
However, next year, depending how I’m feeling, I might go all out for March. If I’m going to host Guest Blogger March Madness, why stop at four guests for the month? Why not host two per week? Eight for the month? I’ll truly be mad by the end of it.
Good idea, bad, indifferent?
How do you feel about guest bloggers? I enjoy interacting with the new commenters who visit during my guest blog dates, and I enjoy getting to know the guests in the weeks preceding their dates. But there are sooooooo many opportunities to guest blog out there… Do you feel inundated with opportunities to visit guest blogs and possibly win free books? Would you rather I keep to my vow to restrict myself to no more than two guests per month come June? Or do you like the guest bloggers, even if you don’t always comment or have a chance to visit?
Now’s your chance to help mold my actions for the remainder of the year and next March.
Cindy, we have a guest blogger every week at Magical Musings. Sometimes it’s two. I agree, it’s work. It’s also great networking and I’ve been cyber meeting a lot of great writers. But if I did it myself, I wouldn’t do it every week. I would be thinking too much about the guest blogs instead of my wip. But that’s me, and you might not let it divert your focus.
Hi Edie,
Thanks for your input. Yes, I’ve found more than 2 guest bloggers a month diverts my focus. If the guest isn’t getting a lot of comments, for example, I feel duty-bound to run around trying to scare some up. I do announce the guest blogs on MySpace and Facebook and also several lists, but every once in a while there’s a glitch. I guess I didn’t realize how MUCH work hosting guests is. But if people like guest bloggers, I’m happy to continue hosting 1-2 per month. Just no more.
I think clogging up March and relaxing the rest of the year sounds like a good plan. “Guest Blogger March Madness” is pretty clever. I expect nothing less of you. 🙂
Now I must live up to cleverness? Agh!! 😉