How to Hire a Guest Blogger

You have your blog. You’re rocking and rolling.

But maybe you want another voice or two. Or you are moving. Or just plain need a break/help!

Hiring guest bloggers is a fabulous way to ease some of the burden of blogging consistently. However, some business and legal implications are important when seeking guest bloggers on your blog.

Why?

Well, you want your blog to be legit, right?  Outlining expectations in a guide and contract with your guest bloggers is the best way to filter out those who consistently recycle content and to set the standard you’ve worked hard for.

What do I need to do?

Here are a few processes you should put into place before even putting the kibble-n-bits out there to snag some guest bloggers.  Having these drawn up ahead of time (and amending as you learn) will save lots of time and heartache in the end!

• Guest Blogger Application Process

Make sure you get all of the important information about your applicant including name, contact information, their audience, and a preferred method of payment (if applicable).

Take a private page of your website and embed an application (I created mine with the Gravity Forms WordPress Plugin).  Set the notifications to send yourself a copy, as well as the applicant.  You can also include the contract (see the third bullet point under this section) so the applicant is aware of all contractual terms before submitting and eliminates potential wasted time.

• Submission Manual

Write out all steps so you don’t have to repeat the wheel (or something like that) each and every single time you have a new guest blogger.  Steps include how to submit topics, draft, search engine optimization requirements, plug-in settings, etc.

This is also embedded on a private page of the guest blogger area of the site – with all other information as a reference for other times.

It is important to keep as much information in your editable control on the site instead of email so that if your policies change, you can simply change a button – and not have to resend or rehash old information.

• Independent Contractor Contract

Make sure you have a lawyer-drafted Independent Contractor (blogger contract) in place between your blog and writer – even if you are new to business or not yet in “business”.

These contracts are also digitally embedded using the Gravity Forms Word Press Plugin to send yourself and the guest blogger a copy.  (See: Are digital contracts legit? – the answer is yes!) This plugin stores the information requested, time, and IP address.  All this is done via email to where you designate and within the wordpress platform for double back-up. You can also use one of the many CRMs that have become available in recent years.

Grab a lawyer-drafted bundle for this here!

What are some other things I need to be mindful of?

It is very important you educate yourself and your guest bloggers on the importance of Copyright Laws and Fair Use Laws to keep your blog out of legal hot water!  Check out these posts on the use of other photographic images and Fair Use: What is fair use and how does it affect the copyright of my photos? and A blogger’s guide to understanding fair use.

Now go forth. Find yourself some quality guest bloggers. Once you find some good ones, you may want to snag them up for future projects – consider amending the contract on a term basis versus one-time!