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Owners of a successful blog that has a large number of followers may sometimes need to use guest bloggers.

An example of when this practice may be a good idea is when the owner of a popular blog will not be available to post new blog entries for an extended period of time.

In this case, the lack of blog updates may cause the blog to lose traffic, so it would be prudent for the blog owner to arrange for a guest blogger or a series of guest bloggers to post new items during his or her absence.

The blogger may wish to announce the intention to use guest bloggers for a period of time to ensure that loyal visitors to the blog are aware of the situation and that it is only temporary.

This article will discuss aspects of using guest bloggers, such as guest blogger advertising, guest blogger selection and guest blogger compensation.

Guest blogger advertising

There are many places where a blog owner can advertise for guest bloggers.

Job boards that are solely for bloggers or freelance writers are a very good option for finding guest bloggers.

Blogger job boards are frequently visited by experienced bloggers looking for new blogging opportunities in exchange for compensation.

These bloggers may have specific experience with the subject matter of the blog or may simply be experts at creating interesting blogs on a variety of topics.

Job boards that are specifically for freelance writers are another great option.

These writers may not necessarily have blogging experience, but may have other useful writing experience.

Blog owners should consider posting a detailed message specifying the type of work required and the length of the project and requesting clips of the writers that can be used to verify the writer's skill level.

Blog owners may also wish to post advertisements for guest bloggers on message boards related to the blog topic.

Guest bloggers may not necessarily have writing experience, but they will probably be quite knowledgeable about the subject of the blog and will therefore be able to produce interesting and revealing blogs.

Selecting guest bloggers

The selection of a guest blogger should be done carefully to ensure that the guest blogger is reliable and capable of producing articulate, informative and interesting blog posts.

Blog owners who advertise a guest blogger on job boards for bloggers and freelance writers should request clips that demonstrate the writer's ability to write blogs that are interesting and informative.

When advertising on a message board for a guest blogger, the blog owner might consider using the applicant's previous posts to assess his or her writing ability and knowledge of the topic.

You should also consider what kind of response the applicant's message board posts typically get.

This is important because it is a good indication of the type of response blogs will get.

Blog owners should ask applicants for references and most importantly contact them to obtain information that will lead us to know about the bloggers' work ethics and their ability to complete projects.

Compensation of guest bloggers

Blog owners should consider how they intend to compensate guest bloggers.

This can be done in the form of financial compensation or by allowing the guest blogger to post a short biography with a link to their personal website or blog at the end of the blog post.

The latter form of compensation is mainly advertising space free of charge for the guest blogger.

The blog owner may be able to compensate the guest blogger with free advertising space or a combination of money.

Regardless of the method of compensation chosen, the blog owner should discuss this with the guest blogger before the work begins and should sign a written contract with the guest blogger that explicitly states the terms of compensation to avoid disputes.