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Some Reasons To Want Guest Bloggers On Your Blog:

• Having more types of content and writing on your site
• Attracting more audience because of different writing and topic styles
• Building relations with the guest bloggers and any audience they may have through any of their blogs
• Wanting to take time off from your blog so someone can fill your writing spot
• Wanting to share responsibilities on your blog

Some Reasons To Not Want Guest Bloggers On Your Blog:

• Wanting to have a single and consistent type of writing and topic style on your site
• Wanting to build relations with others through your own writing and not other people’s writing
• Guest blogging goes against your blogging philosophies and maybe some offline philosophy
• Wanting to maintain full control of your blog so that you can improve it instantly based on what you think is good
• Wanting to revolve the blog around your schedule which may include vacations and many days of not posting anything

So, what do you think about this? Do you want guest bloggers on your blog? If you do not have a blog, would you allow guest bloggers if you get a blog in the future?

Please let me know. Thanks for reading.

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Wanting to Guest Blog:

You like writing for others, you want more exposure for your site or your writing, you may want to advertise your website more, you like the idea of writing about different topics set by other people, you may want to build relationships with other bloggers, etc.

Not Wanting to Guest Blog:

You like writing on your own blog or in own comments, you do not want exposure or advertisement for your site or writing through guest blogging, you do not want to spread your writing to sites other than your own, you want to write only on topics you decide on your own, you like the idea of building relationships directly through your own blog, etc.

What do you think of Guest Blogging yourself?

What is your opinion on this? Do you want to guest blog on other blogs? Do you like the idea of guest blogging? What are your reasons for wanting or not wanting to guest blog on other sites?

Please let me know, I would really appreciate it. Thank you for reading.

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Things can go wrong with a blog during the day. Earlier today, Simonne from All Tips and Tricks e-mailed me saying Bes and I spelled “Reader Appreciation” as “Reader Appreciton”. I felt extremely embarrassed and e-mailed Bes to please fix it since I didn’t have access to my blog at work. And the site has been live for over two months.

Other times, when I have made plugin releases, the comments come flooding in (especially bug reports) and I can’t do anything about it since I am at work. I rush to get home after work and the gym, but by then I am so tired, the energy to perform any band-aids or blogging is just nil.

The efforts made in blogging aren’t always justified, especially since I have a day job that already pays the bills. So I must ask myself, what is my gauge of success? I find that the success in the offline world is a little different than that of the online world.

Success in the Online World

Perceived success in the online world typically has to do with three things:

• The amount of traffic and subscribers.
• The amount of revenue earned.
• The amount of influence.

If you don’t have traffic, money, and influence, is your blog really successful? Is the success I mention the recipe for the mythical A-Lister?

Success in the Offline World

Some would perceive success in the offline world as:

• How many people you control.
• How much money you control.
• How much influence a person has.

Some of the most successful people are politicians, simply because they command huge armies and huge budgets.

Is the Offline Success and Online Success Practical?

Some would call their blog a success after reaching a hundred feed subscribers. Some would call their offline life a success after being married and owning a house. I have come to question what I consider a success, both in the offline and online world.

In the online world, am I successful because I have reached a certain feed count? Am I successful because one of my blogs is making some money? Or am I successful because I enjoy what I do and people are benefiting from what I write?

In the offline world, am I successful because I have reached my education goals? Am I successful because I have a good job? Or is there something more?

The Online and Offline Collision

There seems to be a crossroad where there’s a point where you might have to choose which world to achieve that success in. Is it possible to achieve success in both the online and offline world simultaneously? Is that what the mythical A-Lister has accomplished? Or does one have to choose at some point?

Conclusion

The weekend is coming up. I’m looking forward to it.

Thanks for reading.

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The Interview

Ronald Huereca, HOST: Thank you Bes and Chester for both agreeing to meet me on Skype. I wanted to get you both on here to get both your sides of what happened. I’ll start with you Bes. Could you please describe what happened?

Bes Zain, Defendant who almost ran over Chester the Squirrel: I was driving along and I saw a nut on the road. All of a sudden a squirrel jumps out on the road and I slam on my brakes to avoid killing the squirrel. Luckily I was able to swerve my car and miss him, but my car incurred some damage as a result of the sudden stop.

Ronald Huereca: And it is my understanding that you are currently suing Chester for damages?

Bes Zain: My lawyer has advised me that I am unable to comment on pending litigation.

Ronald Huereca: Understood. Chester, what happened on your end?

Chester the Squirrel, almost crushed by Bes Zain’s car: Let’s just make something clear Ronald. Bes was clearly driving recklessly down the road aiming for a nut, as he admitted himself. I had just happened to be gathering food…

Bes Zain: I’m sorry? Gathering food? You were in the middle of the road.

Chester: As I was saying before Bes interrupted… I was gathering food and then I heard the heavy sound of a car engine racing towards me.

Ronald Huereca: Bes, do you want to comment on that? Chester has filed a lawsuit for negligence and now he’s accusing you of reckless driving.

Bes Zain: Chester clearly doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I was driving at a reasonable speed…

Chester: So reasonable that you ruined your brakes trying to stop?

Bes Zain: … a reasonable speed when some squirrel with a death wish just hops right in front of traffic…

Chester: Hops right in front of traffic? I’m not suicidal. I was gathering…

Bes Zain: Look I’m not the one…

(CROSSTALK)

Bes Zain: … not the one who was acting idiotic and running in the middle of the road for a nut.

Ronald Huereca: So Chester, you are also suffering from post traumatic stress from the event?

Chester: Yes. I now have a phobia of climbing trees and entering public roadways. I can no longer function properly as a citizen and am currently going to a therapist twice a week. I can no longer work and am taking medication for depression.

Ronald Huereca: Bes, did you know Chester was going through such pain?

(unintelligible)

Chester: My lawyer and I agreed that suing for damages was in the best interest of my behalf as well as all the other squirrels out there that are in constant danger in public from figures such as Mr. Zain.

Bes Zain: Look. I wasn’t trying to run you over. I was trying to crush the nut. You jumped into the middle of the ro…

Chester: I was getting food!

Bes Zain: … road like an imbecile…

Ronald Huereca: I have an audio clip from Mr. Zain’s lawyer who made a few comments regarding the lawsuit filed by Chester.

(Begin audio clip)

Voice of Bes Zain’s Lawyer: Mr. Chester’s case is clearly without merit. My client, Mr. Zain, was driving normally on a public roadway when Mr. Chester illegally began crossing into the roadway to gather food. My hope is that the judge will throw the complaint out since any reasonable person would conclude that gathering food on a public roadway not only endangers that person, but endangers the lives and property of others.

(End audio clip)

Ronald Huereca: Any response to the audio clip played Chester?

Chester: I am simply appalled. A reasonable person would conclude that gathering food endangers myself and others? Since when? I never had a problem gathering food in the middle of the street until Bes came along.

Ronald Huereca: Bes, if there was one thing you could change about this whole situation, what would it be?

Bes Zain: I wouldn’t have braked.

Ronald Huereca: Last word Mr. Chester.

Chester: I find Bes Zain to be highly arrogant, reckless, and without remorse. I will be glad when the judge rules in my favor.

Ronald Huereca: Thank you Mr. Zain and Mr. Chester for agreeing to this interview. Until next time.

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Brief summary of Guest Blogging

Guest blogging, at its simplest, allows a blogger to have a guest write some posts on a certain topic. The guest blogger, in turn, assumes a writing position and writes on someone else’s blog. The blogger benefits by having someone else write posts in a different perspective, and by having more posts on a blog. The guest blogger benefits by having more people appreciate his or her writing, and by having more people find out about the guest blogger’s blog or writing. I think it is a win-win situation when done correctly.

What kind of writing is allowed on The Reasoner?

If you are interested in guest blogging here, please contact me directly or leave a comment below. As of right now, I would like to invite guest bloggers to write any kind of post that at least has a reason or a message in the post. Such a post should avoid philosophical lessons which are impractical; instead, the post should use philosophical reasons or lessons that can be applied in real life right now, this very instant. Results can come later, but they should come somehow. Also, the thoughts in such a post can be converted into action right away. If you have time, please read my About page to find out more about the kind of writing on this site. Consider the following advertisement-type summary I wrote for this site recently. It was written on a whim, so I expect a lot of things to sound really confusing:

Allowing guest blogging is a way for me to work with you and define the future for this site. This site is headed in a very specific direction, though it needs some clarification on many levels. Comparing guest blogger’s posts and my posts will hopefully allow me to target in on the exact direction that I have been trying to take for the past 6 years or so.

The Reasoner Guest Blogging Guidelines

Following are some guidelines I had in mind for guest bloggers. Please let me know what you think. I am more than willing to change any rule, remove rules or add rules if you let me know.

1. You can have rules for me to remember.

   You should have rules for me to remember. This may sound strange, but I want you to know that guest blogging means working with the blogger, and not under the blogger. Feel free to let me know any rules you may have, as I am telling you about some rules I would like for you to keep in mind when writing at this site.

2. What you write should only be written on and for The Reasoner.

   That means your writing should not be previously published anywhere, and that also means you should not publish it later on your site or anywhere else. There is a reason the title for this post is called “Guest Blogging on The Reasoner“, and not “Promoting your article on several blogs and on The Reasoner.”

3. I will introduce you as a guest blogger in a separate post.

   You can also write a summary of who you are in your own guest post. Please feel free to link to any articles on your site. I want everyone to know who is writing the post, so that you can get full credit. Why? Because I would sometimes like to get full credit myself when I guest blog for others.

4. You can write on any topic.

   If you have been reading my site for a while, you can see the different kinds of things I pursue in my posts. You can write on almost anything as long as it follows what was said above.

That is pretty much it. As time passes, I will update this post with more detailed information. Please contact me if you have any questions or suggestions, or if you would like to guest blog about any topic on this site.

3 Steps to get started as a Guest Blogger on The Reasoner

The steps to start guest blogging on The Reasoner are very simple, by the way. To start guest blogging, we only need to perform 3 steps:

1. Contact me with your ideas and I will create a guest blogging account for you, or convert your current The Reasoner account into a guest blogging account.
2. You will write something in The Reasoner writing control panel in your guest blogging account and when you are ready, I will publish it.
3. I make fun of your posts if people do not like them, and if people prefer them to my own posts, I avoid talking to you for a few days.

That sounds easy, right? Please let me know what you think. I will update this post for clarity as time passes, by the way. Thank you.

PS: I will not make fun of your posts if people do not like them, by the way, and I will definitely not avoid talking to you if your posts are more interesting than mine, hopefully. =P

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