Who want to be a guest Blogger?

OK, today, I am not doing Blogher’s topic of the day, which is, “If you had to be trapped in a movie for 5 days, which movie would it be?”  OK, I am going to be honest for a moment and say this woman does NOT want to be trapped in a movie for 1 day, let alone 5 days.   I like Disney movies and I like musicals (modern day), and being trapped with the likes of Timon and Pumba from The Lion King or Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz would  drive me insane enough for me to dislike Disney and musicals forever.   Do not pin that one on me, Blogher.

Instead, I am going to find out if anyone has a taste for being a guest blogger.  Yes, I am running with a theme, so bear with me for a moment.  

I am going to ask you a couple of questions and depending on how you well answer them, it will determine if you have the knack to be a guest blogger.

photo by Get snazzy.com

Do you have a post stuck in your head?   In other words, do you have a topic you know something about, and you have all the resources lined up and have put your thoughts to electronic pen to electronic paper (AKA a good word processing program). 

If you do have one, is it ready for the type of blog or website you are looking for?   Let me clarify…. An example would be I have a blog about organizing the home and I am looking for a guest blogger.  The type of post I am looking for has to do with organizing a child’s playroom, because this is time of the year, when children receive lots of toys, and mom does not have the time to step on or over every piece of toy (old and new) the child takes out to play with?  Would you have a solution for my reader who happens to be a mom?  The post has to be copy ready to submit. 

One of the misconceptions about being a guest blogger is you need to have a blog.  No so, but it would help.   You could be a first-time writer looking for exposure.  If you write to a popular blog, you can add this to your resume.  

Another important thing is that you are a good writer.  

• Is it well-organized? 
• No misspelled words, grammar mistakes
• You must writing it in the language of the owner, unless they have a multi-language blog.  Yes, there are translator software out there, but do not count on it.
• Another thing is do not depend on the spell-checker either.  Both may not be up-to-date with current rules for spelling and grammar.   
• Non-Americans, there is a difference between words like favor/favour, color/colour, and organize/organise.  Americans do not use the Queen’s English, like the rest of the world does. Sometimes we have be reminded that a lift is an elevator and a flat is an apartment/condo. 
• Dates, do not get me started on the difference between July 21, 2013 and 21 July 2013.  We just know that any date past 12 is the date, because there are 12 months in a year.   
• Watch your flow, and be careful that you do not have a run-on sentence because these things can be a bit messy when a person is trying to read and they do not know when to STOP!  (Yes, that was intentional, are you out of breath yet?)
• Finally, we have not gotten use to the metric system.  the government tried, and we failed miserably.    

On a serious note, if you keep all of these things in mind, you can be successful as a writer and a guest blogger.   Oh, and another thing.  READ ALL OF THE BLOG OWNER’S RULES AND REGULATIONS BEFORE SUBMITTING A POST.  Nothing irritates a blog owner more, than when a guest blogger submits a post, and the blog owner has to say no the guest blogger, because rules were not followed.   Rules are there for a reason.   Before you submit, if you do not see the rules, ask the blog owner if there is anything that you should watch for when writing.   It is common courtesy and the end of the day, when you submit a post, and you can imagine the blog owner reading your post, smiling because this is the one day they can rest and not rush.  This the point where you can also relax, because you have been published, and it feels good.   Who knows, they may ask for another one, and another one still.  Just be ready to submit it.

Be blessed, my friend, and write on.