Guest Posts – the what, why and when

Fellow bloggers will most likely very much relate to this post.  Non-bloggers will find out a little more about the life of a blogger!

THE WHAT

My inbox at Write of the Middle is being swamped by requests to:

1. Guest Post on the blog (but not the kind I want)
2. Share an infographic on the blog, often with a request to add it to a specific post of mine that is already published and probably has been for quite some time.
3. Have a link to one of their posts inserted into an existing published post of mine
4. … and many more interesting scenarios!

and to be honest, I’m so over it.  For quite a while I courteously responded to each and every email.  Nowadays, I delete and do not reply.  

It reached a point where I created a specific page – GUEST POSTS – with information on conditions upon which I will accept a guest post here on the blog.  To be honest though, I doubt they see this page because I don’t think the vast majority of these people even read my blog, though they usually state that they ‘love the blog’ or ‘have been a long time fan’.  My belief is that most likely a Google search brings up a post I’ve written on a topic of interest to them for reasons of opportunity.  All they want is a link on my page as free advertising and to help boost their business (sales/services) and/or increase their Domain Authority ranking on their website.

So now, even though I doubt these people read my blog at all and it’s highly unlikely they’ll read this post, I’m writing an actual blog post to take it one step further to let them know that I will not be replying to their emails, and why.  By ‘these people’ I mean emails from people who are unknown to me.  Their emails are often written in very poor English (obviously not their first language), do not provide any social media links or links to samples of their work, and it’s evident that they do not know me, my blog, my demographic, or my readers at all.  They usually say they are professional freelance writers, sometimes offering up blog topic ideas – quite often very far removed from what I blog about here.

THE WHY

The amount of time that was spent replying to all these emails and the drain on my energy became far too much.  My time and energy is valuable.  Investment of my time is better spent in more productive and nourishing ways for me.  Even though I don’t respond to these emails, they keep persisting, emailing me over and over again sometimes up to six times before they might finally give up.  To be honest, that alone is annoying because it is still a drain on my time and energy to work my way through the copious amounts of these emails, scanning through them to determine what can be deleted and which ones are more valid and worth my while to respond to. 

Love yourself enough to set boundaries. Your time and energy are precious. You get to choose how you use it. You teach people how to treat you by deciding what you will and won’t accept ~ Anna Taylor 

In the past I have actually relented and accepted some guest posts from these people and to be honest it never felt good. I’ve never been happy with these posts as they are just a means for planting links and not at all a piece written from the heart. which is what I want all posts here at Write of the Middle to be. Those moments that I relented and accepted these posts has probably lead to me being so inundated with further requests (as they see I accepted some previously).  You live and learn!  I will not accept guest posts from these kind of people ever again. 

THE WHEN

I love having guest posts on the blog – BUT – only the kind that I feel good about and where it adds value to my blog for myself and those who read it.  If you have a look through all my Zen Tip Tuesday Guest Posts you will easily be able to pick the couple of ‘these people’ kind of posts where I relented. The rest of the guest posts are fabulous pieces written from the heart by wonderful people.

Here’s a cut and paste from my ‘Guest Posts’ page that outlines WHEN I might accept a guest post:

Please note that the ONLY guest posts I will consider are:

(1) Those that are genuinely familiar with my blog, me, my readers and our demographic. Those that are genuine writers, who can write in good english, and who write their own words genuinely from the heart from true life experience, and who can provide me with links to their social media and samples of their work … and then if all looks good ONLY as part of my Zen Tip Tuesday series.  Please refer to these pages for more information:

About ZTT
https://writeofthemiddle.com/zen-tip-tuesday/about-ztt/

How to submit a featured guest post
https://writeofthemiddle.com/zen-tip-tuesday/how-to-submit-a-ztt-featured-guest-post/

Gems of Zen (ZTT posts published so far)
https://writeofthemiddle.com/category/zen-tip-tuesday/zen-tip-tuesday-posts/

*Thank you for your understanding!

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So, to wrap up and add a positive slant to this post, what I’m lovin’ about life right now is that this is my blog, my own little space on the internet, and I have a right to decide what is published here, and how I spend my time and energy with regards to it. Hooray for that!

You can be a good person with a kind heart and still say no.

If you’re a blogger, are you getting flooded with these emails too?  

Ciao for now,

* Please note that these conditions do not include any sponsored work (or product reviews). That’s an entirely different subject.  All requests for sponsored posts (for payment) will be considered based on topic/service/product and whether they fit with what this blog is about and who reads this blog.  The same for product reviews.  They will still need to be requested from reliable & valid sources and feel right before I’d consider accepting them.  Posts for payment, guest posts, product reviews etc. are all secondary to maintaining the standards & vibe I wish to have here on my blog.