I am becoming increasingly irritated with requests, nay offers, from people I don’t know to do guest posts on my blog. Let me get this straight. You are offering me the opportunity to loan you my blog to promote your [fill in the blank] in exchange for…. what? Decreased control over the content on my site? Decreased respectability among members of the education blogging community? The opportunity to look like a shill? Let me get this straight, you want to borrow my blog, which I have built up to a fairly decent size, respectability, and readership over three and half years, in order to promote yourself because you are too lazy to do the exact same thing? And to top it off, you have the nerve to make the request without reading my site policies, which clearly state that I do not accept guest posts? Clearly you aren’t familiar enough with my site to make such outrageous requests, or you would have seen this policy declaration, which is not hidden. To prove how accessible it is, I won’t even link it, and I’ll just see if any readers have trouble finding it. If you do, let me know, and I will make it even more obvious.
Can you believe the gall of some people? I can’t be the only education blogger who gets these requests. What do the rest of you do? I said I would ignore them, but they make me so mad that I respond with a link to my policies. Should I just ignore them, or call them out on their rudeness and obvious lack of knowledge of the site they’re requesting to grace with their presence?
I wouldn't waste time or energy on it.
I just reply with a version of the "can you write a review of our stunning product" letter.
Dear X,
I appreciate you thinking of me and my blog, but your offer is against my blogging policy.
Sincerely,
Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.
Kick them in the virtual teeth!
I'd say you've accepted a guest post or two ; )
I'm not sure if you remember me from way back when (3 years-ish?), but I still get your blog through RSS, and I'm of the opinion that you'll never lose respect in a conversation with a well-meaning individual. If they're ALL just shilling for traffic, then perhaps throwing them all under the bus is justified, but anyone who is on their knees begging for time in this rather focused forum is bound to have something to say/opine about relevant to education at the very least, and often blog dialogues heighten interest in both (even if you are getting the fuzzier end of the lollipop, it’s still not all that fuzzy). At the worst, you can always consider it a compliment that they respect your creation enough to want to use it, neh? I can't be the only one who's barely aware that different blogs have different policies beyond a simple standard of civility in the comment section, nor would I hesitate to offer a post/conversation starter should I feel what I have to say is interesting or relevant.
In other words, why so grouchy?
I guess this would be a bad time to ask you if I could submit a guest post for your blog?
8)
heh
I think you're indignation is proper and right. You've obviously built up a very specific editorial voice on your blog. A brand — if you will. One that is yours to rightfully protect.
Of course, I remember you, Anthony, and you were an entirely different matter! That post was all about conversation about assessment and grades, and I was very proud of it (I hope you were, too!) I wish I could say I felt the folks asking for space on my blog were doing so because they felt it was a relevant forum, but the last one was from someone who wrote a book about pregnancy. Not really related to this site at all. I guess I am just grouchy because it feels like someone is asking my permission to use me, and it makes my flesh crawl. Glad to know you're still reading! What are you up to these days? You must have graduated high school and gone on to college now.
Dana,
Keep doin' what you're doin'. Don't let others mess with your thing!
I tell people that I don't run guest posts, but I do sell "sponsored links."
Often I'm invited to write guest posts on other sites. I almost always refuse. I do enough unpaid writing for my blog.