Strangely, without asking for it, I’ve had three readers today email me either offering to write or already having taken the initiative to write tips posts for ProBlogger to go live on the blog while I’m on holidays for two weeks after Christmas.
I mentioned I’d be away in my newsletter and so some readers have taken the initiative to lend a hand which I’m really grateful for.
I’m a little hesitant to do this but I’ve decided to respond to this by opening things up for readers submissions. I’m nervous because I know that this site is read by over 3000 readers per day and I cannot possibly publish every tip submitted – in fact I only really want 1 post per day (14 in total) but I thought it might be an interesting exercise. It’s a bit different to what I’ve done previously with guest bloggers actually posting for a period of time – this time I’m inviting one off submissions.
So here’s how it’s going to work.
If you have an idea for a post I’ll accept your submissions for a 36 hour period starting from now (I’ll be closing off submissions at 10.30am on Friday morning Melbourne time – see equivalent times here). Please read to the bottom of this post before submitting anything.
I’ll select what I consider to be the best 14 (I might blow this out a little depending upon how much time I have to set up all the advance posts). What’s in this for me? It means my blog ticks over while I sit on a beach and read. What’s in it for you? You get to know you’re helping me sit on a beach with peace of mind (plus you’ll get the chance to be read by my witty, intelligent, influential and supportive readers and get a link back to your site.)
Submission Process and Guidelines:
- Please submit your completed posts via email to darren(at)problogger(dot)net
- Posts should be already formatted with any html that they require (ie links, bold, italics, pictures) – I’m doing this so I can take a holiday so the more seamless I can make it the better
- Feel free to write a one sentence introducing yourself at the start of your post with a link to your blog (try to keep it to one link). If you’ve got more than one blog make the link to a page that lists them all. If you would like to use one or two examples on your own blogs in your post you can include links in this way – but don’t go over the top.
- Posts should be on a topic that is relevant to ProBlogger and it’s readers. Look at my categories (towards the bottom of my sidebar for inspiration but it can be on a wide range of topics including blog design, blog platforms/tools, advertising systems, affiliate programs, writing content, finding readers etc. They can be ‘tips’ posts, ‘top ten reasons why…. posts’ – whatever you like.
- My preference is that the post be original content to ProBlogger (I’m a bit paranoid about duplicate content) but I’m happy for you to also post your post on your own blog if you’d like to
- While I’d like to respond to every submission individually to thank you and let you know if it’ll be used or not I’m not making any promises as last time I did anything like this I had 200 or more emails in 24 hours and it was impossible to use everything submitted or to respond to everyone individually.
- Please only submit your post if you’ve got thick skin. While I’d love to use everything submitted there is every chance I’ll be ruthless. This doesn’t mean your post isn’t good enough – it just means I’m looking for posts that fit best and that span a good variety (ie I don’t want to post 14 posts on the one topic). Also keep in mind that while my readers are usually a pretty friendly bunch they can also tell it like it is. This won’t be a problem for anyone I’m sure but I won’t be around to keep everyone behaving nicely :-)
There’s no pressure to have to participate – this is purely voluntary for those with the time and energy. I’ll consider each submission on it’s merrits whether you’re an A-list or P-List Blogger. Looking forward to seeing the submissions that come in.
