Blogging 101: Do you have other contributors?

This week’s blogger behind the blog question is: Do you have contributors (other than yourself) on your blog?

I have contemplated having a few contributors on All Things Thrifty because I know how much talent is out there. I have seen some MEG-CREATIVE minds come up with some awesome projects. I haven’t asked anyone yet, but it might happen someday. I would hand pick my contributors myself, and I would also carefully choose which projects “make the cut.”

Between my four kiddos, my laundry (seriously), my projects, and my blog, I am a VERY (sometimes too so) busy person. I love doing it, don’t get me wrong, but having someone to help would be nice at times. So, I guess we shall see what the future brings here at All Things Thrifty. As you can see, I have not figured out if this is something that I want or not. I’m with Shelley (below)…I would LOVE an assistant!

Mandi from Vintage Revivals

I don’t have contributers on Vintage Revivals. The reason is pretty simple. When people come to VR I want them to come into my world. Right now I am comfortable with it. I am fine to only post every other day or so. If my site grows to where I feel like I need to have posts going up more often then I would try and find someone to help me but I don’t see it happening in the future.

One problem that I see with curated sites or sites that have a lot of contributors is that sometimes it is unclear who’s project is who’s. That is my only bit of advice on this. If you have a blog that features others make sure that you make it clear so that I am not confused. (cause lets face it, that happens WAY to easily for someone like me!)

Shelley from House of Smiths

This ones easy! Nope, we don’t have contributors on our blog.

In short, I’m a control freak. ha! After over 2 years of blogging from the same desk day after day, and each post coming straight from these fingers… well, I feel that I’VE just barely mastered the art of blogging on my blog, myself! From creating, staging and photographing our projects and tutorials to editing photos and styling our posts… it’s all so personal. And Since we feature 99.9% of our own projects on our blog, they must come straight from us.

We have also chosen not to do a lot of guest features or scheduled “round up” type blogging thus far on our site. Not because we don’t enjoy them on other blogs, but because we love the idea of staying authentic with our original content and projects. When people come to our blog, we want them to be able to find our content right away. For us, blogging when and what we want is the best part about this whole crazy job!

I’m not actually sure that there will ever be a point where we could hire on another contributor… maybe just an assistant, to keep my crazy schedule and life in order!?!? (now THAT would be nice! haha!)

Tauni, a communications professional from Snap!
Yes. I have chosen to work with contributors on the SNAP! site.

SNAP! exists to establish connections and relationships within our community, as well as to help inspire and grow the blogs of those who interact on the site. I don’t think this could be accomplished without the input and attention of others.

If you are interested in sharing a tutorial on SNAP! please contact me at admin@snaptheconference.com

If I was producing a more personal blog however, I would limit the number of guest posts and contributors. I think a blog is more likely to be successful when the individual brand shines.

Donna from Funky Junk

I personally visit blogs to see what the blog author created, so I treat my own blog the same way. However some blogs are built to feature others which is different. Being that mine isn’t, I attempt to stay true to my own blog, although I’d consider a contribution if it fit my niche well and offered something I couldn’t.

Beckie from Infarrantly Creative

I definitely would like to add some consistent contributors to Infarrantly Creative. Ideally I would have four of them and they would contribute monthly on a topic, I just haven’t found the perfect scenario yet. I do plan to pursue that after the first of the year. I do have guest posters occasionally, which is nice to feature other talent. I do have a printable designer, Flipawoo Designs who works with me to create printable designs for my ideas. I also have a writer Ruth, who works on my “5 Ways Saturdays” posts for me.

There you have it peeps, everyone has their own opinions!
What do you think?

Comments

Mae says:

November 2, 2011 at 11:57 am

This series is the best! Thanks so much for sharing your blogging wisdom with us

Michele {The Scrap Shoppe} says:

November 2, 2011 at 2:18 pm

I'm with Shelley, I need an assistant. I like keeping my content my own unless its specifically a guest blogger. I do share a link party with a fellow blogger, but its someone I know I can count on, and I try to make it clear when she is doing a write up on my blog.

Jessica @ Nuchey's Mommy says:

November 2, 2011 at 3:21 pm

I love this series! Keep the good info coming

Cynthia says:

November 4, 2011 at 11:14 pm

I have a family blog which I spend most of my time on. I also have a special interest blog that I SHOULD spend more time on. I started the special interest blog with a couple of other people but have found no one is ever as committed to a project as the person who envisions it so I've gone back to just having it be ME.

I don't post as often there because, like Shelley, I want the projects to be authentic and mine. It costs a lot of money to do projects all the time and thus, I only do it when I do it.