Guest Blog by Robert Pickstone

We’re very pleased to have Robert do a follow up as part of #BeMyGuest month. He wrote a very interesting article back in January 2010 that caused a lot of on-line debate (including my first ever comments on a public forum!). It was a perfect example of how blogs can be a great source of free information for individuals and business – the inputs and outcomes of an on-line debate can fire up a host of new ideas and approaches.  We’d love to have your comments on any aspects of our blogs – let’s get a debate going!

Is it wrong for others to write your company blog? Part 2

As part of #BeMyGuest month, I am writing the following blog post for Sue Windley (@DangerousMkting). Sue was kind enough to participate in the issue I talk about below, I agree with the thinking behind #BeMyGuest and I hope someone finds my post useful and valuable.

A few months ago I wrote a blog post called “Is it wrong for others to write your company blog?“. I saw something online that caused an emotional reaction, and with blogging and sharing opinions being so quick and easy, I decided to put my thoughts out there and online into the blogosphere.

I had a strong opinion when I wrote the blog. I wasn’t exactly sitting on the fence with my viewpoint. After much discussion and debate about the issue at hand, I came out the other side having learnt quite a few things:

• There is no shame in admitting that your understanding of an issue is better after a debate than it was before. Comments from readers can actually educate and inform a blogger. We cannot know everything about everything. Developing a greater understanding of an issue does not mean your opinion has to change, it just gives your opinion a stronger basis.
• Being bold and saying what you really feel, rather than sitting on the fence, is likely to result in a blog post that people want to respond to. It doesn’t mean you have to rant or go over the top but there is nothing wrong with letting readers know exactly what you think, as long as you are willing to back it up.
• Receiving comments that disagree with your post can be a good thing – they spark debate. Debate can lead to new relationships being formed and should lead to those involved learning more about a subject.

To find out if the discussion that took place following my blog post actually changed my opinion on “others writing company blogs” is something you will have to find out for yourself by having a look (sorry, I couldn’t resist) – I have certainly learnt a lot though and I’m now far less afraid of throwing my opinion out there.

Robert is a marketing officer for Business Link. He writes a personal blog that covers Social Media, Marketing and Business. He is also active on Twitter and LinkedIn. He welcomes engagement and conversation on all of these platforms and would be delighted to hear from you.

Guest Blog by Emily Cagle

As part of #BeMyGuest month, we are delighted to have a guest blog by one of the originators of the campaign Emily Cagle on how she and Adam Vincenzini developed this great idea.  It just goes to show how easy it can be to use social media to connect with imaginative and insightful people. #BeMyGuest is a simple (yet clever!) way to demonstrate the value of collaboration – a great way for small businesses to expose and promote their ideas to a totally new audience.  It doesn’t matter if you are new to blogging or been writing for years. Give it a go – take part in #BeMyGuest!

Blogging fever: how #BeMyGuest was born

I met Adam Vincenzini about 4 months ago. We both blog about PR and communications, and we are both very active on Twitter, so we were soon firm social media friends.

Chatting one evening on Skype, we were sharing experiences of what had worked for building engagement of our respective blogs (here and here). Adam has recently experienced a big jump in his audience after running the #140from140 initiative, which crowd sourced 140 definitions of social media from comms professionals. Meanwhile, I’d had a lot of success hosting guest posts written by others in the PR and related industries, creating something of a hub for expert advice in the industry.

We hit on the idea for #BeMyGuest about 2 minutes later. Sharing content = sharing audiences, so what if it was easier for bloggers to find each other and mutually benefit from an exchange of content? And what if all this was concentrated into a month of concerted blogging activity? We announced the initiative on Monday 1^st March.

The use of the hashtag #BeMyGuest to indicate you’re looking to swap blogs is the key activity driving the initiative, but during the week, we have also created a number of other ways for bloggers to engage, including:

• a Posterous blog, #BeMyGuest Blogger, to house regular #BeMyGuest updates, including a full list of participants;
• a Twitter account (@bemyguestmonth) to share updates, help facilitate connections, and tweet out tips (alongside @emilycagle and @adamvincenzini);
• a Facebook fan page to capture the highlights of activity across the other platforms.

By Friday (Day 5), Twitter had seen almost a thousand uses of the hashtag and we had over 130 bloggers on board from the UK, US, Australia and all over Europe. As I write this, the campaign is still gathering momentum, and guest posts are beginning to pop up on all manner of subjects, from social media to shed working, and from writing to working mums.

Visit http://bemyguestblogger.posterous.com/ for more information about how to get involved, and follow @bemyguestmonth on Twitter for regular updates.

— Emily Cagle

Emily is Director of Emily Cagle Communications and Adam is a Senior Consultant at Paratus Communiations