Several months ago I had an idea about something I thought might be a fun activity for myself and some of my fellow bloggers. Now, several months later, after receiving some positive feedback about the idea and having spent more time thinking about how it would work, I am finally going to present it to you and see who is interested in participating.
My idea is to have regular BlogSwaps. A BlogSwap is where, for one post, another blogger will write on your site and you will write on someone else’s site. Here is how it would work:
Consider three bloggers – Jim, John and Jane. They are all interested in participating in a BlogSwap so they each send their name to me. I coordinate them so that on BlogSwap day, Jim will write for John’s site, John will write for Jane’s site and Jane will write for Jim’s site. Each of them will submit their entries to me before BlogSwap day. The day before BlogSwap day I will send out the posts to the appropriate people and on the appropriate day they will post it under the other person’s name. In other words, Jim will send his entry to me and I will pass it along to John. On BlogSwap day John will post Jim’s entry under Jim’s name on John’s site. The next time we have a BlogSwap, each person will write for a different person’s blog.
FAQ:
- Who may participate? Anyone with their own blog may participate. Initially I am going to limit it to Christian blogs, though this may expand in the future.
- What’s in it for me? BlogSwap will allow you to interact with other bloggers. You will discover new blogs that you will enjoy reading and at the same time bring new readers to your own site.
- What should I write about? For the first couple of BlogSwaps everyone will write about the same topic. After that the topics will widen and then open altogether so you can write about whatever you want.
- How often will BlogSwap happen? I am currently targetting every second Saturday. So it will happen 26 times per year.
- Who will coordinate BlogSwap? It will be coordinated by Tim at Challies Dot Com (that’s me!). I will assign someone to write for each blog and will handle all the administration.
- What if I don’t like what someone else writes for my site? All entries will be read by Tim before being sent to you for posting. No profanity or suggestive topics will be allowed. If you still object to the content of the post you will not be required to post it.
- Do I have to give my password to anyone? No. You will post the other person’s entry yourself. You will never be asked to give out your password.
- Do I have to link to the other person’s blog? Yes. As part of the other person’s post you need to include a link to their site.
- How do I register? Send an email. Include your name and the address of your blog.
- When is the next BlogSwap? Our initial BlogSwap will take place on Saturday, July 3.
If you are interested in participating, please let me know as soon as possible.
