5 ways guest blogging can add value to your company

Over the past six years, I’ve launched and managed a number of corporate blogs—ranging from Sarbanes-Oxley to enterprise software solutions—and I’ve always been fanatical about keeping the outsiders out.

My company’s corporate blog, I believed, was for my company. We weren’t running a charity, and I didn’t want anybody diluting our message or piggybacking on our investment and hard work.

All that changed recently.

A few months ago, I wrote a guest post for OpenView Labs, a social media site for venture capital firm OpenView Venture. This online venue is among the best I’ve seen; it integrates podcasts, video, and posts from marketing analysts and executives.

This experience got me thinking about guest blogging on corporate blogs.

Obviously, any decision to open the doors to people outside your company involves a number of factors, including the strength and nature of your respective brands, the topics to be covered, and whether you do (or could) go to market together.

Simply put, allowing a guest post from outside your company must be good for the contributor and your firm (and, in reality, the deal should be a little better for your firm).