Is Multi-Author Blogging Good or Bad?

Many bloggers in this situation start to wonder: can I bring on more bloggers to help me meet up with demand? Here are a list of pros and cons for having multiple blog authors, and a quick look at how to decide whether having multiple authors is right for your blog.

Pros of multi-author blogging

1. Greater frequency of posts. This will help everything from the insatiable appetite of your readers to the speed with which your personal website is indexed by Google.
2. Greater variety of posts. While you could hire ghost writers who imitate your style, a better option is to introduce new voices to your blog, whether in the form of counterpoints for a business website, someone to discuss new genres for a music website, or just someone with a different style of writing. When done correctly, this can broaden your appeal while keeping your current client base satisfied.
3. Free time. Many successful bloggers become increasingly consumed by their blogs and find that they have little time for other pursuits. By bringing on additional authors to help carry the load, you'll be able to reclaim some of that lost time and use it to, for example, create a website that will suck up even more of your time.

Cons of multi-author blogging

1. Managing staff. When you create a website, you inevitably want it to have high quality content, and that means closely managing writers, especially when they've just started. That means editing other authors' works, making sure that they stick to deadlines, and helping them come up with new ideas for posts. It's no picnic for anyone¸ and if you don't have any experience managing staff, it will be even harder. But if want to create a website for free that will grow in readership, you might not have a choice.
2. You'll lose ownership of your blog. People who create blogs develop a real sense of pride in  their hard work and the sense that they built this site from the ground up. Sharing that accomplishment with other writers—even ones you know personally—can be difficult. After all, you didn't create your own free website and turn it into a popular blog just to pass it along to a writer-for-hire.
3. A possible loss of connection between you and your readers. Even if you do everything right, some readers may feel as though your revamped blog no longer speaks directly to them in the same way that it used to. Some of those readers will leave, while others will just complain endlessly about the change on the comments section of your web page.

For which blogs is multi-authorship appropriate?

While the above pros and cons are universal, some types of blogs are more conducive to using multiple authors than others. However, most every type of blog can benefit from some form of multi-authorship. Even deeply personal blogs about, for example, a mother's unique relationship to her autistic child can incorporate guest bloggers that can add value to the blog, create more time for the author, and keep the blog's brand intact. In that situation, for example, she could bring on a pediatrician who specializes in autism or a writer from NBC's Parenthood (which features a realistically portrayed autistic child) or ask the father or other relative to write the occasional post. The main thing to remember when bringing on new authors is to respect your audience. They read your blog for a reason, and if you start to stray from that reason, then they'll move on to greener pastures. Keep that in mind, and adding authors can be a real boon to your blog.