Top 7 myths about expert roundups

January 4, 2016   🕑 7 minutes read

Expert roundup posts have become more than just trendy. Let’s clear up some of the biggest myths about them.

It was not that long ago that a “roundup” blog post meant a collection of the most interesting posts on a topic that had appeared in the past week, month or year. Sometimes these were posts from around the Web. Sometimes, especially for annual roundups, it would be the best or most popular posts that had appeared on that blog: “My top posts of 2015!”

These days, you rarely hear the word “roundup” without the word “expert” in front of it. These expert roundups typically feature a large number of people responding to one or two questions, and all their responses are published verbatim.

Expert roundup myths

Advantages of expert roundups

There are some undeniable advantages to publishing expert roundups:

  1. If you quote 50 people, all with a social media following, you have 50 influencers with a vested interest in promoting your post.
  2. 50 participants means 50 perspectives, giving readers more options.
  3. You don’t have to come up with all the ideas, just the basic premise of the post.
  4. This is a great way to network with 50 influencers in your niche.

But there are also a number of myths surrounding expert roundups, so let’s clear the air on seven of them.

MYTH #1: Others do all the work for you.

The top myth I have come across is that expert roundups are the lazy way to write a blog post: “It’s so easy, because others do all the writing for you.”

While it is true that you get 20 or 50 or 100 people to do all the writing for free, but you have to coordinate it all, and that is not so easy. For starters, here are some of the steps that are typically required in every expert roundup:

  • Come up with a topic and a good question or two.
  • Identify whom to invite.
  • Collect email addresses or other means of contacting each one, which I find is the most work.
  • Compose an email.
  • Send email or message to each one.
  • Respond to questions any invitees might have.
  • Keep track of each answer or input as it comes in.
  • If you have asked for a photo, keep track of the photos.
  • Keep track of who has and who has not responded.
  • Follow up individually with each invitee who had not responded.
  • Write an introduction.
  • Assemble the post, with each name, affiliation, photo, link and input.
  • Proofread and/or edit.
  • Create at least one nice image for the post.

That’s just to prepare the post for publishing. That does not get into the extra job of encouraging each of the participants to promote the post. Nor does it get into the job of tagging all the participants when you share it on Facebook, LinkedIn, Tsu, Twitter or Google Plus.

All the communication involved can often take longer than just writing the post yourself.

And with so many people and so many details with each one, you can expect there to be errors to correct. Philip Ariel, a bilingual blogger from India, recounts how the input of two participants had accidentally gotten switched: “In my recent roundup post on the best and worst things about blogging journeys, a good friend of mine noticed one such incident immediately after I posted it. He immediately alerted me, and to my surprise a famous person’s blurb interlinked to another person’s name. I fixed it immediately. This may happen when we deal with many write-ups at one go.”

Myth #2: You need at least 50 participants.

The fashion these days is to publish long roundups with over 50 participants, sometimes even over 100. We should have seen it coming, since there seems to be an arms race going on over blog post length in general.

The logic, for expert roundups, goes something like this: If 50 participants means 50 people promoting the post, 150 participants means 150 people promoting the post. If Joe Shmoe has 50 people in his roundup, I can outrank him in the search engines by inviting 150. If 50 participants makes “the ultimate guide” on something, 150 participants means “the ultimater guide” (at least until somebody invites 250 people to their ultimatest expert roundup).

Just to put things in perspective, I invited five people to participate in this expert roundup that you are reading now (that’s what this is, I suppose, having invited seven experts to provide input). And one of my most successful posts was where I asked four writers I knew about what habits make them awesome writers. There is no rule about how long a blog post should be, nor about how many participants it take to make the ideal expert roundup post.

Myth #3: Expert roundups are hard work because you have to coordinate so many contributors

This is a common myth that keeps some people from jumping into the expert roundup game. Much of the work is in direct proportion to the number of people you need to contact and coordinate. Codrut Turcanu, who has probably coordinated more expert roundups than anybody I know, says that many people he has spoken with believe that real experts are hard to find online. He doesn’t seem to have a problem locating experts, but if you limit participation to just a few people, as I do, you can reduce the amount of work and the likelihood of errors at the same time.

Another step you can take, if you are open to walk-in participants, is to use MyBlogU to gather replies. I did not use MyBlogU for this post, because I had specific people in mind, but I did seek input on other articles, such as this one on blogger and writer health tips.

Some bloggers like to feature the headshots or avatars of the participants. I prefer not to, as I like to incorporate the answers into the post itself. This is actually more work than just cutting and pasting the responses, but I find the post has a better flow. Nevertheless, not all expert roundups feature images of the participants, so you can reduce your workload by leaving these out. Would you lose some of the benefits this way? I am not sure. If anybody has experience with this, please leave them in the comments below.

Myth #4: Expert roundups fetch more comments

You would think that with 50 participants, you would get more comments. At very least, most participants would comment, right? Philip Ariel reports otherwise. He says that his roundup posts always create more traffic, but that more comments do not follow. “In my experience this is indeed a myth. A regular post, if it is one that is really worth reading, will fetch more comments than a roundup post.”

My observation is that some participants will drop a “thank you for including me” comment on the post, but they are more likely to leave the comment somewhere on social media.

Myth #5: Experts are too busy to participate in your roundups

Luana Spinetti says she was afraid that several intended participants would be too busy to participate in her roundup post on improving display ad conversions. “It’s a huge fear, one that I face every time, but that has proven unfounded. Experts are happy to get a chance to spread the word about what they do, so they will most likely take up the opportunity as soon as you throw it at them.” And for the shy types, she points out that there are always platforms like MyBlogU and HARO.

Jimmy Rodela, freelance writer and founder of GuildofBloggers.com, has come across a similar worry, that experts won’t respond to somebody who is “a nobody online”. But in his experience, that is 95 percent false. The key is to make it clear how they will benefit by participating. “Even if you are a nobody online, if you’ll tell your target influencer that they will get a brand new car should they decide to join your round up, there’s a HUGE chance that they’ll join, right?” While your reputation can get their attention (or get you ignored), what you have to offer and how the influencer will benefit will make or break your pitch.

Myth #6: It is a waste of time to participate in expert roundups

Tom Treanor and I were involved in a discussion in a Skype chat room recently, where some people were questioning the value of participating in expert roundups. The sentiment expressed by some people was that a blogger was cold-calling them, asking for free content. Their impression was that it was a one-sided deal, and definitely not worthwhile unless the host blog was popular.

Tom and I both disagreed with this approach. As Tom put it, “Expert round-ups can be very beneficial to you in terms of getting visibility, credibility and traffic back to your site. The key is to have an answer that stands out and that gets featured in the post (early, if possible).

He pointed out that being seen with other influencers, as in this post at UKlinkology, has its own rewards, as long as the blog has a minimum level of professionalism, traffic and social shares.

Myth #7: Expert roundups have to be a blog posts

Some people might feel that expert roundup blog posts have been overdone, but they could just use their imagination to present them in fresh ways. For instance, you could ask everybody to send in a video clip, and you could splice together an expert roundup video.

Similarly, you can put the responses together in a slide show, such as the one Wrike put together on building a company culture in a start-up.

Other expert roundup myths?

Have you come across any other myths about expert roundups?  Surely there are a lot of misconceptions around these, as there are around almost any aspect of blogging.

Let’s clear the air. You are invited to share your experiences in the comments below.

7 expert roundup myths

About David Leonhardt

David Leonhardt is President of The Happy Guy Marketing, a published author, a "Distinguished Toastmaster", a former consumer advocate, a social media addict and experienced with media relations and government reports.

Read more about David Leonhardt


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  1. Philip Verghese 'Ariel' says:
    at 7:13 pm

    Hi David,

    The post is indeed a timely one!
    The end of a year or the beginning of a year is the best time to do a roundup post. And many of the bloggers are busy in creating some kind of such posts

    You brought out some of the myths prevalent among the bloggers in relation to Roundup posts.

    There is a common notion among the bloggers that Roundup post is an easy to create a post! In your write-up you bust this myth in the first instance! Many think that the main writings in the post will do by the participants and blog owners are only spectators or guides or editors! This is indeed a myth and that point you brought out well in this post. 🙂

    Other myths like getting more comments with a roundup post too is a myth! As I mentioned my experience in the post it is another great myth.

    I am sure the bloggers who plans to do such roundup posts will surely get an idea about such myths with this post.

    David, It is indeed a great joy to be a part in this post. Thank you so much for the kind invite you extended to me to air my views in this regard.

    I just re-shared this into some of my social sites, it fact bloggers need to know more about such myths and its reality.

    Thanks for bringing out such an elegant roundup post in busting the Myths about Expert Roundup posts!

    Keep sharing.

    Keep informed

    Best

    ~Phil

  2. Minuca says:
    at 2:01 pm

    Hi David,

    Great post about expert roundups. I confirm that influencers reply even to a newbie. I’ve done a roundup on my new blog last month. I reached out to many successful bloggers that never probably heard of me before, and they still accepted to answer me. Some of them actually asked to me to contact them again for the next roundup.

    I liked the idea of making a video roundup, but I think would be much more difficult and that much harder to find people who accept the invitation. Another problem that may appear in this case is the fact that many bloggers aren’t English native and may refuse because of that.

    Your post is great. I’m heading to twitter to share it.

    Minuca

  3. Ron Callari (@SocMedScientist) says:
    at 4:27 pm

    Great piece David. As you know having participated in some of my round-ups yourself, I am a firm believer in the value of this type of reporting and agree with you on all points. One additional thought is that the writers of such pieces can’t provide this level of content unless they are firmly entrenched in their subject matter. So, they have also have to be an expert in their own right – and it’s based on their credibility that other experts will agree to lend their name and thoughts.

  4. Sunday William says:
    at 2:48 am

    Hi David,
    Yes, there are lots of myths surrounding expert round-ups indeed. Personally, I often refuse to do this type of post because of the idea of stressing out coordinating experts from different backgrounds.

    In this case, I will say I am a victim of Myth #3: Expert roundups are hard work because you have to coordinate so many contributors. Now I know better!

    From this post,my mindset is changed and I have better perspective of what it entails to have an expert roundup!

    I left this comment in kingged.com as well.

  5. Martin Lindeskog says:
    at 12:20 pm

    Will the blog carnival meme get popular again, you think?

    • David Leonhardt says:
      at 8:09 pm

      Martin, I suspect that the days of bulk blog carnivals are over. Blog carnivals used to be ridiculously popular in the personal finance niche, but none of the three carnival aggregator website I was familiar with still exist. I know of a couple blogs that still do carnivals, and I think they are more effective now than when everybody was doing it. The value in them now would be in curating just the cream, rather than publishing every post that is submitted.

  6. Mitch Mitchell says:
    at 8:02 pm

    I have to admit that seeing those massive expert roundups is a bit exhausting and for the most part is of little benefit. So many of them say the exact same thing that it would have worked better as a survey. I’ve been a part of 2 and I didn’t know either time that’s what it was going to be; naive I suppose. lol

  7. Irish Carter says:
    at 4:27 am

    Hi David,

    Great piece on roundups. I have to say, there are truths to many of these myths. I host the Passionate People round up yearly and there is so much time and work behind it. Although in the end overall it is extremely worth it. I don’t put emphasis during these engagements on the traffic. This segment for me is about networking and awareness for my readers. It allows my audience the benefit of an added perk when coming to my site. Just my two cents on the topic. I think sometimes these get very overrated and sometimes more of a clicky popularity tactic among networking groups which could wreck credibility of a roundup possibly. You need to create it strategically and wisely.

    Thanks for the content and knowledge. You nailed it my friend.

    Irish

  8. Felix Nyerhovwo Jarikre says:
    at 3:28 am

    Great piece. I find it educative. I am still learning. Expert roundups is not an area that I am familiar with, but reading you now, I certainly can see the possibilities involved. The way I look at it, whatever strategy you can use to grow the reach of your blog without scamming your audience should not be sneered at. Thanks for giving us an insight on this topic.

  9. Joyce Anderson says:
    at 4:40 pm

    Great article, David. We can’t expect ourselves to be an expert on everything. Rounding up genuine experts is a great way to treat your audience to content from genuine authorities without losing influence. I love this concept and use it frequently 🙂

  10. Luana Spinetti says:
    at 12:12 pm

    David, just hopping by to thank you for including my contribution and for coming up with THIS post, because it’s one I need to read and re-read often when confidence goes miles below my feet. I’m way more confident now about expert round-ups, but some days are just worse than others, I suppose?

    Again, thank you!

    Luana

  11. Ravinder Dande says:
    at 9:45 am

    Hi David,

    I like experts roundup posts because I do not need to go elsewhere for reading best content they deliver to their readers. I do not know how they make experts roundup posts, but they help me learn more things from them.

  12. Philip Verghese Ariel says:
    at 5:54 am

    Hi Dave,
    What a JOY to be here again,
    I am so sad you missed my comment!
    Though It occupies the first comment position
    Somehow you missed to read, I mean to say no response to my comment!
    Anyways I am so glad say that this pose has been mentioned in my Mentions and Features page
    Here is the link:
    http://www.pvariel.com/mentions-featured-posts-philipscom/
    Have a great day
    Best Regards
    ~ Phil

    • David Leonhardt says:
      at 4:07 am

      Hi Phil. No response doesn’t mean a comment wasn’t read. It just means I was not inspired to say anything. I tend to let people’s comments speak for themselves.

      And it is always a joy for me to see you here. 🙂

  13. Ivan Bayross says:
    at 6:11 am

    Hi David,

    7 top myths about round up posts. What only 7 I thought? I was dead curious, I began to read. (Terrific title BTW).

    Right, creating round up posts is a lot of hard work. coordinating with the right Blogger, sending out emails, following up.

    Tracking the content sent in via an XL sheet. Tracking images and mapping them to content using an XL sheet. The list of things to do to get a round up post, spot on, can make a grown man (or woman) weary.

    Like you said, this is just getting the post ready for publishing by a specific date.

    Then comes the other part of encouraging the participants to market the post on their social streams so that your Blog post can get broader visibility.

    All too often, the marketing of your round up post on participant’s social media streams just does not happen.

    Perhaps, the participants themselves realize that they will be marketing a ton of other EXPERTS to their audience. IMO that can be a huge barrier.

    They are also aware they have at best added 8 to 15 lines to a lengthy Blog post. The info snippet size being too small to trigger any sparks among their readers.

    My opinion is that Round Up posts are really a waste of time for the Blogger creating the round up and the Blogger contributing to the round up.

    It’s a marketing technique, which has (sort of) lost its flavor. Sure there was a time when it worked, BUT (IMO) that time has passed.

    If the Blogger who crafted the round up post is to brutally truthful, I seriously doubt they would be able to measure / quantify – Their Gain – from a round up post delivered by 50 to 100 people.

    Warmly

    Ivan Bayross
    http://www.dmtm.in

  14. Meyer Food Blog says:
    at 7:45 am

    Hi, I just had a question about expert roundups. If you’re doing 50-100 of them, should you make them nofollow or keep them dofollow?

  15. Nikola Roza says:
    at 8:15 am

    Hi David,
    so true everything you wrote about expert roundups, especially the preparations part. It often feels easier to write the post yourself then to have others “write it for you”
    But roundups do come with a host of advantages normal blog posts don’t, so they’re worth doing.

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