In my (9-5 job) industry, Medical Software, there is a huge focus on the concept of Interoperability. Interoperability is the ability to have diverse systems talk to each other and work together. The main reason why interoperability is being talked about like crazy is that the government has approved a stimulus package for the health care system. Hospitals need to get on board with an electronic health record in order to get the money that is available. The problem is that each hospital across the country has a different software system and those systems don’t talk to each other without interfaces to make the disparate systems inter operate.

Being in this industry I can see where the problems occurred. Medical software is so specialized and very competitive. For years these software companies have not worked together in any way. The platforms have all been built independently with no common ground. Also, because the software is specialized it is really expensive and it is hard for hospitals to make changes to their systems. Basically the health care industry has some major trouble ahead until the disparate systems work together. Even Windows and Mac can work together pretty well while still selling their systems. Sure there is competition but being able to work together only makes these systems stronger and we as consumers benefit. Maybe the medical software community will take a lesson here and work together to actually benefit the consumer.

What’s the point?

Okay, so that was a really long opening to talk to about what interoperability might mean for your blog. When I think of interoperability for blogging I go straight to what Chris Brogan has termed “ Giving Your Ideas ‘Handles’“. Collaboration with other people is a great way for you as a blogger to grow. You might think that you need to keep all your best work on your own blog, but if no one is reading your blog then they won’t see and read that great work of yours. Finding ways to give your ideas away can help draw a larger audience to those ideas.

Are your blogs open to the prospect of working together with other bloggers?

In my years of blogging I have worked with so many other bloggers I can’t even count the number. I’m very open to working with other bloggers all the time. I look for ways to collaborate, either with guest posts, interviews or appearing on podcasts. The one thing that I don’t have right now on my blog is a “Collaborate with me” page on my blog. That is something I could set up with links to where I’ve done guest posts, guest appearances on podcasts and other collaborative ventures. I will correct that very soon.

Do you have a system in place to let others submit guest blog posts?

Building on the ‘collaborate with me’ page; a section all about Guest Posting would also be very useful. My friend Jim Kukralasked one time for guest bloggers. He got a pretty good response and some fantastic posts, content and connections from that asking. The one thing I would suggest is that if you are hosting guest bloggers it would be beneficial to both parties to give them additional value in exchange for the post. Have an easy way for the guest bloggers to submit a photo of themselves and add a couple of links to the blogger’s blog like this site does. So, when you are thinking of opening the floodgates to guest posting make sure you work in how can you make guest posting for you more beneficial to the guest blogger.

Do you have a page up that shows that you are available to do guest posts for other blogs?

When you are looking to do guest posts on other blogs remember a few key things. Learn about the host blogger’s audience Write your best stuff, hold nothing back Link to other bloggers who have relevant content and also ones that you’d like to guest post for as well. Do not link back to your own blog except for the links that the host will provide, you are not there to sell your own stuff.

When you set up your page about being open to guest blogging make sure that you link out to those guest posts that you have already written. If you haven’t written any guest posts yet make sure that you write up a page about yourself that highlights your strengths and what you can bring to the hosts blog. Link to examples of your best posts as examples, too.

How do you define giving your ideas ‘handles’?

For the most part I think that interoperability and “give your ideas ‘handles’” are mostly buzzwords until you actually put them into practice. So, can you tell me how you can find ways to create interoperability for your blog and give your own ideas ‘handles’?