Archive for the Category »Networking «

Sample of wordpress dashboard - commentsUntil comments begin to show up, new bloggers often feel like they’re in an echo chamber – talking to themselves.

For some blogs, it can take months before someone comments. For others, a matter of days.

It’s when we feel what we’re sharing isn’t being read, we think of giving up.

After all, blogging is supposed to be interactive.

Today’s Lesson

I feel fortunate that I receive the amount of comments I do. Comments inspire me to continue on. Comments inspire new posts. And via comments I get to meet other bloggers.

But it wasn’t always that way. My audience (or lack thereof) remained silent for quite some time.

I’d publish posts, but no one seemed to care.

But I didn’t give up.

What worked for me were five things.

  1. I visited other blogs and left comments.
  2. Not every blogger reciprocated with comments on my blog, but some did, as did some of their readers. HINT: Comment on new or smaller blogs. Generally, A-list bloggers do not reciprocate comments.

  3. I linked to other blogs, but I did it a little different.
  4. I set up a series which I named, “New Blog Of The Week” (NBOTW) and hunted for new bloggers (usually under four months old). I used Tuesday as my NBOTW day and would write a post showcasing their blog, including excerpts from three of their posts/pages and included links to them.

    This was a slow process, but over time, I began to build my readership, as well as my blog community.

    I’ve discontinued this series, however, the list of 90 blogs remains here.

  5. Another important aspect to receiving comments, ASK questions.
  6. Even if you feel your post is complete, it doesn’t hurt to ask your readers, “Did I forget anything?’, “What are your thoughts on this topic?”, or ____fill in the blank___.

    Give readers a reason to comment.

  7. I answered the comments I received.
  8. Although I occasionally miss comments which show up on older posts, my goal is answer all comments I receive on this blog.

    Unfortunately, due to the amount of spam I receive, I closed the comments on posts older than 90 days.

  9. I asked a comment expert for additional advice.
  10. Liz Strauss, of Successful and Outstanding Bloggers is known for the huge amount of comments she has received over the years so naturally she was the one I approached for advice.

    In a two part interview, I asked Liz, How to Maximize Blog Comments and How To Get Readers To Join Your Community.

    The information Liz shared is priceless.

For some bloggers, comments aren’t important, but for others, they become the real reason to continue on.

Today’s Assignment

What technique(s) do/did you use to entice your readers to comment?

Care to share?

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closing comments on blogClosing comments on a blog can be a huge decision for any blog author.

With the closing of comments comes the death of the community which was previously built on a blog; community which may have taken years to amass.

It would be extremely difficult for me to say “good bye” to the community I’ve built on this blog.

Don’t worry.

I’m not saying “good bye”, but am closing comments on this post.

Read on and you’ll understand why.

Today’s Lesson

The longer we blog, the more important community becomes. Even on days when we aren’t motivated to write, it’s often our peeps who inspire us to squeeze in a post.

They like to hear what we have to say, as do we, them.

When we’re uncertain if what we’re posting has value, it’s our community which lets us know it does.

And even if our community is small, we treasure each and every reader/commenter.

Unfortunately we sometimes become complacent and don’t make time to grow our community. We visit the same blogs and wonder why they number of our interested readers stays the same.

Visiting new blogs and commenting is the best way to not only grow our community, but to meet other bloggers and expand our knowledge base.

That’s where today’s assignment comes in.

Instead of leaving a comment here, your assignment will be to visit a blog you’ve never read before and leave a comment.

To get you started, I’ll list several past posts from this blog.

  1. Discouraged With Blogging?
  2. Blogging Pet Peeve Number One
  3. Blogging Sheeple
  4. You Tell Me
  5. Or, click over to my Free Blog Registry and find a blogger there. (There are over 550 bloggers who have shared their blog information and are hoping to “get found”.**)

Today’s Assignment

  1. Click on one of the posts/links listed above.
  2. Scroll down to the comment section.
  3. Click on the avatar, name or CommentLuv link of a blogger whose comment catches your eye. Someone whose blog you’ve never visited previously.
  4. Check out their blog and leave them a comment.*
  5. If time permits, spread the love even further and take time to Tweet, Stumble and/or share their post on Facebook.
  6. Remember…others may be doing the same for you.
  7. Have fun meeting someone new.

See you in the blogosphere, and/or in the comment section on my next post. 8)

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*Some of those who comment on this blog are linking to their products or services pages, therefore you may have to repeat this assignment until you find an actual blog.

**If you haven’t done so already, feel free to add you name to the Blog Registry, too.

It’s in the comments where the value lies is this blog. For everyone who reads this blog and/or has shared your thoughts, thank you.

Comment sections are where bloggers are found. Where bloggers meet up. Where readers can interact with one another. Where community is born and where sometimes conflict arises.

That said, many bloggers and blog readers don’t comment.

Why not? Only they know, but sometimes it’s because they don’t understand the process.

Today’s Lesson

Note: For those of you who are comfortable with the commenting process, please feel free to go directly to the assignment.

I still remember when I wrote my first comment. I was nervous and worried I wasn’t doing it right. After I hit the “submit” button and saw my comment went into moderation, I kept clicking back on the site to 1) see if it was approved and 2) see what it looked like. For me those were a few tense hours.

Leaving a comment is a simple process, however the comment form can be confusing.

Let’s take a look at the one you’ll find here:
how to leave a comment on a blog post

Name – What name to use is a decision only you can make.

When I started commenting, I just used “Barbara”, however as time passed, I began to see more commenters by the name of Barbara, so to distinguish myself from the others, I added my last name.

That said, you do not have to use your real name. Some bloggers/readers choose to remain anonymous and use a fictitious name (pseudonym) instead.

Email

In this box, enter a valid email address.

The email address I use for commenting is not my personal email address nor is it an email account I check due to the amount of spam it receives. (I use an auto responder on that account to redirect those who want to reach me by telling them to use my contact form.)

Having an email address to use specifically for commenting may be advantageous.

URL

Adding your URL is optional. If you do not have a blog, leave this box blank. If you have a blog and want others to find you, it’s important your blog URL address is included.

Also, by adding the URL to your blog, your “name” becomes a clickable link. Anyone who clicks on your name will automatically be redirected to your blog. (See it in action by clicking on the name someone who has commented on this blog.)

How you enter the URL is very important. If you’re in doubt what your blog URL is, go to the homepage of your blog and look in the address bar. (You can also use the URL from a specific post or page if you wish.)

Use the URL EXACTLY as it shows in the address bar. To avoid typos, you can copy and paste it into the contact form.

Comment box

Note: Some comment sections have the comment box located above the Name/Email/URL information.

Here’s where you type your response/message. The more value you can add to a blog post with your comment, the bigger chance you have of someone clicking on your link(s).

Until you hit the “submit” button, your comment remains unpublished, therefore, if you want to delete your comment completely, just don’t hit the “submit” button. (Click off the site or refresh the page.)

If, for some reason you hit the “submit” button prematurely or change your mind and don’t want the comment published, you can always contact the blog author and ask them to remove your comment.

So there you have it.

Although it can feel a little intimidating to leave a comment, the process quickly becomes easier and soon you may find you like commenting as much as blogging.

If you have never commented on a blog before, why not try it now?

Today’s Assignment

Do you still remember the first time you left a comment?

Do you have any advice for new commenters?

If you’ve never commented on a blog, what’s your biggest fear?

Care to share?

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