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.

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.

2. I linked to other blogs, but I did it a little different.

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.

3. Another important aspect to receiving comments, ASK questions.

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.

4. I answered the comments I received.

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.

5. I asked a comment expert for additional advice.

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?

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.

*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.

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:

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?

But when I read how Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google referred to Google+ as an “identity service” bells went off in my head. It’s not that I have a problem using my real name online, but it does make me wonder why it’s so important to Google.

Let’s face it, social networking sites are database gold mines filled with all kinds of information advertisers and/or governmental agencies would love to get their hands on.

The sad part of it is, we voluntarily fill those databases.

Today’s Lesson

In a previous lesson we talked about creating a digital footprint. We also discussed the importance of self-monitoring so what we share doesn’t lead to identity theft.

When we look at it as US creating a digital footprint, it sounds like we’re in control.

However, when we become aware others may be using the information we share on social networking sites to “profile” us, it feels like the tables are turned.

Let’s take a look at a sampling of how we provide demographics and psychographics with what we share.

We disclose our sex (gender) and marital status. If we have kids, we often say how many, plus their ages. We write about our likes and rant about our dislikes. We say where we live, talk about our jobs, our favorite foods, hobbies and the sports team(s) we follow. Some go as far as sharing their birth date (age) and anniversaries, too. Based on who we follow, our religious and political preferences become obvious. Some of us share our routines, where we go and how we got there (mode of transportation).

We share photos of ourselves, friends and children and write about our insecurities and our accomplishments.

In other words, we’re voluntarily profiling ourselves and offering the information for free while others are may be profiting from our ignorance trustworthiness.

When I look at it that way, I find it disturbing. But when I think of what I share as building my digital footprint, I feel I’m in control.

But am I?

Are you?

Today’s Assignment

Knowing what you share online could be used to profile you, will you change what, how and where you communicate online?

Care to share?

Truth be told, a lot of people are not good listeners. They’re often preoccupied with other thoughts, just want peace and quiet or are waiting for you to finish talking so they can have the floor.

That said, I don’t know of a person who doesn’t want to be heard.

Today’s Lesson

Age, maturity or whatever you want to call it, has taught me that no one person can be our “everything”. Even if we feel we’ve met our soul mate, they’re not going to want to hear our every word, our every thought and/or our every feeling.

That’s where friends and relatives fill some of the voids.

Even then, our real life relationships may not be enough, especially if we’re interested in topics they don’t care about.

I know with this blog, even though my loved ones support my blogging activities, they don’t care to hear about every little detail I post online. Hence, you’ve become sounding board, even if you don’t comment.

I think that’s why mommy/daddy blogs are so popular. Some parents need to vent, need to share, and turn to blogging as a way to do so. Online they’re bound to find a few people who share their feelings or who will give them a different perspective to consider.

Blogging becomes not only a way to “speak” to others, but a way to be heard.

If we check our stats and see we had visits, we believe our words are being read. If we receive comments, we feel our beliefs are being validated.

That’s a good feeling, isn’t it?

Once we know/believe we’ve been heard, we can leave our computer with a feeling of satisfaction and go back into the real world with a sense of fulfillment.

It’s a win-win.

We got to vent to others whom we believe are listening, and our loved ones are spared from hearing about topics they have no interest in.

A word of warning. Blogging and social networking are not meant to replace communication in our real life relationships although the line between the two can become blurred.

Today’s Assignment

Do you feel blogging is helping or hurting your real life relationships?

Care to share?

P.S. Patricia of Patricia’s Wisdom is very aware of the importance of being heard and has created a site named Wise Ears. For a small fee she will be your sounding board and confidant.

Photo Credit: Adreson