One great benefit of social media is the ability to communicate with others in the format and space they want to communicate. Some people will choose to discuss a topic on Facebook, while others choose LinkedIn, Twitter, Digg, Reddit, Amplify, or a squillion others. Many people will pick a handful of networks to focus their attention, based on their interests or their intended audience, and monitor them vigilantly. Google+ is climbing the ranks of preferred networks very quickly!
Blog readers and writers take note: You probably don’t notice this challenge much from a reader standpoint, but if you are a blogger who is paying attention to where your content is being discussed, you probably see this all the time. Do you ever notice that there are comments in about 37 different contexts spread across a handful of networks, all related to a single blog post?
As a blog article spreads, it is threaded into a lot of places with a lot of different conversations. Although they usually include a link back to the original article, very few of those outside conversations really do a good job of connecting the audience to the central conversation, or vice versa. After all, those comments somewhere else are seldom seen by the people reading the article, so they don’t get the benefit of those other peoples’ thoughts and opinions … and it squelches opportunities for them to network together with those other like-minded people. Sometimes that is a real shame.
It is great when your article is being shared and discussed. It would be foolish to discourage it, but when the conversation … the very genesis of the topic … begins with a blog article, it can also have some downsides. The message can become very muddled, and the conversations often stray far from the original topic. I have seen it a squillion times that the conversations do not even touch on the topic of the original blog article beyond the headline or description.
Again, this can be great in some ways. The evolution of a topic can be fascinating as it is morphed through enough various groups’ brain filters. However, even in the best scenario that it does not lose all of the author’s well-crafted thought provoking intent, this can still lead to a pretty messy challenge for the originator to keep up with the many conversations. When it comes to blogs, either reading them or writing them, those opinions count. Sometimes the best part of a blog article is in the comments that build upon the topic.
Native Blog Comments vs. Off-Blog Comments
When conversations are broken apart, each of the individual discussions will often lose a lot of the best and most well thought out responses from the smartest and most worthwhile participants. Also, as I already mentioned, it significantly discounts many opportunities for others with like minds to network together.
In the end, let’s face it … more people are going to see the original article in its native environment than they will on any given reader’s Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+ profile. With that in mind, if you really have something to say, you will do the author, yourself, and other readers a much greater service by including your comments on that blog article. Best of all, your comment is usually just as convenient, and can often even be shared in duplicate, with a single click, to your other social networks if you should choose. That way, others can see what you thought of the topic even before they go and read the article.
Some social networks have helped to make accommodations for this challenge, but others still have some work to do. I am hopeful that this will be a part of future Google+ improvements.
An example of a huge leap forward toward connecting blogs with outside conversations was in Facebook comments, which allow for comments to be shared both on the originating blog and on Facebook simultaneously. This is one way I think that Facebook is still whipping Google+ in a huge way, although I expect that to change.
Similarly, Disqus does a fantastic job of connecting conversations across networks, although it could still be better at pulling in off-blog comments with higher accuracy. BackType used to fit this need by bringing in conversations from all over the place, but they kind of wrecked that system in favor of other money-making hopes.
In any case, I think that making a greater connection with those off-blog comments is a responsibility of the blog owner, and should always be taken seriously. There are a lot of ways to monitor those conversations, and none of them are a perfect magic bullet. It takes a lot of attention, but should not be overlooked.
Google+ vs. Blog Comments
Google+ is an excellent platform. I really like it for many reasons, and not the least of which is the high level of interactivity that I have encountered there. It seems that people are really enjoying a lot of conversation on Google+.
Of course, some of that active engagement may be because it is still a bit of a novelty. It could also be that, although it is a much different type of platform, people are seeing it as a chance for a “do-over” by handling it differently than they handled their Twitter or Facebook. Whatever the case, it seems to me that people are using it in great ways, and it is far less spam-riddled and spam-prone than many other networks.
Sadly, Google+ also poses a greater challenge for monitoring and participating in the outside conversations about your topics. I hope it will change, but in the meantime, I think it is worth being aware and attentive to as many as possible.
What Makes Sense to You?
It is an extreme example, but do you ever see a comment on an outside network about a blog article and it shows without a doubt that the person responding did not even give a passing glance at the original context, beyond the headline? It could frustrate the originating author, but for me, I mostly just chock it up to another brainiac trying to sound smart without the will to actually be smart. You know, like reading beyond the headline before replying. Yes, this is an extreme example, but here is something I find to be common: comments directly on a blog will nearly always be more on-topic and more beneficial to the community.
The greatest variable across all of this wonderful technology is you. Nobody is going to tell you how to use a blog, either as a commenter or an author. The best I can hope for is to give you some encouragement … you know, a nudge. Where you take it from there is up to you. In my opinion, as well as my actual usage, I find it beneficial that if I am making a comment about a blog article, I duplicate it with a simple copy and paste from the original article to whatever network I am sharing it on. That is, if that option is not already a part of the blog itself, which it often is.
What do you have to say about this? Go ahead … put it on some other network where nobody but a few of your friends will see it. Otherwise, feel free to join in and stop being so damn elusive. What are you afraid of? These people don’t bite!
P.S. Biters please refrain from biting other respondents … just this once. 😉
Related Articles: You didn’t think this was my first go at an article about blogging, did you? I think these will give you some really good food for thought!
There are some blogs I feel bad to neglect, yet delighted when I make time for them. They are the blogs where I intend to be more active, and I want to share some of those with you. These are blogs by people who truly understand the many good reasons to blog, and they work hard to be useful to their communities.
First, I want to explain a bit about why I am recommending these blogs, and how I think you can learn a lot from them. If you don’t have time read, just hit the play button (top of page) to flip on my podcast and skip right to the list.
Did you ever go to a blog and find that the other people there were actually communicating with you? I don’t mean just a short and pithy answer, but rather an actual conversation that takes place. I mean the kind of blog where you see the same people every time, answering questions, solving problems, sharing ideas, and actually conversing just like they would in a coffee shop, or over lunch.
I know some blogs like that, and I enjoy them very much. It is not only because of their topics, either … I enjoy the people. Of course, I don’t spend a lot of time with blogs about things which don’t interest me, but if these blogs were about termite ranching or how to grow poison ivy, I would still be there … time permitting. I learn from them, and on good days, they learn from me.
If you have ever wondered why your blog is not as active as you would like, as a community filled with familiar faces who subscribe and come back regularly to read your work, there is probably a good reason. If it is filled with stuffy language about your industry, it will make many people yawn. If it is packed with a bunch of “buy this now” language, it will make people feel like the vacuum salesman just arrived at the door.
News Flash: It is easy to throw you out and slam the virtual door on you. All it takes is a click! If you want to avoid that “click” of people throwing you out the door, I suggest doing some reading and participating. Yes, of course I want you to read every one of the 300+ articles in my blog archive, and I want you to share your thoughts on every last one of them. I also want to help you to meet others to inspire you, teach you, and keep you moving forward.
If you want to learn how to build a blog community where people come to read what you have to say, and to see what all their friends are up to, take a lesson from the blogs listed below. I am not listing them in a specific order, or even by their topic. I am lumping them together as blogs where you can meet and get to know great people … people you will probably like. In fact, if you like my blog, and if you like me, you will find a lot of similar thinking people in these blogs.
These are blogs where people interact, learn, and share ideas. Some of them represent overlapping service offerings, but they don’t compete … they collaborate. They are blogs where people come together, and not just to spam a link to their website, or wear people down by being a blog troll. They are blogs where the community is consistent, and where that kind of thing would be pinched off like a wet turd.
A couple of these may not have the highest level of community involvement, but in those cases, I listed them based on the people writing them, and their involvement elsewhere in blogs. I read these blogs and pay attention as much as time permits, and they are on my RADAR … right near the center.
How Do These Bloggers Do It?
I am an observant guy. In fact, it is an important part of my job to be observant. A commonality I see in these blogs is that they each have a lot of the same people. This makes it pretty obvious that it is not all just about the topic of a specific blog, but largely about the people. They meet and interact across many blogs, and it becomes very social. After all, this is social media we are talking about. So let’s be social, people!
You will see many of the same people commenting and interacting with each other at several of the links I will provide. It is not some kind of secret club with a membership application. The application is just to come and get to know people and not act like the new kid in town who has to prove that his bicycle is faster than the local kids. These are very real and human communities that represent the greatest value of online communications. They are about the people, and not about the technology that so many people treat the Internet as.
Why Building Your Blog Community Matters
Let’s look at this from a business standpoint. A lot of business blogs focus on how to get people to buy their stuff. They want brand recognition, and they want a return on their investment of blogging. That is the focus of a business … more business. A common, yet tragic result is that they overlook the even greater value in finding people who love, love, love them enough to recommend them to every friend, acquaintance, and complete stranger. Those other people are the ones you want buying your stuff!
Do you want to know why the friends, acquaintances, and complete strangers matter more? They add up … huge! There are multiple reasons, and I will give you some examples.
I will use myself for the first example. If you think you want to sell me something, just imagine how much more potential you have of selling your goods or services if you make me a fan and I spread it to the squillion people I encounter and who read my blog, my Facebook, my Twitter, and my honorable mentions of others. You don’t really just want to sell me something do you? Sure, maybe that is good enough if you are short sighted in your marketing, but the real value is in my community. If you grab my attention with your community, my community becomes your community. Now doesn’t that sound nice?
Neglecting and Irritating vs. Cultivating and Nurturing
Now, to snap you into a seriously messed up potential reality, consider what happens if you are doing this all wrong. How tragic it is if, instead of making me a fan, you creep me out. Maybe you come and lurk around my blog, and maybe even get comfortable enough to spam my readers.
What if you never took the time to know more than just that my blog ranks really highly for a squillion different industry terms, and you want to throw your name and website link in my comments. Consider the example of a company that does not comprehend the value of community, or how to work with others. I made a case study of a company called “Suture Express“. Search Google for Suture Express (Google search) if you don’t already know that story. I hold roughly half of the top 10 listings on Google for their company name and the names of each of their corporate officers. Trust me, it is not the stuff that helps companies sell more, but it is what happens when companies get SEO and social media all wrong, and ignore the value of building their network, and working within a community.
It is my community that slaps the piss out of companies who cheat, lie, and spam. Companies such as Suture Express and Ray Skillman Auto Dealerships simply cannot match the power of a community.
Why do I tell you this? Because it shows the value of community, and the value of having more people who know you, like you, and defend you than you have people who are indifferent, or even despise your brand.
What if They Say You Are an Awesome ‘Possum?
Next, I want you to consider how much more valuable it is for somebody else to say you are awesome than when you say you are awesome. As an example, I will say it right now … I am awesome! I am awesome like sex, bacon, and a cold grape soda. Awesome is my job. In fact, my new mantra is this: “My job is to create marketing as awesome as sex and bacon. Even when I fail, it is at least as good as ham and a hand job.”
Fine, some people will believe it if you say you are awesome. Some people will do the research to see that it is true, but there is still a much better way!
Now consider how valuable is it if somebody else says “Mark is awesome!” It kind of sounds more valuable then, right? There is an implied credibility when it comes from a third party. I hope you get the point.
Stop Playing Opossum, and Be More Awesome
Is Your Blog Community a Waste of Time?
When you hear words like “blog community”, it may seem like a completely crazy concept. It may almost sound impossible, or a complete waste of time. Where does it begin? Where do those bloggers meet all these great people?
Building your community will not happen very efficiently if you are just sitting there staring at your own blog waiting for people to come and add their comments or to send their friends. It will happen when you get out of your shell and make time to meet people elsewhere. Spamming your blog to anybody and everybody will not help, either. I could write a squillion page dissertation on that formula for failure. Here is some thought candy on the topic for you to consider: “How to Comment on Blogs and Why You Should (or Should Not)“.
The SEO lies you may have heard will not help you, either. Good SEO (search engine optimization) happens when people such as some of the ones listed below whip out their keyboard and say the equivalent to “Mark is Awesome” about you.
Awesome Bloggers Who Attract Other Awesome People
If you want somebody to say that you are awesome, you had better get started building a community. I said I have some blogs to list, and I don’t plan to let you down. Here are some good people to learn from. Watch them, get to know them, and meet the great people who contribute to their blogs. Find out why I took the time to commend them. If you do that, you will better understand the value of reaching out of your shell, and why building a community by participating instead of siting like a bump on a stump is worth every bit of the effort.
Ingrid Abboud (a.k.a. Griddy) shows many signs of being nothing short of awesome. She is a great connector of like-minded people, and deserves the description I once gave her of “sweet, silly, and super smart”.
In a recent version of Ingrid’s “Superpost Sunday Weekly Roundup“, the blog is compared to Central Perk from the hit television show, Friends. It really is that kind of a place where all we need is Gunther the barista to bring coffee and we are all set. Do you make a great cup of coffee? Read this blog and find out why it is loved by many, and nobody is a stranger.
Erika Napoletano is a witty, intelligent, outspoken blogger who is a bit aggressive by some measures. I like her. In fact, I like her a lot.
Erika recently landed a gig writing a business column for Entrepreneur Magazine, and her rants draw people to communicate, for better or worse … usually better. You can give her a hard time about how loose she is with dropping the F*bomb, but she knows how to bring a crowd to their feet.
Considering that she is the author of “The Bitch Slap”, there should be little wonder about Erika’s free spirited style.
Mark Harai is a great guy. He lives in Costa Rica and, I’m not sure if he knows it yet, but I die just a little more every time he is on a beach while it snows here in Kansas.
Mark is the father to a squillion kids (actually just seven), and he is one of those guys you just know this kind of stuff about … because you like him. His likability sets him apart from others, and his blog consistently offers up thought provoking articles about business growth and better human relations.
When I find more time to break away, I will meet up with Mark for a tour of his local beaches. For now, we have the Internet.
John is very active with several of the blogs in this list, and a heck of a cool guy. Here is his take on being active within the communities he supports: “Why commenting isn’t for you“.
If you can’t like a guy like John Falchetto, your problems are much worse than blogging.
One day, when I make it back to France, or he makes it here to USA, we will go and enjoy a day at the gun club. Until then, we will enjoy our two-way communications across multiple blogs we each frequent, as well as Twitter, Facebook, and anywhere else I can track him down.
I have made a number of interesting trips to Mark’s blog, and I am a bit guilty of lurking without jumping in with my comments. I am not sure why this is the case. I am doing the same thing I wish people wouldn’t do with my blog (keep their thoughts to themselves).
This is another of those people, and blogs that I am a bit ashamed to neglect. It is all my fault, but it is on my “To Do” list, and blinking away on my RADAR.
Have a look at this recent article titled “Executives and the Ostrich Syndrome“ It is so sickeningly familiar to me that I didn’t even know how to reply … but I plan to … when I stop procrastinating.
Spin Sucks … and Gini knows it! Check her out and find out why I respect her work.
Ruhani does not blog as much as he used to, but I like him, and I like his style. I have to give him a serious shout out here, because of his active participation across multiple social media channels. He has built a community that sticks with him wherever he goes, and whether he blogs often or not.
What do I really think of Ruhani? Well, I can say this: Ruhani is one of only a few people I put on the back cover of my 2009 book “Twitter for Business: Twitter for Friends“, and not just because he said something nice about me.
It seems very appropriate that Ruhani is VP of the company that created “Friendster” (friendster.com), because he sure knows how to make friends. Ruhani Rabin is one of the most friendly guys with a blog you could ever know.
Some call him Mufasa. Actually, maybe only Griddy (Ingrid Abboud) calls him that, but most call him Marcus. I don’t directly communicate with Marcus very much. I am not sure just why that is the case. I hope it is not because I gave HubSpot a harsh review once upon a time. I know he is pretty tight with HubSpot.
We bounce into each other on a lot of the same blogs, and we have a lot of mutual friends and acquaintances. I read his blog, time permitting. I kind of feel like I know him. That is a mark of a blogger who “gets it”.
Jim Rudnick is one of those guys who soaks up information like a sponge. He is an “old-timer” like myself, who has been in the SEO business since most search engine optimizers were in diapers, eh?
Of course, with Jim being a Canuck, he feels more comfortable if you end each sentence with an “eh?” You know, because that’s what they do up there in Canada, eh?
Jim is active across many channels of social media, outside of his own blog, and because of that, I think it would be awesome to see Jim’s own community at Canuck SEO grow like a weed. Jim gives more than he takes, and you can find a lot of great blogs just by keeping a close eye on him.
I don’t read every article from every blog I subscribe to. I also sometimes forget to subscribe to some of the blogs I encounter. I have found many great blogs over the years, and I simply cannot read and respond to everything on the Internet. I try my best to keep up with the good ones, and I try to participate in the community, as my limited time allows. I will be working on this, and trying to give closer attention to these blogs. I hope that you will, too.
Now that you have the list, and I gave you some thinking points about working as a community, are you going to sit there like a bump on a stump, or are you going to kindly introduce yourself to my community of readers? You may just end up being the tenth blogger on the list. Go ahead … impress me!
I have been thinking about this topic for a long time. I tried to keep my inner voice to myself, but if you have read my blog before, you surely noticed that my inner voice has a bullhorn. I say what I think. I have said it before that “I do not try to please everybody, and that pleases some people very much.”
Call me a crusty old bastard if you like. Worse things have been said before, and you will not hurt my feelings. I only get my feelings hurt by people who care enough to create a meaningful dialog with me, and make a relationship. I welcome them to my table, and I will share my blog feast with them any day.
Conversely, trolls can have the corn preserved on the other side of my digestive system. Regarding lurkers, I kind of think of them like zombies. I am not sure if they have thoughts and feelings of their own, because they refuse to reveal them.
So what about the blog trolls and lurkers? I could take this examination to all new heights, because I know trolls, and I have enough lurkers to fill the Mariana Trench! Rather than drawing this out with a lengthy psychological analysis, I will just heave a heavy-handed slap in their direction and let you rip them a new one with your comments if you feel up to it.
Blog Trolls: Read the Sign!
Blog Trolls Read the SignTrolls suck! I have read multiple new blog articles that touched on the topic only yesterday*. Blog trolls are the bane of a blogger’s existence, and they insult our hard work.
Trolls leave pithy comments on blogs, and drop their website links in attempts to boost their ranking in search engines at the expense of hard working bloggers. Some trolls are out to cause an argument or to harass writers for missing a comma or spelling somtheing inkerektly.
Blog trolls don’t have any meaningful input, and they are just out for themselves. Some companies use blog trolling as their core online marketing strategy. If you want to see how “brilliant” that plan is, read about Ray Skillman.
When a blogger sits down to write about something, they are trying to communicate with you. They usually want to open a conversation with you, and they value your input as much as their own. It is how we learn together and often build meaningful relationships.
Two way communication is a basic concept of blogging. Collaboration is not something the doctor does when he lifts your gown and tells you to relax. It is a way for a community to enjoy the benefits of more than one mind.
Blog Lurker Bank and TrustBloggers often work very hard to research and produce something that is useful or interesting to you. Yes, you, and not the person standing over your shoulder reading your screen.
People often treat elections this way, too. They just assume that “the other people” will vote. In case you have not noticed the state of politics in this world, that is not productive thinking. It is not productive in politics, and it is not productive in blogs.
If you just suck up a blogger’s knowledge like free grape soda, without so much as nod of approval, or giving something back, don’t you feel just a tiny bit ashamed? Are you the kind who will walk up to the cash register at a convenience store and grab every coin in the “Take a Penny, Leave a Penny” tray?
Didn’t your parents ever tell you that it is nice to share, and that keeping everything to yourself is not polite? Oh, and seriously, do you really not think we bloggers see the 18 minutes you spent reading three articles, and then come back two days later to suck up another 43 minutes of our hard work? Yeah, we see that, and we know you are there.
We appreciate that you appreciate us, but why don’t you at least say “hello” and introduce yourself? I mean, we are your free labor, often doing the research that saves you countless hours of frustration. You could at least throw us your two cents between our long working shifts.
Trolls and Lurkers Say “Who Me?”
If you think this is directed to you, you are right. I am writing directly to you, whether you are a blogger, a blog troll, or a lurker. Until you take the initiative to introduce yourself to the other readers of any blog, you are missing the best value of blogs.
Sure, you can sneer at me and think I am an ass for saying what millions of other bloggers feel. I cannot speak for all bloggers, but this will cover a majority. We are working hard for your benefit, and what you failed to notice is that the greatest value comes to those who participate.
Maybe you think we get paid for this. Some bloggers do, but most are doing this to share good information above all. Some have advertisements to help cover their cost, and some blogs are there to promote a brand. There are many good reasons to blog, but most blogs are produced to be helpful and thought provoking, regardless of any other motivation.
For example: If you think that I write about SEO and social media marketing just to sell you something, consider this: If I sold my services to any more than one in 50,000 readers, my services would suffer, and I would be too busy to write this blog. I am not here to fool you, but rather to help you. If I get the benefit of a new client, or a little respect for knowing my job well, that seems pretty fair for both of us.
Don’t ask me for pandering, undue compliments, or to fluff your Teddy bear and pat you on the bum. Heck, just search Google for how to polarize an audience, and there I am … in your face! If you want somebody to tell you how it isn’t, go somewhere else. I will tell you how it is … according to Murnahan, of course.
I read a lot of blogs, and I gather a lot of great ideas from them. There is a lot of amazing talent out there on the Internet, sitting at their computer every day to blog about what they know, what they think, what they do, and what they sell. A few of those squillion blogs will become popular with readers, but how?
It is easy for me to answer why I read the blogs I read. They help me to keep my thinking sharp with new ideas. My brain needs a lot of daily exercise to keep up with my industry.
It seems easy to define why the popular blogs I read are successful at their mission, but harder when I turn it around and look at my own work. I hope you can relate to this. I find that it is always harder to scrutinize myself than to scrutinize others.
I have been a bit blessed with having a solid readership for my SEO and social media marketing blog. I appreciate that very much, because I work hard at it. Once in a while, I have to consider “What makes it popular, and why do people subscribe and come back?” Then, on a bad day, I find myself questioning “Why do I keep doing this?” That is when I have to go and re-read “10 Really Good Reasons to Blog” and I am back at it again, quick.
Today is a good day, so I am asking myself the earlier question. Is it because I am in a popular industry? No, because there are a lot of SEO and social media marketing blogs with just three readers (spouse, mother, and author). Is it because I take my shirt off to blog because the ladies like that? No, although it may not hurt, because I am yummy like bacon (I should post more pictures). Is it because I have a squillion friends who love me? No, I am generally a nice guy, but I don’t try to please everybody, and I piss a few people off, too (like this Bhashkar guy). Is it because I throw down a clever line here and there to be entertaining? No, because I will never be as funny as this cat video with 47 Million views (damn them cats).
When I begin to think about things which make a blog popular, it seems that my thoughts keep leading me back to “intent”. Good blogging tools, a lot of coffee, and just a slight touch of insanity can help, but it is not enough!
I know, I know … people say that “content is king”, or that “engagement” and “social equity” are important. Sure, we can throw a whole lot of silly buzz phrases on the table to sort through. It really does take a lot of things coming together just right to produce something that people want.
I think that in the end, even if you get every other piece right, but your intent is flawed, it is as fragile as a house of cards.
What is Your Blog’s Intent?
Let’s define this: Clearly, if you have a blog, you have an intent. Whether is just to pour your mind out to the Internet, or to bring more brand recognition to a product or service, nobody does this without something that drives them to do it.
I will share my intent with you, and I hope it will help you start thinking about yours. So, let’s see, why do I write this blog?
The focus of this blog is to help educate people about things which can help them. I like to help people think and create their own ideas. I like to teach people about things which they may find useful. I also like to dispel the many SEO lies which are common in the industry.
When I say that intent is important, here is how I look at it: If my intent was centered around selling something rather than educating and helping people, the direction would be totally different. The intent would show through, and the value to others would be far less.
Stop Seeing “Everybody” as a Potential Customer!
I hope that sharing my intent will help you think about yours, and your strategy. Here I go, trying to be helpful, again. Now, you may wonder “How is there any room left for a strategy, and how can a blog possibly be worth all of the headache?”
When I think about my intent, it is what I wish to provide for others. That does not have to mean there is no benefit in it for me, but when I focus on these things which benefit others, my work is far better and it makes me a swell guy.
The good news is that I don’t view you as my potential customer. Sure, maybe you are, but probably not. Most people that land on any blog are not there to buy stuff. In the case of company blogs, the smart companies already know this.
Pssst: Let me whisper a thought in your ear:
People know other people, and they communicate with them … a lot. If people like what you do, and they think highly of you, they will do the heavy lifting for you. They will share your blog with friends, and maybe those friends will share it with other friends. All of the sudden, you have your hands on something valuable. Somewhere down the line, there is probably a customer in it for you, and you didn’t even have to be pushy … just useful.
Keep Your Intent Dear to You
It can be easy to wander off the path of your intent, but don’t! Always remember the overall purpose of being useful, and know that it really will make the difference in reaching longer term objectives. If you have a very purposeful intent, it will be easier to stay on track.
My blog’s intent is sincerely focused on being helpful. I go out of my way to do that. As a benefit, it enhances my resume as a SEO and social media marketing professional and reflects my knowledge. A tiny percentage of people will contact me with an interest of hiring me as a consultant, or as their new Director of Marketing.
I ask myself:“What if somebody offers me a salary so big I can barely spend it all and puts me in a big shiny office building as their head marketing guy working 100 hours per week?”
My answer is:“I will still be right here to share what I know with others, just as I have been for years.”
That is how I know that my intent is right.
If selling something was the primary goal, I would not ask for your input, your brainstorms, or your time. I would also not expect anybody to subscribe and keep coming back. Although, I probably would still ask to pass my name along to somebody who may need me … but that is just my eensy little selfish side talking. (Hint: See sharing and bookmarking links below.) Hey, I have a family of five to feed, after all.
What is your intent, and how are you expressing it to others?
I recently visited with a friend who is pretty aware of technology, but he still feels a bit awkward when it comes to blogs. He spoke of how subscribing, commenting, and joining into a discussion can feel a bit daunting if you are not sure how it all works. When I looked at it from his perspective, I realized how right he was. Perhaps bloggers don’t look at things from a new user perspective as much as we should. We should try harder to be more welcoming of the uninitiated, and that is what I hope to do here.
I am writing this for you, whether you are completely new to blogs, or an experienced blog owner who may have forgotten how lost you felt when you were just figuring this blogging stuff out for the first time. I also want to inspire you with some significant benefits of participating in blogs.
My friend mentioned how some people have their little picture by their name, and wondered how that happens. He really snapped me back to the reality that this whole blogging thing can be a little confusing to “ordinary” people (as opposed to “blog people”, of course). I intend to help clarify some issues of how to participate in blogs, how to find blogs worth discussing, and how it can benefit you even if you are one of those “ordinary” people.
I will begin with the very basics, so if you already know this, I urge you to be reminded that many others do not. If you have your own blog, it is easy to forget all that stuff you have learned about blogs and how they work. Here is a question I have heard more than a couple times:
How Do I Get My Picture to Show Up on Blogs?
I suppose I will begin with that little picture beside peoples’ name. No, it does not mean they are a member of some elite blogging fraternity. Having your own unique picture show up on blogs when you comment is as simple as creating an avatar. More specifically, a “Gravitar” which is a globally recognized avatar image that you can use in more places than a Visa card (that’s a lot).
Gravitar Setup: In order to set up your Gravitar, simply go to Gravitar.com and sign up. You only need to do this once, and it really is easier than you may expect.
There is a benefit to the image, too! A graphic along with your comments can be strongly identifying as people read through comments, and especially at blogs where you plan to return often. People will identify with your avatar faster than by reading the names as they read through comments. If you are interesting to them, they will be looking for your image.
They Want My Email?!
I am probably the most reserved person you ever came across when it comes to giving out my email addresses. In fact, I am borderline obsessive about this. I love having a clean inbox, and I hate when people clutter it with junk. This is especially true with some of my prized email accounts like my very special one that is only seven characters, including dots and the “@” (example: x@xx.xx). Yes, I hate giving out email addresses on websites!
Gravitars are based on the email address or addresses which you specify at Gravitar.com. Most blogs and forums use Gravitars to pull in your avatar, which is why they ask you to enter your email address. Of course, email addresses are also one way that blog administrators can quickly blacklist people who spam their community with useless or offensive comments. This is a good thing … a very good thing.
If it makes you feel any more comfortable about the matter of email, I have a specific email address which I use for commenting on blogs, and I receive no spam at that address at all. I really do feel totally safe on this matter. Additionally, many blogs allow you to use your image from other services like Facebook, Twitter, OpenID, Yahoo! or others, but don’t get flustered. I am getting to that part, and it will be easy … have a little faith.
What About Commenting Systems Like Disqus and Intense Debate
When commenting systems like Disqus and Intense Debate came along, I was really reluctant at first. I liked the good old standard system of entering my name, email address, and website address, adding my comment, and clicking “Submit”. That made sense to me, and it was so simple.
Now let’s have some “whisper time” while I tell you a little secret …
[Mark leans in close and screams into ear:] Disqus and Intense Debate Do Not Require a Signup!
This is the one thing that made me so frustrated when I saw these commenting systems gaining popularity. It appeared that I needed to sign up for more stuff. I already had my Gravitar, and I just wanted to add my two cents to a blog. Why did they make it so darn confusing all of the sudden?!
I am really glad that my buddy brought this to my attention, because I felt the same way. Somehow I had this misconception that because the blog commenting systems allowed me to log in, that I needed to log into something. This is not the case at all. You do not need to set up a new account to use either of these systems. If you want to make a comment on a blog using any of the popular blog commenting systems, you may comment as a “Guest”. You can still add your email, use your Gravitar, and add the link to your website. Let us end that confusion right now, and put a period after it.
The benefits of these systems are numerous, but optional. They allow you to click a button to use your Facebook, Twitter, OpenID, Yahoo! or other profile information, but it goes further. They also let you easily share the blog articles you comment on, along with your comments, across social networks. Sharing is still optional, even if you log in using these services, but there can be great cases for alerting friends on what you are discussing on a blog article and getting their opinions, too.
There is still more benefit! These services also aggregate comments that you make on different blogs into one place where you can go and see replies to your comments, and thus making it easier to respond to them, ask or answer questions, build rapport, build community, and etcetera. They also include profiles that you can use to follow other users’ comments and join in their communities of interest, too. Of course, I cannot give you my login to see all of the goodies, but here is my public Disqus profile which shows comments I make on other blogs which use Disqus.
In my opinion, these are some really useful tools, and more bloggers would probably adopt their use if they, and their readers understood the full benefit and usage. That means ending the confusion surrounding them, but I am trying! I use Disqus commenting system here on this blog. Try it out by adding your comment. It really is as easy as I said.
How to Find Good Blogs
Can you believe how many blogs there are out there on the Internet? There must be a squillion people blogging about everything from A to Z. Finding the good ones which fit your interests can be a lot easier with the right tools. Try a Google blog search (http://blogsearch.google.com/) for things which interest you. Try a Twitter search, and monitor it regularly! Even if you do not have a Twitter account, you can still find a lot of value in the search features. Get creative and try it out at search.twitter.com and be sure to try the advanced search. There are also a lot of blog aggregation services like Blog Catalog and Technorati, along with many which are targeted to specific interests or industries.
A great place to find useful blogs is by paying attention to what people with your same interests or in your career field read. You can often find that out by watching their Twitter, Facebook, Digg, or better yet, go look to see which websites are linking to their website by searching their web address on Open Site Explorer. If they leave comments on blogs, you can bet the links will show up. Just think of all you can do with that information.
Once you find some blogs you like, subscribe to them! You will really not get much benefit from a blog if you make it easier to overlook them. I use Google Reader to subscribe to many RSS feeds, but I subscribe to my favorite blogs by email and by RSS just to be sure I keep in touch with them. If you want to know more about tools to help with blogs, I strongly suggest reading “6 Essential Blogging Tools for Bloggers and Non-Bloggers“.
SEO and Blog Commenting
Why should you participate in blog discussions? Have you ever heard of WiiFM? It means “What’s in it for me?” You want to know the answer of what’s in it for you, right? After all, you are still human, even if you are one of those “blog people” I mentioned.
The benefits of blog commenting are not just as they seem. Certainly there is a strong benefit from a SEO (search engine optimization) standpoint, but let’s not get irritating with that! I will touch on this topic and then move on. If you take this as a suggestion to go out with a hope of leaving meaningless comments on a bunch of blogs to become popular, you will not be popular in the way you like. In fact, I consider it a horrible SEO strategy (but very common) to try and use blog comments to build up your incoming links. Sure, blog comment links can be quite valuable, but without being courteous and useful, you are just peeing down your leg. You will find a much more profound benefit by being useful, and I will explain that.
Think of it this way, if you try to use blog commenting as a tool for SEO, imagine how much greater value you will find if your comments make people like you and want to know you. If they come and read your blog, they may like what you have to say there, too. This is precisely the reason my blog here at aWebGuy.com is listed with a link from every page of a whole lot of blogs in their “Blogroll”. They are also more likely to reference you with a link in one or more of their articles. That seems a lot more valuable to me than the SEO value of links from a few comments I made. Wouldn’t you agree?
NOTE: To all of those who have blessed me with a link in their blogroll, or in an article, I truly appreciate you! I am still planning to add a blogroll here someday. In the meantime, I still try to write something about you whenever I can.
When you comment on a blog and include your URL (website address), it will appear as a link on most blogs. Those links are what search engines use to discover and judge the value of websites. More links means more value, but of course it is not that easy. More of the right links can add huge value. The SEO tactic of seeking blogs with great search engine ranking just to leave worthless comments misses the target in a big way. Just imagine if you said something funny, interesting, useful, or otherwise put your unique spin on a topic. People are more likely to like and respect you, and there is definitely a better chance that they will want to know more about you. I have gained a lot of readers because they saw my comments on another blog and liked my take on things.
An example I recently suggested to a client was to use blogs to learn more about her related industries. She just opened her second Pilates studio in Aventura Florida. We talked about how to book up her new location by looking at who wants or needs her services.
We discovered that golfers can benefit from Pilates. I suggested that she read more blogs about golfing and get to know the community. She also said that equestrian is another area she sees a lot of business. I suggested getting to know the equestrian community in her area. Just reading about these topics, alone, can help her have a better conversation when these people contact her, but also give her a lot better understanding of their needs when it is time to write about these things on her blog. If she choses to comment on topics in these fields with something useful, she could become a lot more valuable to the community. It adds up over time, in a big way. Now, imagine how nice it will be for her if her website lands in the blogroll of a handful of related blogs because they like her input.
Good Blog Commenting
What is a good blog comment? Sometimes it is perfectly fine to add a brief comment just to thank the author, but it is far better to say what you really think. “Thanks, great blog post.” is about generic enough that you may just earn the sugar-free cookie award for being boring. Step it up a notch and ask a question, answer a question, or do something more than look like you are just trying to get a link on their blog. Trust me on this … bloggers are pretty skeptical about those “Thanks, great blog post.” people. There are thousands of people in India (no offense to my Indian friends) who are paid about four dollars a year to sit and add “Thanks, great blog post.” comments to blogs.
You can do better, and it really does make a difference! Doing better usually means that you should slow down and participate. The scan-and-click nature of the Internet leads to a lot of waste. If you actually slow down and give your attention to the blogs you like, and the blogs where you find value, you can create more value for yourself.
I should note that bloggers love comments, and it validates their hard work. It makes sense for it to be really easy and inviting for users to add their input. I would probably have a lot more comments here, but I am just crazy enough to put my toll free telephone number all over my blog. I love having brainstorming calls from friends and strangers. It keeps me sharp. My phone rings … a lot! Since most bloggers probably do not want my telephone bill, a fantastic alternative is comments.
Stop and Read the Comments!
Once you find blogs that you like, be sure to read the comments. Those comments are written by other people who may have similar interests and you may find that you really like them. You may find a connection to your next great customer, friend, supplier, or job. If you do not slow down and pay attention, you will never know. If you don’t leave your comments, they won’t either!
