Last April I wrote a post to add to my Blogging Tips series titled How To Start Getting Visitors. It was a super basic tip on how to get some notice for one’s blog by contacting certain folks and letting them know you had a blog.
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While that’s nice and all, one couldn’t quite call it a campaign towards increasing awareness. In essence, it was really like becoming an insurance salesperson and calling all your family members first, then all your friends, then your pseudo friends, and after that not knowing what to do with yourself.
I decided it was time to at least get more people going on this front. I do this because of two things. One, I had a meeting last week with a couple of ladies who wanted ideas on how they could create awareness of their new business through social media. I told them about blogging, based on what it is they do, and then told them the process they should go through to get going. Two, I made the same recommendation recently to someone who visits this blog, and though I’m not sure if he’s done the entire campaign I know that he was willing to listen and give it a try, so I have high hopes.
This is mainly for beginners, but it’s also for people who aren’t getting any real traffic to your site as well. This isn’t a talk about niche marketing; it’s a talk about working the process, meeting the blogging community, and getting known by others. And if you want some more starter information, check out my blogging tips.
Let me set the scenario for you; it’s possible you’ll have more or less time, but this is a great starter scenario. You’re someone who doesn’t have tons of time, but you want to get people to your blog. You write 3 posts a week, and often you have some time left over after you’re blogged, or some on days when you don’t blog. We’re going after the 30 minute process for you to undertake.
Your goal is to make comments on at least 5 blogs during that 30 minute time period. What you do is go to Google Blogs, which can actually be found by going to Google, clicking on “more”, then scrolling down a little bit. When the next page opens, you’ll see all sorts of blog posts on trending topics that look like news. But they’re all blogs, though some aren’t personal blogs. That’s really your goal, because you want the opportunity to stand out; that plus big time blogs like Huffington Post don’t have CommentLuv; this is a part of the strategy.
In the search box, put in a topic that you want to read on. It could be something in your niche, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be. Believe it or not that statement is controversial, because everyone else will tell you that you need to comment on blogs in your niche because you want targeted traffic. At this stage what you really need is traffic, and you also want the opportunity to not only show that you can talk to people and offer something good, but you still are hoping for the opportunity to stand out. So, you will be looking at blogs in your niche also, if that’s a part of your strategy, but that’s not what it’s all about. Networking; that’s what it’s all about.
For the first two weeks you need to be committed to commenting on at least 5 blogs a day. You can continue going to Google Blogs, but hopefully in your searches you have found a few blogs that you like well enough to return to. That’s important because something blog owners like are people who will come back more than once. You also want to look for a mix of blogs that have CommentLuv and those that don’t. You look for CommentLuv because it highlights previous blog posts of yours; you look for the others because you don’t want to look like one of those guys that “only” comments on CommentLuv blogs; it’s just a little smarmy.
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In the next two weeks, you’re going to comment on blogs that you’ve found you like and now you’re going to make sure to look for blogs within your niche. The thought now is that you’ll have started establishing yourself with at least a couple of people, you’ll have left your links on their blogs, especially if they have CommentLuv, and now you’re going to go out on a campaign to see what others in your niche are saying and take the opportunity to make sure they know you’re around.
After four weeks, look at things this way. If you only had 3 days a week to do this process and only those 30 minutes, you’ve made at least 60 total connections, whether some of those folks received return visits or not. You’ve planted the seeds of knowledge that you’re out there. I would almost guarantee that you’ll have started seeing more visitors, especially if your titles have captured people’s imaginations and your content doesn’t stink.
Once you see the process starting to work, you’ll be hooked. I’ll throw this out there; how many of you who visit these days saw me as one of your initial commenters? How many of you picked up on that and decided you were going to start commenting on other blogs? How many of you found it contagious and uplifting when people finally started coming to your blog? You may not have followed it in the manner I’m recommending here, but you did this in some capacity, right?
Yes, blogging does take more work than just writing posts. But your rewards on the end could give you more than you can imagine; that sounds nice, doesn’t it?
I don’t even remember how I began commenting on other blogs. It’s something that just happened, and from 1-2 blogs at first, now I go through the dozens I have on my Google Reader, and which I (try to) follow everyday.
It’s kind of fascinating how one connection can link to another, and then to other 5, then to other 15, then to 100. Everything has consequences, and in this case they are good ones. That’s how I got in touch with you, serendipitous situations connecting people through each other in a new way.
Carl, I’m not so sure it’s wrong; at least in this world. Right now one has to do it, otherwise we never know who’s being oppressed. If we ever get to a place where they’re total fairness, then I’d agree with you.
Same here, Gabriele. I know when I first started blogging I didn’t have a clue about it either, including responding to comments. Glad I learned the right way from somewhere.
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Mitch,several things. First off I have been commenting on and off at other blogs but not as consistently as you suggest. Since I have followed your advice and installed commentluv and a couple of others I have seen an upturn in traffic. The most gratifying aspect of that is page view. My page view count is way up so people are stopping and taking time to look around. Since I now have five years of material on my blog there is a lot to look around at.
One other thing I learned from you somewhat inadvertently, is planning the week out ahead. For instance for this week I have articles all the way out to Friday and by the end of the day I hope to have the posts all lined up up til next Sunday. This way during the week I can spend more time commenting on other blogs which I really enjoy. I am rewarded when I do this with some new ideas for articles for my own blog. Amazing how that happens.
Nick
Wow Nick, looks like you’ve embraced some of this stuff, and I’m happy about that. Blogging is a give and take gig, and people love sharing and interacting with each other. You’re going to be the man! 😉
I enjoy reading and commenting on blogs as much as I enjoy writing posts. I think they’re equally important. Everytime I come here I learn something new. I had no idea about that Google Blogs thing. I’m curious to check it out. Thanks for doing what you do, Mitch!
No problem, Jessica; thanks for writing like you do, with all that humor.
Mitch, this is a great tip. A good use of spare time. I mean, even me, I use my spare time to study and read some articles and blog post. This also allows me to make some comments to some articles that I read.
Ron, I’m with you on this one. It’s amazing how much stuff I’ve learned from other bloggers.
This is a good way, but it is very time consuming, there are ways to automate the process, but not in the very beginning. I do this for my customers, actually do blog commenting using Web 2.0 properties or social network links. The method is based on link wheel, but the scale I am doing it is very large so actually this is the only way.
Carl, I would never think about automating the process. It just seems like it’s way too easy to pick those types of comments out. You’ll fool a lot of people, but not everyone.
There is a tricky part in it. I definitely agree with you, because most link builders are very lazy and don’t use their brain. Automation is possible if a very tiny niche is targeted. Lets say, target health condition, but very very specific related to the website. It is easy to prepare 20 different comments related to this. I don’t mean that the method is right.
I agree that commenting on other blogs is a great way to not only publicize your blog, but also to learn more about a field/niche. The blogging/social media community is based on helping others and interacting with them. Without this, everything falls apart.
I never knew about Google Blogs before. I was looking for blogs in a specific niche a few months ago and I was trying to find a way to get a good list of blogs. Very helpful!
Wow Keith, I had pretty much assumed most people would already know about it and that I was just putting it out there for new people. Glad I helped bring it to more people’s attention. And I’m with you, we all learn something from others, even if we disagree with what they have to say, although for the most part we seem to be in agreement most of the time.
What a brilliant article. I’ve read so much about commenting, but nothing comes close to your advice. You have made it so simple, but what a great strategy you have provided. Thank you so much.
Thanks Larry; I’m honored. I hope the strategy brings you back maximum benefits.
Dennis, I think that’s how you gained your fame. There’s a big correlation between what you did way back when and how Pat has become so popular.
Haven’t you met Pat of Lavender Uses? She’s everywhere!
What I like about your strategy Mitch is that unlike some it’s completely doable and without too much effort.
I’ve never used Google Blogs before so I reckon I’l keep that in mind for when I’m looking for blogs to comment on.
Thanks Sire. That was the purpose of the post, to show people that there’s an easy way to get things going.