Before You Ask for that Link, Know I'm a Relationship Blogger

Blogging Is Relationships

Let me introduce myself. My name is Liz. I’m delighted that you emailed me about a link from my blog! What a lovely compliment.

But I’m a little concerned too . . . You see, that was all that your email said, “Could we trade links?”

I need to confess something before we go further.

I’m the kind of blogger who wants a relationship not a one link stand.

Please understand I love to share links, but to give a link means to give my trust, my endorsement, and my belief that your blog will continue to make a relevant contribution to the blogosphere. How can I do that if I don’t even know you?

Do you about the SOB links or how they work?

Relationships, Relationships, Relationships

Links show relationships and relationships are what blogging’s about. Don’t take it from me. I’m just a blogger out here in Neverland, A-List bloggers Robert Scoble and Shel Israel bring that point out in their book, Naked Conversations. These quotes from prominent bloggers appear in the first 100 pages alone.

The most important aspect of the blog is that it is conversational . . . The more you talk with someone the better you understand who he or she is, and you are more prone to conduct transactions with people you know well enough to trust.

“It’s about community.” Lenn Pryor, Microsoft. ” . . . real conversation, not just drive-by stuff.

“Good bloggers are chatty and into relationships.” –Jonathan Schwartz, CEO Sun Microsystems.

— Robert Scobel and Shel Israel, Naked Conversations

They know more than I, but I know that much.

If You Ask for a Link

Because a link speaks of the blogger, most bloggers would like to know you and your blog before they trade links with you. I know I would and it seems that the guys I quoted would too. That’s where the word, relationship enters the picture. Here are a few things you might do to get that relationship started. Why not try these ways instead?

Get to know me and my blog.

Take some time to find out who I am, what I care about, and the link relationships I already have. Successful-Blog has a link program. There’s a page on how to link into the community. A little reconnaissance and you’ll get a good idea of where or whether your link is a good fit.

When you ask, be personal and interested.

Sounds obvious, but it doesn’t always happen that way. Talk to me, not to some sir or madam, and let me know how you see your link improving my readers’ experience. I want to feel like I was lucky to have met a clear thinker like you — someone who is worth getting to know better and for a long time. You’d do that to start any relationship . . . wouldn’t you?

Check me out. Who’s to say that my blog is the right kind of blog for you to be linking to?

Bloggings not about how many links we can collect. Links get old and break. Relationships grow over time. THAT’s how the A-listers got to be where they are.

I love new relationships.

–ME “Liz” Strauss