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To Give is To Get. The Importance of Blog Comments.

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By Dorien Morin-van Dam

You are business owner. You are active on social media. You even have a blog on your website and you are doing your best to keep your blog original, fresh and active, posting new articles on a regular basis. You send out updates on your social media sites and you might even have joined a blogging community to share articles of like-minded bloggers.

Does this sound like you?

To Give is to Get

But…you knew there’d be a ‘but’ right? What else can you to do ‘spice up’ your blog? What are you forgetting? I am here to tell you that many bloggers forget to do one important thing. Blog commenting. Asking for comments as well as leaving comments.

To my own clients who want to get more eyeballs on their articles, one of the first things I recommend is for them to start seeking out the blogs of other bloggers & experts in their industry and to start leaving intelligent, well thought-out blog comments.

Not sure you’d know what to say and what to comment on? Go read some comments!

Seriously! The best way to learn blog commenting is to go to (larger) publications and to see first hand what types of articles generate what types of comments. According to Jeff Goins, there are 7 types of commenters. Read his article here and decide which one you are, or want to be!

Who Should You Give Your Blog Comments To?

There is no ‘right or wrong way’ to leave blog comment, because in essence any blog that accepts your comment should be grateful you’ve taken the time to give them feedback.

However, if you’d like to target and leave blog comments for the purpose of getting blog comments back, I suggest starting here.

Leave comments for:

• Those in your industry

• Local (business) blogs

• Your colleagues

• Those in your blogging community

Why Should You Take Your Valuable Time To Leave Blog Comments?

There are many reasons behind blog commenting, that is another post on its own, but I did want to start you thinking about a few reasons why leaving blog comments could be beneficial to your business, your own blog and your writing skills.

• To show your expertise – Leave a comment that adds value to the article

• To make new connections – Leave a comment

• To find collaborators – Leave a comment and connect with like-minded people

• To start online conversations – leave a comment and get noticed

• To give feedback – Leave a comment for a specific reason

• To get backlinks – Once your comment is approved, you’ll most often get a link to your own site

• To get noticed for guest blogging – leave a comment and show off your writing skills

What Should You NOT Do When You Leave a Blog Comment?

Don’t make these five blog commenting mistakes! It might seem like common sense to you, but I often get these types of comments on my blog. When I see these types of comments, I am always happy I’ve set my blog commenting system up so that I have to approve any and all comments before they go live.

Now that you know the importance of commenting on blogs, how about I help you figure out how to get some comments for yourself? Consider how you should go about attracting the right audience to your blog and how to entice them to interact with you and leave a comment.

Why Do You Want Blog Comments On Your Blog?

There are multiple reasons to want to have an active commenting community on your blog. Here are some of the more obvious reasons to want to get blog comments.

• To build your online community

• To get potential customers to notice you

• To develop strong relationships with your readers

• For economic growth (get new customers!)

• Give-Away/Promotion

• To get feedback on your writing

• To become an authority in your field/industry

• To drive even more traffic to your blog

Caution!

There are a few things to watch for once you start to encourage blog commenting on your own site. Here they are in no particular order.

• Watch out for spammers

• Take time to moderate any and all comments

• Deal with, and process, negative comments

Ideas on How To Get Comments

An active community of commenters is a sign of a great blog. Comments inspire new comments and the cycle continues. To insure this commenting will go on and on, here are some ideas to get, and keep generating, good quality comments!

• Ask for comments

• Include a call-to-action at the end of each article

• Ask a specific question of your readers to be answered

• Give comments to get comments back

• Write provocatively (or ‘shake things up a bit’)

• Make commenting easy for the public, hard for spammers. Check your settings!

• Create a blog comment policy outlining what is expected of your community

• Respond to comments! You will get more comments that way. First, as people see you reply, they are more likely to leave a comment in the first place and once you reply to their comment, you can ask a follow up question.

Whether commenting has been on the back burner or not, ramping up your commenting can make a huge difference in the quality and quantity of your blog comments going in and out!

I’ve had fun writing this article (my first on this site!) and I have just one question for you:

Will you let me know what your most successful blog commenting strategy is? I can’t wait to read the answer!

Author’s Bio: Dorien Morin-van Dam is owner and social media marketer at More In Media, a social media consultancy in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Dorien provides social media consulting, management, training and education; she is passionate about teaching social media to small business owners. She services clients all over the USA and has worked in many different industries as well as with several NPO’s. In her spare time, Dorien manages four kids, three dogs and a husband. She runs marathons and loves to bake, travel and read.

“The Secret” for Bloggers

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You’ve heard of The Secret, the system that applies the laws of attraction to fulfill your wildest dreams?

Basically, you write down or make a tangible representation of your goals and then let your subconscious mind do the work of drawing those things into your life.

I do think there is magic in documenting your dreams, but I have a slight twist on The Secret that I’d like to share.

Step 1: What do you want?

Make a list of all the wonderful things you’d love to happen for your blog. For example:

  • 20 comments per post
  • 100 social shares
  • TV interviews or appearances
  • Asked to guest post for influential blogs
  • Linked from other blog sites
  • Listed in top blogs roundups
  • More than 200 subscribers

Step 2: Give it generously.

Start doing all of those things for bloggers you admire. Sincerely get out there and comment, share, ask them to guest post for you. Ask them to do a video interview on your blog. Write a big list of bloggers you feel need more attention. Subscribe to new blogs.

Then watch what happens.

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Twitter as @rhogroupe

WordPress Plug-Ins to Make Your Website More User Friendly

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By Danny DeMichele

If you have built your website on WordPress you are lucky. There are so many plugins available to make your website more productive and fun for the users you are attracting. What’s more is these plugins change the way you can interact with your customer base in a way that grows loyalty. You will quickly find that certain plugins will draw people back as well as attract new users.

Here are some plug-in ideas for you to sample:

Slider Revolution

This WordPress plugin helps bring your website to life. You are no longer stuck with the same intro sliders that everyone else has. Instead you can build a slider that makes sense for presenting your content. It is also easy to change so you can make your website new and dynamic daily.

Breadcrumbs

You want to use SEO and drive traffic to your site. Often the search engine then takes the user to the exact page showing no relationship to your home page or anything else you have to offer. Breadcrumbs helps the visitor navigate your page and clearly shows the relationship.

Subscribe to Comments

When users surf the web, they might leave behind a comment, but depending on their involvement may never return to the discussion. Subscribe to comments allows the person to know when the discussion continues and gets them more involved with your page. It also encourages them to leave comments because they can easily follow up.

WP Super Cache

No one comes to pages that take forever to load. While they might be patient the first time, it is frustrating when someone returns and it takes a long time again. Super Cache allows for lightning fast loading for your returning users and improves your return numbers.

CloudFlare

Everyone hates comment spam. CloudFlare allows you to see exact IP addresses of comments and you can then block the user at the source. No more tricking the system; instead you have ultimate control over your WordPress site.

Akismet

Another spam filter, this one does not require you do anything. It filters all sorts of spam on an autopilot mode 24 hours a day. You can go through the items that have been filtered if you like. It is not quite as good at shutting down things at the IP level, but it can get spam removed more quickly.

Facebook Comments for WordPress

The world is username- and password-inundated and most people don’t have the patience to create new logins. This plugin allows them to use their Facebook account to leave comments. It gives them a way to follow through and it helps you navigate back to the person.

ShareThis

Using 50 different social networking sites, people can share your page via their preferred outlet. This helps you make the forum more open for all users and keeps you from having to run a million plugins. This is probably the most universal of all the ways to share content.

AJAX Contact Forms

The right contact form can help you build the best mailing list. People want a form that is easy to use and AJAX has provided just that. You can choose what data is required and it will utilize the auto-fill-in options for people who have saved their data. This saves them time and makes it more likely they will fill out your form. You can even use the direct Twitter messaging system to instantly confirm their note, making you timely, helping to stick in the user’s memory.

Whatever plugins you put on your WordPress page, you will want to follow how they affect traffic. A great analytics app will not only help you do this, but help you decide which plugins are the very best for your website. It is all about being flexible and WordPress plugins can help you make the right impression.

Author’s Bio: Danny DeMichele has been building and managing online businesses for the past 14 years. He recently sold his search engine marketing agency, eVisibility.com, to LSF Network, Inc., a top 20 private digital agency in the U.S. Danny is currently the CEO of Incubate.com, a digital marketing agency specializing in all things web.

Solve Communication Breakdowns with Your Blog

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By Brian Milne

Communication Breakdown,
It’s always the same,
Havin’ a nervous breakdown,
Drive me insane!

– Led Zeppelin, “Communication Breakdown”

Is it just me, or is all of this technology that’s “connecting us” actually discouraging real communication.

By definition, communication is an “exchange of information,” but even Webster suggests it should include a “personal rapport.”

But in today’s fast-paced, attention-deficit world, personal phone calls have given way to occasional emails and text messages. And, in many cases today, those one-on-one messages are being replaced by shotgun Facebook and Twitter blasts to a faceless social mediasphere.

So what about those defining moments in life, or business, that warrant more than 140 characters? Babies being born, companies doing actual good in the community and for the environment?

Those are the types of communications blogs were made for. Whether it’s a personal or corporate platform, your blog is your most important communication tool online.

Not only does the blog allow you to let your hair down, and write more freely about topics that will engage users, but it allows you to share that narrative with hundreds, thousands, even millions of readers.

And it allows you to complement your prose with strong images, videos and all of the other assets and plugins we can integrate into our blogs today.

But how do you make sure your blog doesn’t turn into another source of one-sided noise in this overly-saturated blogosphere? Here are six tips to help turn your blog into a two-way communication tool.

Use the Blog Often, and Well

They say quality over quantity. I say quantity AND quality.

For a majority of the blogosphere, blogs are successful because they do both. Their content is solid, so it gets shared. Their content is frequent, so it gets traffic.

A good blog is a two-headed monster, and you have to feed it often if you want your site to become a beast to be reckoned with online.

Don’t have time to blog as often as you’d like? Here are 10 tips for finding more time to blog.

Use the Blog to Keep Connections Updated

Ever have a situation where you’re traveling in a remote place, or are in the middle of an adventure and don’t have time to update all of your friends on your whereabouts? The blog is a great vehicle for updating the masses on your situation.

I used this same approach in 2007 when I paddled nearly 100 miles of California’s coast, and again this past fall with a photo blog from McCovey Cove during the World Series.

Posting updates to your blog will not only keep your friends and family informed, but it also saves you time so you don’t have to reach out to everyone in your social circle to give them a unique update.

Use the Blog to Share and Engage

For corporate blogs, running diaries like the examples above probably aren’t realistic, but taking the same, real-time updates approach will work for major events and conferences when content ideas are coming your way at a furious pace.

Take advantage of these events (which are content gold mines) by posting frequently around the topics and using social media (and the appropriate hashtags) to promote your work, because these types of milestones are often more timely and newsworthy than everyday posts.

Use the Blog to Collaborate

Have you ever thought of your blog as a collaboration tool?

Active online communities and blogs have amazing potential when it comes to collaborating online.

Turn your blog into a collaboration tool by: concluding posts with open-ended questions to drive reader comments, driving interaction through mobile engagement, and embedding polls, surveys and forms to pull user-generated content from the community.

The key is driving at that engagement and making sure your blog isn’t just a one-way communication.

Use the Blog to Motivate

The best part about having a phone conversation with a friend, colleague or mentor that you respect, is that the call is a two-way conversation.

Two-way conversations help resolve issues, breed new ideas and inspire and motivate both sides to strive for more.

Take the same approach on your blog.

The best posts in the blogosphere (think about all of the great content here on Successful-Blog.com) motivate and inspire, and your blog shouldn’t be any different.

Use the Blog to Listen

In conclusion, don’t just treat your blog as a one-way communication tool. Allow for comments on your posts.

Listen to and engage with those in the comments section and continue the conversation beyond the author tagline.

Take the discussion to your social networks to engage more connections in your social circle, and, gulp, even offline in the real world.

Imagine that, actually communicating with folks offline.

Robert Plant would be proud.

Author’s Bio: Brian Milne is the founder of the Hyped Blog Network and Meadows Interactive, an authorized seller of the WorkTraits behavioral assessment and work compatibility program. Share your communication tips and challenges with him on Twitter @BMilneSLO.

5 Steps to Increasing Your Blog Comments

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How to blog series

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Virginia Cunningham

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You’ve created a blog, made a few posts, maybe even installed some ads for the extra income. You’re locked and loaded to take the Internet by storm. But where are all the comments? Where is the dedicated audience breathlessly hanging on your every word?

Don’t worry, you don’t have to succumb to the tumbleweeds just yet. If you’re eager for more fans, here are five steps to increasing your blog comments.

1. Comment On Other Blogs

Before anything else, you need to establish your presence in your field. This is most easily achieved by commenting on other blogs and making a name for yourself as someone worth listening to. By making smart, funny and helpful comments on other blogs, readers will be interested enough to follow you back to your own.

2: Respond To Comments

No one likes to be ignored, and if your commenters feel like they’re shouting into an empty void, they become much less likely to comment in the future. To gain (and keep) an active community of followers, you’ll need to make a habit of responding to their comments. Answer their questions. Suggest new tech. Outsource their problems if you have to. Regardless of the content, just make sure their comments don’t go unnoticed. They’ve taken time out of their lives to comment on your blog; the least you can do is offer them the same courtesy.

3. Create A Community

It’s basic psychology: people like to belong. Take advantage of this by turning your commenting pool into a community – a place with its own language and lingo, a place where people can build friendships and swap stories without feeling out of place. If something happens to one of your followers, spotlight it. If you think two people would really get along, mention it. Make introductions among your followers. Create memes. Reference inside jokes in your updates. When new visitors feel the urge to “fit in,” you’ll know you’re doing it right.

4. Ask For Opinions

The best thing that can happen to any blog is a lively debate, so inspire some passion by soliciting the opinions of your followers. Make polls, ask leading questions (“what do you guys think?”) and encourage the most vocal of your readers. Don’t be afraid to touch on scandalous topics, because those often create the most heated (and long-running) exchanges.

5. Be Interesting

What makes you comment on a blog? What pushes you from a mere reader to an active participant in an exchange of ideas? It wouldn’t have happened if the blog wasn’t interesting or engaging enough to merit your response.

To this extent, if you want comments, you just have to be a good blogger. You need to be active, interesting, and well-informed in your field. Your post should be entertaining and relevant. Your comments should be smart and useful.

Simply put, if you want more comments on your blog, make your blog worth commenting on.

Author’s Bio: Virginia Cunningham is a freelance technology writer based in Los Angeles, California. She currently blogs about id security, social media and gadgets.

Thank you, Virginia! Engagement is always a noble quest.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Are Blog Comments the new Mundane Commute?

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A Guest Post by Scott P. Dailey

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I’m concerned about the purity of the conversations undergone in blog comments. I’m concerned that many are not all that pure after all.

I’m finding that often blog commenting appears to be something akin to a bunch of people not-so gingerly exchanging business cards and PowerPoints and even worse, trite and banal ass-kissing.

Yawn.

What if hundreds of comments on a blog you love were actually nothing more than a mirage? The post was terrific, but the post’s comment mojo was less the result of the post’s quality and more the result of self-important opportunism and profiteering? What if the 100 comments can be reasonably likened to a pack of hyenas scrambling to snag a bite of the feast the author has laid out by virtue of her blog’s popularity? Popular blog, popular blogger, hmmm?

The New Commute

What if everyone put driving traffic via comments above any other engagement priority? What degree of coloring the commenting exercise with this agenda is too much degree? “It’s networking,” some of you may be saying to yourself. I get that. But what I asked was, what if everyone did this? That’s my concern. I mix for business purposes too. But what if we’re cheapening the commenting progression to such a degree that it’s becoming the new overcrowded commute we all try so hard each day to avoid? You know the one? We funnel like drones off the train and force ourselves through the turnstyles, up the stairs, out the doors, all to chase a little bit of money? What if blog comments were the new matrix, the new false reality devoid of any pure and true moments?

To some of you, perhaps I sound naive, or maybe even a bit of a whiner. I’m probably a little of both to tell the truth. Well look, I believe, pie in the sky or not, that the world is what we make it. And so it is with blog commenting.

A Challenge to Contributors

Draft a comment to a blog post you sincerely enjoyed reading. Launch your word processing software and dazzle us. Done? Super. Now do it again, this time imagining that you do not have an online identity. No Twitter, Facebook or YouTube accounts either. You have nothing you want to sell, teach or promote. You need nothing from me. Plain and simple: you enjoyed the post and wanted to add to the dialog. There is literally no gain for you outside that which is had by engaging others in a meaningful discussion.

Are the two drafts the same? Now that you’ve completed both versions, each with a different agenda motivating you, what observations can you make about your commenting habits?

What kind of observations have you made about the state of blog commenting in today’s blogosphere? I would love to hear your take.

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Scott P. Dailey is a Web designer, copywriter and network administrator. Recently Scott launched ( http://scottpdailey.com ), his social media blog that makes connections between social networking etiquette and the prevailing human social habits that drive on and offline business engagement patterns. You can connect with Scott via Twitter at @scottpdailey.

Creative Commons License photo credit: Maguis & David

Thanks, Scott!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

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