Today’s task in the 31-Days to Kick Your Blog in the Butt focuses on what you can do to to Egage in the conversations taking place in your niche or target market. Not only should you be engaging in conversations taking place on blogs, you should be engaging in the conversations taking place on social media outlets. Mainly twitter as you will see below.
Today’s teaching moment
Here is what I said in the first post in our series where we are talking about F.L.E.E.
Engage in the conversations taking place out there in the blogging world and twitterverse. This is where you have to get off your butt and do something. You should be reading blogs and you should be commenting on a minimum of 4 or 5 blogs a week. Leave a comment that adds something to the conversation. Engage in the conversation happening on twitter too. And I know this next one is going to shock you, post on your blog. You should be adding to the conversations taking place on other blogs and on twitter by engaging in those conversations by posting your own thoughts and input on your blog.
Commenting on other blogs…Something you just have to do!
However, don’t just comment for the sake of commenting. There are certain things you need to do and certain things you need to consider when commenting.
Leaving Better Comments:
- Read the full post
- Read all the comments
- Add a new perspective
- Add value to the original post
- Continue the thought of the original post
- Do not linkbait
- Come back and see if others have commented after you. (You can subscribe to comments now on many blogs)
While all of them are important and are things we all need to think about when leaving comments. There is one that I want to spend just a brief amount of time on, “do not linkbait”. Too many times I get comments on Blog For Profit which are nothing more than an attempt to get linkbaiting. The commenter is simply looking for a way to leave a comment so they can get a link to their own blog on another blog. You have all seen them. They go like this, “Great blog post, I completely agree.” Not only do they waste the other good commenters time, they waste the bloggers time. If you can’t leave more of a comment than that, don’t leave one at all.
What is great about this step in engaging in the conversations and commenting on other blogs is the fact you don’t have to have your own blog first to do so. A great reason to comment on other blogs before and after you have your blog launched is so you get noticed. Believe it or not, we bloggers notice when people comment. And we notice when someone is a repeat commenter. Getting noticed by other bloggers in your niche will gain you readers too.
And don’t forget that other commenters notice you too when you comment on a post. This is why it is especially important to add to the conversation when you comment. By doing so, the other commenters will notice and you have a better chance they will in turn click on the link leading to your blog and may even become your reader too.
Engaging in the conversation also includes posting on your own blog
Another way we engage in the conversations taking place in the blog world is by posting our own blog post which may be our own take on a particular topic. Especially if we are adding to the conversations taking place on other blogs. It is even better if you quote these other blogs who are discussing this issue and link to them. Linking to other blogs will get you noticed. But, that is for our discussion another day.
Adding your own opinion on a particular topic will also help to establish you as a source of information and a “thought leader” or “opinion shaper” in your niche or market. In other words, post, post and post again.
Engaging in the conversation also includes conversations on twitter
Don’t stop with engaging in the conversations at commenting and posting. Take advantage of one of the best networking and marketing tools available and that is social media. Specifically twitter. Twitter has become one of the greatest sources for readers to this blog and for a channel to the conversations we have going on here too. You should be doing the same thing on twitter you are doing blogging.
- Commenting on conversations on twitter
- Adding to and initiating conversations on twitter
In other words, get involved in the conversations on twitter. Become a source of information not only on your blog, but also on twitter. We will discuss twitter and how to use it in the very near future. In fact, be watching for an upcoming ebook I am working on for using twitter.
Today’s consumers expect you to be engaged
This last point is key. No longer can we hide in our dusty stock rooms or in our musty offices. The internet has created consumers of products and services who are expecting us to engage them. Engage them in a conversation about our products, us and even them. Yes, the internet has opened up a tremendous wealth of possibilities. It has also brought with it challenges. And those business or firms who are not willing to engage are not going to last. Our consumers will quickly become someone else’s. Someone other than our own. They will go to those who are willing to engage in the conversations taking place.
Today’s Homework
This may be the longest homework assignment I suggest during this entire 31-Days. But I also think it is one of the most important.
- Visit, read and comment on a minimum of 4 blogs this week using the suggestions mentioned above
- Write 2 blog post this week that add to and continue a conversation you found on the blogs you left comments on. And make sure you link back to them in the blog post.
- Leave a link to 5 other blog post you find might interest those who follow you on twitter this week. I personally try to do this 4 or 5 times a day. So I know you can do 5 times in one week.
- Jump in and add to 3 different conversations on twitter. You can find these conversations by using Twitter Search, which we discussed the other day.
Make sure you all report back here in the comments on how this went for you and what the results were. We all want to know and we all learn from each too.
Also don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS feed for Blog For Profit. That way you won’t miss a single installment of 31-Days to Kick Your blog in the Butt.







