Comments on: Taking your Blog to a Community

By: Jason Preston

Jason Preston — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:37:14 +0000

This is a great collection of advice, Connie – well put together. I can’t emphasize the value of leaving intelligent comments – sure, if you’re lucky you’ll get a few clicks, but the real win is that blog authors know who their regular commenters are.

I’d also suggest that you should include a regular call to action in your post for your RSS feed. Feed stats, like every other web stat, are often a bit inflated, but a subscriber (read: community member) in my mind is far more valuable than just a reader.

By: Marisa

Marisa — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:21:33 +0000

Thank you, Connie.
I find it unbelievably hard to find communities that relate to the subject area I’ve been blogging in. But then, I’m in Indonesia and the social media is quite limited to very few niches in here.
Quite sure I’d find more internationally.

Wish me luck and thanks again!

By: Dee Stewart

Dee Stewart — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:07:57 +0000

Thanks, Connie.

I have been working on a few ebooks for my blog and thinking about podcasting or hosting a one hour radio show on book promotion, but wasn’t sure if this was a step to take or too commonplace. After reading this I will take out the excuses and get to it. Thanks.

By: Connie Bensen

Connie Bensen — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 03:40:10 +0000

Wayne, you’re correct. It is more like bringing the community to your blog. :)

And thank you everyone for your comments & especially to Darren for inviting me to write a guest post.

Connie

By: Chase Roper

Chase Roper — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:15:55 +0000

This was an article well worth printing.

I wanted to share that I submit posts to Associated Content as non-exclusive works. I don’t get much pay from them – but its syndicated across their vast network and includes links back to my original site.

By: Daria

Daria — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:38:08 +0000

Thank you Darren. These are truely great tips. I’ve been reading a book Blog Marketing by Jeremy Wright and I was surprised that you’ve managed to give more information about blogging and communities than his whole book. Kudos!

By: Wayne Tully

Wayne Tully — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 18:24:25 +0000

Taking your blog to a community….??

With all that you mention, it’s like bringing the community to you!

I’ve started the google alert route and it really does come up with potential community groups and niche partners to get interactive with and I will continue to do that!

So thanks!

By: 13 Ways to Build Links that Increase Traffic

13 Ways to Build Links that Increase Traffic — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 12:37:48 +0000

I have to say that posting on relevant Forums with my sig link and adding meaningful and helpful answers does wonders for traffic to my sites and blog. Also I think communities such as MyBlogLog is a fantastic source of traffic to blogs.

Thank you for the great post!
JR

By: Noobpreneur

Noobpreneur — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 12:13:46 +0000

Hi,

Some fine tips! Requesting guest blogging – That what I ought to do :)

Thanks!

By: Dan

Dan — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 03:55:09 +0000

Great ideas, Connie. I am now a new subscriber to your blog.

Dan

By: amirulcyber

amirulcyber — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 01:54:02 +0000

Thank you for sharing information.you are best mentor.

By: super blogger

super blogger — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 23:40:50 +0000

Do something unusual ..
Like this clips
http://boringblogz.blogspot.com/2008/07/dance-with-matt.html

By: Ryan McLean

Ryan McLean — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 23:09:40 +0000

It is important to engage other people when bringing them to your blog, then they have more chance of sticking around

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:59:35 +0000

Nice post. I appreciate your approach. :)

By: Luis Gross

Luis Gross — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:27:01 +0000

Social media is definitely a great way to leverage traffic. Recently I started using StumbleUpon and its been sending me a decent amount of traffic; the more I submit reviews, the more traffic I receive. I haven’t had much success with Digg–I still don’t get how people get the “ton” of traffic Digg sends to their sites.

Also, I have a great community over at MyBlogLog. I just send a message out to everyone, and most of them come check out what I’m talking about.

Overall, I now get 85% of my traffic from social media sites, and I never thought I could have pulled it off.

PS is it me, or has there been a gargantuan amount of guest posts lately? Am I missing something?

By: Mykl Roventine

Mykl Roventine — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 20:21:06 +0000

Thanks Connie for such a helpful, actionable guide. It’s so difficult to get the bigger picture view of this sort of outreach. Especially when you’re engaged in it. Without a master plan it often feels scattered and ineffective. Following these steps brings badly needed structure to the process.Thanks to Darren as well for sharing the mic!

By: Nick Stewart

Nick Stewart — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:53:15 +0000

I think joining other communities and contributing is really quite crucial.

I have found joining forums and leaving good comments on other related blogs work best for me.

Tips for building a community and getting traffic using forums:

1) Start by finding a forum related to your niche and make sure signatures are allowed.

2) Be sure to read forum rules and regulations before joining any forum. Nearly all forums don’t allow affiliate links in your signature or within threads.

3) Build your reputation as an expert in your niche. Provide quality information in your posts and replies.
Users of a forum will only click on the link in your signature if you’ve enlightened them.
One tactic you can use is by creating a new thread with pure information in your niche, almost like a blog post.

4) Never link to your own site within content of threads unless the rules say it’s ok. And then make sure your link is totally relevant. Otherwise, only place a link to your site within your signature.

Another huge benefit of forum marketing is that you’re talking with others in your niche. At the same time you’re driving traffic to your site, you’re market researching. You’re finding out the biggest problems in your niche, so that you can provide solutions in the form of an info products or website content.

By: Manpreet Singh

Manpreet Singh — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:52:03 +0000

Definitely the community of readers help you grow as so many people empower you by reading your articles..

By: www.StocksHaven.com

www.StocksHaven.com — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:36:14 +0000

I agree with being generous to your friends, because the only began my blogging adventure is due to my friend Dev Basu.

By: Lee Stranahan

Lee Stranahan — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 15:48:08 +0000

Great post.

I rencently did this on my fledging site about motorcycles and scooter. I was going through blogs and I found a guy with a great photo blog about his travels. One of his pictures had been featured in a magazine and Jay Leno happened to be on the cover.

I commented and asked him if we wanted Jay’s autograph; I work at NBC and see Jay all the time. The blogger ended up linking to my blog. I didn’t ask – I was just trying to help which makes it the best kind of honest community building I think.