Kick-Starting Your Networking With Blog Commenting
Posted on February 15, 2008 by
Adie 
Blogging, Promotion 
9 Comments
Amongst all kinds of traffic generation methods, blog commenting is still one of the very best. It not only drives immediate traffic that’s already interested in your blog, but can also help you network with others in your market. That is of course if you do it right. In this article I’ll reveal my formula for getting the most out of your blog commenting efforts.
First let me tell you that I use a daily routine. At the beginning of each day, to get my writing juices flowing, I comment on at least ten different blogs. This helps me get in the mood of writing and gets my creativity going, since I’m commenting on articles of various subjects.
At the end of the day I do the same. Just like running, you have a warm-up and cool-down. The latter is essential to mentally put an end to the day, so that your mind is empty the moment you leave your computer. Plus it can bring you some ideas to write about on your blog the next day.
Now I’ve found that there are good blogs to comment on for different purposes. Those with high readership can bring you a bunch of traffic. Those with a high Pagerank will increase yours and thus your rankings in the search engines. But to build a relationship with another blogger, which will later bring you a lot of traffic and maybe even a joint venture - is to comment on a blog that rarely gets any comments.
That last type of blog is my favorite to comment on. It gives me direct access to the person I’d like to become friends or do business with. The blogger will notice my comment and actually have the time to personally respond to it.
My formula for these kind of comments is actually pretty simply:
1. Comment on the article, providing additional information or discussion without promoting my own sites.
2. Putting in something personal, obtained by reading the About page or simply doing a few minutes of research on his blog or on Google.
3. Responding back whenever he replies on my comment.
4. Giving him a hand, by offering a guest post, some resources of even my time to have a friendly chat with him.
By following the formula outlined you above you actually nail the requirements for forming an initial relationship with the person. You show understanding and appreciation. Then you show that you’re intelligent and want to contribute to the blogger’s success, instead of only being there for your own win.
You can easily find these blogs by going thru the so-called Blogroll. Try to find those blogs that have great and thoughtful content, but haven’t been noticed by a big crowd yet. Generally these bloggers post several times a week, participate a lot in blog carnival’s and their only comments are from those trackbacks.
In my next article I’ll introduce you to my Blog Scorecard, a trick I use to motivate myself and keep on track with my goals. So stay tuned!
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I enjoy commenting on blogs that have content worth commenting on.
I use Bloglines to follow the blogs feeds I like and as I am reading I find great content. If there is anything I can comment on I do.
I also like forums but blogs win out because I can leave a different address each time. If a blog post is about a topic I have a post on I can leave a link to that page. Whereas a forum signature stays the same for all you comments.
So I would agree that blog commenting is the best.
I like the way your post encourages comments, Adrian.
Perhaps that could also be one of the goals of commenting in blogs: to motivate others to join the “conversation.”
Thanks for the article, great tips!
Blog commenting is very helpful when it comes to networking your blog and also driving some traffic. People are much more likely to help you if you’re a regular commenter on their blog.
Also worth noting is that smaller blogs tend to be more giving. As the (not yet established blogger) will more than likely visit your blog and maybe even become a loyal reader of your blog.
I barely never have anything to say. I usually will almost always find a post that catches my eye and peaks my interest. This is where i will usually impart my .5 cents.
Dont just comment for commenting sake. I really dislike the “i agree” or the “this is a great post” comments. C’mon add value. Think and surely you will come up with something to say that adds even abit of value.
One more thing, well a question.
How do we know if a blog is a dofollow blog? Sometimes they will have a badge on the blog stating this, but otherwise how do we know this?
Very hard to determine but to help you I would use this little piece of Software:
http://www.portalfeeder.com/commentkahuna.php
I comment on someones blog for many reasons. If I enjoy an article, I want to let them know. I may also choose to comment on the content, or develop a point further.
Sometimes this results in a conversation, or the start of a relationship. Both of which are useful.
David, this is probably the best advice to give any blogger. Blog commenting is the most elusive skill for any newcomer to social media.
A lot of people start a blog and then two months later are wondering why no one posts comments or subscribes to their blog.
It’s because they have not engaged in commenting - entering the online conversation.
We did a online video tutorial about strategic blog commenting to help our clients and others understand what and how to place comments.