I have a confession to make: I have not been the greatest blogging community member since creating Frugal Confessions in March 2009. I have managed to go through substantial periods of time without commenting on other blogs, I have not “followed” all of the people following me on Twitter, there are missed emails sporadically lost in my inbox, and I’ve probably alienated more than a few commenters. Aside from not being a socialite to begin with, I think the main reason is how I approached my blog from the beginning.
After not being able to break into the columnist world in 2008, I approached my blog as someone would approach a column. Being a writer was always a dream of mine and the various columnists I read in the newspaper each week were my superstars. As a young girl I envisioned my adult life as being holed up in my office brainstorming article ideas, clicking and clacking away at my computer and ending each week by sending off one beautifully finished product to my editor.
I could practically see my own name in the byline of a 1.5” by 3” section of a paper; I even daydreamed about discretely purchasing a newspaper from a newspaper stand to read my own words in print. “Liking” someone, reading tweets, and engaging in social dialogue with other bloggers…this was just not what I had envisioned. Not only had I not included all of this socializing into my daydreams, but I also felt that helping others through social media was like helping a colleague get a promotion over me. Why would anyone want to do that?
What I failed to see in my first year and a half of blogging was that it’s not every man or woman for themselves in the blogging world; it’s every blog for each other. Another blog’s Alexa ranking, page rank, or other metric increasing is not something that threatens my blog. You do not have to be chosen for one of the coveted blogging positions like you do for the dwindling columnist positions still available because there is enough room for a limitless number of blogs.
With that being said, I wanted to share with you what I have learned through the Yakezie and other bloggers on how to become a better blogging community member.
Introduce Yourself to New Bloggers
As Pat Flynn stated at the Financial Blogger’s Conference, a new blog is created every six seconds. You may feel comfortable in your own pack of bloggers consisting of those who came before you and those who started around the same time as you. However, blogging is one of the hottest side jobs around—especially with so many having lost their jobs in the Recession—and it is a great idea to introduce yourself to the newest blogs on the block. You could provide yourself as a resource, give a few tidbits of advice, or offer yourself as a mentor to them. Sometimes it’s just nice to check in with a neighborly “hello” through an email or a comment. Try to remember what it was like for you when you were just starting out, and how excited you were at the sign of life out there.
Finding new blogs can be difficult because they are not ranked high in the search engines. The Yakezie public forums (Blogger’s Lair) is a great resource for finding newbie bloggers. Sometimes readers of your own blog turn into bloggers themselves; be sure to visit them and offer some encouragement.
Give Love to Pet Projects
Fellow bloggers are putting lots of time, mental energy, and money into pet projects that have no chance of getting off the ground without people like you and I getting involved. I learned this firsthand through my experience with my $5 Left at the End of the Month initiative where I challenged others to come within $5 of their budgets each month in order to spend that $5 on a Random Act of Kindness. The goal was set to collectively make $10,000 worth of Random Acts of Kindness. Despite my efforts to inspire others by writing about our own random acts of kindness and to encourage readers who were sharing their stories, the Frugal Confessions community was only able to make an impact of less than $200.
Whether it’s to donate money, retweet introduction posts, link to updates, or just participate, try to give other blogger’s pet projects some love. Just to highlight a few such initiatives, you could get involved in J. Money and Nate St. Pierre’s >Love Drop, Penny’s >The Saved Quarter Challenge, or Smart Family Finance’s >Weekly Saturday Interview Segment.
Thank Others
When others are kind enough to link to your articles, retweet something of yours, or include you in an article, send them a thank you. You can find links through trackbacks on your blog (sometimes they show up in spam). You can also find links by setting up a Google Alert with your blog’s name to get a better idea of when your blog is mentioned on another person’s site.
Give Link Love
After writing your fantastic post, conduct an internet search to find articles of interest on other blogs. Find a few that strike your fancy and include a link to these articles within the text of your blog post, or at the end under a title of something like “Other Articles You May Enjoy”.
Look Out for What Other Blogger’s Would Find Interesting
When reading another person’s blog if you know an answer to a question they have posed, you have a link or information to something they have expressed interest in, or you just think they might enjoy something, leave a comment or send them an email.
Be a Blogging Consultant
We are not on our individual blogs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Many of us have experienced a blogging glitch that we would not have known about if someone had not taken the time to email, tweet, or comment about it. If you see someone else’s blog is down, shoot them an email. If something is looking wacky, leave a comment. Chances are good they do not know and they will be incredibly thankful to you.
Meet Up in Person
Find bloggers within driving distance to meet up with. I live just one hour from Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff and we’ve met up twice over the last year. The next time you are traveling, see if any bloggers live near where you’re going to. Also, go to conferences in your blogging niche. I recently attended the Financial Blogger’s Conference and got to meet over 40 bloggers face to face that previously I had only known through emails and forum chats.
Host a Carnival
There are prestigious carnivals, carnivals that were once great and are now fledgling, and carnivals that are just being lifted off of the ground (see pet projects above). Take a hand in a carnival’s success by volunteering to host it for the week. A new one on the horizon is My University Money’s Carnival of Financial Camaraderie.
Host a Virtual Party
With blogging you build close relationships with real people. Even though you may be hundreds or thousands of miles apart, celebrating milestones in your friends’ lives is just as important. When Two Peas and Their Pod were close to having their first baby, blogging buddies hosted a surprise >virtual baby shower. Around 30 bloggers each made a recipe in honor of the coming baby and then linked to their blog. Needless to say, the blog owners were touched!
While I have not mastered the examples above, I have seen them in action as well as the very positive wave they can send through the blogosphere. Each day that I blog I strive to learn more, to become more, and to develop into a better blogging community member. I am sure I will continue to flail about in the social media realm, but if flailing means I send a small ripple your way, then I will gladly continue to do so.
Have you been touched by acts of other bloggers? What are ways you have become a better blogging community member? What are areas you need to work in?
Thanks for linking! I love using both the linking methods you talked about under give link love. I wish I was more consistent with the “Other Articles You May Enjoy” section.
I feel like my biggest problem us usually lack of time. I wind up having to choose between content and reaching out to others. I don’t feel like I’ve found the correct balance. I try and do at least one post a month that links back to everyone that has linked to me.
Hello Shaun!
You are most welcome. You have good company with lack of time; my main priority is the writing, and I find that if I get too lost in social media land my writing (and my brain) suffers. The key is to finding a balance for you that works. I am still working on finding mine!
Excellent points, Amanda! It was great to meet you in person. I wish we could have talked more. :) For months I never responded to comments on my blog. I don’t know why, but I thought if I did I would stop the conversation; if anything I found that commenting on my readers’ comments actually generates more conversation. It is also wonderful to meet bloggers in person and get to know the person behind the blog.
Pat Flynn said a blog is created every 6 seconds. I wonder how many blogs are dormant or shut down because the blogger feels isolated blogging and getting no recognition because no one knows about his or her blog. Your tips help prevent that from happening.
It was great meeting you as well! Though you are right–we had hardly anytime to talk.
I am so happy you opened yourself up to answering comments; I feel you have a lot to teach your readers. Also, I find that by answering comments, ideas for articles abound!
Great thoughts Amanda. I think one thing I did early on in spades was socialize and get involved. I think it really helped. Now that I have a few month under my belt (almost a year!) I’ve been trying to assist others – both seasoned and green. It helps to give back and I know that TONS of people helped me early on and continue to do so to this day.
I’ve seen your efforts in assisting others and I think it is great! This is an area I am trying to branch out in–sharing my limited “expertise” with newer bloggers (I used to be there not too long ago!).
Agreed. Great post and you mention some really good strategies. Like SPF, I have tried really hard the last number of months to lend a hand to others as they need. I also have really increased my commenting on other sites. At first I wasn’t sure if I was going to keep up but I seem to be doing ok so far.
You points are great- I like to personally thank people when they link to me. Sometimes I miss it and so it’s great to hear about Google Alert. What doesn’t google do?! I’ve been pleasantly surprised by all the support and good will that has been sent our way in the short time we joined Yakezie.
Great article. So many from Yakezie have already helped me as I am getting settled. It is so much fun to connect with others that care about the same things as you too.
Thank you 20’s Finances! I hope you are settling in well.
Wonderful points Amanda- I think promoting and highlighting great posts from other sites has been a win-win for me. Readers enjoy discovering new perspectives and I get to learn from other bloggers.
Hello Elle!
You do an excellent job of promoting others’ on twitter–bravo to you! I am still getting my hands around it; I did just purchase my first smartphone and I think that will help a lot with managing everything. I just hope it does not manage me!
It’s easy to ‘find’ the balance, but the difficult is to stay on track with that balance. Usually you get caught up in one aspect at a particular time, and sort of lose focus on some of the other items (all great, btw) that you highlight. If, over time, you can keep a good balance of writing, interacting, and promoting, you’ll be just fine.
I like your thoughts Money Beagle. It is also very easy to get semi-obssessed with one aspect of blogging or one aspect of social media to the exclusion of all others.
Visiting new blogs is very important. I still remember the blogger who left the first comment on my blog and he continued to visit and support for new posts. It really kept me going.
This is another area I am not particularly good at. I find that there are so many new bloggers I just cannot keep up–and I hate saying that sentence because it makes it sound like I do not care. I do care, and am making better efforts.
This is a great article, Amanda. Some great tips for becoming a better blogger that even veterans like ourselves would do well to improve upon in our own blogging endeavors.
Thank you BeatingBroke!
Excellent points. I try to update my reader as new challengers join, but it is hard to keep up.
Hello Krantcents! This is an area I am very bad in. At least I’ve recognized it, and hopefully will improve.
your confession totally resonates with me. i have been touched on recurring occasions when others go out of their way to mention something i have done, like most recently by Mike from TFB. i do have an ongoing list of TO DOs i plan to act upon to become a better member of the community as you started. thanks for the reminder Amanda.
I am happy to hear that this article is resonating with many!
You summarized my site – started in May 2009 and 90+% of our traffic comes from Google, Bing and Yahoo. I hope I can follow in your footsteps and build the referral traffic now that I’m serious about the networking aspect. Thanks for the post!
90% from Google is impressive! I get around 50%, and 30% from referrals.
Nicely done! I’m not the most social person in the real world, let alone the blogosphere world. But after meeting some of the other members at FINCON11, I feel much more comfortable.
Some of they thinks you mention above, I mirror exactly. It’s good to know that we’ve all grown together in size and perception of blogging…
It helps me to know that others are thinking about these things as well–we can’t all be crazy, right? Hahhahaha!
Great advice – I cant tell you how much it has helped me by being involved – I probably wouldnt be writing anymore if I wasnt involved with the yakezie.
I think there are many of us who may have fallen by the wayside if we had not joined Yakezie.
Along your same sentiments….another blog isn’t a zero sum game – we can build together!
Definitely! I used to love that zero sum game term by the way–I was an International Studies and Environmental Studies major:).
Ugh! Convicted! That’s Amanda, I needed to read your article today.
Hey Amanda, I try to thank those that link to me, and have been writing a weekly link post for about three months-anyone has a post they want to share, feel free to let me know. I usually go down the list in bloggers lair or our own yakezie list to find my articles.
I use tweetdeck and have lists made to help organize twitter. that helps me find the personal finance articles amongst all the chatter to Retweet and support.
Great post!
Haha… some awesome ideas. Oh, and we all forgive you… you have been one of the most encouraging people for me as I get started. I have appreciated all your input. I wish you the best going forward… you’re on my regular visit list!
Thank you Doctor Stock–it’s nice to hear that I come off as encouraging. We all need a lot of that!
As a new blogger I can relate to having difficulty finding a balance with promoting others work and sacrificing the time necessary to keep things moving on your own blog. It is not easy and will change with your priorities over time. One thing that I need to do is put tasks on a calendar so that I can make sure I am taking care of the important things.
I find that to-do lists are very good as well. If you don’t get around to everything one day, there is tomorrow!
I think you nailed it Amanda. It’s so easy to get so focused on your own blog that you’re not building relationships with others, and that ultimately can hurt your blogging efforts. Good post!
Thanks Matt! I am glad I’m not the only one with this dilemma.
Those are a lot of great tips! I’m going to try to really reach out more to new bloggers.
I’ll join you in your efforts there–I think new bloggers need a lot of encouragement, which is completely understandable (I know I did when it came to anything technical. I also wondered if I would always be writing for a black hole).
Great ideas, Amanda. I’m pushing myself to spend more time on the forums, not only for the interaction with the other members, but also because there is more to learn.
The forums and the people behind the forums are fantastic resources here–I feel so fortunate to be able to pose questions.
Seeing that you’re a Yakezie Blackbelt, I’d say you’ve been doing a pretty good job of being a blogging community member. Thanks for putting together these great ideas.
Thanks MaximizingMoney!
Great points Amanda, I’m going to be taking heed of these over the next six months.
Great tips Amanda. There are so many fantastic blogs out there and it can be difficult to stay on top of them all. I have a tough time finding the right balance between visiting other blogs and networking and working on my own projects.
Sometimes there just aren’t enough hours in the day. Thank goodness for long weekends for those of us who also work full-time–I work a compressed schedule so that I can have Fridays “off”. Ofcourse it’s never free on Fridays though…:).
Sounds advice Amanda! Really inspiring!
I really enjoyed meeting you at Fincon. You are a bundle of energy and enthusiasm. Cut yourself a break, no one is perfect!!!! You are doing great and i like your ideas for financial camraderie!
Thanks Barb! It was lovely meeting you as well:).
Amanda,
Good writing. Great suggestions.
Thank you.
Excellent points Amanda. This truly is a community, and together we can achieve more by supporting each other. I was fortunate to have an article published on one of my favorite blogs just three weeks into my blogging career. I naively thought it would be that easy to drive traffic, but I soon discovered that this would only happen if I promoted others too. I enjoy sharing great ideas and quality writing from this network, via social media and in the future with joint projects.
The interesting thing is that when it comes to Yakezie, not only does it not hurt when other blogs do well, but if you are commenting on those blogs (and vice versa) then you are part of the rising tide that will lift all boats!
Really good points, Amanda. Have to say, you’ve been an excellent Yakezie teammate! Also, it was nice to meet you at FINCON, even though it was for like 10 seconds at the buffet line :)
Thanks for writing this Amanda. It’s great reminder of why it’s so important to embrace the blogging community, and you give some pragmatic tips to employ. You have absolutely been so great for so long that’s it is somewhat shocking to read how you go started.
Wow every six seconds, really?! That’s great motivation for me to crank up my blogging initiatives. Yakezie is so awesome and is a huge reason why I haven’t given up on running my site. The community is so supportive and I’ve learned so much. Glad to have you as a fellow member!
Great tips, Amanda, I need to look more into some of these myself.
Don’t beat yourself up; we all lapse at times due to whatever else is going on in our lives. Here I am responding to posts weeks after they were published. :)
The most important tip is to help others and your will reap more than that amount in rewards — one way or another.