Blogging 201 – Leave meaningful comments
A few weeks back, I asked on Twitter whether people would appreciate if I wrote a series of blog posts on blogging for beginners. Paul Rickett suggested that everyone and their mother had already written that kind of series of posts. A couple of my good friends have books on blogging coming out. And I figured “well, what can I write that can be useful to my readers who want to blog, once they’ve actually begun blogging, but that can be sort of a refresher course or a way to move forward along with their blogs” – and so this will be on “now that I have a blog”.
I have been pondering about what would be the content I would share on the Blogging 201 series, and I figure that the first tip is one that people (even some fairly well seasoned bloggers) seem to forget relatively easily. When you choose to comment on a site, drop a meaningful comment. This doesn’t mean that it has to be perfect.
Sometimes, you can feel that you can’t really add to the conversation, but you want to still express support or care for the blogger. For example, there are times when I feel overwhelmed and I tweet “I need a hug right about now”. And I get several responses just saying “virtual hug for you“. That alone helps. In the case of a blog post, even if you don’t feel like you can contribute much to the conversation, it doesn’t hurt if you say “not sure what to say, but just want you to know I’m here”.
I, personally, appreciate all the comments. I know that many people read blogs and don’t feel like commenting, but even if you feel that you can’t really give add much on to the conversation, you can still say “I’m here, I’m listening, appreciate what you are writing”.
Related posts:
- Blogging 201 – Respond to comments on your blog
- Use an offline blogging tool (Blogging 201)
- Blogging 201 Reconnect with old blogging friends
- Blogging about blogging, Twittering about Twitter…
- How much readership would I lose if I were to stop blogging for a while?
I love your blog!!! And I appreciate you taking the time to write
Now can you review more restaurants? Heheheh
Here and listening! Commenting is a great way to join a conversation (or start one), and it can be a great marketing tool – not to mention a quick education at times! Looking forward to the series!
You know I’m here. I just rarely have much to add to the conversation. Twitter’s killing my commenting ability.
As someone who writes multiple blogs, I sometimes allow the lack of commenting to get me down. It’s such a validation when someone not only says great post, but explains why or adds to the conversation somehow wither their own stories or opinion. I often forget that to get you have to give, so I am trying to give a little more.
Thanks Raul.
Soooo true! You don’t have to leave a witty comment to win my love, any comment makes you my friend forever. *smile*
Absolutely. I love getting comments even the ones that just say, “I hear ya.” And, you know what? Comment on my blog and I’ll be checking out your blog for sure.
I’m reading, listening, hearing, and saying that I like your blogs
Before I met you, I thought of you as a ‘celebrity’ of sorts because you’re well known in the local social media/blogging community. I was honestly excited of the prospect of meeting you for the first time. You’re a great candid communicator and I do think your experience in blogging is invaluable.
Back to the topic of commenting. I like receiving comments, no matter if they’re positive or not. It means that whatever topic or content I’ve written has resonated with that reader and they felt compelled enough to communicate their thoughts with me. I thought it was awesome that my simple review on Foundation had such a heated ‘comment’ debate around it.