Make a mark when leaving comments on other people’s blog posts or your own.
1. Respond
As a blogger, I know first-hand how frustrating it can be to have an audience that doesn’t respond when you ask them a specific question (and I don’t mean the usual ‘what do you think?’). Leverage this frustration by being the first or among the first to react in the comments.
2. Give honest feedback
Except for in very specific situations, leaving a ‘loved this’ or ‘thanks for this’ comment is the blogging equivalent of poking someone on Facebook; the 2 seconds you took to do it is the same 2 seconds of thought the blogger will give to it before forgetting it.
Instead, tell the blogger what you liked about their article or better yet, how it could be improved if the blogger decided to do a followup.
3. Tell a related story
Show that the blogger’s point made a connection with you by sharing your own similar experience or one you’ve heard.
4. Back up the blogger
Danny Dover of Seomoz shared this tip, where a nice way to get a blogger’s attention is by posting something (e.g. a link to another article) that supports what the blogger is saying.
5. Complete the blog post
Did the blogger post a list of tips? Give another. Did she blog an opinion piece? Explain a different viewpoint. Was the article a compilation of resources? Add some more.
6. Promote the blog post
If you appreciated the article, promote it on social media, and tell the blogger that you did so. If possible, link to wherever you promoted it, giving your claim more credibility.
Here’s an example of this tactic that I’ve been using for years. If I like a blog post and it’s relevant to job search, I’ll ‘thumb it up’ and review it using the JobMob Stumbleupon account and then leave a comment with a link to the review on SU. This is a win-win tactic because if the thumbing-up sends traffic to the blog post, many of those readers may also see your comment and click through to your own website.
7. Send a trackback
One of my favorites – if you found the blog post worthy enough, mention it on your own blog, hopefully generating a trackback among the comments of the original article (WordPress blogs do this, not so much the others). This is the ultimate expression of appreciation for a blogger’s work.
Bonus
8. Comment regularly
Simply being consistent is a way to stand out. Nigerian branding expert Yinka Olaito regularly comments on articles here on the Personal Branding Blog, and for a long period of time, it seemed like he always had something to say with each of my articles. However, for the past few weeks, he hasn’t left his regular comment and now I’m wondering where he went. Mission accomplished.
By adding value to the blogger’s article, the blogger and her visitors will be happy that you left your comment. Depending on how impressive your comment is, many of them will also want to learn more about you.
Author:
Jacob Share, a job search expert, is the creator of JobMob, one of the biggest blogs in the world about finding jobs. Follow him on Twitter for job search tips and humor.
