I think if I read one more blog post from someone whining about not getting any traffic, I think I’ll scream. Let me pull out my violin for all you social networking whiners and play you a slow sad song. Boo-Hoo, Waah! “I want traffic, You want traffic. We all want traffic!” Well, so what! What are you really doing about it?! And don’t tell me, “I leave comments” or “I Stumble and give a thumbs up and reviews” or “I Zoom blog posts” or… (insert your personal favorite whine). Well guess what? So is everybody else! Now what are you going to do to stand out from the rest?
Let me ask you whiners a question: What does your blog offer that would make anyone want to visit, comment, subscribe or link to your blog? Who are you anyway? Does anyone even know you or know that your blog exists? I know, you’re probably going to tell me that you write fabulous articles/posts that are very helpful to others, and you just want people to know about them. Yeah okay, yawn. Well, I’ve got a little secret for you; so do I and many other bloggers. Now what? If you want to keep whining about it, go ahead and take a few minutes and get it out of your system, then pay very close attention to what I’m about to tell you.
Social Networking Sites
You can join all the social networking sites that you want, but it won’t do you one bit of good unless you actively participate in getting to know your fellow bloggers on a more personal basis. Commenting on other blogs is certainly helpful to some degree, but just running from one blog to the next dropping comments in hopes that you’ll get noticed, just might get your comments filtered as spam.
Joining Entrecard, MyBlogLog, BlogCatalog, BloggingZoom, Bumpzee, Stumble Upon, Digg, Sphinn, and all the others won’t get you noticed unless you actively participate. I laugh out loud when I receive messages on BlogCatalog or MyBlogLog saying “Thank you for visiting my blog”, when I have never ever been to their blog. They’ve just ensured that I will never drop by their blog (at least not on purpose). I’ve even gone so far as to edit my email notifications of messages received on both BlogCatalog and MyBlogLog due to the high number of spammers.
How To Get Your Blog Noticed
The key to social networking and getting noticed comes from building personal relationships with other bloggers, even those that are not in your blogging niche. Does John Chow know who I am? Probably not, why should he? I’ve commented from time to time on his blog, but I only do so if I feel I have something to add to his post, which is often few and far between. Does Darren Rowse or Andy Beard know who I am? Maybe, but so what. Why should either of them care about my blogging about relationships and parenting children and teens?
One sure-fire way of getting noticed is by taking the time to write a personal email to another blogger discussing how you were personally benefited by one of their posts, or perhaps even discussing or suggesting an idea for an upcoming post. Rob from 2Dolphins.com recently emailed me asking me my thoughts on the affects technology has on children today, thus leading me to write my post “Technology and Children - A Wake Up Call For Parents”. Had he not emailed me with those questions, it may not have occurred to me to write what turned out to be a very popular post.
Blog Links
Freely linking to other blogs or specific posts that help further develop and expound on your own post, without expecting anything in return, is by far what has worked best for me in increasing traffic to my blog. Whenever I find a post that has valuable information I know will be of benefit to others, I bookmark the page and link to it in an upcoming post. You have to “give to get”, but doing so with selfish motives or expecting a reciprocal link later on down the road is ridiculous. Does Stephan Miller and Dane Morgan know who I am? You betcha they do!
Some people initially thought of as “controversial” or “downright intimidating” get noticed because they are actually very nice and helpful when needed, answering questions and giving helpful advice. Some bloggers may see a question you’ve posted, then write a detailed explanation in answer to your question, even being kind enough to link to your post. That not only creates attention, traffic and links, but also helps develop personal relationships amongst fellow bloggers.
Increase Traffic to Your Blog
Actively participating in a variety of blog carnivals, or an occasional meme, can help increase traffic and links to your blog. I’ve seen some so-called meme’s where the blogger doesn’t actually link to anyone they’re writing about, so how is that supposed to bring attention to your blog? Give to get, give to get.
While you’re making out your New Year’s Resolutions, be sure to include taking steps to build personal relationships with other bloggers, and may this year bring you the increased attention and traffic you so desperately desire.
Further Reading:
5 Ways to Make Your Blog Posts Scream for Attention
Popularity: 16% [?]
31 responses so far ↓
1 Todd Morris (18 comments.) // Jan 1, 2008 at 8:33 am
Hi Lin,
Thanks for including me in your link fest. Needless to say, I agree wholeheartedly with what you have to say … lol, and the way you say it.
Definitely “Telling it Like it Is”
Todd Morris’s last blog post..10 Commandments of Goal Setting for 2008
2 Kevin @ Change Your Tree (8 comments.) // Jan 1, 2008 at 9:31 am
Great article. I’m also tired of seeing the whining posts.
I think you addressed it perfectly; I hope your article is a wake up call to a lot of bloggers.
3 Dane Morgan | Niche Blogging (2 comments.) // Jan 1, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Do I know you??!?
Good post, sound advice. The problem that so many people have with blogging is that they fail to understand that it is PERSONAL publishing. It is dialog based and it is all about forming relationships.
I just looked at your blog roll in the side bar. of the four blogs I am familiar with two. I am familiar with them because of the relationship that was formed with the bloggers at social sites. I’m familiar with most of the blogs in your post too. But the ones I would go out of my way to comment on or link to or promote in some way are the ones like you and Stephan who I met through social sites or Sam and Andy (we all used to play together at the old HowToCorp forum and developed relationships with each other). We talk in our comments, and in emails. We link to each other’s sites. We **get** each other because we spent a few years getting to **know** each other.
Dane Morgan | Niche Blogging’s last blog post..The Viral Links Meme And Link Love To BlogCatalog Readers.
4 Vic (1 comments.) // Jan 1, 2008 at 4:01 pm
LMAO Thanks for the mention mmmm I think? 2008 will be just great and I look forward to meeting you at the Expo so lets get are money shoes on.
Vic’s last blog post..IZEA and Text Link Ads Bad For Blogging
5 Lin (640 comments.) // Jan 1, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Thanks guys, I had to unload some major frustration in that post. hehe
Vic, I’m laughing too! You scare the hee-bee-jee-bee’s outta me man!
6 Momo Fali (7 comments.) // Jan 1, 2008 at 4:32 pm
I really enjoyed your post.
Just kidding! I mean, I enjoyed it, but comment like that make me cringe when I see them on my blog. It’s obvious they didn’t even read anything I had to say.
The relationships I’ve made through social networking are REAL. No doubt about it.
Momo Fali’s last blog post..It’s Dog Eat Dog - Even In The Bathroom
7 Hoss (1 comments.) // Jan 1, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Whining about not getting any traffic only gets you less traffic. And if no one visits, at least you can read your own whining.
8 WAHM Tara (1 comments.) // Jan 1, 2008 at 7:41 pm
EXCELLENT post!
WAHM Tara’s last blog post..Entrepreneur’s Get Ready For The New Year
9 RT Cunningham (11 comments.) // Jan 1, 2008 at 11:34 pm
Head meet nail. There’s nothing but 100% accurate information in this article.
10 Allan Cockerill (6 comments.) // Jan 2, 2008 at 7:04 am
An excellent post Lin, thanks for telling it like it is!
BlogCatalog, Stumbleupon etc are all social networking sites - which means building relationships, not just dropping a link and running!!
Keep up the good work, and all the best for 2008!
Allan Cockerill’s last blog post..Controlling The Internet One Country At A Time
11 ShadowKnight (2 comments.) // Jan 2, 2008 at 7:24 am
Thats a great truth about internet marketing. Joining social networks will get you a ripple when you first join. Unless you continue to partake in that network, and interact with its members you fade into insignificance and the ether unless you write some truly unique content, and lets face it there is nothing that new.
Too many so-called experts (in truth noobs) expect that having a link from a social network will drive traffic. They fail to appreciate that in order for the social networking sites to work the people within the community need to interact. Internet marketing is an ongoing and more personal effort these days than simply submitting your site to 100’s of directories as it was 18-24 months ago.
So in closing I totally agree with your sentiments, and like yourself I am sick of seeing the constant rants and whines!
ShadowKnight’s last blog post..Beans Are Sprouting
12 Lin (640 comments.) // Jan 2, 2008 at 7:34 am
RT, “head meet nail”. hahaha
Allan, thanks. That’s what I’m here for, to cut through the crap and tell it like it is.
Shadow, thank you for the comment. Now maybe more people will just get busy with writing whatever they write about, and stop the whining.
13 Rob O. (18 comments.) // Jan 2, 2008 at 7:49 am
Thanks for the link love, Lin!
And you’re right - social networking does take some real effort. Building loyal blog readers takes effort. Continual effort. I’ve seen the results of this personally. I got bogged down by the numbers game a few months ago and went on a huge kick to boost my traffic stats and such. Sure enough, I worked it hard and my numbers did bump - temporarily. However, just as soon as analog life got hectic again and I could no longer sustain that level of effort, my numbers dwindled.
My takeaway is to do what you can, build relationships as often as possible, post good content, and stop obsessing over stats. If you get too wrapped up in the numbers and blogging can cease to be nearly so enjoyable.
14 Stephan Miller (3 comments.) // Jan 2, 2008 at 8:42 am
Great post. This is definitely on my list of new year’s resolutions. I think this year I will try to get a convention also, to meet some people face to face.
Stephan Miller’s last blog post..Looking at Links Again
15 Lin (640 comments.) // Jan 2, 2008 at 9:39 am
Rob, I agree about not obsessing about stats. I’ve read so many others talking about “constantly checking stats”, but I don’t worry about any of that stuff. Some talk about checking their technorati rank every single day, well…..whatever, have fun worrying.
Stephan, I’ll have to check into what conventions are going on. I heard about one in Las Vegas, but that wasn’t possible. I’ll have to keep an eye out for those as well. I think the conventions are an excellent opportunity to really meet others face to face (and figure out who is behind the little silly icons).
16 Jason P (1 comments.) // Jan 2, 2008 at 11:37 am
This is a very legitimate post. I only whine about not getting traffic because my URL is banned from digg
Jason P’s last blog post..2008 Toyota Corolla
17 Recruitnik (1 comments.) // Jan 2, 2008 at 11:50 am
You are a trip! You definitely, “Tell it like it is” So refreshing!
Happy New Year, (glass clink)
Cheers!
18 Kim (16 comments.) // Jan 2, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Interesting post. I participate where I can, as often as I can. I “hope” to be more active in 2008, esp being a rookie in 2007 reading posts like this helps with getting traffic..
Kim’s last blog post..For Auld Lang Syne!
19 Sam Freedom (5 comments.) // Jan 2, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Wait a minute! Who you callin’ nice?! My image and reputation are branded so anyone who calls me nice will get a letter from my lawyer…!
In all seriousness, this was nice! And if you did it for your gain, bravo! But if you think the people you referred to are in any position to benefit from it, then a quick trip to chapter 1 of ANY university psychology book will shave years and years of suffering off your future!
People who whine whine because they always whine and it comforts them.
I like the fact that your post doesn’t only speak to them but SETS AN EXAMPLE for them.
Just tellin’ it like it is, huh?
Happy New Year,
Sam
Sam Freedom’s last blog post..Sphinn, Stumble, Tweet and Drop Your Way Into the New Year!
20 Rachel (2 comments.) // Jan 2, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Hallelujah and AMEN woman! Love it!
For some reason my first post didn’t post.. let’s try it again shall we?
A vent turned informative, funny and helpful… gotta love that.
Came through from cre8buzz.
Rachel’s last blog post..The Parenting Meme from Hell
21 webmaster tutorials (1 comments.) // Jan 4, 2008 at 1:46 am
Nice post, perfect! liked the blog. Much appreciated. i’m also sick of these whining posts. Thanks for the link love. Wishing you a lot of success and happiness in 2008 and beyond!
webmaster tutorials’s last blog post..XHTML seo video tutorial
22 Lin (640 comments.) // Jan 4, 2008 at 7:49 am
Rachel, I’m glad the humor came through. Even though I was definitely venting, I also wanted it to be informative. I still laugh when I remember having put “Boo-Hoo Waah” in the post. haha
23 Powerfull Living » Blog Basics For Everyone // Jan 5, 2008 at 8:06 am
[…] Burress presents Social Networking Tips For All You Whiners posted at Telling It Like It […]
24 SandyCarlson (2 comments.) // Jan 6, 2008 at 7:56 am
Being sincere is the theme underlying your suggestions, which are very helpful. Thanks.
SandyCarlson’s last blog post..Blog Your Blessings: the Magic of Markers
25 garry (3 comments.) // Jan 7, 2008 at 10:49 pm
… it sure sounds like you know what
you’re talking about.Also,I agree that
building relationships with others is
the way to go toward getting more
visitors.We call it traffic,but we really
want visitors who we can call our friends.
I have enjoyed visiting and now I must
be going.
garry’s last blog post..Marriage Model
26 Resource for Bloggers Carnival - 5th Edition | My lucky number 13 // Jan 13, 2008 at 3:17 am
[…] Burress presents Social Networking Tips For All You Whiners posted at Telling It Like It Is, saying, “What does your blog offer that would make anyone […]
27 Jacob Cass (1 comments.) // Jan 13, 2008 at 5:57 am
Best rant I have read
Jacob Cass’s last blog post..Top 5 Time Saving Plugins to Make Blogging A Breeze
28 Resource For Bloggers Carnival - 7th Edition // Feb 13, 2008 at 9:10 am
[…] Burress presents Social Networking Tips For All You Whiners posted at Telling It Like It […]
29 5 Ways To Make Your Blog Posts SCREAM For Attention | Telling It Like It Is // Feb 21, 2008 at 4:09 am
[…] Stop whining about social networking and get busy connecting and engaging with fellow bloggers, those within your chosen niche as well as those outside of your niche. […]
30 Twitter For Bloggers | Telling It Like It Is // Mar 14, 2008 at 5:01 am
[…] often said that you must “give to get” in regards to social networking and building relationships with other bloggers, and Twitter provides ample opportunity to promote each others content and […]
31 Top Ten Favorite Links - Second Edition | Telling It Like It Is // Apr 23, 2008 at 8:54 am
[…] other Twitter users. To be successful at social networking requires having a giving attitude, “Give to Get” as I’ve said before, which is why many of my “tweets” include links to fantastic posts […]
Leave a Comment