A sturdy house is not built in one day. Now if you don’t mind living in a box or a tent, you might be able to get away with throwing up a quick and temporary shelter.
But the thing is that, it’s not going to last. It will be very vulnerable to the elements and it won’t take much for the wolf to huff and puff and blow it down. The same goes for your blog’s community.
You can get lucky and scrounge up some visitors, maybe even enjoy a flood of traffic from StumbleUpon, who may even leave a few comments, but unless you take the time to build your blog’s community, you’ll never be able to develop a group of return visitors who not only crave your content, but who will help you promote and spread your content as well.
The thing about community that some people miss, is that it’s not a one-side thing. It requires an exchange. That means, in order to build your community, you’re going to have to participate and get involved in the exchange of ideas, information, and support.
The quickest way to build your community is to grab some bricks from all around the blogosphere. You do that by writing authentic comments on popular blogs and by guest posting.
You’ve probably heard that already, but if you really want to build something amazing, you’ve got to go above and beyond – do what most people don’t or won’t do.
Here’s a few tricks:
When you visit other blogs to comment – don’t just post your comment and leave. Read the comments of others and respond to them. Then after you do that, take a moment to check out their blogs. If you find them to be interesting, leave an authentic comment on their blog, too. While you’re at it, why not follow them on Twitter?
When you’re done commenting, share the post on as many social networking sites as you are active in. Retweet, stumble, share on Facebook, etc. If you notice that the post is a guest post, be sure to send an @mention to the guest poster, too. Go a step further and check out their blog or website and repeat this process.
When you guest post on other sites, take the time to respond to every comment. Then take the time to get to know these new commentators as well, check out their blogs, follow them on Twitter, share their content, etc.
Are you seeing a pattern yet? Are you wondering how this builds your community?
This builds your community because these actions will capture the attention of these people that you’ve chosen to connect with. It will pique their curiosity to find out who you are and what you do. Depending on the quality of your interactions, they’ll be compelled to check out your blog, leave a comment, and share on social networks…the cycle continues.
You might argue that this is too time consuming to commit to. It does take time, but you can limit how much time you spend participating in community building activities. You could set aside one day a week to do only this or you could break it up so that you’re only spending about 20-30 minutes a day. It’s well worth the effort.
What tricks for building community might you add here?
Kiesha is the author of A Step by Step Guide to a Better Blog. She’s blogs at We Blog Better, is a blog consultant for small business owners. If you’d like to know more, read her extended bio. Connect with her on Twitter, Google and subscribe to her newsletter for blogging tips & tricks.
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Hey Kiesha,
Another awesome post girl. Some great tips there. .!!
You’re really awesome work everywhere. Keep at it.
Thanks for sharing this brilliant Post. Retweeted
Dev | Technshare´s last [type] ..6 Top Benefits Of Press Release And How It Can Improve Your Internet Business
Hi Dev,
Thanks! I really appreciate the compliments. They always encourage me to continue.
Kiesha @ We Blog Better´s last [type] ..Avoiding Obnoxious Product Launch Syndrome
Yup, you’re so right, building a community is one of the key things that every blogger needs to do. It may seem time consuming but down the road, the people in that community will be your allies, friends and possible collaborators.
Excellent tips for building community.
Blog Angel a.k.a. Joella´s last [type] ..Blogging Platform That Lets You Be Your Own Blog Designer
Hi Joella,
That’s exactly what you’ve found – allies, friends, and collaborators. I wouldn’t trade it!
Kiesha @ We Blog Better´s last [type] ..Avoiding Obnoxious Product Launch Syndrome
Super information.
Yes it is time consuming and to not allot your self a certain amount of time will do two things…it will not force you to take the action you need to take and it will tend to keep you there too long, while not attending to other things about your blog.
This is “foundation building” at the core. When that foundation is strong it only continues to grow in strength through updating your blog with great content.
Great post.
Mike
Mike Helton´s last [type] ..How To Develop A Keyword Strategy For Using Keywords
Hi Mike,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Kiesha @ We Blog Better´s last [type] ..Avoiding Obnoxious Product Launch Syndrome
Hi Kiesha,
Thanks for the great tips on building a community around my blog. It would be great to be able to make my blog a little more interactive.
I’d love to get a conversation happening in my comments section. I think I’m going to give this a real go for the next few weeks and see what happens.
Jazz Salinger´s last [type] ..Internet Marketing Coaching – Difference Between Success and Failure
Hi Jazz,
I really hope you’ll let me know how this works for you. Please, keep me posted.
Kiesha @ We Blog Better´s last [type] ..Avoiding Obnoxious Product Launch Syndrome
Community building is one of my favorite parts of blogging. I love the interaction and supporting others. One thing I haven’t done much of, which I intend to remedy, is to do more linking to other folks in posts.
Jean Sarauer´s last [type] ..How CommentLuv Stole My Heart From Disqus
Hi Jean,
I encourage you to give it a try. You’ll be amazed by the results.
Hi Kiesha,
I would add that once you follow someone on twitter, keep an eye on their tweets and find something you can converse with them about. They tweet about a bad day, reply to them with a thoughtful comment. They tweet about an accomplishment, send them a celebratory tweet. And if they happen to tweet about something you both have in common, tweet them back about something you love about that. It really helps show you are human, that you care, and can lead to amazing friendships
Gurl´s last [type] ..Are Your Goals Measurable
Those are great tips. When I started doing things like that, that’s when I saw the greatest improvement on my blog. It also made it a thousand times more fun.
Kiesha´s last [type] ..Avoiding Obnoxious Product Launch Syndrome
I actually just started doing this a few weeks ago. Before, I’d just comment on sites that I tregularly visited, and nowhere else. Now, I’ve started doing what’s recommended here; being more interactive with posters on blogs I’ve never visited before, and leaving as many meaningful comments as I can.
I’m still working on becoming more efficient and getting this done as fast as I can, though. Right now, I’ve scheduled this for half an hour a day, but I find that I can only comment on a few sites within that time frame.
Noel´s last [type] ..THE PREDATORS WORKOUT
Hi Noel,
It can be time consuming, especially when you run into great posts – try setting a timer for an hour and during that time, don’t do anything but comment on blogs – don’t respond to email or tweets or anything other than what you’ve set out to do.
Kiesha´s last [type] ..Avoiding Obnoxious Product Launch Syndrome
Kiesha,
Sometimes it is a matter of time management for me to make my rounds, but I am working on that. I do set aside time each day to do this. I know that it makes a difference, because I’ve seen the results.
One thing that I did, actually today was answer a commentator’s question via a post. I also sent them an email to let them know that I had written a post answering their question. I believe that person was a first time visitor.
One more thing I have started doing is visiting yahoo answers and answering questions mostly within my niche and sometimes leaving a link to my post that will answer a questions. That has helped me some too.
Okay..that’s it!
Evelyn´s last [type] ..Becoming a Raw Vegan and I Need Advice
I love learning from others. Congrats Keisha on you success to date.
I am just starting to blog after a year of research on the subject.
I am concerned about “community etiquette.”
I sometimes disagree with the approach of some businesses (not pointed at you, at all). I do not challenge them, instead I will write a blog on the approach that in my opinion is best, with supporting logic,reasons or facts.
This has been a strange week for me. I have had 2 clients battling negative reviews from people that no one on this side of Heaven could make happy.
I’m sticking with what my Grandmother said” Gail, if you can’t say anything nice don’t say it at all…..”
Thank you for you educational information.
Hey Kiesha,
Those are solid guidelines that simply work. That is all I did to build my community. It is time consuming. But it works!
Have a great weekend…
Josh
Josh Garcia´s last [type] ..Hello! Are You Making Any of These Blogging Mistakes
Keisha – this is great, thank you for the article!
I enjoyed your more in-depth approach and tips to commenting and guest posting. What a great way to connect with a variety of people and blogs! I am definitely going to work this into my routine.
Jess Webb´s last [type] ..What LUSH Taught Me About Business
Thanks for the reminder, I was doing that for a while and than stop. One thing is to stay on track and be consistent with your goals for your blog. Great tips all around from your blog….
Thanks Keisha. I totally agree with responding to every guest comment. Not only does it build up your reputation with those readers, but it also keeps the post fresh for the search engines.
Aaron´s last [type] ..Free Blogs
I’ve always believed the idea of giving twice back from what you receive is a great way to start building your community.
If someone were to comment on your blog not only should you reply to the comment but go ahead and pop over to their blog, read a few posts, retweet and share them, leave comments
This creates a “wow, this person actually cares” and is a great way to start up what could be a lasting relationship online.
Murlu´s last [type] ..Creating A Cult Following Behind Your Brand
Great post Keisha, some people forget the importance of providing value with content. They do have to go beyond just saying ‘great post’ and expecting the visitors to come. The same goes when using forums too. Providing value leads to more followers which leads to more traffic to your blog.
Many thanks
Simon
I recently changed the name of the social media and blogging category on my blog to Digital Footprints. The name reminds me that every time we interact online we leave an impression (a footprint) for the world to see.
Not only are your tips great for capturing the attention of the person you intended, but your footprint can also attract people you never knew would see the it. I’m surprised by how many relationships have started simply by reading a comment someone left on another blog.
Kiesha,
I could not have said it better myself!
Building strong relationships is an integral part of your blogging success and as you so rightly pointed out, this is not a one sided affair.
I love that you promote the idea of just going nuts on the sharing part, because I agree. If you are going to take the time to comment then why not follow, tweet, digg, stumble and just plain ol’ share away.
Great post, awesome analogy – you go girl!
Alex´s last [type] ..How not to write an ebook – Are you asking the right questions
Thank you for this reminder that everything worthwhile takes patience. It takes time for people to figure out whether our blogs are the real deal or just temporary tents.
One thing I still don’t understand: Everyone talks about how many “new visitors” they have. But it seems to me that return visitors are key in everything I read about creating a solid blog.
Corey Heller´s last [type] ..Following the East Wind- An International Marriage
Hi Kiesha,
Indeed a great post. One needs to have a thriving community behind his blog to make it successful without a community the blog will not be getting enough interactions. Those are some greats tips that you have shared. One important point being that we should answer each and every comment we receive even in our own posts as well as if we are doing guest posts anywhere else
Shiva@Web Magazine´s last [type] ..Add Widgetized Sidebar in WordPress Footer
They are some really cool techniques to build community around one’s blog. Also making comments as dofollow people feel free to comment on your blog and in turn they build relationships with the blogger.
iPhone Application Development´s last [type] ..Geohot shuts down iPhone jail breaking blog to public
Looks like you are behind on answering comment Kiesha
Replying to other comments as a reader is not one I had thought of, thanks for the tips!