Blog Training and How-To Guide for Business Blogging

This tip is courtesy of Easton Ellsworth, author of Business Blog Wire 

Whenever someone leaves a comment at your blog, you should receive an automatic email notification of that comment.

Here is what to do when you get that notification.

It takes less than 2 minutes.

And it will increase your blog's traffic AND strengthen your blog's community.

1. If the comment is spam, log into your blog platform and markt the comment as junk.

2. Email the commenter (if she left an email address). The email notification will automatically place the commenter's email address (if she left one) in the Reply To field. Simply hit "Reply" in your email program and send a quick email saying something like, "Thanks for visiting my blog, Mary! Please come back again sometime. I'll respond to your comment at the blog."

Here's a trick that benefit both you and the commenter: Ask them an open-ended (not a "yes" or "no") question in your email. Something to spark a conversation. Put the ball in their court. This is how relationships begin. For example:

 - "If you don't mind me asking, how did you happen to find my blog?"

 - "What got you interested in my blog's topic?"

 - "How do you think I could improve or expand on my post?"

 - "What questions do you have that I could answer on my blog?"

It takes just a few seconds to personally thank the commenter for caring enough to say something at your blog. It can reap incredible rewards down the road.

How much more likely is that commenter to return time and time again to your blog than if you ignored them or did not email them?

3. Leave a follow-up comment at your own blog. Now that you've emailed the commenter, go back to the post where they left the comment and publish a follow-up comment. Answer their insight or question politely. Ask another open-ended question for them or anyone else to answer. For example:

 - "What other solutions to this problem are out there? What would anyone else like to add here? Feel free to respond below."

- "Does you agree or disagree with Mary's comment? Why?"

- "Has anyone had an experience like Mary's? What could you add to help the rest of us with this topic?"

4. Add the commenter's name, URL and a link to their comment to an upcoming "thanks to my commenters" post or "here's my full response to this commenter" post draft. This will kill at least 5 birds with one stone:

 - First, it gives you a permanent record of the person's information that you can always find on your blog.

 - Second, it establishes a cross-linking relationship between you and the commenter. So they'll be more likely to link to you and send traffic to you.

 - Third, it helps your blog readers see that they are likely to get publicly recognized if they comment at your blog. So they'll comment more.

 - Fourth, it helps readers learn from other people besides you. This enhances your authority as well, since you have more than one voice echoing support for the kind of conversation you hold at your blog.

 - Fifth, it gives you something quick to write about and thus saves you time.

Got all that? It might seem like a lot, but it really is simple to do and takes just a minute or two.

The bottom line here is that if you pay attention on your blog commenters, they will pay attention to you.

Once again, here are the 4 steps to respond effectively to your blog commenters:

1. Delete comment spam.

2. Email the commenter if possible.

3. Respond to the comment at your blog.

4. Highlight the commenter in a follow-up post.

What would you guys like to add to this? Have you had a good experience where you responded well to a blog commenter and a relationship came out of it? What are some of the reasons why all of this adds to your blog's traffic?