Blog Training and How-To Guide for Business Blogging

Earlier this week, Easton Ellsworth gave some tips on how to find like-minded bloggers with whom to network. Today I’m going to provide you with some ideas on how to build bonds with other bloggers, hopefully creating equally symbiotic pro-blogging relationships.

I’ll be honest, most of my experience networking has been via social networks and the only one I've been relatively successful with is Newsvine. Since I don’t have a blog of my own for which to generate traffic, I have put very little time into actively search for bloggers with whom to network. However, I have had to spend quite a bit of time interacting with the Newsvine community and have increased the average number of votes and page views for both original contributions as well as “seeded” content.

My experience in this regard is beneficial because the truth is that beyond being a social news site, Newsvine also provides a space for users so inclined to write original articles thus making itself a blog network of sorts as well. Part of the way you build your reputation or “vinacity” on Newsvine is by interaction with the community through by reading the articles of others and commenting. I even went so far as to spend an entire weekend with some of the most prominent members of Newsvine and forged some very strong bonds by doing so.

More recently, I have been preparing for my own Know More Media blog which is currently under construction. This will be a brand new, starting from scratch music blog that I will have to work on building a reading community for. At first I was ambivalent about this idea, but like many bloggers, I will be compensated for traffic, so this blog has the potential to increase my income and I really want to make the most of the opportunity. So I broke what I needed to do into several categories that can basically be boiled down to one thing: networking.

Don’t just comment, participate in the dialogue:  For years bloggers have been going around commenting on each others articles and offering their opinions on one thing or another. Doing has helped me to become a respected member of the Newsvine community of bloggers, so it follows that it would work to help me become a respected member of the music blogger community. Once the legwork of finding bloggers to interact with is done, the key is to return to their columns often and regularly. Don’t just leave a comment and never return to see if the author or some other reader replied, make sure you go back and participate in the dialogue.

Share your opinion:  This kind of goes along with the statement above but it cannot be understated. I have said over and over again that bloggers are a new generation of opinion leaders. We espouse our opinions on our various columns, and for some of us, people trust and our judgment. Through the sharing of your opinions with other likeminded bloggers, you can build a rapport and not only will they begin to see you as a regular reader, they might even start finding themselves at your website, to see what you have to say on certain issues. Before you know it, the two of you are having regular conversations via each other’s blogs. You may even find that you are communicating so regularly, that the communication eventually spreads beyond comment threads and suddenly you’ve made a friend.

On the flip side, you might find a blogger whose opinion you disagree with often but you write about similar subjects. What does it hurt to respectfully challenge the other author’s opinions? I have seem political bloggers disagree with one another and feel compelled to write a post about why they disagreed and link to post of the other author that inspired that post (I’ve seen TheDemoMemo and ElephantBiz do this often). Those links can generate page views as people become curious to see what the other person said, and regardless of whether or not the two authors ever become “friends” they have mutual respect for one another; enough so that they continue to read, disagree and debate with each other about various things.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions:  As I discover and develop a network of music blogs to interact with, I am also curious about what they think works in music blogging, so I will likely go around asking questions and picking their brains. As someone who will be new to having my own blog to generate conversations and traffic for, I will probably be asking a few novice questions. However, as I believe in always being teachable; I doubt any of us knows all there is to know about blogging. One good way to develop a relationship with a fellow blogger is to genuinely show interest in their expertise. There have been several occasions when I asked Alex Ion (BizToolbelt) a bunch of questions about blogging and vise versa. Again, it’s about a dialogue and asking questions is a great way to start a conversation.

Be candid and sincere:  Because of the intimate and personal nature of blogging, occasionally someone will share something with their readers from their personal lives. When someone at Know More Media has a baby, they usually write about it. When Jason Boog (ThePublishingSpot) and Easton Ellsworth (BusinessBlogWire) celebrated their birthdays, they invited their readers to celebrate with them. When authors offer these tidbits of information about themselves, the onus is on the readers to offer honest and sincere feedback. I saw this demonstrated recently when Laura Spencer (WorkFromHomeMomma) posted a comment offering her empathy for something another blogger was going through. Sharing those moments either as a reader or an author, is a key way to build those relationships and forge bonds.

Remember the blogroll:  Bloggers believe in link love. If you add them to your blogroll, they might add you to theirs. That’s like a free text link endorsement and a recommendation to their readers to check you out. How do you get someone to add you to their blogroll? You have to interact, let them know you are out there and that you have something in common.

Link Love:  Another way to build a relationship is to find a blogger you like and link back to their articles when you find them useful to your own readers. I am almost positive that when the other blogger sees you not only commenting on their stories but showing some link love as well, they will reciprocate. Even if there is no reciprocation, if the information is good, it doesn’t hurt to take the chance and share the love.

Did I miss anything? Do you have any ideas on how to build relationships with other bloggers?