However with more comments comes more questionable responses.  I’ve gotten my fair share, and it got me thinking about comment etiquette.  I suppose there are no hard fast rules per say when it comes to commenting on blogs, but I do believe there are at least some unwritten ones that I believe in.

1. Using Your Real Name – Don’t hide behind a moniker or nickname.  By using your real name, you instantly gain credibility and respect regardless of whether you are critical in your response or not.

2. Avoid Self Promotion – Most commenting systems inherently are set up so that you get a link back to your site already.  Don’t leave comments just to promote yourself or business, and certainly do not post using keyword speak just to gain attention.

3. Don’t Be A Grammar Nazi! – This is one of my biggest pet peeves.  People that just troll and leave comments pointing out your grammar mistakes or misspellings are the worst.  If you really care about it, privately message the person, don’t grandstand and try to make yourself sound like Mr./Ms. Smarty Pants.

4. Leave Meaningful Responses – Another thing you see quite a bit of is people leaving comments just to increase backlinks (see #2).  Don’t comment just to comment.  Leave meaningful responses and contribute to the conversation rather then just saying “Great blog post!!!!”.

5. Respond To Commenters – If you own a blog, respond to those that take the time to comment.  I always try to respond to all comments on my blog not only to thank them for doing so, but to contribute to the conversation.

I’m sure there are plenty more commenting pet peeves out there.  Feel free to share yours in the comments which I of course will respond to!

So I went on a blog hiatus for a few weeks, and it certainly made a significant impact on my Klout score.  I was hovering around 70 for awhile, and after about 4 weeks of not blogging, I dropped down to 67.  I’m not entirely sure what I think about that.  On one hand I get that one’s “influence” can fluctuate based on the contributions they make to the digital world, but the real question is, should it that much over a short period?

I certainly don’t lose any sleep over my Klout score.  It’s just one of many ways to measure one’s online influence, but anyone that says it doesn’t matter is kidding themselves.  Many businesses are using Klout as a measuring stick for influence and not just for their perks program.  For that reason, I definitely pay attention to it, but quite frankly it’s really just a matter of making significant contributions to my blog and my social media streams, which I would do anyway.

So back to the topic at hand.  As I’ve blogged about many times before, I’m a user of Triberr and have found it an invaluable tool to increase awareness of my blog and drive more traffic here.  Over time I’ve associated myself with a number of relevant tribes, and now almost like clockwork, anytime I publish a new blog post, I can expect an extra 100 tweets or so of my post, as well as roughly 1000 unique visitors.  In addition my own promotional efforts, combined I am seeing that simply posting to my blog increases my Klout score fairly significantly.  My last post about losing website visitors brought my stale 67 score back up to 68 in one day.  I anticipate if I blog regularly over the next few days, I’ll be back up to 70 in no time.

Moral of the story?  If increasing your influence is important to you, consider a tool like Triberr to increase your reach, and ensure that you blog as often as you can without too many large breaks in between.

That being said you owe it to yourself to check out Lori Taylor’s latest blog post 15 Social Caffeine “Must Do’s” To Rock Your Facebook Fan Page.  It’s a lengthy post but definitely worth your time.  I can’t imagine how much time it must have taken for Lori to put this one together, but it’s tremendously useful, and I myself learned quite a bit.  I can’t wait to put some of that knowledge to use with my dormant fan page.  I haven’t quite figured out what I’ve wanted to do with it, but Lori’s post definitely helped give me some perspective.

One of the things I love about discovering great bloggers and their content is how through those experiences, I often find yet more useful insights.  In this case I was able to find Francisco Rosales over at SocialMouths.com.  First off I’m jealous of his blog as I think it looks amazing and already has me thinking re-design.  But more importantly he’s got some great content and an amazing story about how he came to be where he is.  Definitely will be paying closer attention to Social Mouths.

And lastly through Social Mouths I checked out Francisco’s Facebook fan page and also fell in love with what he’s doing with his fan page.  The welcome page looks amazing and I’ve got to get me one of these.  But I also stumbled across a set of tools I’d never heard through an outfit called Involver.  They have some great free Facebook applications and I took advantage of 2 of them.  I added their Twitter and YouTube Channel apps to my Facebook page and they work great.  I’ve always strayed away from any cross platform integration with Facebook as I always felt it looked forced, but Involver’s apps are clean and seamless. 

Check out my page to see how I’ve integrated Twitter and YouTube into my left side menu and be sure to check out Lori and Francisco’s blogs.  They’re fantastic.

It’s gotten me thinking about how I personally define blogging success as it pertains to me.  It’s obviously a question that can be answered quite differently for people depending on their particular situation.  Whether it’s impressions, page views, rss subscribers, or affiliate conversions, everyone is different.

My blog isn’t really a source of income for me directly, but it has opened up quite a few doors for me in my career, so indirectly it does.  For me I’ve measured success through my blog traffic, subscribers and engagement.  Lately I’ve been working hard to improve my link back strategy.  While I’ve been able to grow my audience and blog traffic, my engagement and back links are a little less then to be desired.  It doesn’t surprise me though as this is a direct result of a lack of time.  To improve my engagement I simply need to comment more on other like minded blogs.  As much as I enjoy doing this, it’s a time thing.  There’s only so much in the day that I can devote having a full time gig.

Back links are a whole ‘nother animal.  I haven’t quite figured out my lack of success their as much, but it probably has to do with the types of articles I choose to write.  I don’t often jump on topics that are timely or popular.  I typically roll with ones that relate to what I experience at any given time, and I feel could be helpful or stir conversation.

It can be easy to get caught up with the numbers and try to stray away from what comes natural to you as a writer.  My own desire to crack the AdAge 150 often has me banging my head on blog topic choices and how to drive my Alexa, Yahoo Backlinks, and PostRank ratings higher.  Unfortunately I think for me, I will always be fairly limited as long as my blog is just a small part of what I do, and not a major time investment.

I’d love to hear from you how you define blogging success and what has and has not worked for you.

For whatever reason, I have a hell of a time getting my articles linked to more often.  I feel that I write fairly useful and/or entertaining blog posts that most seem to find interesting or helpful.  But somewhere I’m missing the boat on getting those blog posts referenced more often.  I’ve never claimed to be that much of an expert when it comes to SEO strategy and backlinks, but I’ve started to really pay attention to this and ask around on how to best improve this.  These are some of the steps I’m initially taking to hopefully improve my situation.

Content Syndication – I’ve got my content currently being syndicated on sites such as Social Media Today & Business2Community.  What I didn’t realize is that the automated process which both use to grab your content do not properly format the author footer in a way that attributes your site that the search engines “like”.  Big props to my colleague Garth O’Brien who pointed this out to me.  Once I realized this, I asked the folks at B2C to switch over to a manual submission process, and I went and updated my profile box on Social Media Today so that my articles get the right attributions so I score that link juice.

Ask And You Shall Receive – I know this is pretty much a no brainer, but I just figured it was time to find quality bloggers and ask for link exchanges.  The key here is to not just blindly find folks with strong blogs and ask for an exchange, but really spend some time to read and engage with like minded folks, and then politely ask.  I find simply linking to them first and pointing this out makes it more likely they will reciprocate.

Actively Commenting – It’s hard enough to find the time to actually write on my blog let alone find time to engage on others, but it’s really an important part of the whole process if you’re serious about building out your own blog.  I never just comment just to comment, but I definitely try to ensure I leave a few comments per day on articles I find interesting.  I’m not entirely sure it’s a huge deal as it pertains to contributing to increasing my back links, but I’m told it’s a contributing factor.

I would love for those of you that have had success with this to share in the comments section so that I could potentially write a follow up post on some additional strategies that are effective.

At first it may come off as spammy, and that was my first reaction.  But after digging in a bit, I realized that what founders Dan Cristo and Dino Dogan have created is actually a very interesting and useful tool to increase your reach authentically.  While I wasn’t necessarily comfortable with having some of my tweets automated at first, it was quickly negated by the fact that you can dictate who you associate yourself with.  They’ve also added tools that allow you to monitor what is queued to publish giving you the option of deleting it before it hits your stream.

I’m always looking for great content to share on Twitter, so this tool is a win win for me as it supplements my manual content strategy, and also increases exposure to the content I create on my blog in a relevant way.  Triberr is by invite only, but once you can get your hands on one, you have full access to the system.  Initially you are placed in your invited tribe, and then get 3 of your own to manage yourself and each tribe can have up to 7 members in them.  For a full breakdown of how things work, check out a great video they have posted here, and their full FAQ.

If after checking out Triberr you’re interested in an invite, let me know as I have plenty to boot with some strong tribes already in play.  Just send a tweet or email my way and I will send you an invite code.

The fact is, most people are very knowledgeable about something.  Whether it’s our profession, or a personal hobby, everyone has something valuable to share.  And for those that have an entrepreneurial spirit, there is no better way to build the foundation for an endeavor, then jumping in and building your credibility and influence through a blog.  The barrier to entry has become so small that anyone can have a decent looking blog up in minutes.

Of course this has its drawbacks as well as their are plenty of blogs out there that either are a borefest, don’t provide any real value, or simply wither and die before they even start.  If you’re serious about wanting to build a successful blog, just consider these initial simple steps and you’ll find yourself well on your way.

1. Keep it simple. Don’t overwhelm yourself with all the options out there.  Get a free WordPress.com account and start there.  If you find yourself building momentum and sticking with it, graduate to a self-hosted blog for more bells and whistles.
2. Topic Lists. Coming up with blog entries can be a challenge, but they are all around you.  Create a list that is easily accessible that you add your ideas as they come to you.  Then use that list as sort of an editorial calendar so that you have plenty of ideas to choose from.  Also check out this great list from Chris Brogan to inspire some ideas.
3. Engage & Promote. It goes without saying that you should leverage social media channels to promote your blog posts, and make sure you absolutely engage with anyone that takes the time to comment on them.  Take it one step further and visit other blogs and engage.

While there’s much more to the formula to successful blogging, I believe these are 3 key areas to focus on out of the gate.  Just get out there and start writing and you’ll find your way.  And if you do, leave a comment and let me know so I can check it out!

In Part 1 of this series I thought I would talk about the often overlooked art of factoring in search when you write your blog posts.  I spent quite a bit of time in SEO & SEM in my earlier years, and I’ve definitely utilized that experience when it comes to my blogging.  There are a variety of ways to drive traffic to your blog that include social media, community engagement and link building.  But another area you should consider paying close attention to is keywords.

In most of my blog posts, I am always doing a bit of keyword research to see what phrases are searched for the most frequently, and have less competition in terms of results.  Typically I can find a handful of terms that relate to what I want to write about that hit that sweet spot of being searched for quite often, yet not too crazy on the number of results.  By properly identifying a strong term like this, and using it in your blog title and post, you can often find your blog article working it’s way up very quickly in search results.  Let’s take a look at an example of mine.

On December 28th of last year, I decided to write an article about my experience with replacing my Macbook Pro with a Macbook Air.  I had a feeling that this information would be very useful to lots of people, so I wanted to be sure to title effectively.  I used Google’s Keyword Tool to help me identify the right term to use and I landed on “MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro”.  The term was extremely relevant to my post & had a decent amount of global monthly searches. 

The net result?  That post is currently the #3 result for that term on Google simply by ensuring I used a term based on some pretty simply keyword research.  That article has also accounted for roughly 18% of all traffic to my site since being published.

To recap:

1. When crafting a blog post, be sure to use the Google Keyword Tool to identify a search term that will potentially increase search visibility to your article based on search frequency, relevancy and competition.
2. Ensure you use that exact term as part of your post title and if possible, in your blog entry.

Have you had any similar experiences?  If so, leave a comment as I’d love to hear what has worked for you.  More to come on this series!

Once I got the new job at Strategies 360, I felt the time was right.  My blog has opened up countless doors for me, so even though it does not directly make money for me, it most certainly indirectly does.  The time I’ve spent on this blog has certainly contributed to my success professionally.  I found a great designer by simply researching WordPress theme designers on Google that was priced well, and had a great portfolio.

If you’re ever considering a custom design, there are some great steps I recommend to ensure you end up getting what you really want.

1. Take the time to find a designer who’s portfolio resonates with you.  Chances are if you really like the sites they’ve designed, they possess a style that will match your likes.
2. Be VERY specific about what you want.  I actually took additional time to create a list of blogs that I loved, and what specifically I liked about them.  This cut down tremendously on the mock-up back and forth.  In fact, my designer practically nailed it on the first try.
3. Get multiple quotes from desired designers.  The business is always up and down and depending on when you hit a designer, he may be willing to take less if work is scarce, but don’t nickel and dime.  A great designer is worth every penny and too often this talent is under appreciated.

However if the price tag always seems too high, your next best bet are from resources like Themeforest.net and ElegantThemes.com, 2 of my favorite premium theme sites.

I’m happy with version 1 of my new site and would love your feedback.  I look forward to writing more and taking advantage of the new outfit.

Ad Age Power 150

To be fair, the folks managing the list have made it clear that their qualifications are more demanding then in the past, so not just any blog can work its way in, and they’ve also said that all existing blogs in the list are “grandfathered” in. This is where I have a problem.

There is an ass-load of terrible blogs in the list including blogs that either no longer exist, or haven’t had posts in years. Some are just plain confusing as to why they are in the list at all often having nothing to do with marketing.

I get that maintaining a resource like this is probably no easy task, but what’s the point of claiming you are “a list of top ranking English language marketing blogs in the world” if you have no intention of holding your existing listings to the same standards as those you allow in to the list?

I can’t help but wonder if there is an opportunity here. I think a resource like this can be extremely valuable, and a great motivator as well. It’s inspired me to push myself to continue writing, and if I could somehow crack this list, I know I would be motivated to see my blog work it’s way up the rankings.

I also have to believe that there would be value to advertisers in a “true” list to be able to gauge advertising opportunities on blogs. Ad Age is doing a satisfactory job of at least providing a list, but they certainly aren’t taking it that seriously as evident in the garbage that is allowed to remain in the list, not to mention any lack of blog updates in almost a year.

Regardless, I’ll continue to work to make my blog qualify, but in the meantime, I feel a growing motivation to potentially look into creating something that can get it right across the board.

What are your thoughts? Have I missed any other similar resources? Anyone interested in chatting about a potential alternative?