What I Do When You Leave a Comment on My Blog

January 8, 2010 By Bill Rice

Not a lot of blogs get comments. It’s the exceptional blog that has an active community. And when you see one to pay attention. That’s why I try to appreciate every comment, every investment you make to this community.

Here is what I do when you comment:

1. Read your comment - I enjoy all the smart people and insights that show up here. Some I’ve met and others I hope to meet. I like discussion and encourage debate and dissenting views. You can be assured that all of your comments are being read. I appreciate your investment. I’m focused on giving you a good return.

2. Try to reply - Not all comments need a reply and sometimes my schedule prevents a timely reply. However, in all cases you are inserted into my social network. If your paying attention to me and investing your time in my community, I want to be doing the same for you.

3. Hit your link - I’m always curious who my readers are and what they are passionate about. The URL you leave is often the center of your current personal or business objectives. Visiting that link tells me a lot about what you want. I want to know that and help if I can.

4. Visit your social profile(s) - The next step is to plug you into my attention and learn more about you. This is the great thing about social media. Looping your stream into my attention is usually as easy as following you on Twitter, LinkedIn, or adding your RSS to my Google Reader. If you commented, I want to hear you in the future.

5. Leave a “social deposit” - Face it everyone is in the attention and promotion game–especially if you came to a sales blog looking for ideas. I think I should help you out immediately. Again, return on your investment.

Often I:

Comment on your blog,
RT a recent Tweet,
Comment on your LinkedIn Answers,
Tweet an interesting post, or
Introduce you to my community

Once you are in my network, I try to repeat this every so often.

6. Thank you - Somewhere in all this process I like to say, “thank you.” Hey, what can I say, I grew-up in the South my Mama taught me to be polite.

How am I doing? What else should I be doing? What should I be doing better?

Filed Under: blogging, Social Media Tagged With: blogging, comments, Social Media

About Bill Rice

Writer, Speaker, Social Selling, Lead Generation

Do you have a quick question? Email me: bill@bettercloser.com

SHOULD WE CONNECT? About Bill Rice

http://www.thestudiosource.com/ Stacey Cornelius

Your Mama did good, Bill.

I'm surprised by the number of people who are shy about leaving comments on blogs. I think they're worried they won't sound smart enough – maybe it's the online version of fear of public speaking.

If you want to get some attention, though, you have to raise your hand.

I find the easiest way to break down the comment barrier is to encourage people to read blogs that genuinely interest them. When you're jazzed about what someone is saying, the conversation flows more naturally, and you don't end up writing a lame “me, too” or “good post” comment.

Good post
http://bettercloser.com Bill Rice

Thanks for all the kudos and the Tweet!

I think you are right about the fear factor. I'm sure there is definite stage fright out there. But, everyone is good at something and most bloggers started because they wanted to share their expertise. That means they want the questions–even the ones you think are not “smart enough.”

I hope this post gives people more comfort and confidence in commenting.
http://daretocomment.com/ Ian Greenleigh

The name of the game (especially w/ RE: to Twitter) is reciprocity. Of course, reciprocity has always been a smart move, but something about new media invites and rewards even more of it. I was happy to see that your post-comment steps mirror mine to a large extent. Cheers.
http://bettercloser.com Bill Rice

How cool is that…a blog named Dare to Comment. Maybe I should hand the mike over to you. You have a great post (everyone check out Ian's blog) on the Free meme. Maybe this concept is the “right” kind of Free to be giving. It shows commitment, value, and maybe even a little customer service free trial.

Thanks for the comment Ian.
http://www.juliahuntsman.com/ Julia Huntsman

I do get comments from time to time also, some of the “spam” variety. But I always appreciate genuine input. Thanks for sharing.
http://www.thecrapreport.com/ Chris Snell

Bill,
I like to think that my Mom did alright in raising me to be polite, and I’m from the Northeast.
Good post!
Chris
http://www.BeAwesomeOnline.com Catherine Caine

I am the antithesis of shy but I still had to force myself to start leaving comments regularly. (In fact, it's on my daily task list!)

Mostly because it's EFFORT to say anything more than, “Great post!” I didn't want to be a +1, but to make a meaningful comment I have to think about the post, listen to my internal thoughts on the subjects discussed, formulate them into order, write it, check the tone… even on stuff I'm passionate about that's going to take a little while to do.

Also, I used to read all the other comments first, and for a LOT of posts I'd get to the end and realise I had nothing new to add.

However! Since I started committing to at least two blog comments each day, my comments, subscribers, visitors and relationships have all showed a dramatic improvement. I'm starting to think of it as a charming investment, and it's one with a kick-ass ROI.
http://bettercloser.com Bill Rice

Yeah, I'm a up here in Detroit, MI now and there are a lot of great folks here too.

Thanks for dropping by Chris!

P.S., I still laugh every time I visit a website called The Crap Report.
http://bettercloser.com Bill Rice

I think that is some of the frustration with commenting too. Many bloggers just let their comments go without tight moderation. I think that drives off comments. Meanwhile, I think well commented blogs (often better moderated) keep out the manual spammers at least.

Thanks Julia!
http://bettercloser.com Bill Rice

Catherine,

I applaud you.

I, even as a long-time blogger, had to form the habit of commenting in the last couple of years. I think the best comments are by people that really want to add value like yourself. Maybe that's a lot of the anxiety. Not a bad thing.

P.S., I love your 5 minute mission theme on your blog. Bite-sized morsels of goodness. Genius!
Archan Mehta

Bill, thanks for this piece. I enjoyed reading it. Unfortunately, in my experience a lot of people just leave a superficial or shallow comment. I think some of them are trying to make a statement. Maybe a few are trying to use it as a PR gimmick, to push a product or service: perhaps trying to get you to buy what you don’t need anyway. Others seemed bored and have nothing better to do, so what the heck? Why not leave a comment? That kind of deal. And then there are those who try to seduce you into reading their blogs–and subscribe and read it too. Of course, I am not saying this is a bad or good thing. Who am I to judge? Just pointing out a fact: people leave comments due to different ideas, motivations and priorities. Personally, I tend to read more and leave comments only if I feel I have something important to say, but that’s just me. Other than that, I would rather say “cheers” to people like you who write thoughtful posts. It is always great for me as a reader to come across a genuine and authentic piece of information, whether it is a blog, guest post or the commentary section. I look for new ideas, something I am not familiar with: something that makes me think–or just to learn something new, like how to cook Japanese food or how best to celebrate your vacation. Sometimes, I contribute to the commentary section, but just between you and me (!), I would rather spend my time reading blogs by Donald Trump, Brian Tracy, Bill Gates, Richard Branson and other worthies I can learn from. I find such people much more interesting as individuals and as contributors to society: they have lived such remarkable lives. I would rather be guided by such people than leave comments nine times out of ten. Cheers to all of you.
drknd

Bill, that's practically an offer, and too good to pass up! I've GOT to comment. Good approach for getting others to comment, too. I'm amazed at how few people have something to say out loud on my blog, yet privately tell me all kinds of things. ARGH! I love writing, otherwise I'd likely not have kept my blog going the past two and a half years. Like you, when someone takes the time to comment, I take the time to respond and check em' out. I made a couple of really terrific business allies that way, too.
I'm shortlisting your blog. Again, great post.
http://twitter.com/Caddyinfo Bruce Nunnally

These seem excellent rules for comment management, and intuitively will help in network building. Note: I now plan to use the Bill Rice approach to comment responses.

I have also found that Blog Authors who directly address the need for comment and why they thirst for comment / responses help enable me to break the 'habit' of read-only traditional media and add a comment or reply. The magic of blogging is in the comments and connections, the blog as a node in a network, not as an island.
callmeismael

Thank u fro the thoughtful blog piece. As a professional career salesman, & a 1 yr old veteram of SM, I am always interested in how SM is being used by actual salespeople, not just marketers to develop and manage pipelines, and close deals.

BTW, the South does not have the lock on politeness and courtesy. Thank You very much.

Stay warm and keep up the good work,

Keith, proud member of Red Sox Nation
http://twitter.com/peacewonk peacewonk

Comments are posted in my blog about passive aggression in relationships, and usually they are very personal. I really appreciate the courage to write there, and see if there is something I need to do immediately, like offering to send some of my free ebooks. Sometimes I leave the response to the community, and lo and behold, next thing I see is another soul offering understanding and support.
I always balance leaving postings with the omnipresent Google machine's behavior….there can be too many postings of many floating around for ever! It's better to send a personal email to the commenter and say thanks.
http://www.passiveaggressivehusband.com
http://twitter.com/eddybadrina Eddy Badrina

Great post Bill. Funny how we want communi-ty, but we don't communi-cate (i.e., have a two-way conversation). Thanks for reminding me to keep commenting on others' blogs.

BTW, your RSS Feedburner doesn't seem to be working.
http://bettercloser.com Bill Rice

Isn't that the truth. You actually have to hang-out and talk to people to create a community. I think online community is a lot like regular friendships–you have to keep up with them and take the time to stop by or have coffee from time-to-time.

Thanks for the heads up on the RSS feed (and hopefully you'll come back to subscribe). It seems google switched back to the old feedburner.com URL, instead of the new google.com URL. All the same…it seems to be working again.

RSS subscriptions are always appreciated. Another great way to get folks into your network and keep in touch more efficiently.
http://www.howtomakemyblog.com/ Marko Saric

Great advice! If you do all the 6 steps for every comment left on your blog or Twitter etc, I am sure you will slowly start building tons of connections, a lot of fans and a lot of visitors to your site and customers. Definitely recommended!
http://www.eransworld.com Eran B

Bill

I love this post. Its a great document on how to be a good community commenter. In today's busy world anyone who is willing to take the time to write a thought, give input positive or negative deserves some recognition by the site they commented on. Its about community and building up community.

One thing I would add to your list is being “real”. You see a lot of fake comments in the blogosphere where people are only posting to get recognition or attention ie trolls. Natural interaction with comments on both sides is a must for community building.
http://bettercloser.com Bill Rice

I think it is interesting too (professional sales people using social media).

My company, Kaleidico, has a lot of large enterprise sales organizations as clients. That means a broad range of sales disciplines from inside (tele-sales) to field sales. And, to your point, we are seeing a big trend towards personal branding and personal marketing to lift individuals' sales numbers.

A lot of times social media is a really efficient way to prospect and even warm-up cold calls. I also see big opportunities in identifying “trigger events” more quickly.

This is good stuff. Oh and no dig on others I've lived coast-to-coast CA to DC and many places in between. There are lots of nice people. Just letting you know where all my charm came from

Thanks for commenting Ismael!
http://bettercloser.com Bill Rice

Bruce,

Thanks for the kind words.

You are so right. I see too many bloggers just “broadcasting.” The really good ones are taking the time to figure out what their customers need and want. Then they deliver.

Ironically, there is a similar parallel in sales.

Thanks for the thoughtful comment.
http://bettercloser.com Bill Rice

Dr. K,

I'm honored to be on yours (and others) short list. I have a passion for writing too, but boy how good it feels to know you are adding value. That's what I love about comments–even when I'm screwing up I get feedback. Much more rewarding that shouting into the echo chamber.

I have also had a similar experience with commenting and engaging on Twitter. I have a strong network of people–I now consider them colleagues–that freely help move forward each others objectives. They are also great at dishing out a little accountability.

Thanks again. I appreciate all of you taking the time to contribute here. These are all great!
http://bettercloser.com Bill Rice

Archan,

I can definitely see your point. I really enjoy the luminaries too. However, there are a few things I would say to encourage you to participate at this level too: 1. I thrive on the dialogue and most of us can't get one of those with Trump or Gates (maybe Branson from what I've heard), 2. I think sometime those guys forget all the hard little steps and details that got them on their early road to success–where most of us sit, and 3. Related to #2 I like to work with some people that are slugging it out with me and might know a little more here and I might be able to help them a little more there.

Hopefully, that encourages you to jump in here with us little guys. All the same, I'm very honored you left a comment here. It was very valid and useful.
http://bettercloser.com Bill Rice

Marko,

I'm certain of it. I have already made some fast friends online. It's like any other relationship the more you put into it the more you get. Thanks for leaving a comment. It means a lot from a guy who makes a living advising bloggers–like free consulting!
http://bettercloser.com Bill Rice

Eran,

That is so true. I see a lot of folks trying to take a short-cut. It's really more obvious and counterproductive than they seem to realize.

What a fun blog. I love how you have blended your whole lifestream in one place. Very nice.
http://bettercloser.com Bill Rice

That is a great point peacewonk. You certainly have to consider your readership and what is best for them. I have also used the personal email too. It is something as a blog owner and privy to that information, should do more often.

Thanks for the comment! Your blog is very interesting and unique. I'm sure blogging for the purpose of building support groups/communities is an excellent purpose.
http://murciamarketing.com murciamarketing

It is a fine blog comment magnet policy you have to blog about how you will react to a comment in itself, how inspiring! And it's thanks to disqus and such that it is becoming easier to comment. I've found a first commenter blog wp plugin that allows you to redirect first timers of comments to a particular page, perhaps this would be ideal for this content, however I'm not sure it would work with 3rd party plugins. There is also a rss subscriber only content plugin, I'm defintely up for rewarding in some extra way commentors and upfront telling them that, after all it's only classic segmentation, don't you think?
http://bettercloser.com Bill Rice

Murcia Marketing,

Interesting suggestions. I will have to investigate those plug-ins.

Unfortunately, my marketing genius is not quite as sinister as you envision, but if you find it inspiring and clever I'm happy. I'm never offended by someone finding me guilty of marketing, sales, or making money. However, this was a little more happenstance and great Twitter followers than marketing genius.

Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Best of luck on Murcia Marketing's grand opening 2/20/2010!
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http://twitter.com/philwebs Philippine WebHost

Yeah your right… Allot people really shy in posting some comments… Also they are just reading some of the post and not living some comments… I Hope all of the people will comment when they visit sites… so that it will create interaction between the reader and the blogger… Thanks for the nice post… It helps much… I'm planning to post a thread in this forum related to your topic here.. Hopr it helps my co learners…

-Prithvi Online Forum
http://prithvionline.com/

Educators and Learners WebMaster Forum
http://www.simplewebtoolbox.com/ Bonnie Landau

Great post! I know it's hard to cultivate a following on a blog, so nice of you to share the reciprocity when somebody comments.

I'm curious — I just moved my blog to WordPress, and suddenly I'm getting all kinds of spam comments. But there are some that are borderline spam. People say “great post” but then they have a link some the latest and greatest product for sale. How do you distinguish between real and spam when the comments aren't clearly spam?
dutchessabroad

Bill, Thank you for a wonderful post. Even before learning you're from the South I “heard” your voice, soothing yet (re)commanding. I arrived here thanks to a link salonista (super group blogger http://www.expatharem.com) Anastasia Ashman posted in a link in her comment on my latest blog post (are you still with me?). Thank you for your gentle reminders. Best, Judith
http://bettercloser.com Bill Rice

Bonnie,

I use Akismet, which seems to do a pretty good job. But, I still carefully read each one and use the human filter. The simple “great post” comments usually don't make it. After all, I don't want to waste my readers time either–sorting through junk.
http://bettercloser.com Bill Rice

Dutchess,

Thanks for stopping by! I'm so glad Anastasia mentioned me to you. You have an incredibly interesting International story. Good luck on the new blog: http://www.hopefilledjars.blogspot.com/ Anyone who wants to get a great International traveler and Expat perspective on the world–visit the Dutchess.
dutchessabroad

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Thank you for a wonderful post. Even before learning you’re from the South I “heard” your voice, soothing yet (re)commanding. I arrived here thank