Friendships

Image Source: kimi_co via FlickR

So you started a blog for networking – now what?  In this article, I will provide five easy ways to connect and form friendships with your favorite bloggers online based on my own experience with Twenty Set.

It’s surprisingly easy to network with other bloggers because bloggers by nature want to connect with their audience.  I’m amazed by how few people recognize this and take advantage of it.  Here’s how I began my interactions with some popular bloggers in the young professional niche:

Write Good Articles Often

None of these other tips will help if you don’t regularly write useful posts for your blog.  Unfortunately, there’s no shortcut to developing content and you are unlikely to get noticed without succinctly stated useful or entertaining ideas.  Also, writing once a week just isn’t enough when you are starting out (though once established you can get away with it).  I tend to write four or five times a week at the moment; and while I don’t suspect anyone else wants to commit to that, I do think you can gain momentum by adding content quickly when you first begin, as long as it’s still quality.  If you’ve only recently started blogging, I recommend Problogger, Skelliewag, CopyBlogger, and Write To Done for tips on writing amazing, targeted content that gets you noticed.

Comment Often

Two of my top commenters at Twenty Set have been th rive and Michael, and I’ve made sure to visit their blogs to learn more about them.  When commenting, use your full name (for personal branding purposes) or try the full name + website combo, ie: “Monica O’Brien at Twenty Set.”  The second is an unusual format, and some bloggers won’t be able to resist clicking through.  I did this at Newly Corporate in their comments section and a post or two later they surprised me with a link to Twenty Set.

If you want to network with a very popular blogger:

Many bloggers post at a certain time of day (I know I do).  Figure out when that is by going through their archives; then spend the next week or two trying to be the first or second comment on each post they write.  Make sure your comment is detailed, useful, and adds value to the conversation.  If the blogger doesn’t notice you from that, follow up with a short and sweet email briefly introducing yourself and telling them how much you enjoy their site.  End your email by asking for advice or pointers on your own blog.  Most blogs are based on giving advice in some form, so bloggers are likely to respond to a request if it’s framed correctly.

Link Often

Another easy way to get a blogger’s attention is to link to them, especially if they are on Technorati.  The best way to link is when their post is relevant to a point you are making.  While this technique is less likely to get you noticed on a popular blog, it works well with smaller blogs because only one or two people will link to them per day or per week, so the trackbacks are manageable.  I follow links to any website that links to me; and I’m always on the lookout for quality articles to link back to.  (So there you go, if you want me to check out your website just link to me… my secret is out.)  Keep in mind the post where you link is the post your favorite blogger will read first; make sure it’s something impressive – the best quality you can deliver.  Tiffany Monhollon wrote a fantastic article about blog linking etiquette and tips that is fairly comprehensive and a must-read on this subject. 

Email Occasionally

This is a great way to get in touch with your favorite blogger, especially if you use email to be helpful.  When I find an article like this one that’s dead useful, I’ll usually email the link to other bloggers who would also find it useful.  This works well if you’ve already built a repertoire with your favorite blogger through links and/or commenting on their blog.  As a bonus, if your favorite blogger blogs about the link you will likely get a hat tip.

Another way to use email is to send a quick note of thanks or congratulations.  How perfect is this email?

“Congrats on the YGG Position.  Just read it a few minutes ago.  You’re doing an excellent job branding.”

I received this simple yet effective email from Dan Schawbel when the YGG board of advisors was announced.  This simple gesture shows he does an excellent job at personal branding, which is what he writes about on his blog.  (And yes, I subscribed after receiving this email.)

Overall though, keep these emails to a minimum.  People already get way too many emails and thanks are not needed for every little thing, though I find genuine thank yous nice on any occasion.

Email vs. Comments:

I respond to comments in the comments section of my blog, but that requires the person I’m responding to to come back to my website and check.  Usually this works out okay because the commentor is a regular reader.  Every once in awhile, however, someone you didn’t think would ever be reading your blog will randomly post a comment.  You will definitely want to respond, but more importantly you will want to make sure the person sees your response right away.  For this, I will email my response instead of put it in the comments section.  I had read Alexandra Levit’s blog from afar, so when she commented on my site I made sure to email her back; and she ended up featuring one of my posts on Water Cooler Wisdom.

Guest Post Whenever You Can

It’s extra work to guest post on popular blogs in your niche, and to be honest you won’t get much direct traffic as a result (in my experience, less than 1% of the blog’s total traffic for the day).  The opportunities that can come out of guest posting are valuable, however, and often lead to indirect traffic and exposure to other popular bloggers.  The first guest post I did was at Young Go Getter, and it wasn’t hard to land because they were asking for submissions.  It eventually led to Justin and Dion making me a regular writer, and Justin also asked me to be on the YGG board of advisors, where I’ve met other like-minded entrepreneurs I can learn from.  My second guest post was at Employee Evolution through their contribution process.  Ryan emailed me the next morning to say they would post it, and he and Ryan Healy offered me a spot on the Brazen Careerist network, which is sure to provide more opportunities when it launches.

Both YGG and EE have over 1200 subscribers and are immensely popular among millennials, and now I know the guys who run them (strange though, they are literally all guys).  The extra hour or two I put in for each guest post has also paid off in growing Twenty Set through indirect traffic and exposure to other popular milennial bloggers, many of whom ended up linking or subscribing to my blog.

In my experience, these five tips work best when used together.  It’s difficult to get someone’s attention just by commenting or just by linking – establishing relationships with other bloggers requires a lot of time and energy.  Many people aren’t willing to put forth the effort needed and won’t reap the rewards.  Be the person who does and you will come out far ahead of your peers.