Whether you are launching a brand new blog or just putting out a new product or service, in all seriousness, if you wanted to, you could successfully promote it just with blog commenting alone. You’d need to be strategic, consistent and intelligent about it, but there is so much more to blog commenting than you might think.
Any successful blog launch needs a few things, mainly: visibility, accessibility, reach, and influence. If you’re clever enough, you can see how all of these things, which I call the 4 Irrefutable Laws of Blog Commenting, tie together to create one really impressive campaign and how persistent, strategic commenting can address them all. If you look closely, you’ll notice that all of these things happen at once when you start leaving great comments.
But you have to have the ability to see the bigger picture. Can you see it?
#1 The Law of Visibility
Great Comments Get You Noticed
I’m not talking about search engine visibility here. I’m talking about real, eyeballs-to-computer screen visibility (or screen reader visibility). When you are commenting, many eyes are going to see you. They are going to see your name, your comment, and probably your picture or avatar, too.
#2 The Law of Accessibility
Great Comments Make Your Stuff Easy to Find
Although not all blogs have it set up (but they should), the genius behind the CommentLuv tool isn’t that you get a fancy-looking link back to your blog, it’s that people can see where the heck that link is going to take them. Rather than a mysterious link anchored with your name or keyword phrase, the actual title of your post is there for the world to see. If you’ve got something special there, no use hiding it behind innuendos and cryptic language. This is your opportunity to create the easy button for prospective visitors.
#3 The Law of Reach
Great Comments Spread the Word
Spreading the word is a little different than just increasing visibility. The visibility part is a given, an obvious thing. The reason this law is so crucial is that, depending on what you say, you could successfully start the viral spread of your message just from a single comment. Think carefully about what you write, and also when you leave your comments and where you leave them. Your commenting strategy must be about more than just numbers.
#4 The Law of Influence
Great Comments Get You Connected
The other day I left a comment on a someone’s blog – someone new to me. In return, she checked me out. Then she replied back to my comment on her blog, telling everyone to go check out my blog because it was a great place for X, Y, Z, etc. Was I impressed? You betcha. Is it also true that instead of leaving a comment, I could have gone back to my blog and spent an hour writing an awesome post that gave her a tribute and hopefully she would talk about that on her own blog? Of course. But, the comment took less than 5 minutes and accomplished the same thing. And the whole progression was completely natural.
Bonus: The Law of Extension
Great Comments Increase Your Back Links
Truthfully, all comments grow your back links, and this is probably the number one reason people leave comments, and why some of them are bogus and without substance. Bogus comments won’t help you out with the 4 Irrefutable Laws, I should point out. However, regardless of whether they are bogus or not, and regardless of whether the receiving blog is nofollow or not, all comments increase the number of links going to your blog or whatever URL you leave when you comment.
It just kills me when I see people leaving comments with no back link. Isn’t there any site, any URL where people can go to find out more about you? Even if it’s just to your Twitter page, you should get in the habit of linking back to a place where people can go to find out more about the mystery person who just left this great comment on their blog – aka you.
Biggest Bonus: The Law of Branding
Great Comments Say a Lot About You
Your blog is not the only place you should be giving your two cents. Add to the community by chipping in. Think of your blog as your personal soapbox, and everyone else’s blogs as one gigantic community newspaper. You have the opportunity to contribute. Do not over think this! Fortunately for you, this isn’t as challenging as Sudoku 
. Just put what you are thinking after you read something in the comment box, and hit Submit. Easy peasy.
Make it matter, though, because you never know where it could lead.
Twitter: InteractOne
says:
Great points! I don’t know many people who don’t read comments whether they leave their own or not. Commenting humanizes the internet and aids us humans at what we do best……being social!
Thomas recently posted ..Island Inn – Sanibel Island
I’ve recently started a blog, the knowledge you provide on this site has solved the problem tremendously. Appreciation for all of your current time & work…
This is a great post, one I wish everyone was required to read before being allowed to start a blog-or better yet–comment on one! Honest feedback is always sincerely appreciated by the devoted blogger, and in the blogosphere an intelligent, thoughtful comment is worth more than a thousand unread posts. Just found this site today, love it! And, I’ll be checking out your blog as soon as I’m done. Loved your post!
Twitter: bizchickblogs
says:
Thanks, Jamie! And that’s the thing I’ve noticed most in the community. Feedback is SO appreciated. It grows your blog.