(OK, the picture has nothing to do with comments, but I couldn’t resist! Gotta love Apocalypse Now!)

I admit it, I am a comment junkie. It’s not that I get a lot of comments, because I don’t. But when I do, it makes my day!

I don’t know if most or all bloggers feel the same way here, but it’s like I’m being validated that my blog is actually providing value (or not).

Before I downsized out of my BlackBerry (sob), I would literally be waiting for that red light to start flashing which would tell me that I had a new message. If it was an email telling me I had a new comment, I couldn’t wait to read it.

Unfortunately, I had to cut back on expenses and the BB had to go. Now I have to actually log in my account to see if anyone has left one!!

Is it just me or are comments like crack to everyone? It’s like we just can’t get enough of them. Maybe it’s because my blog is relatively new and I want to be sure people are actually finding my posts helpful or interesting.

One thing that always bothered me, and maybe it’s just jealousy, is when I see a blog that seems to have just average content and yet has a ton of comments. I have to wonder what I’m not doing that they are.

Recently, I’ve started looking into this question and discovered a few very cool blogs that help to answer my questions. By the way, these are NOT the average blogs I was talking about!!

Comment Machines

machine

Here are a few blogs that are killing it with the number of comments they receive. I’m not saying that comments equal success, but I think that comments help to forge a community and having a community of readers who like and trust us is what we’re all looking for.

Anyway, take a look at these sites and maybe you will find something that will help you build your comments as well. Note that these sites are not juggernauts like Problogger or CopyBlogger, who have a ton of comments because they have soooo many readers (and their content is fairly decent too).

  • BloggingBookshelf.com Tristan Higbee seems to have mastered the art of getting comments. For a relatively new blog, he is hitting the ball out of the park. Check out his post, “How To Guarantee 100 Comments On A Blog Post“. 170+ comments is not too shabby in my book!
  • Sensophy.com Jacob Sokol has only had his blog since April 2010, and has gained a lot of traction already. His comment numbers are very impressive and he is super passionate and clearly building a community around his vision.
  • LavenderUses.com I’ll be the first to admit that I know nothing about lavender. I do however, know that Patricia is a true commenting machine (and a heck of a sweet woman)! She has been kind enough to leave multiple comments on my blog and if you take a look at some of her posts, like “Are You a Tweetheart, Commenter, or Both“?, you will gain some insight as to how she generates so many comments (and on such a small niche blog!).

How To Ramp Up Your Comments

If I knew the answer to this, I wouldn’t be writing this article!

I will however, share what I have learned recently (like in the last hour) about increasing those elusive comments.

  1. Start commenting on other people blogs. Duh. Well, it’s not going to work if we just comment here and there, like most of us do. How many of us can honestly say that we put a lot of effort into commenting on blogs? Bloggers like Patricia and Tristan spend a ton of time crafting genuine, well articulated comments on other blogs. In return, they see that generosity frequently returned.
  2. Use Twitter to build your network. This seems obvious, but when you spend time on here actually conversing with people, many of them will visit your site. If they like what they read, you very may well  get a comment or two.
  3. Focus on creating relationships. In my opinion, this is one of the most important things a new blogger can do. Getting traffic, comments, and attention, are all difficult in the beginning. If you can find a way to build relationships, not even with big name bloggers, you will be amazed at what happens. Just don’t go looking for something when seeking out these relationships. Instead, focus on creating a mutually beneficial one.
  4. Engage your readers. This is not done any better than by Nick at SiteSketch101. If you want to learn how to get conversations going with your readers, spend some time on his site. Each of his posts are specifically written to call his readers into action. And that action is commenting and getting involved. Brilliant.

I understand that comments don’t make a blog successful or put any money in our pockets, but what they do is get people talking. When we can get people talking, things are going to start happening. The more buzz we create, the more we will get noticed. And that’s a very good thing!!

I plan to post this on Sunday morning and if by Sunday night I don’t have at least 50 comments, I will consider this a complete and utter failure.

Just kidding.

If you did find this post useful or interesting, or you just like the title of the post, please leave a comment. Thanks

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