5 Signs Of A Small Blog That Is Ready To Grow
July 29, 2008 by Akemi
(Photo by Kaptain Krispy Kreme)
When you leave comments as a way to market your own blog . . .
In my last post Know, Like, Trust: Three Steps To Winning The Business, I emphasized the importance of working on the process of being known. It’s such a basic step, yet it’s quite obvious that many businesses fail on this first step of marketing. How many businesses go out of business before they ever get attention of substantial number of potential customers? Forget about the quality of your products and services for just a moment, if nobody knows about it, it doesn’t matter to them.
In the online world, this translates into getting attention of new readers. And one of the tried-and-true approach is to comment and / or guest blog on other blogs.
James the “handsome debonair king of the blogosphere” wrote in this post that it’s better to comment on smaller blogs. He insists that the ROI (return of investment) is higher with smaller blogs. Kind of like investing in small cap stocks. It’s an interesting strategy.
Not all small blogs are created equal, though . . .
I sort of agree with him. There is a point in investing in growing small businesses rather than in large cap blue chips. The “sort of” is inserted there, however, because I don’t think all small businesses or blogs are created equal. There are small blogs that are going to stay small and silently disappear and small blogs that are ready to grow big. Two different animals even if the current subscribers number are the same.
Can we spot promising small blogs that are going to grow big? Like stock investment, there is no guarantee, but I think there are signs that indicate that a blog owner knows what he or she is doing. Look for these signs and find great small blogs to comment.
1. There is About page with contact info.
As I discussed in Are You Afraid Of Expressing Yourself In Business?, people like people. Further, if the blogger is hiding out, do you think they are responsible for their writing? I don’t like dealing with nameless someone, and I bet many people feel the same.
2. The blogger responds to comments.
Maybe things are different for A-list blogger who gets 100 comments for every post. For everyone else, it serves to treat the visitors right. Not ignoring the people who spent their precious time to write their comment is really just the first step. I usually don’t return to blogs that ignored me before, and again, I’m betting many people feel the same.
3. There are outgoing links.
We don’t live in the vacuum. Bloggers who send out link loves know they will be reciprocated. (Well, most of the time.) Further, it shows the blogger goes out and do some learning or marketing by reading other blogs, which is important for growth.
4. Unique contents that deliver value.
We are tired of rehashed content. (Except this extraordinary one) Unique content is fun to read, and it attracts incoming links. But I’m putting this at #4 because there are certain limitations to uniqueness (whereas the aforementioned three are actionable for anyone willing to put their effort in). I mean, I’m pretty well read and it’s very seldom that I come across with something that is so new to me. What I’d like to see is a fresh angle, a personal flavor. Of course, if you can offer something that I never heard of, that will be wonderful — it reminds me there are more to explore in life.
Needless to say, please present the great contents in a neat way that doesn’t take more than 15 seconds to figure out what this blog is all about . . .
5. Big Bonus Point: You’ve seen the blogger at other parties – I mean, at other blogs. This means the blogger is working on the marketing.
Do you know of other signs to spot a growing blog? Some secrets to success? Whisper me. . .
Further reading: King James is currently writing a series of posts on the art of guest posting. The first post of the series is here.
More reading: The best way to comment is to find the blog you really enjoy and comment for the joy of having conversation with the blog author. Cath Lawson just published a terrific post on this — I could not explain better.
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Ahh, flattery gets you everywhere.
This is an interesting post, Akemi, and one that I think has value because it explores the analysis of where to submit guest posts and what to look for.
One thing to keep in mind – while some blogs may not last three months, their readers will be seeking to fill the void if those blogs do disappear. Be ready to catch them when they start looking for a new Beloved Blogger.
Cheers!
His majesty,
My humble duties.
(You wanted it, you got it. Law of Attraction, or whatever you call)
Now, next time you talk with that girl you wrote about, ask her if that “bumping into” was really an accident. . . ^_^
Thanks for the link. You know, some people asked me to write a comment rehasher, which would go out and find posts, scan the content, and generate a comment based on the keywords in that post. They meant it as a joke, but it pains me to say there would probably be great demand for such a tool!
Hunter Nuttalls last blog post..Blog Mastermind Reopens, And The Secret Of Blogging Success
Hi Akemi, I thought point #1 was interesting. I’m a naive amateur blogger … because I’ve always assumed that the “About Me” page is a default. Ah … I was wrong! Or perhaps I’ve been lucky – most blogs that I feel drawn to actually does have a decent “About Me” page. Cool!
Irene | Light Beckonss last blog post..Ask Why
Hunter,
That is so funny!
One plugin I’d love to see is comment tracker. Like the Twitter tracker. I want to see which blogs you go to and what you say there . . .
Irene,
Right. There are quite a few blogs without About. Or maybe I strayed into bad neighborhood . . .
Akemi: Great list and I agree completely. I used to be really bad at #2 (responding to comments) and so I never really engaged people in a dialogue… Your list is a good reminder.
Alex Fayles last blog post..Vacation Notice
Alex,
Welcome, and thank you for your kind words.
I just checked your blog. You are in Spain? That’s one of the country I’d love to visit, as I wrote in my blog last week. . .
And thank you for the bday wishes. My friend left yesterday and we had a great time together. I’ve been in Spain for just under a year now and love it. I was in France last year, but Spain (and a Spaniard) seduced me to hop across the border.
If you ever do make it to Spain, make sure you hit the Basque Country. Unlike most of Spain, it’s very green (and if you like the ocean, the waves are awesome).
Cheers,
Alex
Alex Fayles last blog post..I Really Like to Work
Alex,
I’ve heard Basque is quite different, like Quebec is different from the rest of Canada. Thank you for the tip!
I would add that a good theme for the blog is a huge help. I’m currently thinking on how to improve the theme on my blog (whether we like it or not, looks count). Also, I would check to see if they post at least twice a week. I like how you compare small blogs to small cap stocks.
Marelisas last blog post..Morning Ritual: A Buffet
Marelisa,
Hey, good to see you.
Looks count indeed. That is why I like MWP’s Sunday reviews. Good contents need to be presented in a easy to understand, neat way.
Re: the frequency of posting. I agree with regular posting of twice or more a week. But I’ve also seen blogs going wildly popular with less frequent posting. Self Made Chick comes to my mind first. So the way I see it is, yes, if you can post quality articles often, by all means go for it, but less frequent posting doesn’t quite kill a good small blog.
Yes the About page tells us so much or nothing. I have no confidence in blogs that don’t tell me about why they are writing and who they are. This is a good list on considerations for strategic commenting. It made me think.
Tom Volkar / Delightful Works last blog post..Trusting Brevity
Tom,
Thank you. If I could make you think, I guess I did a good job ^_^
The biggest, simplest thing that I feel is often times over-looked is the power in responding to comments! It’s the kindest, simplest thing that can be done and yet many people don’t do it! Many new blogs don’t do it… If you want to leave a lasting impression and show your reader(s) that you care, take the time to say “thank you” by responding to their comments. In fact, you might take that a step further and send a simple (non-automatic) ‘welcome’ e-mail! Just a thought…
Ribeezie,
Yes! It’s such a simple basic thing to do as a blogger that I have a bit of feeling of reservation to the blogs that don’t do it. Whether I comment or not.
And often I start emailing with commenters (and other readers). This is another wonderful aspect of blogging.
Okay, confession: I’m lousy about #3. I need to change that one. I get so many ideas for posts that too often the post I want to write in connection with another blog gets “lost” in my list of posts to write. Too many ideas, too little time.
Tom,
Haha. . . well you say you “need to” change that one, so I’ll be waiting for some love coming from you ^_^
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog.
Cheers! Sandra. R.
Hi Sandra,
Welcome to Yes to Me, and thank you for your kind words.