Branding Self in Blog Comments
I came across an interesting post today at dmiracle.com/how-to-blog that I thought worth sharing here. He was asking if you brand yourself in your comments on blogs and then proceeded to explain that particular comments floating around the place would always be ones he’d made on various blogs. Dawud spoke of various bloggers and names that have become familiar to many in the blogging world and how that using just a firstname or nickname probably wouldn’t identify you or separate yourself from others in the blogging community.
He says:
I knew my commenting efforts would help open the door to relationships with other bloggers. So I wanted to be known for who I am and who I am is Dawud Miracle.
Whenever I leave comments, I pay attention to other commenters as well. I look for names I either know or have seen before. On my blog it’s the same – I look for familiar names. I immediately can recognize Ben Yoskovitz, Dave Starr, Drew McLellan, Doug Karr and Liz Strauss. But I have a harder time knowing who Tony, Sara, Maddy, Karin, Chris M or Dave are.
I realised that I have done much the same as Dawud has and almost always signed off with my firstname and surname, rarely just my first name. On most occasions I’ve linked back to the same blog as well, although sometimes it’s been suitable to link to a different one. I don’t think it’s any co-incidence though that the one I link to the most is also the one that made it in the Top 100 Aussie Blogs list recently. So I think the blog linking is probably just as important as it encourages other visitors to come see who you are and what you blog about.
I encourage you to think about how you sign off on your comments and the blogs you link to. KMT
That’s a really unique perspective I’ve never thought about before! Makes absolute sense!
[...] Branding Self in Blog Comments Kathie writes a great post (and even mentions me! thanks!!) about commenting on other blogs. It’s a unique perspective that I’ve not thought about before but makes absolute sense. (tags: comments branding blogging) [...]
Exactly. Sometimes I link to my homepage and sometimes to specific posts. I really depends on the post I’m commenting on. Either way, I can say with certainty that having a standard way I sign my comments has increased my readership and interest in my blog. The other point is to leave good, quality comments that engage conversation.
Thanks, by the way, for the post and link back. I’m sure we’ll see each other around.
Have you checked out PostieCon? Seems like it would be the kind of conference that would really appeal to folks who are into branding, linking, interacting, and engaging online. Lots of monetization techniques as well, be really more about just the kind of thing Branding Self in Blog Comments talks about. Here, I am branding my own site/blog, because that’s who I am but I am also linking to PostieCon because that’s where I want you to look. I think that’s the best way, right? Hmm
And even a blog comment pays dividends long after it is made. I first got into the serious side of blogging when I read some posts by Darren Rowse. One of the reasons I read past the first page? Because I immediately saw that he had a first and last name and a picture and a persona which seemed genuine. Looking quickly at my Google Reader list I see almost exclusively that I read folks with first and last names who (at least seem) real.
Everyone has their own confidence level and perceived need for privacy, but think twice before you blog/comment anonymously or with a “kiddie” style screen name.
Also, in spite of what Lorelle thinks, you cna sign a blog comment an dnot be a dork.
Dave