Helping You Rock Out Your Site Like A Rockstar!

Blog commenting as strange as it sounds has become somewhat of a science. In the past few years alone there have been trends that still exist in order to help bloggers obtain the comments they want. If you give good comments, there are noticeable results.

1. Your blog receives comments back that may also be great feedback.
2. You meet others with the same interests.
3. You are creating a link back to your website for others to follow.

There have been quite a few ways to allow people to connect with other bloggers throughout the past few years.

1. Plugboards. Sites like Plugboard.org have been open since 2004 and allow people to enter their site’s link and a link to their website’s button for others to be able to click on. This is where the term ‘plugging your site’ really took off. The only downside a lot of people just plug their site and then be on their way without visiting others. Originally the plugboard was designed that if you plugged, then you visited the others that plugged. In return, the people who plug after you will also visit.

2. Comment Exchange sites. You can sign up for and you get to comment on several sites, and in return, you get also receive comments. This is great if you are able to take the time. The concept of this was that the site sends emails sent out 3 times a week, so that means you have to comment on 9 blogs. The problem is that some bloggers do not return comments, some blogs might have downtime issues, some do not even participate, or those who do are not reporting those who are not commenting.

3. Banner and Link Exchanges. This is probably one of the oldest versions to attract bloggers. Like plugsites, your link or your banner are the face for your site.

3. CommentLuv. This tool gives the commenter a way to leave a little preview of what to expect at their website for both the site owner and other visitors.

4. Twitter is becoming a titan in social media. There are new tools created on a daily basis to allow Tweeps to fully use the site. Twitter Tools and Tweet This are just some of the best tools out there for bloggers. Twitter Tools allows the blogger to tweet the new post while Tweet This allows the user to tweet the blog post if they like what they have read.

5. Backtype is a social venue that runs on giving people a run down on where and what you have commented. This program recognizes your comments from Twitter, LiveJournal, social bookmarking sites, and your blog. In general, it is a way to archive your comments.

Of course, there are other tools out there like other social networks (example: Facebook), but to me, these have been the ones to stand out the past few years. Perhaps you have used a couple of them in the past? What have you noticed… care to share?

LinkedIn is a great tool in itself that has become a way for professionals to connect. You can use it to reel in traffic.

In a way, LinkedIn has become a social network for mature users, rather than convoluted with game apps and other things like Facebook and MySpace. By the way, I do love Facebook, but sometimes there are things I really did not want to see and remind me of my old MySpace days.

You do not have to be “friends” to connect. Some people take the word “friend” to heart. LinkedIn is where you can try to establish any type of connection… though I am sure for a lot of you, a professional connection is ideal.

Here are just a few methods I use in bringing traffic to any of my websites from LinkedIn:

1. Install the WordPress applications for LinkedIn on my profile. When people visit, they will see what you write about. If you are someone who blogs about your career field, this could be an added bonus especially when finding a job.
2. Join groups and participate. There are a load of people who are looking to connect with other professionals in their niche. With the hundreds of groups available, you cannot go wrong.
3. Share your articles on your LinkedIn social stream. You can connect your LinkedIn account to other social networks or manually enter your update.
4. Submit your articles to group news. This is a nice addition, especially if the group has a lot of members. It might be a bit tedious, but you could bring in traffic and even feedback that you would not have found anywhere else… and you know what… it would be with people who are actually interested in what you have to say.

If you used LinkedIn, what other methods do you use to promote your site in order to bring in traffic?

No matter how many ridiculous lists there are on how to either be better at social media or how to commit social media suicide, or something similar. Yep, I am on a soapbox right now. Remember, social media is just another fancy word for marketing. It is not the monetary aspect, but more on the level of pushing your content into the public where people are interested. In fact, the term really is not new and really, it really is not fancy. This year, I have heard “social media” this and that in many places. However, people are still trying to figure it out.

THAT is the sad truth.

There are people going around saying they are social media ‘gurus’ or ‘experts.’ The problem is that they are only experts because the people they have influenced call them that. You cannot say you are an expert unless someone says you are. I remember hearing Micah Baldwin (Micah on Twitter) saying something to that sort. Say you have two people on twitter who delve into “social media”, but they are experts at different levels. The reason: the one who has shared their experience, applied it on a widespread public level (like Chris Brogan or my favorite and one who I have met in person – Liz Strauss). Now, I do not claim to be some “social media expert” nor will I ever.

Quoted from Social Media Rockstar:

You Haven’t Yet Monetized Your Social Media Presence into Consistent, Substantial Income. Do spend the bulk of your time on social media tasks that don’t really make you any money ? Do you have a corporate or agency “social media day job” where you’re constantly being reigned-in or encouraged to perform below your true potential? Are you a consultant who doesn’t spend half your day fighting off big budget project + speaking proposals with a stick? Then you’re probably not a social media expert, yet!

My response to the Social Media Rockstar article called 5 Signs You’re NOT a Social Media Expert, Yet:

The thing about social media is that it does NOT have to exactly sell something for money. You can sell your blog content for the awesome price of $0. The thing is promoting your content and that is an investment of time rather than money. Of course, you could offer advertising on your site, but if your main goal of your site, like mine for Blondish.net is to provide informational content to my readers, I want to be able to reach those in my niche which fall along the following categories: tech websites, webmaster resources, graphic design, web design, graphic freebies, WordPress, tutorials, and social media/ marketing.

My Goals:

• Maintain focus of website
• Improve traffic to site
• Improve external links to site
• Improve relations with my followers
• Provide adequate content or excell in providing content to readers in my niche

Eventually that effort could evolve into a monetary solution for visitors seeking to advertise on that site. However my primary directive is to attract quality traffic that could produce regular visitors and/or more visitors. When you get into the marketing aspect of social media, you are dealing more with making goals toward making money – the deeper end of marketing.

To you, what makes a person a social media expert?

So, here I was speaking at WordCamp Chicago 2010 and eventually I met these two guys from Chicago that were podcasters…. like super awesome podcasters. This was of course, before I got into podcasting. They were asking about BuddyPress in regards to their website, and we even talked some shop. I am speaking about Fausto Fernós and Marc Felion of Feast of Fun.

I kept in touch and followed up with them in Chicago during 2011 at WordCamp Chicago, and was just excited as I followed their site along. They interviewed people I wanted to hear, like the gals on Ru Paul’s Drag Race, which is on LOGO television. OH, and the list of people they have met and interviewed is amazing! I knew even before following up with them that I wanted to interview them. They actively engage on the social networks and on their own website. Come on, they really exude what a social media success story is all about and they were a lot of fun to hang out with too. Oh, and by the way, you can also find Feast of Fun listed in Wikipedia if you wish to know more about them.

Feast of Fun Stats – April 2011:

• 5 Time winner of the People’s Choice Podcast Awards
• Chicago Reader’s 2009 “Best Gay News Source” Award
• Covered by the Chicago Tribune and named “The Oprah of Gay Podcasting”
• Feast of Fun on Facebook (4203 fans as of April 2012)
• Feast of Fun Twitter (4526 followers as of April 2012)
• Feast of Fun on Youtube (1218 subscribers as of April 2012)

and much more….

Here is my interview with Fausto Fernós and Marc Felion of Feast of Fun:

ME: Please tell my readers a little about both of you and then a little about Feast of Fun itself.

FAUSTO and MARC: Feast of Fun started eight years ago as an audio blog to promote our live musical variety show, and was one of the very first podcasts ever made by anyone, anywhere.

When Apple celebrated the one year anniversary of the podcast directory in the iTunes music store, Feast of Fun was chosen as one out of 48 “pioneering shows… helping to bring podcasting from an underground movement to a mainstream phenomenon, [Feast of Fun] helped to pave the way.” -iTunes Music Store, June 28, 2006.

We think of our audience as friends. Friends which we share amazing stuff with, but in a totally funny, sexy, exciting way that you just can’t get in the rapid fire world of Facebook/Twitter. Podcasts are here to stay, and Feast of Fun helped pave the way for many shows.

ME: How did you get the word out in the beginning about your website? Was it difficult?

FAUSTO and MARC: When we first started posting audio clips, we were so thrilled to see more than 100 downloads of them. Our live shows never had more than 200 people in the audience, so when we got into the 1000s we realized our true calling was doing the podcast.

We didn’t choose podcasting, podcasting chose us.

As the Internet grew, we grew and at one point Feast of Fun did better than Howard Stern’s own podcast on iTunes. We were averaging a quarter of a million downloads a month. It still blows my mind to know so many amazing people listen to the show, and I make it a point to spend a lot of time interacting with our audience on our blog Feast of Fun. I really do think of them as friends, and we’ve made some amazing friendships with other bloggers, video folks and podcasters through the years. It’s changed us, changed our community and changed the world.

ME: What do you do offline to market your website? Many site owners, especially bloggers and podcasters are not familiar with marketing their site offline and could use some tips if you have any.

FAUSTO and MARC: We used to print out palm cards and gave thousands of those out at public events. We still have listeners to this day that found us by getting the fun, colorful cards we passed out.

Today we really spend a lot of energy and time keeping it electronic, because we want to draw an electronic audience and it’s easier to get people with Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media.

ME: You are the number one GLBT podcast on iTunes. That is no small feat. When you started podcasting, what was some of the most difficult things you had to learn and do you have any good tips for beginners wanting to podcast?

FAUSTO and MARC: My advice for any online creative content creator, is to make it fun for you. Chances are you wont find a large audience for several years, and that’s okay. You don’t need a large audience to be successful, you need to have an engaged audience.

Don’t skimp on audio quality, every show should have it’s own blog entry and a unique title. Be your own TV guide, explain to people what they will expect when they spend 5-90 minutes listening to you blab your mouth.

Do it regularly- whatever that means for you, weekly, monthly or daily?

I don’t think interviewing people helps to bring their audience to your blog. Interviews should be done to tell a good story, and that’s what makes people interested in what you do. We’ve had some huge stars on the show whose program did as well as some relatively unknown but fascinating people.

It’s all about storytelling, sitting around the fire, only the fire has now gone digital.

Don’t be afraid to ask for money and to charge for some of your content.

ME: Feast of Fun has put together a premium content package for their website. How has it worked for you? For those looking to put together a similiar concept of premium content, do you recommend this for other popular sites?

FAUSTO and MARC: Our audience has always been the reason we do the show, and they in turn have helped financially support it. We can only do it because they have invested in us, and that is the most amazing motivation anyone could ask for.

It’s tragic that Apple hasn’t offered an option for people to charge for their podcasts like they now do with iBooks because I think it would attract a lot more talent to the long format audio spoken word show.

I think yes, there should be some sort of paywall if it helps you do what you need to do. For some people though, the revenue comes through other means.

ME: What are some of the highlights that you are most proud throughout the time Feast of Funs has existed?

FAUSTO and MARC: Winning the People’s Choice Podcast Award five times for best GLBT podcast has been such an incredible honor. We put our heart and soul into every podcast. When people connect with us and celebrate our efforts, it is really amazing.

Meeting the listeners face to face at live show tapings has always been amazing. When we first came out to Los Angeles in 2006, we were greeted by a packed house at a popular bar in West Hollywood and were given the key to the city by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. It was made out of cardboard, but we didn’t mind!

We’ve done some shows that have rocked the world, like exposing the AT&T/T-Mobile merger scandal, where these creepy corporations were secretly paying off grassroots political advocates to endorse the merger which would have effectively killed net neutrality!

It’s always a blast to meet folks like: George Takei, Mo’Nique, Sharon Needles, RuPaul and get to ask any question that pops into my mind. We also love taking questions from the listeners while we tape- they can do so by posting on our Facebook page: http://facebook.com/feastoffun

You can see what the audience loved in the past year: http://feastoffun.com/category/podcast/?pop=year

ME: Success in social media seems to be a slightly different journey for each website and individual, what advice overall would you give to anyone striving to become the number one in their niche?

FAUSTO and MARC: Being number one means being better than everyone else. You don’t need to be #1 to do well, you have to be #1 only in your audience’s eyes. What they think matters the most, because in the end, hopefully they will be your boss and pay your bills.

Try to be good at what you do by focusing on your passions. Write about what excites you, not what you think your audience wants you to say.

Your authentic voice comes through when you speak honestly and transparently. People aren’t stupid, they will see how awesome you really are.

If you don’t share what’s inside your mind, you’re being a selfish jerk by robbing the world of your story. Don’t be afraid to be awesome! Everything is something to somebody.

I have been on a role with making infographics, but I feel like I need to have my geeky humor come through these days and you know… it feels great to put my graphic design skill and my own humor, so I NOW have a series called Info Geek Humor Graphics.

I will still do infographics, but I think I need to mix in a little geek/ tech humor to my site. It just feels like the right moment to do that. I am not sure if it will be a weekly thing, but certainly something I will do when I have time.

I hope you enjoy it!

I thought about my post Let Your Followers Decide Who the Expert Is and put together a short infographic that I think goes perfect. I am pretty passionate about the fact that people who claim they are a guru or expert are not letting their followers say it for them.

Anyone looking to build authority should let their work be what people will decided whether they are an expert or not. It is okay to believe you are an expert, and you might be, but when it comes to people who do not know you, they do not know what to trust or believe.

This is for those telling people they are experts before anyone knows who they are. I call it Expert #FAIL.

I thought I would start dabbling in some infographics and try it out. I know for me, a big thing that people ask me is how I have so many followers. Now, mind you, I do not have an insane amount of followers, but it is enough for others to ask, especially business owners.

Please click to view larger and in a new window.

It is important to try to join and connect with your followers on several social networks, instead of one. In fact, it is not unusual to find that a follower might prefer using one social network over another one. Making that extra effort to engage with your followers on any social network means you have made yourself more willing to connect with them. So as the old saying to not put all your eggs in one basket… try putting your eggs in several baskets when it comes to social networking.

Running a site takes time and effort. However, it is not hard to do. By simply applying some of the following to your site, you might become a better website host/ hostess as well as a blogger. These suggestions could prevent you from losing valuable traffic.

Keep your blog updated regularly. No, this does not mean you have to blog daily, but if that is your norm, you might want to stay consistent, even harnessing the power of scheduling future blog posts if necessary.

Visit and comment at other blogs. Visit people you blog roll and people who have commented on your site. You might even want to go out of your way every so often by commenting on sites you have not visited before. You never know – you might learn something.

Be a regular participant on the social networks. Like blogging regularly, it is not necessary to be on Twitter or Facebook all the time, but make sure to continually connect with your friends/ followers to keep updated.

Keep your comment open and remember to participate in your own comment streams to keep the conversation going. Sometimes your readers comment because they would love to carry on the conversation that you started with your blog. If you do not participate, then why bother to have written the article?

Offer something even if it is advice, graphics, layouts, or a giveaway of some sort. People love free stuff. Contests are great, but they are only a quick way at attracting temporary traffic. There are no guarantees that your visitors will stay after the contest or giveaway has ended.

Be open-minded and willing to not always be the center of attention. There are always people who are or will be better, and you must be open-minded as you could be stifling your own learning as well as others who are interested in the topic at hand.

Do you have any other suggestions on how to be a better blogger?