Meet my friend Brian Belfitt.
Brian runs the successful blogging community Blog Engage.
I have known Brian for 10 years; as long as I have been online.
After reading comments from a recent guest post of mine on Blogging Tips I saw Brian’s generous comment.
I was touched and humbled that my successful online marketing buddy would publish such a kind, warm comment.
Of course I have to mention him as a glowing example of why genuine blog commenting works.
Commenting genuinely on someone’s blog forms the foundation for friendships to develop. As bonds form, and strengthen, I am happy to promote my blogging buddies to friends across a wide range of platforms.
Brian and Blog Engage will get some pop through this mention on Enstine’s blog in addition to traffic through:
- Google Plus
and who knows how many other channels pick up this guest post after Enstine and I promote it?
Genuine blog commenting works incredibly well because the friends you make through authentic blog commenting lead to ample cross-promoting activities, business partnerships, customers, clients and all sorts of sweet benefits for both friends.
Kind eBook Mention
Meet my friend Moss Clement.
Moss is the creator and owner of the successful blog Moss Media Dot Biz.
He recently commented on my blog explaining how he shouted 2 of my eBooks out via one of his posts:
25 Amazing Books Every Blogger and Freelance Writer Must Read
He also gave my friend Alonzo Pichardo props for the rocking video chat we published for how to connect with online influencers.
Here is the comment:
Moss shows why blog commenting works. He graciously promoted 2 of my eBooks and of course has been a friend for years.
How could I not mention him, his blog and rocking post here?
Mentioning his blog and post gives him increased exposure on a wide range of networks, from Twitter to Facebook to Google Plus to LinkedIn.
Can you see why genuine blog commenting works?
The Key Intent
Neither Brian nor Moss gave to get.
Both friends have generously helped me for years without looking for anything in return.
I happily share their posts on social media and gave both a shout out today because each dude has been interested in me, not what I can do for them.
The key intent with blog commenting is to give without asking or looking for anything in return.
This is the prime component of a rocking blog commenting campaign.
How Not to Do Relationship Building
This morning I came across a blogger.
I frequently meet such bloggers through my email inbox.
They only want to help me if I help them. Not a good look. Because this proves you just want to use me for my influence and have no interest in befriending me.
These folks are not interested in me; they just want to know what I can do for them.
Of course this asinine approach guarantees that I will never befriend you or help you because hey; who the heck enjoys being used, with leeches wanting to suck off of you and your 10 years of smart, persistent work online?
Said blogger asked me to vote for them in some contest 3 days ago. Total stranger to me as we never connected.
I alerted her to my blog post about how to build a friendship with me, which of course is based on helping me out without looking for anything in return to gain my trust.
She responded, explaining how she appreciated the information and saw the benefits of building long term bonds.
Then she told me she’d tweet one of my posts if I voted for her.
I felt like I had just spoken to a brick wall instead of a human being 🙂
If you want to try to squeeze influence, traffic and success out of established pro bloggers you will fall flat on your cyber space.
Give without asking for anything in return.
Eventually this blogger will retweet my blog posts, genuinely comment on my blog and not look for anything in return for weeks.
This is how she will move up in blogging circles so she doesn’t need to waste countless hours cold pitching bloggers as a complete stranger, getting rejected time after time instead of having her tribe of friends voting the stuffing out of her blog.