Retro Phone Booths by Dominique B
Commenting is a building block of blogging. One way to gauge the success of our posts by the number of comments it receives (along with whether it’s been stumbled or tweeted); comments are easily one of the best ways to network and promote your own blog. They’re an incredibly powerful and useful part of the blogging process, and they are one that becomes all too easy to overlook, skip over, or ignore.
In late October, Amy at Wolf Whistle tweeted about her own personal comment challenge– to leave 500 blog comments during the month. I was instantly intrigued by this– what kind of comments does she leave? How difficult is it?
Amy told us about the experience:
Several people have asked me why I’m doing this. I hoped to bring more conversation to the blog community, gain new visitors to my own blog and hopefully make a few people smile in the process!
In a way, it definitely IS self-promotion: I’m not denying that in any way. I do think, however, that it is self-promotion in quite a quiet and subtle way and that I’m giving something back to the people who spend a great deal of time on their blogs.
I have not been writing massive comments on every single blog post – unless, of course, I feel like I have a lot to say. I promised myself when I started this that I wouldn’t leave comments such as ‘Nice blog!!!’ as I generally feel that these type of comments are a bit of a let down. Being on the receiving end of a comment like that does not make you feel special at all!
After talking with Amy, I decided to take up the challenge for November. My own goal was to leave 250 meaningful, thoughtful, useful comments. While some of my comments may have been complimentary or lighthearted, I tried to make them substantial nonetheless. Amy’s quest made me realize that it’s important that I get out there and start leaving comments more.
What I’ve Learned:
- To actually read, not skim, my RSS feed. It’s amazing how easy it is to skim through posts, ignore the content that is really there and feel uninspired. When you slow down to pay attention to what people are saying, instead of just looking at images, headlines, and bullet points, you’ll find there is a lot more to respond to.
- Diversify my reading list. It’s HARD to reach a target goal of 250 comments without falling into a pattern of leaving meaningless comments. So I reached out for new content sources– reading the Links a la Mode threads weekly & commenting on submissions, seeking out new sites through others comments, commenting on re-Tweets from Twitter and more.
Amy’s Tip: If you have Bloglovin’ or Google Reader, open five of your favourite blogs and comment on them all. Then follow a link from each blog and repeat forever… forever… forever.
- Don’t fret over failure; each comment is a success. This month, my goal was 250 comments. As of this posting, I’m at approximately 180 comments. It’s unlikely that I’ll reach my goal, but holy crap! I posted 180 comments this month! That’s awesome.
- If you find a new site that has great content, subscribe to it or bookmark it. Otherwise, you’ll want to return to it later and will have NO idea where its at. Alternately, use some kind of tool to help you track where your comments are. For next month, I’d be likely to use something like coComment, a Google Spreadsheet, or a list in a program like Notepad to help me keep track of the comments I’ve left.
Challenge Yourself
- For the month of December, challenge yourself to leave more comments. Comments are, afterall, the building blogs of community, blog growth, outreach, and relationships.
- Pick a number appropriate for you: it may be based on factors such as the site of your site, how many blogs you read, what your schedule is like. Pick 50 comments if you’re a new blogger wanting to reach out. Pick 250 if you’re moderately sized, but finding yourself slacking behind. If you’re super ambitious, set a goal for 500 like Amy has.
- But what about the holidays? Amy had a great tip on that for herself:
500 is a big amount and with my work commitments and holidays coming up, I doubt I’ll reach the same goal in December. I am still going to set myself a smaller target though: I want to make daily commenting – on both my favourite blogs and blogs that are new to me – part of my internet life because all of those amazing blogs out there deserve some recognition!
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This is an interesting posts. but oh goodness how do you keep count of the comments?
I think i will do this challenge. it’s fun visiting new blogs and leaving love!
YES I am going to do the comments too… lol I am going to try and do twenty tonight.
nevermind my question, i just reread the last “what ive learned”
oooo i think i’ll set myself a target of 500 like amy did. after all thats less than 20 daily xx
This is SUCH a great idea, Ashe! I’ve been looking for a way to reconnect. I’m going to create my own comment goal for December!
I am trying to do a similar thing during the 30 for 30 challenge after seeing so many silly ‘nice look’ comments. I’ve been trying to leave more comments and always make them sincere and well-thought out. Never thought about counting the number of comments and challenging myself to reach a certain number – but I like the idea. – Katy
I think this is a great idea! I really want more comments on my blog and this might be a good way to get the conversation started.
I’m not sure if I’ll be able to leave comments in the hundreds, but I will make more effort to leave comments. The reason I don’t comment often is I typically leave long comments, and I also find it offensive when people leave the “nice blog” comment. Another issue I have with comments is people leaving their actually blog address in the body of the comment, I’m all for promoting other bloggers, but it’s a better way of doing it.
This is such a great post Ashe! All the recommendations for setting yourself a commenting goal is really wise. I started my Reader Appreciation Monday in hopes to encourage more commenting and it has. It also encourages commenters from leaving comments like, “nice dress” or “great post”. I, myself, love to comment on other blogs with a thoughtout response. There’s nothing more insulting to have someone comment on a post, saying “you look pretty!” when it’s not even you. Comments shouldn’t be so much for self-promotion but for the connection to your reader. Thanks for posting this again<3.
xx
so this is one of those annoying pointless comments, but i giggled a little at “There’s nothing more insulting to have someone comment on a post, saying “you look pretty!” when it’s not even you.”
This is an awesome idea! I’ve been trying to leave more comments and to search out new content, but I haven’t made any numerical goals. I think I’m going to take the challenge too. I have always thought the fashion blogging community was an awesome one and this is a way to give back. Comments are like currency. They help encourage the blogger and they encourage a dialogue between the blogger and the reader – which is very fulfilling for the blogger. It makes us feel like people are actually paying attention to what we put out there. If I enjoy getting comments so much, I’m sure everyone else does too.
Goal for December commenting: 300 comments. I think I can do it.
Ha! I should try counting the number of comments I leave. But in addition to actually leaving the comments, that would be a whole separate workload so…I’ll pass! But I’ve always been in favor of saying something in appreciation of the effort the blogger has made. If I have time to look at it for a few minutes, I figure I can spare another minute to leave a note.
I do this every time and leave meaningful comments 90% of the time!! But it’s honestly getting much harder and harder to because when I do, for like every 10 comments I leave I maybe get one back. It’s starting to make me feel like I’ve subscribed to a bunch of diva blogs! no one comments back! it was funny because today just as I read this, someone in the rss feed right before had posted this
“Oh…
I have a confession to make…
I got a comment couple days go saying that I don’t return the courtesy nor visit and leave a comment just as courtesy to show my gratitude. That’s why the support for my blog has been dwindling. And I should do what I want others done to me.
I have to agree and apologize to you guys!!! I know and I agree with what she/he said. I’ve heard this from my boy many times that I should & NEED to return the courtesy and visit back as my gratitude!!! I knew I have to do that to show you guys I care, but I don’t know why I did NOT do it in return.?!?!?! What am I thinking?!?!?! I’d like to thank her/he for point this out and shows me that you guys care and expect sth from me. I’ll start to do my best to return the courtesy. I really appreciate this! Thank you so much for this!!! Xoxo
Sorry guys!!! I’ll do my best to improve!!!”
I’m kind of glad she got called out, everyone should! And I think this post is the right push to make people more courteous and less snobby. sorry if I’m taking this on a whole other tangent.
In fact, as the comment above me. Wendy is probably the only blogger that I can think of who consistently leaves comments each and every single time, or when I’m leaving a comment I see she’s already left one – thank you. If she can find time, everyone else seriously has absolutely no excuse.
really good idea. just mad an account at “CoComment”. good thing to keep on track with the comments.
Eli, I definitely stop leaving comments for those diva blogs! Or, you know, maybe they don’t have a bad attitude but they have a million readers or they’re really busy (I’m always scared that some day I won’t have as much time to devote to the blogs I read but I timed it recently and I can get through my blog roll in an hour or 90 minutes, which is a pretty minimal amount of time). Whatever the reason for their lack of interaction — and it could be a good reason — I’d rather leave the comments for people who are happy to chit chat with me! I figure someone who never responds won’t miss me.
I like the idea behind this. It’s simple, but it challenges you to really pay attention. I read a LOT of blogs, but i very rarely comment, even on the ones i read everyday. and at the heart of it, it really is the simplest, most subtle and effective method of self promotion. i’m still not at the point where i’m getting tons of comments, and i definitely check out the blogs of everyone who takes the time to give me some feedback. i think this is something i really wan to try for December. i think i’ll stick to 50 as my goal though. does this count as my first one?
I think I leave about 10 comments a day on blogs now.. It used to be more, but like some of you said, the response you get is limited and I started slacking because of it. Maybe I should just find some other blogs where there’s some better connection
I do have a few loyal commenters and I always try to comment back as much as I can!
500! That is impressive. when i first started my blog i never received comments and it was a little discouraging. A month or so in i realized that if i went and left comments on other blogs then some of them would come and view my blog and leave comments too. I tried to set small goals for myself like 10 before i went to bed and i would do this a couple times a week. it definetly helped with promoting my blog and i discovered tons of amazing blogs.
For December i am going to try and make more of an effort to comment on blogs i am follower more and not just look at the posts.
Commenting truly is the best form of self-promotion. When I first started blogging, I was blown away by how effective it was. Plus, I know I’m making someone smile at the same time. I agree with all on the importance of sincere comments. There’s one blogger in particular who has some sort of “follow me here” sentence tacked onto every single comment, and it drives me crazy. I’m following already, now leave me alone!
i comment back to everyone who comments i think its just common courtesy
I read sooo many blogs, but rarely comment anymore, i guess, this will be the end of those days!
This is such a good idea. I comment a little but not half as much as I should. I always leave thoughtful ents though
thankyou for setting down a challenge.
500 comments! Wow. I don’t know how many comments I’d be able to leave in a month, but probably not quite so many lol. A sincere comment where you show that you’re engaging with another blogger’s content and are interested in what they have to say is probably the best form of subtle self-promotion. No more copy/paste “Great blog! Follow me please *link*” comments, please!
This is a great idea, but I think I might wait a month to start doing it just in case commenting all over the blogosphere goes haywire and everybody becomes suspicious, like I’ll be if my comment section suddenly becomes really active after this post, haha!
Thank you for sharing! This is a fabulous idea as I’m a new blogger and still learning the tricks-of-the-trade! I only leave honest, sincere comments and I know I’ve not left some for fear that it would come across as total self-promotion even if I just thoroughly enjoy certain blogs and want them to feel the love!! Thanks again! IFB is a fantastic forum!!
http://thefarmgirlfashionista.blogspot.com/
I think I will take up this challenge and set myself the target of 5 comments a day that’s about 150 a month. I want to write something that has some meaning and makes the blogger feel valued. I think it will help me get to know other bloggers whilst promoting my blog in the least annoying and intrusive way
I comment quite a lot, but I don’t have time to say something on every blog I read. I also try to check out the blogs of people who comment on my own blog, but again, sometimes I accidentally miss people out. But you know, if someone comments very regularly I will definitely always read their blog too.
I still comment on blogs that don’t leave comments on my own, because I know that people can be really busy and ultimately I don’t comment for a ‘reward’ – I comment because I like the post and I want to let the person know. If my blog isn’t their kind of thing, it is a bit silly to get upset about it – I read lots of blogs and they won’t all necessarily like my writing or my style, and that’s ok!
I agree with you about “comments for rewards”. If something in someone’s post doesn’t move me then I won’t comment and vice versa. But I’m going to give myself a personal challenge to comment more often because there are some bloggers who I find very inspiring and I’ve never commented. I don’t know why, but sometimes when I see that a post has 50+ comments already I feel like my comment will only add to the “noise”.
I may not challenge myself to a fixed number but I will definitely try to comment more often. Especially since I’m getting to know some of the writers of blogs I read through IFB.
I totally agree with this. My blog is fairly new and just getting people to comment is frustrating. I know they’re reading it, people will email me or tell me about it, but they just won’t comment!
I think that the Problogger suggestion to leave a comment on 5 new blogs per day is enough for me now , and I can’t reach the goal still!
I obviously leave comment on blogs I follow because they are interesting to me (otherwise I would not be following them ;D) but finding 5 new interesting things to comment per day is a deal of a challenge! heck!!
Good for you though, did the 180 comment thing brought you more traffic?
I always try to leave comments because thats the fun in blogging is being able to share your opinion. However I think that setting a number of how many comments I should be leaving per month is not something I will be following. I only comment on the stories that I find interesting and many of the stories I find boring and skip over. Also there are a lot of bloggers out there that just put up pictures of themselves in clothes. All I do is scroll through and move on to the next blog. The most you can comment there is “wow looks good” or “love that skirt” and thats it. Boooooring!
chiabags.blogspot.com
Such a great way to add to the blogging community, everyone loves seeing a meaningful comment on a post. I’ll try to reach 500 comments during December as a little holiday gift to the blogosphere! Good luck to anyone else taking on this challenge.
I’ve never counted but I always leave tons of comments!! I love to read blogs, and comment for support, I think it’s vital to building a blog too. The tough part is when I get busy
(like right now I’m in an intense 1 month course) and I feel that guilt of not commenting but there is just no extra time!
Love this idea! I’m so in!
this is a wonderful idea. i am already pretty good at commenting on peoples blogs, but i will try to comment more.
http://eccentricdaydream.blogspot.com/
An ambitious but intriguing project! I’d like to comment and follow more but my reader is kinda scary and anytime it’s over 300, it scares me (Err which is often).
This does remind me to get out there and visit new blogs though and keep that conversation going!
The post – and the comments – inspired me to make my own goals for the month of December. I shouldn’t, but sometimes feel uncomfortable leaving comments, especially on blogs where there is an obviously strong community of commenters who all seem to know one another. I’ve seen them make outsiders who comment feel like, well, outsiders. Makes me wary to post. But your comments are positive and inspiring – so I’m off to my fave blogs …
As the lottery ads say, you have to be in it to win it. Join in and you’ll feel like an insider in no time!
I just came across this post via Modly Chic’s recent post, and I love the idea of this challenge. I typically read and comment on 20-50 style blogs a day, but I’d like to challenge myself to leave more meaningful comments.
I love leaving comments just because I know how bloggers feel when we get a comment on a piece we worked hard on. 500 comments is a lot to leave in a month’s time!
Ah Wendy B, I love you more than any comment could ever expess!
Love you back, Fajr!
I will definitely be doing this for the month of December. Thanks so much for the great idea — it’s a good way to tell people you actually read what they have to say.
I think this is something that I will commit to do during the holidays when I am out of school. Even though I comment on blogs from time to time now, I am going to make it my mission to comment on the old blogs and find some new ones to read as well.
Ashe, I’ve started making commenting a part of my regimen. It’s how I start my day. I leave about a dozen comments per day and it has really helped establish relationships with other bloggers. What a gift we have in this community. And if there was any doubt that fashion lovers have brains, they just need to visit this site
Interesting experience, but how to be sure you will be visited and commented back ? When I see blogs with 10 or more comments per article, I wonder if mine has got a problem of readability or comments posting !
Well, here’s my first comment after vowing to leave more comments within the month. Post-It and pen at the ready.
This really is a wonderful idea. Sometimes it seems so hard to find anything really concrete to comment with; even so, the “cute!” or “this is great!” comment seems a little lame but better than nothing.
Here’s to new friends and more blogs read!
For tracking comments, I actually open up a folder on my Firefox toolbar titled “Read and Converse.” I bookmark the places I leave comments, so if there’s a discussion to continue, I can. It also lets me see how active I’ve been and forces me to consider if I’m leaving worthwhile comments. I’d rather type nothing than say nothing, so I comment only when I really feel I have something to add. My comment may not be deep or long, but I hope it adds some kind of dimension to a discussion.
90% of the time, I return all of the comments I get on each post. Say I average about 30 comments a post, and I post 15 times a month. That’s 450/month, and I know I make a lot of additional comments, too. So I guess I’m kind of doing this already! I’ve been blogging for nearly ten years now, and I’ve always returned my comments…I just feel like it’s a common courtesy!
I should have been more specific, but this DOESN’T include comments you’ve left back to people on your own site. Afterall, one blog does not a community make!
I meant actually clicking on their link, visiting their blog, and leaving a comment on their latest post.
I’m a very new blogger with a very small blog and I’ve always been a bit shy about leaving comments. Thus, I accept your challenge to make at least 50 useful and substantial comments during the month of December. There must be at least 50-plus blogs in my blog roll, so there should be plenty to choose from! A Google Spreadsheet (which I already tend to abuse for household uses) would be an excellent tool to manage comment-making.
Thank you for inspiring me to become more active in the blogging community. Though I’m not a fashion blogger, I’ve read and enjoyed enough posts here to become a follower.
I absolutely loved this article. I am a new blogger, not only a fashion blogger but also a photography one since that is also my passion. I have realized that one of the best parts of blogging is not only people liking your style but what you have to say, in my case, the images I have to show. I love finding a random inspiring someone, or who truly and genuinely appreciates my artwork. If I see something that catches my attention I must say something about it, is like giving a compliment to a stranger on a random day. They deserve it, they did not necessarily expected it, and voila! you have just made their day.
I am writing a little too much, but only because this article truly inspired me.
Thank you
Again your blog post here, is so uber helpful. I have been commenting on many blogs, I do make a point of ONLY commenting on blogs where Ive seen something worth commenting on and have something to say aside from nice blog. I know when I started out, I was doing that and now frankly Im a little embarrassed!
Ive set myself a challenge of leaving 10 useful comments a day (except for Sundays) and so far so good!
This is a splendid idea. I’ll have to check out coComment because I have no idea how I’d keep track of my comments otherwise.
I find myself reading so many blog during the work day (shhhh!) or from my phone, in which case I don’t leave comments. I really need to be better about it!
Oh thanks for sharing this. I read it twice probably before I decided to do this challenge myself, wrote a post about it here (and quotet and linked of course)
http://ssssht.blogspot.com/2010/12/since-i-finally-got-the-dim-feeling.html#comments
thanks a lot! great idea! silent days are over.