How to Get Comments: Building an Online Community Through Social Media (Part 1)
How you interact socially online can help or harm you. In this two part blog series I’m going to focus on the method to ask for comment and leave comments in order to build following on your blog.
Social media currency (the value we hold for something) is huge, and an important part to the online world, but knowing the rules on how to build your own social media currency is not always clear. Some of the ways this new currency is exchanged is through comments and followers; the more you are involved with social media, the more value you can potentially get out of it.
How to get people to talk about and comment on what you have written is a challenge we all face as bloggers. Below are my 10 tips on how to gain a following and encourage comments.
How to Get Comments and Build a Community:
- Invite: Ask people to follow you and your blog, especially if they like what you have to say.
- Ask Questions: Ask people to tell you what they think, if they agree or disagree, or have anything to add.
- Be Open Ended: Leave your blogs open to discussion. Don’t imply your word is the final word, or that you are the ultimate authority on the subject. State this is your view or opinion or experience, then ask for your reader’s perspective. Don’t turn people off from engaging with you.
- Interact/Reply to Comments: Respond to people and let them know you saw and read their comments. This encourages participation. People are more likely to comment knowing you read and will reply to them.
- Comment Policy: Have rules for people who post comments so undesirable behavior won’t occur.
- Be Humble: Don’t go putting on airs. Admit if you are wrong or make a mistake. People usually respond well to that.
- Be Gracious: Courtesy goes a long way with people. Be thankful for your followers. Let them know you appreciate them and what they have to say.
- Be Controversial: Rocking the boat and getting people stirred up is a great way to generate comments, just be careful with how controversial you’re being.
- Reward Comments: Offer things now and then when people comment, whether it’s exclusive content or help with something. Another way to reward people is by mentioning them in a blog in the future or thanking them via LinkedIn.
- Make it Easy: Check your blog settings to make sure it’s easy for people to leave comments. Have Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter buttons, so it’s easy for people to click and share/recommend this blog to their network, and easier for you to track their activity.
Click here to view Part 2 of the series!
Have you had any success with using these techniques or do you have any additional tips to help drive commentary? Let me know about them in the comment box!
Author: Ken Krogue | Google+
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