The Blogging Community… What’s Your Role?

I recently have found a new blogging buddy, George from Tumblemoose Productions. I’ve always emphasized the importance of networking and establishing and developing relationships with those who have similar interests.  Here’s a great example of a relationship that I’ve established.  George and I have exchanged guest posts to post to one another’s blogs.  It’s a great way to network with others who wouldn’t otherwise have exposure to your site.  I value each and every one of these relationships and contacts; I’m so happy to be able to share this post from George with you!

Well, the country just elected someone as President who, among other things, billed himself as a community organizer. All rhetoric aside, my question for you is simple:

Are you a community organizer or a community participant?

Nearly every blog post these days that mentions traffic also includes a section about building a community around your blog. The advice is always pretty much the same with suggestions to Tweet, Digg and Stumble until your fingers bleed. Go post comments on blogs. You get the idea.

I would not argue against any of these suggestions. My own experience is that they do work, and for some folks they work exceptionally well. What I’ll put out here is that the blogs who are doing well are the ones whose bloggers are community organizers, not just community participants.

It’s all about attitude and approach. When I’m stumbling across the web, or posting comments on my feed-read sites, if I find something that really stands out I take a proactive approach. I don’t just comment and hope for the best. I take the time to post a thoughtful comment and then if they’ve really resonated with me I’ll contact the blogger directly through email. I’ll ask or offer to guest post and I’ll let them know what an exceptional job they’ve done.

I try and let my circle of influence know about my new discovery and I’ll encourage them to go see for themselves.

I’ve found that by attempting to organize my community, I’ve become a better blogger and my analytics show that it’s working.

Don’t make stumbling and commenting a rote task. Approach it with the enthusiasm of a child coming downstairs Christmas morning, eyes bright with the anticipation of what might be in those colorful and shiny packages under the tree.

Believe in yourself. Believe that you CAN organize. You CAN lead.

With the right attitude you’ll find that your community will become strong, and all of its members will benefit from your hard work.

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