Blog Comments: 5 Steps to Creating a Group to Comment on Your Blog

You've had your blog up and running for awhile, but the blog comments just aren't flowing in. You feel invisible, and worse yet, all the hard work you put into writing your post goes unnoticed. It doesn't have to be that way. How does it make you feel when someone retweets or likes one of your blog posts? How about when your post is shared with others? If you're like me, you feel validated and excited that someone likes what you've written well enough to share it with others.

Recently a friend (thanks Kathy McHenry! http://yourvirtualadvantage.com) invited me to be part of a blog commenting group. I was interested in the concept because the comments on my blog ebb and flow, but I'm still not at the point of engagement that I'd like to be. There are five of us currently in the group, and we have agreed to support each other by commenting on all of the posts that each member makes to her own blog. You could also use this same strategy for comments on your Facebook business page.

I've done a bit of research on blog commenting tribes/circles, and those who have chosen to participate have reported great increases in their traffic and activity on their blogs.

So, if you want to create your own blog commenting tribe, here are 5 steps to make that process easier:

1. Set the ground rules. Determine how many posts per week each member can submit, and how they notify the other members about the post. Does each member need to share the post with their own social media tribes? What are the consequences if a member doesn't participate in the commenting process? Are participants who don't have a blog integrated on her site and use a free services like Blogger permitted? Do participants need to use the same commenting platform (like Comment Luv or Disquis) on their blog?

2. Find like-minded partners. Between 10-20 partners seem to work best for this. Check out each potential partner's blog and traffic to ensure that they are regularly updating their blog and that they seem to have some traffic. Ideally, those who are serving a like-minded target market but aren't direct competitors make the best potential partners.

3. Invite them to participate. Contact your candidates and tell them what you're doing, outline the expectations, and ask them if they would like to participate. Outline the benefits to all for participation and why you've chosen each person. Let them know who else has been invited to play.

4. Use collaboration tool. There needs to be some central clearinghouse for group communication in this process. We're using a private Facebook group, but you could also create a Twitter list, or a private chat group.

5. Evaluate. After a month, take a look at what's happening. Are people getting results (more traffic, more comments from outside the group, more list sign ups)? Is everyone still committed to the process? Are there any changes that need to be made?

Getting thoughtful and insightful comments on your blog is a great measure of social proof of the relevance of your posts to your target market. Amp up your social proof with a blog comments group, and see your blog engagement accelerate!