Blogging Etiquette 101

So we've talked a lot over the past couple weeks of about how to set up your blog and how to market it. But one final conversation around "Blog Etiquette" is needed. I'd just like to share with you some tips that I've found in my experience is helpful when visiting and commenting on other blogs. These aren't the hard and fast rules of blogging, b/c the web is changing everyday, so feel free to add to the conversation if you feel I may have left out a few. We all need to be become better online citizens and here's a few ways to do that:

1) When you find a great blog that you enjoy and learn from go ahead and take the plunge and become a subscriber. Its helps to grow their user base and encourages them to continue to write great content for you to read. They may even return the favor and do the same for you. Reciprocity is key!

2) If you're blogging about a topic you may have seen on another blog or about a person, simply link back to their blog or site. The web is designed for sharing and collaborating so take advantage of it.

3)When you have time, after reading a great blog, leave a comment! Blogs were created to initiate discussions online and what better way to start things off but by leaving the writer a comment. However, if you don't have time, consider using any of the social bookmarking tools like Delicious or Digg.com and StumbleUpon to give other readers a chance to find and read the posts as well.

4)When you do leave a comment, try and leave a few thoughts of your own. As I stated above, blogging is about starting a discussion and you will be surprised what we can learn from one another once we open the flood gates of communication.

5)If you have a blog of your own, its okay to reference it and even leave a link to it, however make sure its relevant. Random links to unrelated content is a waste of everyone's time and its just plain rude.

Chris Brogan, who also works with business on social media and social networking, has a very interesting blog on the "Netiquette" of everything from using Email to Twitter. Check it out...ChrisBrogan.com

I am sure you all have your own rules and opinions on blogging and I'd love to hear them all. So please leave a comment and share them with me, so we can get a dialogue going! See you all next post.


Yours truly,

B.Croom
Social Media Stepchild