How your reputation as a blogger helps lead you to success

This is the first in a series of articles in which I hope to share with you my knowledge of how and why Technology Bloggers has been so successful, so fast. Learn more about this series by reading our Technology Bloggers success article.

When starting a blog, website or forum there are two ways you can do it. In the dark, or with a reputation. 99% of the time, it is better to start a site with a reputation, as I have found that your online history can significantly affect the success of your next blog.

History provides you with many things; especially experience, reputation and knowledge. When I founded Technology Bloggers I had already run a technology blog for almost two years. This had given me a lot of experience in the area, specifically things like where to get ideas from, keywords to use to help my articles get found in the SERP’s, how to write interesting tech posts (I hope!) and many other things.

Christopher Roberts Technology Blog had also given me a reputation. This reputation has been carried with me to Technology Bloggers, so people who liked my writing before are likely to have follow me – give me a shout out if you did 🙂

The reason that I said 99% of the time it’s better to start with a reputation, is because very few people manage to get themselves a bad reputation, sometimes unintentionally.

Tracks in the Snow

We will forever be known by the tracks we leave - our reputation

Apart from blogging, another way to build up a good reputation is as a commenter. I comment on loads of blogs, as I think comments are very important. If you have had me comment on your blog or have seen me comment on a blog, then you will probably know that I have a reputation for challenging the author, and sometimes writing almost article length comments.

Challenging the author gets you to know people better in the blogosphere as those sort of comments jump out at people much more than ones like “Great article, cheers!” do. Don’g get me wrong though, I only disagree if I don’t agree with the author. If I like your content I will congratulate you too!


Commenting also has another element. By placing your link on other peoples blogs you are getting some effectively free publicity. People read you comment, like your style, check out your blog. It’s that simple! Sometimes 😉

If you are new to blogging, don’t worry if you have no reputation, look for blogs that you enjoy reading, and ones which also write in your niche and comment on them, that should, in some way help to build up a good reputation for yourself – providing they are good comments.

I have been into blogging for just over two years now, but I have also built (and currently maintain) many websites; these have further advanced my reputation as a writer. Some people may not know me from my blog, but as the ‘maintenance man’ for the Royal Marines Association, City of Wolverhampton Branch’s website, for example.

My social blog and philosophy blog along with my website have also advanced my ‘audience base’ and they have hopefully also strengthened my reputation as a blogger.

By the time I started Technology Bloggers I had (and still have) a lot of powerful contacts within the tech blog industry. These people can be fantastic resources in times of crisis and trouble, one of the other reasons that I highly recommend interacting with other online.

Basically what I am trying to say is that it is actually years of building and preparation that is part of the reason why Technology Bloggers has been successful. If you are new to blogging you may find that it can be hard to start with, but by guest blogging, commenting and interacting with other bloggers, can get you there!

Why would you turn comments off?

Why would you ever turn off comments?

There is the question for today. I can see no valid reason. I have already written about how comments are the fire of the blogosphers, how they are (in most cases) vital to success.

Technology Bloggers readers, I ask you why would you turn off comments and prevent people from broadcasting their opinion via the medium of commenting?

Technology Bloggers LogoWhen I find a blog that has turned off comments, it really annoys me. I can’t work out why you would turn them off.

Do you turn of comments? Why?

Do you know someone who has turned off comments? Ask them why.

The real juicy content in this article will hopefully be in the comments!

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The importance of comments

For 99% of blogs, comments are vital. They are the power behind blogging. People voicing their opinions on things that matter to them.

Not getting me? The comments are the fire of blogging, leading me perfectly onto my analogy of what comments are.

The analogy!

When creating fire you need three things:

  1. The right atmosphere (oxygen rich)
  2. Fuel
  3. Heat

These create fire.

Comments works in a very similar way. Comments also need three things:

  1. The blogosphere – when and where everyone meets and interacts (like the atmosphere)
  2. Articles – the substance to debate argue and discuss (like the fuel of the blogosphere, what it runs off)
  3. Opinions – these are people’s views on things which then cause them to write (like heat)

These three powerful elements create comments. The environment is set, the content is there, people’s opinions are brimming, bring on the comments!

Without comments I doubt that blogging would still be going now. Yes blogging is said to have died multiple times in the last decade, but it still lives on strong, and people like us are leading the community, pushing the boundaries to find new frontiers!

Thank you

As comments are so valuable, I though it would be a great idea to thank the commenters of this blog, as a way of saying ‘welcome to the community’!

Thank YouBelow is a list of the names of all the authors and commenters that have helped Technology Bloggers through the first 18 days of it’s life.

Over 100 comments from 26 authors (including me) – Wow! Well done everyone 😀

Authors

Commenters

  1. Wayne John from Southern California Web Development (8)
  2. Maria Pavel (5)
  3. SEO Gurgaon (4)
  4. Anna (3)
  5. Jakk from Technology News (3)
  6. Lillie Ammann (3)
  7. Marc (3)
  8. Nasif (3)
  9. Samantha Dermot (3)
  10. DiNaRa (2)
  11. jason from car Insurance Tips (2)
  12. Jimmy from wordpress themes (2)
  13. Jordan (BHATTMAN) (2)
  14. Chadrack from Making Money Blogging (1)
  15. Dana (1)
  16. Enfotainer (1)
  17. James (1)
  18. Justin Germino (1)
  19. Matt (1)
  20. online jewelry (1)
  21. Radithya from cirrusdance (1)
  22. Rojish (1)
  23. Tammi Kibler (1)
  24. Tony from Technology News (1)
  25. Travis from TradeTechSports (1)

Thank you all 🙂

Good bye April 2011, hello Technology Bloggers future!