I do not know, but I thought the title was a bit in your face. However, I was reading Your Comment Is Awaiting Moderation by Andrea Lewis. She expressed her frustration about commenting and seeing the message that her comment will not show up yet because it is being moderated. She feels she is not considered important.

I use moderation to prevent spammers. For those with newer sites, you will not understand. For those with larger sites that have been around more than a couple years, you know the frustration of spammers. My usual policy is to moderate a person’s first comment to the site. Once they have been approved, they are welcome to post. I have Intense Debate, which also helps and allows people with a good reputation to be seen right away.

Comments are important to me, just as much as the article itself. How can I know what my commenters are thinking if they do not leave feedback or want to engage in further conversation on my blog. However, quality control is just as important. If I approve a spammer, what happens when one of my well known colleagues in the blog community come by and see my site littered with spam? They will become discouraged to comment because they are not sure if the same spammers will seek their site out and do the same. Or, they believe the blogger does not care about what comments their visitors leave.

So, what is your policy on comment moderation?

Related posts:

1. How To Identify Tricky Comment Spammers
2. The Art of Blogging: Do Not Be Afraid To Leave Comments
3. Indentifying And Taking Care Of Comment Spam

Blogging does not have to be something only talented writers and journalists can do. Blogging is suppose to be whatever the focus of the site is about, whether technology, mommy blogging, social media, or other topics. There are so many genres in the blogging world. I recently read a short article titled Why Blog? at Sugar Filled Emotions and was motivated to write a response of my own.

Blogging should never be a chore. You write what you want and when you want to. I still see sites where people post that they are hiatus from their blog. This is just not acceptable, especially since there are so many days a month and even two entries is not really time consuming. Leaving a site to basically collect dust allows visitors to grow bored of waiting. Why bother having a site if you cannot update it?

Blog about what you know. Like authors writing a novel, it is hard to write about something you have no knowledge or experience. Of course you can slink articles through that show your lack of experience, but to those in your niche that have more experience, you will only look foolish.

Blog because you are passionate about the topic. How can you motivate your readers to return if your site has nothing of value? You can write about anything, but if you cannot connect with your readers through your passion is lacking.

Blog with confidence. It takes guts to put your own words out there for others to read. You will receive both negative and positive comments. Sometimes the negative comments, you have to deal with diplomatically. However, never let it become a hindrance to your blogging.

Blog knowing that you might help or influence another. Some people are looking to answers to their own situations. Your own experience that you share in your posts may help another.

For some, blogging might be an art, but it really is just a way to share your thoughts with others.

What reasons do you have to blog?

Related posts:

1. Guest Post: 5 Ways to Encourage Blog Comments
2. Bring A Fresh Face To Your Blog With MyBlogGuest.com
3. Authenticity – Blog And Be Yourself

[This is a guest post by Stacey Cavanagh. Stacey is from Manchester, UK and works in Online Marketing for Tecmark: SEO Liverpool & Manchester. You can follow Tecmark on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tecmark ]

We all hope that our blogs will eventually transition from ‘just another blog,’ into an active community discussion platform. This largely starts with readers beginning to actively participate in the comments. But how do you encourage your readers to leave comments (without personally hunting them down and begging them, of course)?

Discuss, Don’t Lecture
There’s a fine line between a discussion forum and a lecture. If your posts read like a lecture, they’re not very open to commenting. If you’re essentially just rambling off a list of your opinions without opening the floor to anyone else to contribute theirs in some way, then why would they take the time? Put your points across in a way that opens up an avenue for discussion or debate.

Don’t Over-Police Comments
If someone comments once and finds that their comment has been heavily edited to fit in more with the beliefs of the blogger, they’re unlikely to contribute again. Even if someone disagrees with your points, they’re entitled to their say. And this can be great for opening up discussion. Some of the most commented on guest posts take the form of debate. Someone disagreeing with your opinion really isn’t something you should take personally as a blogger. Comment moderation is necessary to fight against spam and obscenities. It’s not necessary to fight against diversity in opinions!

Don’t Sit on the Fence too Much
If you’re blogging about a feud between a couple of celebrities, as an example, by all means quote both sides. But, unless you’re writing for a high brow professional publication that demands it, sitting firmly on the fence doesn’t really promote any active discussion or debate. What’s your opinion? People will read your blog because they like how you write and how you put across your opinions or information? Listing off facts or repeating newspaper clippings isn’t going to set the world alight. If you’re writing about something people already know about, you need to add your own spin on it. Otherwise, why would they read about it at your blog in the first place? Why would they not just go to a newspaper’s website? Sitting on the fence and refusing to elaborate on an opinion means that those readers with an opinion don’t even know whether they agree or disagree with you – because they don’t know what you think!

Respond to Commenters
If someone comments and asks a question, the polite thing to do is to personally respond. Of course this might not be possible if you always get hundreds of comments. But it’s certainly worth trying. People leaving comments like to know their comments have been read. Why would they leave them otherwise? Responding to comments means that you remain involved in the discussion after the initial post and this sets the standard and really places your blog firmly as a platform for interaction.

Read, read, read.
Read the blogs of others in a similar niche. If a certain post makes you want to comment ask yourself why you want to comment. Understanding the psychology behind a compulsion to have your say means you can apply the same principles to your own blog. And taking the time to comment on the blogs of others means you are becoming a part of a network. Strong blog networks are made up of a number of bloggers who read one another’s posts regularly and comment.

Of course, different methods apply to different blogs and everyone tries different tricks.

What works for you?

Related posts:

1. Number of Comments Do Not Always Equal Success
2. The Art of Blogging: Do Not Be Afraid To Leave Comments
3. How Long Or Short Should A Blog Post Be?

I was reading an article called The Clock’s Ticking: 10 Steps to Social Media Business Integration by Andrea V Lewis and though I recommend reading it, it is probably nothing new that has already been said here at Blondish.net or from top dogs in the social media industry. However, it is good to read articles online from others who are on the right path in social media.

I have worked with a lot of clients who want instant results. I have even seen this happening in the freelance sites where people ask others to seek out and invite thousands of followers to their social network handles for a very minimal amount. For one, a lot of these sites have made auto-following APIs null and void. Another is that it takes a lot of time, so expecting 1000s of followers on several social networks within one month for $250 is just insane and very unreasonable. ALSO, it is the WRONG way to go about building a sturdy following. The steps between are missing.

You can invite and people will probably join because they do not care, but for those who do, you really have to work to become reputable enough for them to trust and in the end purchase whatever you might be selling. While you could have a blog for your business, and you could share those posts for your followers to see, you also need to step in and engage in a conversation with your followers. Try to provoke them into giving feedback about scenarios including your product or involve them in contests. Offering coupons or discounts might be nice, but it does not always work.

Going back to the freelance positions available out there, the person hired is to get followers, not to engage them. That is for the business to either hire them full time to engage for a decent rate, or step in to do it.

There are social media consultants that charge thousands of dollars to step in and offer hands on training, but even they will tell you, it takes investing time and effort to reap awards.

Have you worked with people who expect immediate results? Have you tried to explain or refer them on how to go about the right way to conduct a social media marketing plan?

——
Note: Here is another good article to read called Just stop faking it already! by Walk Talk Chew Gum that I have found carries on a good chunk of thoughts I agree on related to this article.

Related posts:

1. Why Social Media Could Be For Everyone
2. Applying Social Media and Social Bookmarking Effectively
3. For the Noobs: What Is Social Media?

Lately I have been falling into a wealth of discovering or being told about new websites that help bloggers. I am usually not one to blog back-to-back about websites, but hey… it is a useful site and could prove to be helpful. SeededBuzz.com is a site that allows people to submit their post and allow others to carry on the conversation on their own blog. Let me clarify – people who are dying to find out what you think about certain topics, but might not normally comment.

This allows a couple great things to happen.

1. You have a new quality article you can post.

2. The topic you wrote about includes a link to the original article, allowing people to either visit if they so choose and above all, a link back.

3. You have another good blog to visit regularly.

Topics that people can post under are: Automotive, Charity, Creative, Entertainment, Green, Living, Marketing, Money, Politics, Sport, Science, and Technology.

To use, all you have to do is post one of your articles for others to see and possible write articles in response on their own blogs. Also, you can choose someone else’s ’seed’ topic and write your own response. It is really easy! I actually have already tried it out on one of the previous blog postings.

I believe this is a great idea. I know SeededBuzz would like to try offering packages in their product, BUT I also know they have been offering some beta accounts for free. I am not sure if those are still being accepted, but I have been given a code to give to anyone who wants to check it out. Just use the code ‘blondishnet’ when you sign up.

I think there are not enough sites with this in mind. Of course, over the past few years I have tried different things: banner ad exchanges, blog community link exchanges, and more. However, this one encourages more action, rather than just doing one thing and not having to do anything else.

Are there any other sites you know of similar to this? Does this sound like something you might want to try out?

Related posts:

1. Authenticity – Blog And Be Yourself
2. When Is The Best Time To Blog
3. Reasons To Blog