Consider Your Commentators To Be Customers

Sage advice from Sire on his WassupBlog, a place I visit often for good blogging tips, comment surfing and more. While reading his post Will Commenting Harm Your Blogging Success? I discovered the topic for my next post right there in the middle of his! Just like that! - a new post topic is born. It also helps demonstrate to my readers and clients how reading other blogs can provide them with post ideas.

The post - can commenting harm you - itself poses an interesting question. It’s been said by some pretty respectable bloggers that commenting could harm you as a blogger but only if you neglect other marketing aspects - which most bloggers wouldn’t do. So, I think it’s rather a non-issue, and from looking at what other commentators say about it, I think it’s safe to say there really is no downside to proper commenting.

And because, as Sire writes in his post about whether commenting can hurt you:

“If you consider your commentators as customers how much more likely are they going to send people your way if you show them, by replying to their comments, that you value their input?”

And that’s the statement Sire made that I took to heart to share with my business blogging clients, and one in which I come to the conclusion that in the business world, commentators ARE your customers. It’s a relevant topic to use as a follow up post to 5 Tips on How To Be A Better Commenter too. So, thanks again Sire for that little nugget of inspiration!

When business owners tell me they don’t have the time or experience to manage their own blog, I always point to Extreme John as a shining example of how a business owner can rock on the web. John is unique, we all know that, but business owners are the authority of their business and they don’t have to be anywhere near as prolific as the Extreme John’s of the world to promote their business online. Can we all agree on this?