One question I often field is how to encourage more visitors to comment on your blog. In particular it seems, many of the people I've spoken to seem demotivated because "...nobody ever sends feed back... there's no response..." Does this sound like you? If so, the following six tips are just for you. 1) Ask for Comments. I can't make the statement any simpler. I'll say it again, if you want something, ask for it. In my opinion, the best place to ask is right at the end of you post. If your visitor has read this far (if the content is good quality, they will), you're more likely to garner a response. Most importantly, indicate that you respect their opinions, make sure you respond. This is commonly referred to as a "Call to Action". Once you're blog post is finished, empower your readers to add to or improve the content. Empower them to ask questions. Also, enable them to easily follow up by using the Subscribe To Comments Wordpress plugin. This plugin allows readers to receive notifications of new comments that are posted to an entry. 2) Remove the Barriers. Nothing is more annoying then spending extra time writing a quality comment, and ...

In our last post "Which Social Media Tool is Best for You?" one reader asked "About how long does it take for traffic to start picking up?" Honestly, that's a tough question to answer. It's possible to take a blog from 500 visitors per month to 80, 000 per month; and do that in two months. I've done that on a previous blog. It was a full time job! However in hindsight, I wish I would have properly planned for that blog, as the traffic would have been more focused. Don't get me wrong, I retained a lot of the readers, but I could have used my time wiser, and in a more productive manner. As such, I hope this post will help other "newer" blog owners out there; those who are trying their best to build traffic. Before I go into the details below, I'd just like to point out a caveat. Most new blogs struggle to gain exposure, they need to be found by readers. Subsequently the issue of long term, sustained growth versus sudden spurts of short term growth (as new reader communities discover a blog), becomes the fulcrum (so to speak). In my opinion, the best approach ...

I just got of the phone with a client who asked me how he can effectively respond to readers of his blog who keep asking for free help. In this case it was an issue of readers who were asking for personal assistance, which would cause extra work for my client - Work for which he'd not earn money. Additionally, he indicated that sometimes he just does not have the time to respond properly (or at all). How do you diplomatically say "no"? How do you turn such requests into revenue generators? How do you manage numerous requests as your blog grows? One obvious approach is to ignore requests from your blog readers. That's a 100% solution to saving time and improving productivity. However, in my opinion it's not an effective approach for several reasons. Notwithstanding this approach will almost certainly damage the reputation of you and your blog. It would also reduce traffic as there'd be no valuable communication with your community. And to be blunt, that's just plain stupid. If you're not going to listen and communicate with your community, why even have a blog? For blogs that are more established (having greater readership) one good way to respond to ...