The Virtual Handshake

Success breeds success, and it is highly likely that so long as they keep doing what they're doing, the current A-list bloggers will continue to be at the top of the list. So, what's a new blogger to do? Technorati currently tracks about 1.5 million blogs. What's going to happen when they hit ten times that? How are you going to compete for attention?

First and foremost, as with any market, you first have to define your target, your niche. What do you have to say? And what's your unique angle on it? Figure this out before you start, because the blogosphere doesn't need any more navel-gazers. As John Hawkins put it in The Three Cardinal Sins of Blogging:

You have got to be distinctive enough so that readers can pick you out of the herd. If there are 50 other blogs out there talking about the same things you're talking about and saying roughly the same things -- well to put it bluntly, why should a reader bother with reading your blog?

But beyond that, the key to remember is that blogging is networking, and the same basic techniques that help one build a powerful personal network are the same ones that will help you build a large and loyal blog readership, and a network with your fellow bloggers. Take a look at what Earl Mardle has to say about how to become an A-list blogger:

Writing and Posting is vital, otherwise why would anyone visit? But equally vital is contributing to other people's stuff.

Visit their sites and contribute comments; make sure to include a link back to your blog. Then repost the comments on your own blog as a post in their own right, maybe elaborate a bit.

Link to the source of the discussion, use trackback where possible.

Check your referrer logs and find out where people are coming from and what might have prompted the link. See what they checked on your site, follow up and see what they are saying on their site. Contribute again.

Look at your blogroll. How often do you use your favourite people as a springboard to some thinking and posting of your own? Make sure you credit and trackback.

Think about what you want from your blog.
Why are you doing this?
Who do you want to attract?
What kind of an impression do you want to make on them?
How do you engage that objective in what you post?

The language is a bit different, but the message is the same, isn't it?

And in case you're wondering it it works, the two full days since we launched this blog have both been in our top five highest-traffic days ever, and more than double our monthly average for the month of December! Thanks for reading, and watch for more upcoming tips on how to put this technology to good use in your business.