Recently I saw a question sent through to a group about whether commenting on a blog post was worthwhile to gain followers; and if so, why? This is something I’ve discussed with multiple people before so I figured it would be worthwhile to actually blog about my thoughts on this issue.

Firstly, by commenting on a blog, I’m only talking about a proper comment.

And secondly, if you are to comment on a blog and expect to see instant traction from doing so, it’s not worth it. Traction? From commenting on a blog post? YES! But I’ll get to that in a moment.

So what do I mean by those two points?

By a proper comment I mean one that adds value to the blog post.

So this could be a well thought out agreement that isn’t just “YASS!” or “so true” type comments. It needs to either take the concept delivered in the blog post further by either focusing on one point raised or by adding evidence towards the overall topic. Where you might have tried whatever was suggested in the blog and you’d comment on how it worked for you, or you might want to delve deeper on something so you’d question how it worked for the blogger.

Or it could be a counter argument beyond “that’s a joke” or “HA!” Again, you want it to be well thought out. It needs to deliver something that could be seen as a value to the people who read the comments. Don’t be dismissive, or rude. That works against the reasons used to comment.

The idea of commenting is showing your knowledge, your authority of the topic. You want people to see you as someone who has well thought out ideas that are complementary to that of the reader (whether it’s agreeing with the original post or not); that you are worthwhile to look into further.

Which brings us to the second point.

Traction can be gained from commenting on a blog post. But it’s not instantaneous nor is it worthwhile to be doing if you want to gain a heap of new followers. It is however, a good way of getting one or two people to follow your link back to your page. If they keep seeing good communication on your site about that topic or similar, they will become one of your followers.

So how do you go about doing it?

If you aren’t a regular blog writer or regularly filming blogs for your website, it’s not worthwhile. By regular, it might be monthly but weekly is better.

Have blog posts that are well developed intermixed with more relaxed posts. Blogs help people see you as human, to see behind the business attire etc. so you don’t want to give up that aspect of it, but you do need some meat and potatoes type content on your blog as well. Ones that would allow people to see your mastery of the ideas you are promoting.

Then select a few people in your industry that you admire. If you are a lifestyle coach, a business coach or something similar, you have a wealth of people you could look at. Look at their sites and see what they are discussing. Do you agree or disagree with them? Do you think you could add value to their clients by commenting on their posts? Are their intended clients similar to yours?

If you don’t think you can add value to their clients by commenting, or their clients aren’t similar to yours then it’s not the site for you to comment on.

By building your authority, it allows people to know your worth. By commenting, you are exposing people to your knowledge in a way that will intrigue people. Remember, you are not doing this to steal their followers but to increase your authority and reputation as being someone who can either add value with the coach they already admire or who can give them another opinion on topics that they might not necessarily agree with.

Every time you comment on a blog post, ensure that you enter your website in so that people can follow you back to your site.

This allows one of two things to occur.

They begin to follow you or they don’t.

If they like your ideas, writings etc then they will follow you. They will start to become part of your tribe.

This allows you to tap into a new connection stream. Just because the coach they use or are considering to use is the right one for them, they might not be the right person for a friend or colleague. But now you are in their mind as someone they could possibly refer people to.

Which is why you need to make things worthwhile for them. Which is why you need to ensure that you have content that helps you prove your authority, that is consistently released and overall, that is something you are passionate about.

Don’t go crazy and comment on every blog post in a short period of time, just one post every week or so. Don’t expect it to be a fast gain. But you can get some surprising results from it… including possibly doing some cross posting on their blog, some joint writing opportunities or some new clients.

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