Commenting is Marketing
I was looking through the nominations for the SEMMY awards and came across this great post by Darren Rowse over at Problogger. He talks about 10 ways to hurt your blogs brand by commenting on other blogs. It’s all pretty informative stuff that seems like common sense to me. This read comes at a particularly pertinent time for me as I was recently asked to compile a list of blogs that we should respond to as a company.
I grabbed a few to check up on and added them to my Google Reader to subscribe. I’m very sensitive to spam and I don’t want to be “that guy” (or girl, as is the case). I learned after reading Darren’s post that I’m not doing anything wrong. I’ve been making relevant comments (of course) and throwing in the PsPrint URL when it adds to the conversation of the bloggers post.
I post Darren’s question to my few readers here:
- What practices would you add to the posted list?
- Which would you remove from it (or modify)?
- What advice would you give bloggers when it comes to commenting on others blogs?
- As a blogger – do you police any of these types of things? Do you have a comment policy of any kind?
Higher Commissions? Yes Please…
About a month I go, I briefly mentioned that we’ve started a new affiliate program on Commission Junction. Didn’t bring a whole lot of fanfare to the party since we hadn’t officially made the announcement to our customers and current members at that time. I gave up my position as the manager of PsPrint’s Direct Mail Services to focus more time and attention on this little bugger.
Well, let’s get this party started? 8%? Weak sauce of the past. We’re serving up 15% commissions now, baby!
That’s right, we’ve dropped our measly 8% commissions and boosted to 15%. Partnering with Commission Junction has made the program so much better: a better interface, more reliable tracking, the support of a big affiliate network, you name it. It’s all simpler than ever for our affiliates AND us!
I’m really excited about the transition as it gives us a chance to start over and scrap the old program soon. It’s hard to improve on something that’s inherently flawed like our old program.
We’ve made sure to get the word out on this just in time for Affiliate Summit 2008 West. The Summit will be held at the Rio All Suites Hotel & Casino February 24th through 26th. PsPrint will of course have a booth and I will be there, so if you happen to be a reader of this blog stop by and say hi to me for a special treat :).
Really, I swear!
Read MoreAnother Day of BlogOnExpo
It never ends! Well, actually, it ends tomorrow, so get in while the getting is good! I wish I could give more of a ‘play by play’ for this unique blogging expo, but there’s honestly not a lot of interaction. So go check out the great content that Aditya Mahesh has served up for you!
Sessions
- WordPress Plug-Ins
- Public Relations
- Increasing Comments
- RSS Success Story: LeopardTricks.com
Interviews
- Ben Popken
- Rand Fishkin
- Neil Patel
- Jason Chen
BlogOnExpo – Day 2
It’s day 2 of the BlogOnExpo. It seems slow going, so get on over there and check out the content!
Sessions
- Which Blogging Platform?
- Go Beyond AdSense on Your Blog with Jeremy Schoemaker from Shoemoney
- Video Blogging
- Blogging Productivity
Interviews
- ShoeMoney
- Marshall Kirkpatrick
- Robert Scoble
- Pete Cashmore
Don’t just stand there… go read!
Read MoreBlogOnExpo – The Day is Here!
Let the games begin! The BlogOnExpo started today, with PsPrint as an exhibitor. There are some great sessions available online FOR FREE! This is the first free online bloggers expo of its kind. Setting precedents is important people! The organizer has done a bang up job of getting some pretty knowledgeable people interviewed and contributing to the online sessions. Today’s contributions are:
Sessions
- Social Media – Neil Patel from ACS SEO
- Logo Design Trends
- What to Do When you lose your Biggest Traffic Source – John Chow
- SEOmoz Guides – Rand Fishkin from SEOMoz
Interviews
- Matt Mullenweg
- Guy Kawasaki
- John Chow
- Darren Rowse
- Ryan Block
Having personally attended sessions with Neil Patel and Rand Fishkin on the panels, I can say that those will be great quality and I’m looking forward to checking them out. Darren Rowse is also a great guy (man behind ProBlogger.net) whom I enjoy following on Twitter, so that should be a good interview as well.
The expo will run for a few days, so mosey over and check it out.
Read MoreI KNEW IT – Genius Level Ain’t Bad
Seth Godin understands me, without knowing it. He recently made a post about dumbing down to reach the average.
The thing is, when you dumb stuff down, you know what you get?
Dumb customers.
Too true! I recently made a post myself about my blog ranking at a Genius Level reading ability. I pondered whether or not it was a good thing, since the Melissa Donovan’s post (where I first saw the quiz) was proposing that it was good to rank lower so more people could understand you.
But that’s not how I write. It’s not the type of people who appreciate my writing. So why should I “dumb down” what I write in order to reach the average middleman? That was my stance, and I don’t mind saying that I feel justified that a major blogger like Seth sees things my way.
One of the comments on my previous blog noted that you should write the way you speak when blogging. That opens up the conversation. I completely agree with that, and the thing is… I do speak this way. Which is why I write this way. I need not apologize for my love of grammar and syntax!
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