Commenting on other people’s blogs demonstrates your ability to produce insightful reactions to other people’s ideas. Employers will search for your name in Google, and they will find the blog comments you’ve left - which is a good thing. Blog comments give you a way to stand out from your peers in a super-competitive market.
Employers want to see you commenting on blogs because it demonstrates to them that you’re an active member of your niche, you’re passionate enough to participate in conversations related to your area of expertise, and you’re intelligent enough to add value to conversations online that relate to your career goals.
When commenting on blogs, here’s a checklist that will ensure you’re leaving as strong an impression as possible.
Blog comment checklist:
Your blog comment…
- Adds value or new ideas to the original blog post
- Accurately and concisely answers someone else’s question
- Has no spelling or grammar mistakes (it can’t be edited later)
- Relates to your area of expertise
- Is not hyper-reactive (doesn’t make you seem emotionally unstable)
- Does not put anyone down (if arguing, provide counterpoints but don’t attack individuals)
- Includes facts and links that back up every claim you make
- Includes your name (the one you want people to find you with when they search for you in Google)
- Includes a link to your website (boosting the Google rank of your site and leads more people there)
- Includes your tagline (a short phrase that describes to strangers what you do)
Commenting on blogs leaves a trail of “digital breadcrumbs” that people (employers, co-workers, bosses, etc.) will find when they type your name into Google. Always keep this checklist in mind.
Blog comments, forums comments, book reviews and contributing to wiki articles are just a few ways to leave a trail of breadcrumbs online that builds a web presence worthy of remark, differentiating you from other job applicants who haven’t spent time to establish a strong presence online.
6 responses so far ↓
1 Jessica Miller-Merrell // Nov 25, 2008 at 11:28 am
Nice post and so true. I regularly like to post a couple comments a day with a link to my blog. I then monitor my blog traffic. Depending on the popularity of the site and the post, blog traffic does increase.
Blog comment posting is free adverting that you have control over with regard to content and frequency. It should absolutely be part of your marketing plan!
Regards,
Jessica
http://www.bloggingforjobs.blogspot.com
2 How to Leave Effective Forum Comments | Brand-Yourself.com Blog // Nov 28, 2008 at 3:33 pm
[...] Comments Jessica Miller-Merrell on How to Leave Effective Blog Comments8 Ways to Build Your Brand as a College Student | Brand-Yourself.com Blog on 5 Things to do in [...]
3 Jun Loayza // Nov 29, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Hey Pete, I think you have a great thing going with this blog. A lot of people either don’t know how to build their personal brand, or have no idea why. I’ll definitely link this up to my network.
I just did an episode on FDTV about a topic very relevant to your blog. It is about using social media to build your personal brand. You can check it out here.
Hope you enjoy the vid and let me know if you have any feedback.
- Jun Loayza
4 Pete Kistler // Nov 30, 2008 at 1:57 am
Jun,
Right on! I checked out your FDTV video and loved it. Lots of great advice and tools to strengthen your personal brand in an age where social media is king.
Readers: if you haven’t seen Jun’s video (linked above), it’s worth your time to check it out.
Cheers,
- Pete Kistler
5 Pete Kistler // Nov 30, 2008 at 2:00 am
Jessica,
Good to hear from you! You’re absolutely right: blog comments are not just light conversation on the web. They are a powerful marketing tactic that - when done right - will get you noticed.
Thanks for stopping by,
- Pete Kistler
6 readepundetry // Dec 19, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Seldom I write comments but resource really cool
Please leave a comment so we know what you thought