Give something back to the blogging community
Since we get so much out of our blogging experience, I am a firm believer in giving something back to the blogging community. Giving something back to the blogging community has a number of benefits; it give us a warm, fuzzy feeling inside, it makes other people happy and it can attract more visitors to your blog.
You can give things back in a number of ways, and it doesn’t (necessarily) need to be too time consuming. Here are a few ways in which you could give back to the blogging community.
Sponsor a giveaway
Everybody loves something for free and giveaways do attract more people to your blog. The caveat here is that some people will choose to follow simply because they want to enter the giveaway, but bear in mind that some of these may convert to loyal followers. An active blog also attracts more followers as many bloggers like to be involved in the hustle and bustle of a busy blog.
You could host a giveaway, or if you’re feeling really generous, why not sponsor a giveaway on other blogs? I regularly do this by offering things such as free blog graphics and designs and they’re always very popular. It’s a good way to attract more visitors to your own blog too as people will click over from the blog hosting the giveaway.
Sponsor a person
If your blog makes money you might want to think about providing a sponsorship. This doesn’t have to be a huge amount of money. For example, every last year I sponsored a blog owner to attend a blogging conference. The reader got a lot out of this experience and that made me feel good!
Offer freebies
As I said before, everyone loves a freebie. Is there something that you could offer your readers? A free e-book? A free “how to” guide? I offer a freebie on my blog once a week and I know that many of my readers enjoy the anticipation of wondering what this week’s freebie will be. This again brings in extra visitors too.
I also run a free blog makeover program for people who blog for therapy (I’m not suggesting you do this…because that would just be copying my idea LOL) but if you get inventive I’m sure you could come up with some ideas that are just as popular.
Donate your time by guest blogging
I don’t know about you but I like reading guest blogs on other peoples blogs. It’s a change from the norm and the change of voice and writing style keeps me interested. You could help out a fellow blogger, especially one who might be struggling to update their blog, by offering to wrote an article for their blog. Guest blogging also benefits you by getting a little exposure too :)
Reply to comments
If a visitor is kind enough to leave a comment, it is only fair that their comment is listened to and replied to, in my opinion. This is “give and take” at its most basic really. Don’t underestimate how happy you can make your readers feel when you reply to their comment with a well thought out comment.
Linky Love
Everyone wants exposure for their blog, so why not give some “linky love” by rewarding those readers who send visitors to your blog? They will appreciate it…and I think it’s only fair. I have 3 main blogs (all failry large) that send most of my visitors, but I have been thinking of selecting a lesser known blog each time I give linky love as I think it’s good to recognize that effort too.
Help other bloggers be successful
I have seen debates before where people ponder the responsibility of larger blog owners helping smaller or newer blog owners. Personally, I do feel it is my responsibility to help people be successful with their blogging, that’s why I offer free designs and tutorials. Maybe you could pair up with another blogger and be their blog coach or blog busy perhaps? It’s great to have somebody who you can bounce ideas off.
Give them exposure
You can help fledgling bloggers by putting them in touch with other people in their niche or by talking about their blog in your posts. I have a regular Blogger Uncovered feature whereby I interview a follower. This allows me to learn more about my followers, but also gives them and their blog some exposure too.
What other ways can you think of giving something back to the blogging community?
I hope you found this feature useful, if you have any questions or comments, then leave a comment below and I'll do my best to answer it :)
About Louise: I am 35 years old, married and live in the UK. I am a blog designer with over 20 years experience producing digital graphics and over 10 years writing on blogs. My main blog is my blog design blog, Adori Graphics, where I sell custom blog makeovers and premade blog templates as well as posting tutorials and blog freebies. I consider myself an "ethical blogger" and believe that everyone should give something back to the blogging community, which is why I write guest blogger articles, offer sponsorships to blogger conferences, sponsor giveaways and run a free blog makeover program called Write From The Heart.
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1 Comment(s):
Great tips! Also, congrats on reaching 50 followers!
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