Saturday, February 18, 2012

Bless a Blog


As a blogger, we’re all looking for ways to increase traffic to our sites for one reason or another. For me, my main objective is truly to bless others.

Unfortunately, in the world of blogging today, we are getting lost in the idea that in order to drive traffic to our sites we need to review products, join affiliates, get a sponsor, bombard our blogs with gaudy badges, or write blogs on “Blogs About Blogs About Blogging.”  And after I wrote my own blog about blogging, a thought came to me: Why not bless others by collaborating with other bloggers to promote their sites?

My primary blog, NOTE TO SELF: Daily Reminders from God, isn’t like most blog sites. It’s more of an online devotional. Although I do blog for charity organizations and write Christian book reviews, my audience is geared towards the Christian community, not the popular food, photography, entertainment, and coupon clipping crowd. It stands out in a category all on its own. It is its own genre and niche.

I started thinking about the blogs I’ve visited over the past few days and realized that they were blog hopping through linkups for the same reason I was: they want more traffic to their sites. Period! However, I discovered that most of the sites weren’t really in my genre, so it became a bit discouraging. Until today…

That’s when I realized that these differing blog sites can actually be a blessing to others. Blogs on food could promote blogs on photography, and blogs on parenting could promote blogs on devotionals. 

The Blessing Blog Connection’s main objective is to freely help drive traffic to fellow blog sites by blessing them through a promotion and link within your blog.

{bless: to bestow good of any kind upon}


Here are the basic guidelines on Blessing a Blog:

  • Linkup: Join the Blessing list by adding your blog site to “Link Your Blog to Bless Other Bloggers.” It does indicate that it’s a Blog Hop, but in actuality, it is a unique tool for us to view other sites to choose from. Your link doesn’t have to be a blog, it can also be a website.
  • Read the Blog: In order to promote someone else’s blog, you need to consistently read it and understand their purpose and goal. Unfortunately when we blog hop, we merely click a link, “join” the site to add to their numbers, in hopes they’ll do the same, and that’s it. We’re done. We never go back. GO BACK. OFTEN! Bookmark their page!
  • Choose Wisely: Check out the sites listed that you may want to promote. You can choose 1 or all, that’s entirely up to you. But that doesn’t mean if you follow one blog that they will in turn follow you. Remember, everyone is linking up to sites they like and believe in.
  • Be Unique: You don’t have to choose sites that are exactly like yours. For instance, my blog is a devotional blog. I could promote food blogs, music blogs, or photography blogs. My readers will be drawn to other sites that are unique from mine, while remaining a faithful follower.
  • Be Creative: Find unique ways to promote someone’s blog as if you were writing a research paper and citing a reference. Take the information you are gaining from other sites and incorporate them into your blog. Don’t just say, “I’m following this site, so should you.” Give your readers a reason to hop over to someone else’s site.
  • Be a Blessing: That means being thoughtful and considerate by truly explaining to your readers why you like someone else’s blog. That’s the whole idea of “promotion.” Talk it up as if you are reviewing their site.
  • And Bless Some More: Don’t leave it at one blessing. Keep blessing others on a continual basis. Come back and pick more sites to bless and promote. This isn’t a one time shot deal. This is something you would commit to on a regular basis.
  • Allow Sharing: If you’re a photography blogger, allow others linked up to this site to share your work, of course with citations of your name and blog page. Copy and paste quotes, recipes, photos, etc. Always, always, ALWAYS linking back to the original post. (If sharing photos, create a hyperlink to the original post when readers click on the image.)
  • The More the Merrier: If you have more than one site, link it up. If you are following other bloggers you think would benefit from this site, refer them to link up, too.
  • Helpful Hints: Let’s truly bless each other by helping other bloggers publish quality content. We can share tips on how to promote blogs, or even privately email bloggers with grammatical or simple typo errors you may have found in their posts. Remember to share the truth in love, not by being critical or rude!
  • Comment: Leave comments on blogs you are promoting. Let them know you linked up with them and when your blog will be posted with a link to that posting. Also, write a comment about why you’ll be blessing their blog. This way when others read the comment they will be intrigued to follow your blog, while also wanting to come back again to the owner’s blog.
  • Link Posts: Link the actual title post you will be promoting AND the home page link.
Don’t worry! We won’t have to fill up our pages with more badges that clutter our blogs. This site is only intended for linkups, guidelines, and our main objective. It is to be used to check back for new blog sites to bless as more bloggers sign up.

There is no fee to join. All I ask is that you truly follow your fellow bloggers’ sites…and bless them.

Now, GO! Bless other Bloggers now!! Remember to LINK UP!

1 comments:

blessedchick said...

great idea. Stopping by from the Make My Morning Blog hop. would love a follow back http://blessedchick-trythis.blogspot.com

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