I have read on several blogs that a great way to generate more traffic was to be active and comment on the sites and blogs of others. At first, I dismissed this, because I wanted to be known for my writing on it’s own merit. I also didn’t really believe it would help, and I was being greedy and only wanted to do take actions on tasks that would benefit me. Lately though, I have come to realize that the underlying reason behind this was that in essence, I didn’t particularly care to comment, and I was selfish. I was too busy with my own writing and life to spend time on other sites.
I now realize that is a load of crap, both my own reasoning behind it, and my greediness. What was a real kick in the teeth for me was my last week’s post, 22 People Who are Better Than Me (in a good way!). I listed 22 writers, adventurers, community leaders, and creative folks who inspire me with their work. What floored me was getting a response.
The Minimalists (Joshua & Ryan) wrote me, saying thank you for the love. They were also adamant they were not better than me.
Corbett Barr wrote, thanking me for listing him, and encouraging me not to sell myself short.
Brendan Leonard (Semi-Rad) wrote, saying he was not better than me, but that he could probably eat more waffles than I could.
Jeff Goins has responded to nearly every email I’ve written him.
All of these men have experienced far more success than I have, and have lives just as busy as I do. But they all took the time to respond to me, and encourage my writing. What a gift! So for me to be snobby about commenting on other sites is absurd, arrogant, and lazy.
By the way, I want to thank everyone who takes the time to read what I’m putting down, and commenting on it. It’s a tremendous gift to me to receive your thoughts and feedback. I apologize it took some heavy hitters to knock me out of my slumber!
I still don’t believe I’ll go around mass-commenting on posts just to drive up my own brand, but I will certainly be trying to add value or a kind word to the posts I am reading. If we take care of others, I believe we will be taken care of ourselves. Thanks again.