Do You Show Appreciation to Your Favorite Bloggers?

Before being blog writers we are blog readers. We do it daily, searching for news, reviews or other information of interest. For every post that we write, we probably read at least ten times more posts. We enjoy some of them, while others we simply put aside and forget over time.

But how do we show appreciation to those bloggers that maintain our interest high, making us come back for more wonderful posts? It’s easy to simply read a good post and then skip to the next one without taking any action, but most times, it’s not the “polite” thing to do. Here’s a list of ways to show appreciation to your favorite bloggers.

Leave a comment

Did you enjoy his/her latest post? Do you have an opinion on the matter? Why not leave a comment. Sometime, even a simple appreciative comment will make the blogger feel even better. Try it, it’s easy.

Link back to the post

If you read an interesting post, why not considering recommending it to your own readers. You know those “link-sharing” type of posts? You could try to create such a series of posts, publishing one every week or month. If you can also formulate a small opinion with each link it would be even greater.

Write follow-up posts

Was the post you’ve just read interesting enough to make you formulate an opinion of your own? Then, start writing, publish your answer and link it to the original post. This demonstrates that the post that started it is of good quality. Yes, sometimes, follow-up posts are not meant as good idea developments, but let’s simply consider the positive ones.

Email the blogger

Even if it’s only a simple “Hello, I’m a reader of BlogName.com and I want to thank you for the interesting things you share with us”, it will make a blogger’s day. Trust me, receiving a confirmation, from time to time, that your work is appreciated means a lot.

Subscribe to the feeds

Even if you think that you’ll only be one in a mass of subscribers, you should be aware that in the end, your subscription matters as much as everyone else’s.

Show some social media love.

Social media has long been a traffic and new readers source for most bloggers. Consider leaving a review/comment and an up-vote for every story you enjoy. It only takes a few seconds, but it matters a lot. Help spread the buzz.

Add the blogger to your friends

On Twitter, FriendFeed, StumbleUpon, Mixx or whatever services you might enjoy using. Following a blogger is a clear sign of appreciation and it is as easy as “one click”.

Add a blogroll link

If it’s a blogger you constantly read, consider adding a link to his blog in your blogroll. For me, my blogroll is some kind of a sacred list and if I add someone there, then I really appreciate the way he/she write and what he/she writes about.

Sponsor the blog and/or buy the books

If you have a big wallet, consider sponsoring (or running ads if you have a relevant business) your favorite blog. Further more, if the blogger is also a book publisher, you might consider buying the book(s) and recommending it/them to your own readers and friends. A review will also be great.

The “unethical” option: Clicking on ads

This is an idea that started with one of Seth Godin’s posts. While Seth explained in a follow-up that the original post was misunderstood, the buzz has spread throught the blogosphere that “ads are the new online tip jar”. Chris Garret and many others rushed in, calling this “sign of appreciation” click fraud, and from my point of view, it is unethical and leads to low conversion rates for ad publishers which in the end leads to lower advertising budgets, less money for bloggers.

Who are your favorite bloggers?

Come on, let’s see who your favorite bloggers are and when (how) was the last time you’ve shown them a sign of appreciation.
List 3 of them in a comment on this post and in a few days, I’ll create a list with all of them, thanking them on behalf of my readers for the wonderful job they’re doing.
Please refrain from spam-links, comments will be moderated.

And to get thing started I’ll list three of my favorite bloggers:

• Steven Snell of Traffikd.com and DesignM.ag
• Jon Phillips of FreelanceFolder.com
• David Peralty of eXtra For Every Publisher (xfep.com)

This article has 5 comments

• 

  Nils Davis

  September 2nd, 2008

  Grant McCracken’s This Blog Sits at the – amazingly insightful and long posts from a cultural anthropologist looking at us.
  Kathy Sierra’s Creating Passionate Users – unfortunately defunct, but all the articles are there, and they are amazing!
  37 Signals’ Signal vs. Noise – great insights about usability, design, and life
  The late lamented Fake Steve Jobs blog – it’s over now, but Dan Lyons has one under his own name now, although he’s been slacker so far, I must say.
• 

  Jon Cooper

  September 2nd, 2008

  I read mostly real estate blogs. In particular I enjoy Jay Thompson, The Phoenix Real Estate Guy, Kris Berg, San Diego Home Blog, and Trevor Smith, Blue Collar Agent. All are very talented writers.

  This is a nice blog to!
• 

  Salvatore

  September 2nd, 2008

  Hello!! first, I wanted just to say that you’ve got a very interesting blog, and I’m absolutely agree with you, clicking fraudly on ads, it’s definitely unethical. Have a good day!
• 

  lucio ribeiro

  September 2nd, 2008

  Hi Alex, i[ve been following your posts for around 2 months now, came across you using Mixx.
  Interesting stuff here, well done.
  Some blogs I Like
  -Online Marketing Australia
  -Marketing Banter by James Duthie
  -and I’m still by fan of Seth Godin
  Cheers
  Lucio Ribeiro
• 

  Renee

  March 20th, 2009

  Great information! I believe it is important to show appreciation for bloggers and for websites we find helpful or interesting.
  Ad clicking if done just to show appreciation is fraudulent but if the ad is of interest to the reader I see nothing wrong with clicking an ad to see what it is about.

  Bloggers and webmasters all need to generate income & traffic to keep their sites up and running so by passing links along and clicking ads when interested visitors can show appreciation.

  I know I surfed for years without realizing I could actually show my appreciation for all the work and information I was able to read.

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