Blog Comment Tip: Respond to Comments or Risk Losing Subscribers
Welcome! Enjoy & Learn Beginner Marketing Tips. Affiliate marketing, Blogging, Social Networking, Webdesign, every aspect of Internet marketing & more, all written in *Plain English*. Never miss a tip with Full Feed updates.
It’s been said time and time again. Blog subscribers all over the ‘Net, whether by email or RSS, rant about this issue consistently, myself included.
And I make no apologies for it.
I am here now, one more (last?) time, as both a blogger and blog subscriber, to speak to ALL my blogging colleagues (i.e. Everyone with a blog), to say…..
Respond to Comments or Risk LOSING Subscribers!
Allow me to be brutally honest for a moment. You are NOT too busy. You’re really not. Seriously. I’m not kidding. Ask anyone.
For those that wish to dispute it, I’ll make it real easy for you. Multiple choice even…
1. You’re lying
2. You’re lazy
Those are in no particular order, so please pick the one that suits you best and leave it in the comments below. See what a swell fella I am? 
C’mon guys, seriously how difficult is it? Good readers take their time to read what we bloggers put out for them and then try as hard as they can to join the conversation, input their own 2cents worth of knowledge or ask questions for further info.
They obviously found SOMETHING of interest, do you want to lose them for no real good reason at all?
I’ve unsubscribed from some myself for this very reason. Not much irks me more then to put time into a thoughtful, helpful comment and then be totally ignored by the blogger that started it…
…wait, there is one thing. To then see that exact same blogger, commenting on OTHER BLOGS! That takes a brass set.
Here’s one more thing that you’re probably not gpoing to like. Not only should you reply, but you should reply to every single commenter!
Hmm, read that again. Did ya catch it? It was kinda a trick statement. Yes I did say you should reply to every single commenter, and I meant it…..
What I did not say was that you have to reply to every single commenter individually.
If you’re lucky enough (read that again too) to have a boatload of comments, lets say 30+, then no you do not have to reply to each one separately. That’s just crazy talk.
However, and you’ve seen it before I know you have, you can reply to 4-5 or even more in one reply…
@Bill
@Chris
@ Debbie
@ Dennis
@ Alice
etc etc. And you just replied to 5 at one time.
Now lets say you had 50 (I swear I said something about lucky), how much time did that take compared to how many will most likely come back for your next awesome post? 
In conclusion I have a couple questions for both Bloggers and Readers that enjoy commenting…
To my fellow bloggers - why do you blog? Seriously, I’m not being snarky here. Do you bask in the glow of your own intelligence or do you enjoy providing what you can to your audience because you feel it will help them in some way?
OK perhaps a wee snarky, but a valid question none the less. Why even have comments? Just turn them off and talk to yourself.
That reminds me. Don’t even get me started on those that turn comments OFF. Ugh.
To those that truly feel they are “too busy” to be bothered - if (or more likely, when) your loyal readership were to wither away and die, how BUSY would you be then?
Yea, don’t forget who got you there in the first place.
To those loyal readers that love to comment - how do you feel about being completely ignored for no good reason whatsoever?
Either way, please let me know how you feel below. I look forward to reading (and replying ) each and every comment I receive
To our mutual success!
Dennis
———————–
Note: I try my very best to write as clear and concise as possible. Please let me know if this article has helped you. If you have any questions, contact me anytime. Got a topic suggestion? Skribit and others can vote on it as well. Either way I would love to hear from you. Don’t forget, We offer Full Feed updates.
Popularity: 6% [?]
Tags: blog subscriber, blog subscription, Blogging, blogs, Comments, email, email subscriber, RSS, rss subscriber, subscribers
July 8th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
man, am I glad that I did respond to your comment ROFL! Are you coming down with PMS? Just kidding
I had a discussion going on at my blog a few months ago, about this same issue and share most of your points of view.
I have to say though, that I am guilty of not responding to all and every single one of the comments, although I do make an effort to reply to all of them.
I do agree with you though that when somebody really took the time to write an insightful comment, one should always reply to it, just common courtesy really plus many times people leave comments that in turn give food for thought (or a new blog post)
Funny, I was just about to copy-paste the comment you left on my blog about the linkbuilding, but see you just replied to it ROFLMAO so all that is left is write that post …
See you around!
Mirjams last blog post..What is More Important, The Product or The Sales Technique?
July 8th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Shame on you! Well as long as you make the effort
You raised a very good point. One of the awesome things about comments, is lots of times they are even better then the post! LOL
At the very least they may add a lot more insight or even a whole different perspective.
Very true also is the fact that plenty of times you’ll get a whole new post idea just from a comment
I admit with a small feeling of stupidity that I still don’t recall what post you mean when you say, “so all that is left is write that post …”
July 8th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Man, I just hate it when somebody comes to my blog, leaves a comment, I go visit that blogger, refer to his comment and they can´t seem to remember what I am referring to!
ROFLMAO
Anyways, took away the guesswork, just posted so hope that clears things up :P:P:P
Mirjams last blog post..Link Building Strategies and Confessions
July 8th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Damn my bad lol. This has been such a long day
Dennis Edells last blog post..Blog Comment Tip: Respond to Comments or Risk Losing Subscribers
July 9th, 2008 at 2:29 am
Heh, well, I don’t take it personally if the owner of a blog doesn’t respond to my comments (unless I ask a specific question, which I don’t usually), but then I rarely go back to posts to see if someone responded. I guess I’d email the blogger if I was really looking for a response.
That said… I do respond to comments on blog if there’s anything respondable (yeah, it’s after midnight, I’m calling that a word) in what they wrote. Things like “good site” don’t exactly inspire me to write a reply.
(Especially since they’re usually accompanied by a link to a spammy affiliate site heh).
Lindsays last blog post..What Every Writer Should Know About Making Money Online
July 9th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Lindsay - The thing is, when it’s clear the the blogger NEVER responds to comments, or perhaps only responds to comments on posts where he/she may be promoting something…
Yea thats just wrong.
“good site” or anything in that range just needs to be deleted and/or marked as SPAM.
Any good comment is respondable
in one way or another 
Btw, you mentioned something that is key to part 2 of this post (coming soon), where I will discuss the flip-side.
Thanks so much for dropping! Hope to see you again
July 9th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
I totally agree with you Dennis. Sometimes I’m late responding, and really admire those that are right on top of blog comments, but I do respond to every commenter.
After all, it’s just being polite.
Kays last blog post..PowerPoint to Flash Program - Free Giveaway
July 9th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Hey Kay!
Late is ok, depending on how late lol. It’s ok though, everyone is a bit busy.
Very few can really jump on it. I do because I get notified via email and I download email about every hour or so
July 9th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Agreed 100%. I try to reply to all my readers. Adds a level of personality to your blog and also gives your readers something to look forward to (when they know their opinion will be responded to)
how to earn onlines last blog post..Warning, Read The Fine Print!
July 10th, 2008 at 12:33 am
Nice one Dennis. I do try to reply to all my comments except those inane ones like ‘nice post’ which I usually delete as 99% of the time it is pure spam anyway. I will actually take it a step further and visit the commenter’s blog and try to find a post that I could add to with a comment of my own. This usually results in reciprocal comments.
Sires last blog post..Will Australia’s Involvement In Carbon Trading Help The Environment?
July 10th, 2008 at 11:45 am
How - Very good points and exactly right. Why would I want to participate if I don’t think my opinion mattered?
Side note: In the future, please use a real name in the name field…. name @ site.com is also acceptable
July 10th, 2008 at 11:51 am
Hey Sire (don’t be takin’ that to heart LOL), you made a very good point about reciprocal commenting.
This is great for both parties as it will eventually become second nature. Then you both have regular readers & commenter’s.
Your first point is why I believe ALL *kept* comments can be responded to in some way….any and all ‘nice post’ and similar crap should just be deleted and/or marked as spam.
July 10th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Dennis, thanks for your help on my BS blog as you allowed me to make it a Do Follow blog as well as showed me how to offer email subscription.
Sires last blog post..When The Law Just Simply Gets It Wrong
July 10th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
No problem buddy, glad I could help