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?

Please don’t misunderstand. I’m all for fighting comment spam as much if not more then the next blogger. If you desire the use of a captcha or two, go for it. I fully support you.

For cryin out loud though people, use one that is CLEARLY VISIBLE.

I read and comment on a LOT of Blogs in the sphere and the pure disdain I have for those teeny tiny little question/answer captcha’s placed in amongst the other fields (name email URL) cannot be measured with todays technology.

A real PITA if there ever was one. Btw, for those that don’t realize, that’s PAIN IN THE ASS. Who’s brainchild were these?

Now I know the first silly question popping off all over, “If you have to fill in those fields anyway, how can you miss it?”

Answer 1: Easily. One click of the AutoFill button within the Google toolbar takes care of it.

Advertising your website is a matter of dollars and sense; as in, where does it make the most sense to put your dollars?

A recent survey conducted by Marketingsherpa.com (as reported in the Marketing Report newsletter) showed that search engine optimization and in-house generated email lists rank neck-and-neck as the top performers when it comes to return on investment.

A few highlights:

• Paid search ads are favored by 49% of marketers as the highest ROI.
• In-house email lists received the top rating for ROI by 47% of those surveyed.
• 34% of marketers plan to increase their spending on search engines by 5% or more.
• Search engine optimization is growing in efficacy; 45% ranked it as a high ROI compared to 33% in 2005.
• In-house blogs are planned by 35% of marketers, compared with 18% last year.