Effective Blog And Forum Commenting For Market Leadership

Today's lesson is all about best practice as a market leader when it comes to commenting on blogs and forums. The goal is to do it the smart way and help people while still getting the benefits of leaving comments. Ed establishes a few rules when it comes to leaving comments, what to ensure you do and more importantly what to ensure you don't do. Remember, it's not about you. What you want to be doing when you leave comments is add to the conversation or offer solutions.

When you first get started it's important to just take small steps and keep your comments short and concise. Ed cites the example of just using a simple "thank you" if you like or get some value out of a blog or forum post that you have read. You can expand on that thank you if you feel you have more to say and it takes you only a few minutes. It's that simple.

When it comes to forums, be very aware that they can be addictive places. With so much information accessible in one place it's very easy to end up spending way too much time there. Never spend more than 20 minutes in one forum and if possible, use a timer to ensure your stay is not too long.

When reading through forums, use debates that you find as a source of inspiration for your own blog or Posterous content network. Make some form of editorial comment and link back to the forum thread so your readers can see where the discussion is taking place.

Your biggest rule of thumb when commenting on either blogs or forums is to expect nothing. Over time, just the act of participating and offering support and opinion in your market will help you learn more about the market, help you build your leadership network and grow your market influence.

In the second part of today's video, Ed demonstrates how he accesses and comments on forums using his iPhone. Using an application called Tapatalk, Ed is able to search, view and comment on forums all from his forum. This is an excellent example of active Market Leadership without needing to be sitting in front of your computer.

Actions For The Day - 1. Either login to existing forums you already visit or find new forums relating to your market and register yourself. 2. Find a post that you find informative or of value. 3. Comment on the post by simply saying thank you or something similar. 4. Repeat this action on a few forums.