Well it was a fairly busy week around here. I told myself that I was going to cut back on the blog work, but it turns out that is easier said than done. I barely cut back my commenting activity at all. It was only the blogs that don’t comment back that I was able to limit myself. I did free up some time by not worrying about trying to get posts up 5 times a week.
So when a raccoon woke me up early this morning making disturbing noises in the tree outside my window, I got thinking more about this. Once my brain got going, I just knew I wasn’t going back to sleep. Plus the cats wanted some extra attention after getting freaked out by the noises. One of them has had some bad experiences dealing with packs of raccoons at my old place.
Anyways, to get my blogging time more under control I’ve decided that the key is going to be generosity. If I find other ways to give back to all of you, I won’t feel as guilty about missing commenting on some posts. Then hopefully everyone is happy and you all stick around. So here are some changes being made to make things more rewarding for you…
Most Active Commenters Widget
This plugin actually goes by another name, but I’d rather not attract a massive stream of spammy wannabe marketers. Please don’t mention that name in any of the comments either. Basically it is a sidebar widget that shows up on the homepage that provides dofollow links to the 10 most active commenters.
I have this plugin set to reset every week to prevent people from just commenting heavily at the beginning of the month and then disappearing. Since I used to be a spammy marketer, I know how it is.
So regularly comment and you’ll probably get a dofollow PR4 link. If you want a nice colorful avatar beside your name, you should sign up for a free gravatar account. It kinda makes me want to comment on my own blog for my marketing clients.
Plus this will be a good reminder about whose blogs I should make sure I comment on in return.
More Rewarding Guest Posts
I’ve noticed that some of you don’t like to comment on guest posts much. I’m not sure everyone’s reasoning, but I’ll assume you just prefer my writing/voice so much more 
I have a feeling that will change a bit with the most active commenters widget.
To make sure more of the guest posts have quality writing, I’d like to extend an open invitation to all of the fellow bloggers who are reading this. To sweeten the deal, I can offer fellow bloggers 3 links in any guest post. Plus I will try to stop by your blog to leave some comments and also share some of your posts on social media.
If you are interested in contributing a guest post, please check out my guest posting policy and then contact me.
Acknowledging Social Sharing
Before I started accepting more guest posts it seemed that I was getting a lot more tweets and other social shares. Maybe you guys felt the overall quality dropped a bit or maybe my other posts just weren’t as share worthy.
So as a reward to the people who share my posts, I am going to start posting a weekly list of who is sharing my posts the most. I’ll be primarily monitoring Twitter since they give the mention notifications, but I’ll also try to keep an eye on Facebook and Google+. If you’re sharing my posts on there, it would be cool if you could let me know.
With this weekly list I will link to your website and the social media profiles I notice shares from. So if you want to make sure you get those extra profile links, let me know you’re sharing posts on the other networks.
Also in that new weekly post I will be including a blogging tip. Some tips will be from yours truly, but I’d also like to include tips from you guys. Of course I’d be happy to add a link to your blog and a profile or logo pic.
If anyone has ideas on how to make things even more beneficial, I’m all ears. It just has to be something that won’t attract too many spammers and result in a ton of extra work. Any interest in a weekly reader profile/interview?
Employment Update
I’m still adjusting to the whole change of schedule. Luckily I’m doing both jobs from home to start which allows me to gradually transition and do things on my own hours. In case you didn’t hear I’m now doing marketing for Disposal Bin Rentals…forgive my shameless plug, but I might as well sneak in from easy link building.
Modest Money Around The Web
As usual, I like to link back to all the posts that I know featured Modest Money recently. Unfortunately I was reading about how trackbacks stopped working for most blogs. So I rarely get any notifications of links. Unless it is a blog I follow regularly, I’d only notice if you e-mail me or mention it on Twitter.
Personal Finance Week in Review for June 3 on One Smart Dollar
Weekly Roundup: Great Articles This Week on Money Q&A
The Carnival of Financial Camaraderie #35 on My University Money
Love Languages & Gambling – Carnivals, Mentions & Weekend Reading on Work Save Live
The Round Table on Money Smart Guides
Weekly Wrap-Up and What I’m Reading On the Web – 4 on iHeart Budgets
Blog round up June 1, 2012 on My Canuck Buck
Stretch Your Money – Weekly Blog Roundup #5 on Finance Yoga
Weekend Link Round-up and Mentions #5 on Live Well Simply
Canadian PF Happy Hour – Second Edition on Canadian Personal Finances
Festival of Frugality #339 – Frugal Living Summer Edition on The Frugal Toad
Earth and Money Has Been Live for 3 Months! on Earth and Money
Friends of the Family: Busy Week Edition on The Family Finances
Favorite Recent Posts On Other Blogs
Not surprisingly my weekly mentions slowed down a bit since I haven’t been able to put as much time into blogging. I’m still happy with getting mentioned on that many great blogs though. Early on I was happy to get 5 mentions. Now I suggest you check out these awesome posts on other blogs:
You Know You’re Obsessed With Personal Finance Blogging When… on From Shopping To Saving
Don’t Give Up Your “Latte Factor” on One Smart Dollar
When’s the Last Time You Picked Up a Book? on Work Save Live
Greed is Good on Money Smart Guides
CHEAP MOVING – PART 7 – 3 Ways To Stretch Your Money When Moving On A Budget on Finance Yoga
Winning the Lottery: What Would YOU Buy? on iHeart Budgets
Three Add-Ons Your eCommerce Site Shouldn’t Be Without on Money Q&A
Would You Invest in Tech Stocks? What Exactly is the “Tech” Industry Anyways? on American Debt Project
Hoping a bad day kicks my butt into gear on My Canuck Buck
Needs Vs Wants on Edward Antrobus
10 Creative Ways to Make Money on Live Simply Well
Finding a New Job When You`re Already in One on Canadian Personal Finance
The 9-Week Summer Productivity Challenge on Earth and Money
Money For Nothin’ on See Debt Run
Make Savings Automatic on The Family Finances
Snowballing Debt is Illogical on My Alternate Life
Sorry my last blog update was much more entertaining. This time around I had to get down to business with boring blogging talk. Plus I kinda have some confusing stuff going on right now that I’m just not sure what to do about. I’ll have to make up for it with a bit more humor next week.
Anyways what does everyone think about the blog changes mentioned above? Anyone want to volunteer to contribute a guest post or blogging tip?
Hmm. I like guest posts, and I’ll usually read them, but you’re right, I don’t comment as often. I usually comment if it’s from a blogger I read or like or is active on my blog. I guess that’s probably not cool though. I should be reaching out to other bloggers too.
I think you’re doing great and it’s awesome that you’re making the extra effort to acknowledge your readers and show them some love.
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Yeah it does help build connections with those guest writers too. The way I look at it is that by commenting on those posts, you’re still ultimately helping the blog owner. When other bloggers help me out, I make sure to try to return the favor any way I can.
As one of the regular guest posters on Jeremy’s site, I am biased in that I feel guest posts (if good) should be given the same consideration and comments as author posts.
When I visit a blog and see that a post is a guest post (if the title catches my eye) I will absolutely read and comment on it – if compelled. I really think it varies, some will comment and some won’t. Sometimes I will read an article and not comment. And sometimes I will. So it varies.
But I personally don’t treat an article different just because it is a guest post. The title and content itself will drive my actions.
@Jeremy: Don’t sweat it, you’re doing great and thanks for letting me guest post regularly.
No I’m not really sweating. I understand why some people would skip commenting on guest posts, but I was interested in particular people’s reasons. Sometimes it’s something you can address.
By the way, thanks for all the great guest posts Missy.
I’m like that too. I appreciate the different perspective, but feel that since the guest poster wont be around to respond, there isnt much point commenting.
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i share your posts on my facebook page regularly. sometimes i tend to forget if its a guest or not, if i have something to say in relevance then i comment, but who wrote it is less important to me. its funny because i was just thinking, “hey isn’t he supposed to be cutting back” and then you mention that. well, we enjoy the comments and i know your one of my regulars so i hope you never do!
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Thank you for that Crystal. I’m going to have to find a way to locate all those facebook and google+ shares. It’s a shame that don’t notify me like twitter does.
I do appreciate the support. I’m gonna do what I can to keep following your blog. You seem to be making some great early progress and I’ve love to help you out.
I have never understood that Most Active Commenters plugin. I like what you are doing with the blog!
Keep it up!
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Sorry Steve I had to edit your comment a bit since it included the real name of the plugin. I’m pretty sure spammers will be on the look out for any blogs that mention that name. The longer it takes them to find it, the longer I can keep rewarding my current commenters.
There’s not really much to understand about the plugin. It’s just a way of rewarding people who comment on a blog a lot. It just often gets ruined when it attracts people who care more about the link than leaving quality comments.
Now I really want to know the name of the widget. I have something similar on mine. I wonder how this one is different.
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Hey you! Where is this top comment widget you speak of? I don’t see it here yet haha. Am I missing something? I’ll basically make it my goal to be #1 on that widget… woot woot!
I like your blogging ideas and hope your jobs are going well… you better not drop off of the face of the earth when you start working more or stop working from home! =/
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For now it’s just on the homepage sidebar. You’re pretty high up on that list already, but getting to #1 may be a bit tricky. It will probably require some follow up comments or comments on older posts.
I definitely have no plans of going anywhere even when I go back to working in an office. I’ll always try to find a way to keep this blog going and stay in touch with everyone.
Thanks Erika.
I really like that idea of a most active commenters widget, that is a great way to give back to those who are very active in your blog. Good luck on the new jobs!
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Sorry James I had to edit out the name of the plugin in your comment too. Damn those spammers making me have to be extra careful.
Good luck on all your projects this summer too. Really interested to see where your LessJunk search engine goes from here.
I like the widget idea. We used to comment just about everyone, then set up a “favorites” section in our google reader based on who actually reads our blog. How do we know who’s reading? They comment. We even added a “never comments” section for those times that I just need some bathroom reading or actually have a few spare minutes with nothing else to do or read. Oh wait, those things don’t happen! Yeah, that section doesn’t get read much.
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Yeah I’m the same way with my rss reader. I used to just comment everywhere I could, but it really is so time consuming. So eventually I organized it more by who is most active here. If those people are willing to make the effort, I’d like to do my part to build the relationship and get to know them more. If someone isn’t interested in commenting here, it just feels like a one-way relationship.
Good thing Jeff treated you to a new toilet for that bathroom reading lol.
I think in general, guest posts don’t garner as many comments, at least that’s how it is on my blog as well.
I think a lot depends on the quality of the guest post and who it’s from. I’ve had some guest posts that still seem to do really well. There’s even 2 in my popular posts widget. Some people just don’t put in the effort required for it to really do well. Usually fellow bloggers make a point of delivering a quality post. So hopefully some of you take me up on my offer.
You are right, guest posts do get treated differently than author posts. Probably a lack of familiarity. You say you read about trackbacks recently? Do you remember where?
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The thread I was reading was actually on the wordpress support forums. People were trying all kinds of fixes to properly send and receive trackbacks. In the end it sounded like lots of web hosts had started blocking them as potential spam. The problem is that it is primarily a problem sending those trackbacks. So for it to really get fixed, wordpress themselves would have to fix it since not every blogger is going to try to fix it on their own. I’m sure most don’t even know about this problem.
I didn’t know that trackbacks weren’t working so well. What’s the deal there? Have they always been glitchy?
I think it’s great that you’re trying to change things up with how you blog, man. I mean, how you were doing it before was just fine, but it’s important for people to try new things, find new ways to do things that are more meaningful to them, blahblahblah. So keep us posted on how you like your changes!
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From what I was reading it was the switch to wordpress 2.0 that killed the trackbacks. Some guys on the thread were migrating back to wordpress 1.5, but that would only allow them to send trackbacks. All other blogs still weren’t sending them back.
As for blog changes, most people do get into a comfortable routine/setup and just stick with that. In my case I was kinda forced into changed as my new jobs are affecting things. I actually saw the first minor alexa ranking movement upward the other day. I expected that a long time ago, but it kinda reminded me that I may need to try a different approach to keep the momentum going. Now hopefully those changes work out.
Don’t you love it when an animal wakes you up? We have a woodpecker on our roof every morning. Only thing is he likes the metal vents instead of wood so it’s extra loud
Damn that would get annoying fast and birds are early risers. Luckily this is the first time this raccoon woke me up. For such a cute animal they can make some pretty nasty sounds.
Thanks for the inclusion Steve!
And I really like the direction you’re taking your blog.
Cheers!!
Thanks Frank..oops I mean Eddie
In your defense there are a few Steve PF bloggers.
I meant Jeremy! Hhahah…dumb moment!!
lol hopefully too many people don’t get a little sneaky with padding their stats for the most active commenters list. The weekly reset should probably limit some of that.
Guest posts aren’t received as well from folks who want to hear ‘from the horses mouth’ as it were. It’s actually a good thing and means you’ve built up some credibility with your readership. By the way, here’s a blogging tip I picked up recently. Be sure to ‘Stumble’ your blog posts over at StumbleUpon. The traffic dwarfs my Google traffic. Example: I wrote a post about ten creative ways to make money on Wednesday. Today is Friday, and I’ve received over 5,000 hits already and had my biggest adsense day so far. Insane.
Josh @ Live Well Simply recently posted..10 Creative Ways to Make Money
Wow nicely done Josh. I’ve been a little hesitant to get in on the social bookmarking sites. Since my ultimate focus is Google traffic, I’ve been worried that the low quality traffic would negatively skew all my user metrics like bounce rate and time on site. I’m also not sure if my kind of posts would do well with that crowd. They seem to prefer the lists and posts with intriguing titles. I guess it’s worth a try though. Perhaps once my site is properly monetized to do something with those traffic surges.
I noticed the trackbacks stopped working as well. I feel bad if I’ve been linked by other blogs but don’t know it. I think I’ll do a little research to see what’s up. Anyways, the most active commenters plugin is a sweet bonus for us newbie that get on there. Thanks for thinking of us! And thanks for the mention once again. Hopefully we’ll still get at least a few posts a month from here, don’t want to see you disappearing!
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I didn’t do a lot of research on trackbacks, but they didn’t seem to find any solution on the wordpress thread I had been reading. It seems to be a fairly common problem. I think bloggers just have to be aware of the problem so that they will notify others via e-mail or twitter.
And I hope the commenters widget does help you all. I know all your comments help build up the content on my blog and create a great community. I am going to have to edit the name of the plugin in your comment in a sec though.
I personally prefer to read and comment on each blogger’s own posts. If they feature a guest post once in awhile I will probably read it. However, 8 times out of 10 if I see it’s a guest post, I will pass completely. I come over to your blog, to read your thoughts, ideas and advice (in this case “your” being any blogger in general).
I like your ideas about the changes. I know the commenting widget will be well received, and I’ve seen other popular bloggers use it as a thank you of sorts for commenters.
A raccoon huh?! Those little creatures are so clever, they are always getting into stuff and looking for food. They are pretty cute though.
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Good points about guest posts Carrie. Thanks for that feedback. I guess different commenters will have different intentions when commenting. Of course some people are only going to take the time to read posts that they are genuinely interested in reading. Since my commenting time is gradually becoming more limited I do feel like I need to take into consideration how frequently people are commenting here. It seems the fairest way to minimize my commenting and establish a more manageable routine.
I’ve noticed that people don’t tend to comment on guest posts on my sites either (except for the Yakezie blog swap, that was my 2nd most commented). I don’t think that I usually treat guest posts on other sites and different than the author’s posts.
And thanks for linking to my needs vs wants post!
No problem Edward. For the most part I try to treat guest posts the same as the blog owner’s content too. It may be coming from a different voice with a different perspective, but it’s usually still interesting read their opinions. Plus I figure it still helps the blog owner by commenting.
Seems like some good news for your blogger readers
Glad to see you’re getting things under control.
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Yeah I hope it turns into a win-win for everyone. It should be as long as I don’t get overrun by spam or having people abuse it with lower quality comments.
Having a solution to block automated spam attempts should limit that. Akismet actually blocks about three times as many spam comments on my site as I get in actual visitors.
I’m not a big fan of Akistmet since it blocks legitimate comments too. Currently I don’t get much spam and I assume the checkbox below comments blocks some of that. You might’ve got on some kind of lists though since your comments used to be dofollow.
Aside from Trackbacks, I haven’t had a problem with false positives.
Odd that my comments were dofollow and are now nofollow. I didn’t make any changes. Maybe it was a coding error in one of my plugins that has since been fixed.
Jeremy, thanks for the mention! I think the new widget idea will go over really well. I’m going to have to figure out the whole Twitter thing. I’m behind the times with all the social media things that are out there.
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I think getting on Twitter is pretty crucial in this niche. Lots of people are willing to tweet posts, especially if you’re being generous with tweeting their posts. I did notice you signed up on Facebook. So hopefully Twitter is next on the list.
Cool idea. I never thought about rewarding commenters like that with a plugin and mention on the sidebar. I will be interested to hear your feedback after a while if you like it.
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Thanks Hank. I think it should work out well in the short term, but I’m fully aware that in the long term people are bound to abuse it. Hopefully by the time the abuse gets out of control I’ll figure out some other way to give back to you all.
“we just like your voice so much more” – love this
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haha I don’t mind some suck up comments at all…at least they’re honest lol. As good as some of the guest writers are, I don’t blame them for liking my voice better
If the guest post is relevant or interesting, I usually comment on it regardless. Sometimes I get caught up w/school and I can’t comment as much as I’d like to period. Regardless of if it’s a guestpost or not. I think all your ideas are great for the new way in which you’ll be allocating your time.
Raccoons scare the living shit out of me, by the way. What an unpleasant way to wake up!
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I personally like raccoons, but I’m still a bit wary of their vicious side. The sound was weird enough that I had to go out on my balcony and say hi to him.
I do try to take people’s other nonblogging priorities in mind. I know most people can’t comment on each and every post, but if people aren’t around for a while I sometimes step back a bit with the commenting.
I hadn’t thought too much about it before, but I think that because I have got to know you, I want to comment and give my opinion. I don’t really know the guest posters in the same way. I also think that people return to a lot of blogs because they like the blogger / agree with opinions or have a general interest in their lives. Mix in too many guest posts and this can stop some returning!
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Yeah that makes sense. It is tougher to relate to guest posts since you just don’t know where they’re coming from. I don’t know if I lost any readers due to the number of guest posts lately. Or maybe any that left were just replaced by others that found the blog through the increased search engine traffic. Most people did seem to come back for my own posts.
Then again, a blogger is not going to keep everyone happy unless they keep doing the exact same thing. At some point your plan has to adjust a bit to really make progress. If those changes are worthwhile, the long term benefits will far outweigh any short term losses.
I usually comment on all of the guest posts. I read the last one about stocks, I just know very little about investing in the stock market so I wouldn’t be adding much value with a comment there.
I love the idea about the blogging tips. I would be very interested in reading everyone’s tips. It’d be nice to hear what actually works or doesn’t work from a variety of different bloggers.
Oh I totally agree with the part about topics you don’t really know. I do find myself skipping commenting on some posts when I’m just too ignorant about the subject. I’ll sometimes give it a chance to see if I can learn anything, but there isn’t a whole lot of point in leaving a comment that adds no value. Or there will be topics that are completely irrelevant to me such as 401Ks, 529 plans, female specific topics, etc. I end up skipping those most of the time.
I’m actually looking forward to the blog tips series too. I’d like to see what different people suggest and I want to be able to share what I’ve learned so far.
Thanks for this! Very informative for us noobs.
Well it’s all a bit of a test for me, but it’s looking promising so far.
I am looking forward to the guest posts… It is fun to get all those extra perspectives. Focus on that area I think will be great!
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Well the last round of guest posts had a mixed reaction, but I know the new sidebar plugin will help with that. It will be interesting to see the reaction for the next guest post.
Yes – blog round of for June 1, but not the following week! And you did notice.
I’ll try not to date that again..
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Ooh I just saw your June 1st post reply about keeping me on my toes
Way to ruin my streak lol.
I’ll keep coming even without incentive.
I don’t common on guest posts very often, but I’m not really sure why not. I guess I usually just prefer the blogger’s writing over others, which is why I’m at their blog in the first place. I didn’t mean that to sound bitchy, it just reads that way.
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Thanks Jen. Yes you’ve been commenting here for a long time and I appreciate that. And no that doesn’t sound bitchy at all. It is understandable that some people prefer not to comment on guest posts. It’s good to see the different reasons though.
Thanks for including my post, Jeremy! I hope your 3 jobs (including blogging) are going great!