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I have never participated in an event of a series of blog posts before, but now I’m very glad to announce that I can’t say that anymore starting today. Steven Snell contacted me about writing one out of five parts of a series of posts about growth and gaining traffic, and of course I said yes! I’ve been working harder than ever before lately to help my blog grow and to increase its readerbase. Now I’m one of the five bloggers that will share a piece of advice with you and try to help you increase your site’s traffic, too.

To fully gain from this experience, please read all five parts of the traffic and growth series, and consider subscribing to each of the blogs so you can be one of the first to know when they write new tips.

Monday: Vandelay Website Design - Driving Search Engine Traffic to a New Blog
Tuesday: Blogging Tips - Be Selfish and Help Someone
Wednesday: Blogtrepreneur - What’s Your Best Source of Web Traffic?
Thursday: Super Blogging - Be Community Involved to Get More Traffic
Friday: SiteFever - Drive Traffic by Commenting First

Lately I have been doing numerous things to up this blog’s growth, but many of those things are closely related. What I plan to talk about today includes commenting and linking others and joining forums.

Commenting

People love receiving comments and feedback on their blog posts, whether you’re agreeing with them or even if you’re not. Also, if people read a valuable comment on another site, they’re likely to check out who it’s coming from. Therefore, commenting other blogs can help you in numerous ways.

If you comment someone else’s blog, they will appreciate it. They might comment back on your blog or post about what you’ve said in a new post if it’s worthy enough. If you post worthwhile comments and do it often, the blog’s owner of which you’re commenting will feel more loyal to you and link to you more often, sending their readers your way. Commenting and interacting with other bloggers is a fantastic way to strengthen bonds and get new, trusty readers.

Besides having the blog owner on your side, others who read your comment might be interested in who the person behind it is. If they visit your site, then you just might acquire yet another reader - or at least a little more traffic if not. Commenting is great for everyone!

Linking Out

If you see a post someone else has written that really intrigues or inspires you, don’t just sit around. Put your ideas into motion and write a continuation of their post, your thoughts on it, or even why you disagree with it. Be sure and link back to who originally posted the article. Or, if you need to give an example or go into detail into one of your articles, link to someone else’s post that explains what needs to be said.

If you link to someone, they’ll see the trackback or notice and be likely to visit your blog to see why you’re linking to them. There’s also a high chance that they’ll link back to you!

Another great way to link to other bloggers is to have a weekly round-up. Once a week (or bi-weekly, if you will) have a post dedicated to linking to other bloggers’ great posts you’ve read lately. Not only is it important to be community oriented and to give credit where credit is due, but it’s very likely you’ll gain more regular readers and find growth from linking out to other blogs.

Joining Forums

This is something I’ve just begun to do recently. When you join a forum there is just such a huge opportunity to meet and connect with many new people who are interested in the same things you are. Not only can you learn a lot from forums and also share your knowledge, but you can easily refer other people to your blog whether it be through you helping people out and giving information, or from simply showing off your link.

Most forums allow you to link to your site or add its URL to your signature. If this is permitted in any forum you sign up on, don’t hesitate to do it. Many forum-goers will be interested in who you are and what your blog is about, and they’d be likely to check it out. Not only is this traffic, but it’s also almost always targeted!

Some great forums you could join if you are interested in blogging include the Blogging Tips Forums and the Digital Point Forums. There are many more but I definitely recommended those two if you’re just getting started with the forums aspect.

Summing It All Up

All in all, you should be involved in the blogging community. Assign a certain amount of time each day for when you can sit down, read, and comment other blogs. Try to link out to other bloggers and their sites whenever possible. And to connect, create new friendships, and get yourself more exposure, it’s almost mandatory to join forums in your niche.

Not only do all of these things help you to see growth in your blog (they’re definitely working for me!) but each of these tactics are helpful and beneficial for all parties involved. If you want to see more traffic, don’t hide in your shell!

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How does it sound to win free advertising on this blog for a whole month, without having to do hardly any work on your part? Wouldn’t it be nice to receive some extra traffic and potential new readers? And since your banner will be shown in the sidebar, a backlink from every single page of this site? That kind of deal is worth some money, but you can get it FREE! If you’re interested, read on for details.

Banner Placement: Your 125×125 banner you design will be at the very, very top of the left sidebar (above the recent posts section) for a whole month, which is a prime position you wouldn’t want to miss out on.

Banner Design: The banner has to be sized 125×125, exactly. It CAN be animated, but no flash please. You have to have it ready for me by the deadline. If you don’t, you’ll miss valuable advertising time every day until you get it to me. You can make the banner or get someone else to create it for you - it doesn’t matter to me either way.

Who Can Win: Just about anyone with any type of site or blog can win. You don’t have to be in my niche, but if you are the traffic will be of more worth to you since it’s targeted. The only sites or blogs I refuse to advertise are those that are pharmaceuticals, gambling, porn, adult, illegal, and those type. However, remember I can turn down anyone I choose for any reason and pick another winner if I have to.

How To Enter: There are numerous ways to enter, and each way earns you a certain amount of credits. You can enter with just one method, or all if you like. The more you do, the higher chance of winning.

1. Leave a comment on this post - gets you 1 credit (you comment as much as you like, but this can only count once)
2. Subscribe to this blog - gets you 5 credits
3. Add this blog to your sidebar or blogroll - gets you 5 credits (can be counted each time on different blogs)
4. Write a unique post, not mixed in with any other posts or topics, linking to this blog’s homepage using the anchor text make money blogging - gets you 10 credits (can be counted as many times as you want, but each post has to be new)
5. Also link to this contest with any anchor text - gets you 3 credits (can be counted numerous times but must be in different posts)

If you do anything besides #1, just leave me a comment letting me know. If you’re smart, you’ll do many of them, and then use your comment to claim what you’ve done!

Why You Should Enter: Isn’t that obvious? It’s FREE advertising for an entire month. There really is nothing to lose. This blog has almost broken the Alexa 100k, which shows that our traffic levels are decent. Yesterday we had approximately 410 unique visitors. There are over 100 loyal subscribers. Free traffic sent your way from this blog isn’t something you want to miss out on.

The Deadline: I will stop accepting entries on September 22 and on the 23rd or 24th the free advertising will start, to give time for the lucky winner to prepare their 125×125 banner. These dates ARE susceptible to change however. EDIT: My computer is in the shop so I can’t count up credits, trackbacks, etc. and come up with a winner at the moment. Currently this contest is going to stay open until then. Thanks for your patience!

How The Winner Is Chosen: Each credit you get will be numbered with your name assigned to it, and I’ll use a randomizer to choose the winning credit. Simple as that!

If I’ve forgotten anything or you have any questions, comments are open! Please don’t forget to let me know by commenting on this post when you’ve written your submission. I would hate to miss anyone!

This contest is closed. Thank you to everyone who entered. Please stay tuned for future contests where you can win more freebies here at SuperBloggingTips.com.

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A couple of days ago I was over at CourtneyTuttle.com and saw that he was having a very generous contest where you tell him a little about your site and then he will choose a winner and give them a free review. I thought I’d give it a shot, and I was very surprised when I went back to Court’s blog the next day and saw that I’d won! Click to read the review.

I had noticed (and am still noticing) a great increase in traffic. The RSS subscribers count is already going up, but in the next few days I’m sure it’ll be even better. But not only am I getting traffic and subscribers from the review, I’m getting exposure. Having people know who you are and have a positive impression of you is very important if you hope to get anywhere.

The point of this post is to tell you that it is important to have your site reviewed. Most of the time you’re going to have to pay for it, and I just got very lucky with Court’s extreme kindness. But even when you do have to pay, it’s worth it. Reviews of your site not only have your traffic shoot way up, but the advertising lasts forever (unlike a monthly link, etc.) and people feel like they know you more than if you purchased a banner in a sidebar. People will have more of a lasting impression of your website and feel like can trust you.

If you’re brand new at blogging and can’t yet afford reviews, try some type of program like ReviewBack. You have to review another site in return, and you can’t be too sure on how good the quality of the review will be, but it’s free!

Or, to spin it around a little, OFFER A FREE REVIEW ON YOUR BLOG JUST LIKE COURT DID. Not only are you helping out someone who needs it, but you will get exposure for your generosity and your readers will really appreciate your kindness.

All in all, having your site reviewed (and writing reviews for others) is very important. The advertising that comes in a review is much, much more than a banner or a link in a sidebar that lasts a couple months. The review physically lasts forever, and it will also have a lasting impression on those who read it. People will feel like they know you more and will be much more compelled to become a subscriber or daily reader. So make reviews one of your top priorities, and good luck.

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I always find those high prices of advertising on other blogs ridiculous. A hundred dollars for a review? Twenty bucks for a link in their sidebar that only lasts a week? It’s basically like they’re stealing your money. It can be downright hard to get visitors to your blog, especially if you’re new to the whole concept. And it’s even harder if everyone is charging insane prices to “help” - but really, they’re only thinking of making money for themselves.

Super Blogging is now offering advertising for an unbelievably cheap price of only five dollars.

It’s far from easy to get the amounts of traffic that you want, or even that high PageRank you dream of. Advertising on Super Blogging can help you with that, and the price is cheaper than any other out there.

For only five dollars, your site will be listed in the “Recommended Sites” section of the sidebar with your choice of anchor text. Your link will remain there until September 21, so think of all that exposure you’ll be getting - and the higher rankings you’ll receive - for that extended period of time! Just hurry and order now so your link can be up there longer.

Did I mention the other bonus I’m throwing in FREE OF CHARGE? After the campaign ends on September 21, I will create a post that features the links to all of the sites that purchased advertisement, so you’ll get even more exposure and another link with your same anchor text.

And remember, all of that for only five bucks. It’s a fantastic deal, and you can order quickly and easily via Paypal. All you’ve got to do is fill out the form here. Use your Paypal email so I can send you the bill, and then just let me know what site you want me to link to and the anchor text you want to use. Once I’ve received your payment, your link will go live in the “Recommended Sites” section.

So let’s review. Until September 21 your link, with your choice of anchor text, will appear in my sidebar on every single page of this blog. In that time period you will receive higher exposure, rankings, and increased PageRank. Once this campaign is over you will be linked to with your anchor text YET AGAIN. And all of that for only five dollars. So what’s to lose? All you can do is gain. So contact me now and get in on the publicity before anymore time is wasted.

If you want to get exposure in a different way, FREE, please consider guest blogging for us. Signing up and becoming a contributor is easy and hassle free.

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Previously I wrote about my success with StumbleUpon. I realized how powerful StumbleUpon is as a source for generating traffic, and how they’re ten times as great when you write a StumbleUpon perfect article (which in my case was a short list containing five items about helpful sites.

When your article is rated a thumbs up, dozens, hundreds, and even in some cases thousands of people can stumble upon it. The more people rate your article a thumbs up, the more people it is exposed to. This makes StumbleUpon a very helpful resource for all bloggers. Not only can you use it for increasing your income of traffic, but if you ever get bored or need some inspiration, you can check out some other random sites of your interests.

But recently I conducted a poll on this blog asking if people used StumbleUpon or not. A whopping 38 people said yes, and just 5 said no. And then again, 3 people didn’t know what StumbleUpon is. Of course, my blog is more aimed to the types of people who used StumbleUpon, but the results still surprised me. I never expected that many people to actual have the toolbar.

And if this high of a percentage of people are using it, think of how much traffic you can generate to your site or blog! If you’re not using StumbleUpon, I think you’re missing out and that you should get the toolbar. Even better, focus on which articles and pages in your niche do extremely well on StumbleUpon, and focus on writing an article like that. To see the top pages of the day on StumbleUpon and other sites like that, check out Popurls.

Good luck having your own successes with StumbleUpon, and feel free to share past success or thoughts in the comments!

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