Benefits of Reciprocal Favoriting

Blogging experts and social media marketing experts frequently write about how important it is to build up a network of friends on social bookmarking sites, and even encourage careful gaming of the system by email and instant messenger.

They might also frequently suggest you Digg their content, or add them to your bookmarks, or we could also add to that list "Add Me To Your Technorati Favorites", or "Subscribe to my feed".

• Digg - You get very little benefit at all for taking that action, because most A-list bloggers really aren't interested in reciprocating the favor - if you do it enough to get noticed, you might gain the occasional link which can help you gain readers


• Other Bookmarking - Again, don't expect any reciprocity even if you write a good post


• Technorati Favorites - The A-Listers in general can't see any value in the Technorati Favorite System, haven't reviewed it in depth, and don't use it extensively themselves, yet they frequently ask you to favorite them


• Subscribing To Feeds - Subscribe to their feed and you are guaranteed success - I am sure many bloggers only subscribe to the blogs of A-listers, because they are the only blogs they can trust to get the best information. The information might be good, but that isn't going to bring you blogging success I need to be very clear about a few things
  • I still read A-list blogs (in my feed reader)
  
  
  • I still link to A-list blogs
  
  
  • I still Digg and bookmark posts from A-list blogs that I think are good Reciprocity and Benefits in Marketing

    In internet marketing some of the most powerful tactics are:-

    1. Providing valuable information and benefits upfront, and at a later date converting your warm audience
    
    
    2. Offering an incentive or bonus for taking an action such as joining a mailing list
    
    
    3. Joint ventures such as free giveaways where lots of people send their traffic to a particular site, and in exchange have a chance to increase the size of their mailing lists and possibly earn some money form one-time offers
    
    
    4. Polls and questionnaires to help you respond to the needs of your audience

       Unless you have something amazingly unique to offer in the way of information, or something potentially extremely profitable, you are not going to have access to people on the top rung of the ladder.

       Reciprocity and Benefits in Blogging

       Rand Fishkin at
       Note:I am linking to Rand/SEOmoz simply because he coined the phrase, not because I ever expect Rand to link to me

       As a blogger, I am going to suggest that you forget about A-list linkerati, and concentrate as much attention as you can on B-list linkerati and your own readers.

       Target your content to your readers or the ones you potentially want to gain, because they are the ones who need to benefit from your content. Don't alienate your core readership by watering down your content to please the A-list.

       Over time, as your core readership expands, you can become noticed by the A-list linkerati in your own niche, but that connection is more likely to come via a 3rd party blogger or through a social media site.

       Addressing The Needs of Your Audience

       I have had a few people leave comments in the past that a lot of what I write is a little over their head currently, or that a particular post might be too long.

       I made a concious decision 6 months ago not to write many "Top 10 tips" type articles on this blog. The core content isn't intended to be a beginners guide or introduction to any particular topic, though I am always willing to answer questions in the comments, and lots of people take advantage of my contact form.

       One of the things I have learned is that even your most fervent readers will miss posts, or skip them. They will also skip related posts links and avoid taking a look in categories or going tag browsing.

       They will quite often suffer in silence.

       One of the things I try hard to do is read or visit reader's blogs. Sometimes it is hard to get too involved with the commenting, so it might end up being a drive by answer, but you can always follow up with further questions by email (and many do). I did however note in my post on

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