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Any blogging advice besides telling someone to choose a niche they love, write engaging content, network in your niche and stay consistent, is secondary. With those fundamentals alone you can go very far. There really aren’t any “secrets” that people are holding back from you, but there are things to learn that will make you more effective with these fundamentals.
I’m going to focus on the fundamental of networking and reveal a tactic so underused that it may as well be a secret. I’ve seen so few examples of this that I wonder actually how many people know about it. Today I want to blow the doors open and share something that all of you can use to grow your blog and become a niche leader with much more ease.
I’ll be open and say that this isn’t something I use with ViperChill because it’s not something I’ve felt I needed to do and it doesn’t fit with my current strategy. You’ll see why that is later. However, there really is something you can all be doing to make growing your blog twice as easy and it will enable you to do it in half the time.
It’s also an incredibly simple concept to grasp: You need to form a blogging duo.
To break it down to its most basic form, you need to find one person in your industry who you can work with to help each of you take your own blogs to the next level.
To really cement this idea in your head, allow me share an example from the personal development niche.
Blogging Duo Example in the Personal Finance Niche
Two of the biggest blogs in the world can be found in the personal finance space. Get Rich Slowly and The Simple Dollar both have in excess of 70,000 subscribers at the time of writing this. What you may not know is that the blogs have also been growing at around the same rate for a very long time.
First, if you look at their traffic stats with Compete you can see that they have traffic spikes and dips at around the same time:
Then, looking at feed subscribers, despite the large difference at the start of the graph, their growth rate is on a very similar consistent rise.
This isn’t just some coincidence. These bloggers have helped each other out a lot. As I’m a stats kind of guy, let’s look into some here shall we?
- Get Rich Slowly has mentioned The Simple Dollar on their site 537 times
- The Simple Dollar has mentioned Get Rich Slowly on their site over 2,000 times
- Each of them has written a guest post for the other
- The both started their blogs in 2006
It’s very possible that JD (Get Rich Slowly) and Trent (The Simple Dollar) did not set out to consciously forge this alliance. They may simply like each other’s work and reference it a lot. However, you cannot deny the obvious help this partnership has had on each of their growth.
How would being referenced on a blog with tens of thousands of subscribers, hundreds of times, help the growth of your own site? I’m sure you don’t need me to answer that one for you.
Though their own “partnership” may have been an unconscious one, there are actions you can take to create a conscious one. If you want to make growing your blog a lot easier and possibly a lot more fun, I recommend you follow them.
Finding the Second Half of Your Duo
Though I’ve never purposefully gone out to find a blogging partner, I definitely believe I could. There are a lot of people I’ve created what I like to think of as strong connections with online such as Pat, Tamar and one of my best friends, Diggy. They write in similar industries and I happily link to their posts because I know they provide a lot of value.
Before you go on the hunt for your blogging partner, I will say that to make this alliance work effectively, you will have to link to them. Certainly not on every post; but on a fairly frequent basis. If you don’t like the content that your potential partner is producing then that defies the point of this tactic completely. Make sure you like what they have to say.
Similar to how I believe the connection between JD and Trent formed, I actually had no conscious aim to form connections with Tamar or Pat. I simply really like what they have to say, they’re both very open and friendly, and they’re both contacts of mine on Skype who I chat with now and then.
Sadly, there’s no action list involved in creating an unconscious connection. To forge a conscious one, here’s where I would look:
- Look at the blogs you subscribe to or follow and see if any would be a good match
- Join webmaster or blogging forums to see if you can find people in your niche who are also starting out (if you are) that you can bounce ideas off and work with to grow your sites
- Search for “top [niche] blogs” or “best [niche] blog” in Google to find a list of relevant bloggers you can contact
While there aren’t really any rules to this, you’re more likely to form a partnership with someone who is on a similar experience and blog size level as you. If I wanted to grow ViperChill, for example, it wouldn’t make much sense working with a completely new blogger and then linking to them frequently. They might grow, but I wouldn’t get much out of the partnership.
The only time an example like this would work is if I can see the blogger is growing in an industry and I really like what they have to say. Henri and Everett would be good examples of this for me and I would be happy to “team up” with them if that’s what I was looking for, even though their blogs are a little smaller than this one.
Just because you’ll probably have more luck partnering with someone who is on a similar level (they’re a new blogger and you are too) it doesn’t mean that they can’t help you make this whole blogging process easier. JD and Trent launched their blogs within 6 months of each other and look where they are now.
In terms of pitching the idea of a partnership to a blogger you like the look of, I would say that they really just want to know what they would have to do and what they get out of the deal.
In the next section of this post I’m going to look at ways you can use your blog alliance to help you grow, so to answer the question of what they have to do, simply suggest the ones you like the sound of the most. As far as what they get out of the deal goes, you may want to send them a link to this post so they can see how JD and Trent benefited from such a relationship.
Otherwise, simply talk about how working with you will help them. I also recommend this post from Problogger which I noticed while editing this post that gives some more examples. Rejection is only rejection if you let it stop you.
Utilising Your Blogging Duo
Now that you’ve seen the benefits that a blogging duo can offer you I’m going to look at how you can actually use it to your advantage. Many of these suggestions are going to be about sending traffic to the other blog. You may not like the sound of that, but it’s the exact reason that a duo can be so effective.
If you’re worried about sending traffic to other blogs then you miss the point of blogging entirely.
Everything your partner does to grow their traffic outside of your duo is going to benefit you when they mention your blog again the next time. Anything you do to build your audience outside of the partnership is going to help them grow their site.
Not only can you help grow each of your audiences, but you can create the appearance of authority by having strong connections in the same niche.
Guest Post for Each Other
One of the most effective ways to build a blog is to use guest posting. I’ve written an extensive guide to guest blogging that covers pretty much everything you need to know about the topic.
The first way it can help your duo is by using this method to build your own audience which you can then help drive to each other. To really utilise your duo, you can write for each other’s blogs on a fairly frequent basis.
This will be far more effective if both of you very rarely (or not at all) accept posts from other authors. With PluginID and now at ViperChill I never accepted one single guest post on my sites. That’s not because I don’t value them; they make a lot of sense and the ideas of other people are often worth sharing.
It’s simply that I wanted to really establish myself in my niche and have my own voice and brand stand out, rather than being another typical blog which accepts posts from just about anybody. I also write a very specific type of post here at ViperChill (in-depth, and from personal experience) which I don’t think many guest posters could really replicate.
If you only allow your blogging partner to write on your blog and they do the same for you, that’s going to benefit your audience and drive traffic to each other’s site in the most obvious and effective way.
Link to Your Favourite Posts
If you’ve read this post word for word then you’ll now realise why I suggested only choosing a blogger who’s content you like. Trent and JD wrote very few blog posts for each other. In fact, my search only turned up one guest post each. However, they linked to each other’s posts on a very regular basis and this is the main reason I think they’ve grown at a similar pace.
Authors in the blogosphere have gradually started to link out to each other less and less due to services like Twitter and Facebook being used for sharing content, but I still personally like to link out as much as possible. Because linking out is becoming more rare, it’s even more remarkable, and helps online relationships flourish.
For a while I would link to my favourite posts at the bottom of monthly reports but now I just link to people whenever their content or their blog is relevant to what I’m saying. Linking to each other is another great way to provide value to your readers (if you’re only sharing great content) and to help each other grow.
Partner on Social Media Platforms
As bloggers, we tend to try to promote our sites on as many places as possible. Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, Digg and StumbleUpon are just a few services that come to mind. Instead of just using your new blog partnership as a way to promote each other on your individual blogs, you could use it to help each other on social platforms as well.
For example, you could:
- Recommend their Twitter account as one to follow
- Promote their Facebook Fan page on yours
- Vote for stories of theirs that you like on Digg
- Retweet their blog posts
- Give their content a thumbs up on StumbleUpon
These are just a few examples, but I’m sure you get the idea. Look at all the ways you promote yourself on these platforms and see if there’s any way you can both help make your efforts more effective.
Comment on Each Others Blogs
Aimed at blogs that are mostly starting out, leaving comments can help you out in two ways. First of all, you’ll each be gaining a small amount of traffic from the link that is attached to your blog comment name. Everytime I write a post here on ViperChill, I notice that the first few commenters get 20-30 clicks on their links which is huge compared to my experience on other sites.
The main reason to reciprocate with blog comments though is simply to help with social proof. Two things that help me get more subscribers here on ViperChill actually have nothing to do with the content I produce. It’s simply that the number of subscribers here and how many comments I get on each posts show people that I must be worth following.
If you’re starting out, try to leave comments on each other’s sites to help start off discussions and make your blogs look more active.
Launch a Product or Service Together
Something I’ve been in talks about with a few bloggers is the possibility of launching a product or service together.
Although I offer the service of coaching which is just working with me, I could potentially bring in someone else for coaching calls so clients get twice the value. Similarly, if I offered site reviews (I have no plans to do this, it’s just an example) I could have someone else give their feedback to customers as well which would benefit them greatly.
Review Each Other’s Products
Not only could you work with your partner on a product, you could help to promote each other’s products as well. Some ways to do this can include:
- Writing an in-depth product review on your blog
- Interviewing one another about the launch
- Sharing the product on your social media platforms
- Promoting it to your newsletter subscribers (where applicable)
You could even give your blogging partner a higher percentage for affiliate comissions. This cross promotion can help both of you to make more money.
Enjoy the Connection
I hope that I’ve helped you to see how effective a blogging duo can be and how you can use your platforms to create an effective relationship. One last point I want to make is that this connection shouldn’t be something robotic; it should be something you enjoy.
When I talk to the likes of Pat, Tamar, Oscar or anyone else, it’s not because I’m hoping to get something out of their blogging audience. I just really love the subject of internet marketing so it’s great to connect with people who feel the same on some level.
Diggy comes to my house a few times per week and besides almost killing ourselves with bacon or using Skittles to help make the weekend a blur (I’m 20, don’t judge 
), we spend a lot of time talking about blogging, affiliate marketing and ways to make more money online.
If you view your blogging duo as just a way to grow your blog more easily then you won’t get the most out of it. See it was a way to connect with someone like-minded and you may just see this tactic become the most useful blogging advice you’ve come across.
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This is a really powerful technique. I built up a number of relationships with a few bloggers, and they’ve really helped spread the word on a few of my posts. one thing I probably should do more of is guest blogging
Hey Anthony,
Thanks for the comment. Good to see that you’ve had some success with this as well.
That’s freaking awesome Glen,
I am going to re-read this post again and again. It’s just like in the real world – good networks and connections decide everything, and it isn’t any different in the digital world.
Cross-promoting each others blogs and supporting each other is an awesome way of spreading
one’s influence.
I’m in the process of building my own group – because the benefits are sooo tremendous.
But I’m looking for 4 – 8 members, why would you only stick with 2 ?
You’d still have enough time to promote each other, and you could spread around a much bigger network.
Hi Mars,
I think the more people there are involved, the bigger the benefit. However it’s much more difficult to co-ordinate 4 people who are going to give equal amounts of promotion to the other websites, so consider that before you think about expanding the group.
This is something I’ve never thought of, actually, so thanks for writing about it. I love the fact that you can get support from someone else whose interest are similar to your own. I’ve got several blogging friends, but none that I’ve so far gone into a sort of partnership with. This gives me a lot of thoughts to reflect on.
Hey Anne,
You’re welcome. Thanks for stopping by. Let me know if you decide on taking action with this. I would love to see how it goes.
Nice post Glen! I really like the idea of a blogging companion.
I’ve been thinking about some sort of network of college bloggers. Not like a new site or social media thingy, but just a network. We help each other, write for each other and have some coorperate things in the near future. Should be pretty awesome.
This post inspires me to continu with what I have set in motion so far, thanks!
When I first started my blog I remember that a group of us was helping each other with links, SU and tweets. It definitely helped each of us and we should do it again.
Hi Oscar,
There are a few of those still going on with some very big bloggers, but I won’t go into specifics. I think it works well for a while but people get overloaded with all of the information coming at them to promote.
Good thinking batman. I’ve already written about this in a course I’m developing about blogging but I call it a blogging buddy, I’m a sucker for alliteration and we all need buddies:) I don’t think you can really suggest it to other people and ask them outright. I think it’s best to let them grow organically. If you comment on other people’s blogs and they comment back then a relationship will grow naturally in that way. For me one of the main benefits is co-motivation to keep each other blogging because it does need to be a longterm committment.
What you’re suggesting about linking to each other’s sites is interesting and should be an excellent way to show how you value your blogging buddy and the relationship. Retweeting is so common place. It almost has to be done and ends up becoming formulaic rather than natural.
Like friendships building trust with social media takes time. Friendships aren’t made
overnight and the longer you’re friends with someone the more your
loyalty and trust grows and the more you get out of the relationship.
I’m starting to see a similar phenomena with my blog. You can’t hurry it but it will happen naturally with time.
I wrote a post at the end of 2009 where I awarded my favourite bloggers with various personalised accolades and am already planning to do that again this year. It’s a small way to acknowledge other bloggers who’ve helped, encouraged and motivated me. They should get a medal really, yourself included.
Hi Annabel,
I always appreciate your in-depth comments. I love the idea you mentioned at the end about highlighting your favourite bloggers. I like doing things like that and find that they help to build a connection.
Hey Glen!
Very cool post!I’d never really thought about it but lately I’m getting into the mindset of linking to other people’s good posts. It’s all about abundance mindset.
People are often afraid to link to others because they are scared to lose visitors or that their readers will leave their site. If you create good content, people will always come back to you. By sharing you will inevitably attract more good relationships with other bloggers who in turn will happily link to you.
Hey Diggy,
but now i love doing this.
That’s exactly right bro. There are many people who afraid to link to others post.
When i started my blogging journey, i was one of them
Thanks for sharing your insights.
Thanks for the links to ViperChill recently Dev. They are noted
Hey Diggy,
Good point. I definitely think it relates to having an abundance mindset and worrying about losing traffic. Thanks for the comment!
Another great post Glen, thanks.
Just wondering if this idea is the making of a new site/web app that helps people find or create blogging teams and partnerships? Does something like this exist already?
Hi Stuart,
If something like that does exist, I don’t know about it. Could be a new venture for you…
Hi Glen,
Just wanted to let you know that after a couple of nights work, I’ve created a site that helps you find a blog partner.
It’s called Blog Twin – http://www.blogtwin.com (it’s amazing how many domain names containing the word blog weren’t available!)
You can register, post up some details of your blog with feed and monthly stats figures, add some tags, then others can find a match for their type and size of site.
It’s very beta at the moment, but I’ll be adding content and features as I go along.
Feel free to try it out, it’s all free of course. All feedback welcome!
Cheers
Stuart
Incredible.
Congratulations Stuart!
Wow..dude Another awesome Post.
I am doing everything except Guest Posting. I also do “weekly roundups” in which i give link love to blogging Friends and this way many bloggers has become awesome friends.
Thanks for sharing this great post.
Regards,
Dev
You’re welcome Dev,
Thanks for the support as usual!
I liked this post a lot…it just makes sense. We all know you need to give to receive. I really like what
@diggy said:If you create good content, people will always come back to you. By sharing you will inevitably attract more good relationships with other bloggers who in turn will happily link to you.
That’s so right and positive. I remember someone said that if you linked to others you would loose readership…that’s a load of crap. You need to give.
But yea definitely being a new blogger a need to start linking to other post like NOW! thanks Glen All…
I have found your site and advice to be helpful. I had a really hard time nailing down a niche that also fit something I enjoyed doing, but I believe I have finally narrowed it down and have a place where I can not only create, but also build a community. Thank you for all your great articles. Please keep up the good work.
On a networking note, if you would be interested in a guest post (writing or receiving) please keep me in mind. I’m still in the process of building a fan base, so if you visit my site and decide you like what you see please let me know. I welcome creative criticism too!
Keep up the great work.
Wow, great post Glen. I have definitely benefitted from other bloggers helping out with promotion etc, and I help them (as long as they churn out the good content obviously). I think it’s about seeing other bloggers as colleagues and not competition. Thanks for sharing!
Interesting. I’ve been blogging for about six months now and have never considered a blog duo. I’m currently blogging for my main site and Digitallanding.com but at this point don’t have a duo partner. I have found people who link to me but haven’t linked back to them yet. Moving forward I’m going to link to them and later approach them to make an alliance.
Love this idea for its simplicity and potential impact.
A few months ago, I formed an informal “blog pack” with some other bloggers in my industry to do much the same thing, but I really like the “duo” approach even better as it seems more straightforward and less dilutive to a single person’s efforts.
The inspiration for the blog pack idea came from this post: http://remarkablogger.com/2008/05/14/create-a-blog-pack-to-get-blog-traffic-and-increase-subscriptions/
Thanks again for sharing.
Glen,
Great stuff. I found this to be excellent material as I was just getting ready to do my first guest post as a video this upcoming week talking about a very similar scenario. One that I hope to develop and use more in the future.
Thanks again for the in depth look at this. That is one that thing I can say about you. Since I just started following you a couple weeks ago, your content is top notch and you really don’t put out small crappy posts. They are all laden with great nuggets.
Brandon
I’ve actually been implementing this for a bit now. I’m trying to scale it though to a four-five person “crew”. What are you thoughts on creating an alliance that all does this between each other?
Hi Glen,
I’ve noticed this effect in a more informal sort of way myself (ie without actively forming a partnership). As a relative newcomer to blogging, I’ve found these type of exchanges to give me a great deal of encouragement that I’m moving in the right direction, but never really considered the other positive effects you mention in your post. This is definitely an area I will give more thought to, so thanks for an excellent post!
This is sucha powerful tool that the big guys use for sure. Look how much copyblogger and problogger plug each other and do projects together. This can be seen all over. we all need to do this a lot more. We don’t have to go at it alone. Networking is used every day in real-world business, so why not move it over completely to the blogging world.
-Joshua Black
The Underdog Millionaire
Hey Glen, I’m going to make notes as I read because your articles are usually full of helpful info and so long that I forget what my thoughts were by the time I finish!
1). The fundamentals: choose a niche they love, write engaging content, network in my niche and stay consistent.—-> I need to work on 3 and 4. Networking in my niche and staying consistent. Big holes in my game
2) Forming a blog duo…. WOW. This is something I will look to form immediately, I already have some ideas for blogs I’d love to support and move towards a common goals. I’m wondering if this could be done with multiple blogs in my niche, or would that dilute the purpose?
3) Start linking on a regular basis to blogs that I am looking to form a mutually beneficial partnership with.
So many more takeaways, but for now, I know that this is a direction that I MUST take my blog to grow and at the same time, help and support someone else in my niche. I have the big picture idea, the rest I will sort out as I travel this path.
great article that will have an impact on my online success!
Thanks brotha
~Mike
Glen, I love the perspective here. Looking at solid results, it’s (partnership) definitely worth something to think about.
Wow! Really great post!
You are absolutely right. Blogging partnership is one of the most under utilized blogging secrets. Another good example of someone using this is Hesham Zebida from famousbloggers.net, His blog is less than 6 months now and he has achieved so much with it.
Thanks a lot for the great post,
-Onibalusi
Glen,
This is absolutely brilliant. One of the places that people might also look to form their blogging duo is with the people who regularly comment on their blogs. I have a few people on my blog who comment on almost every post and I realize I probably should be making more of an effort to build relationships with them. In fact I’ll probably write a post about it and link to this post
. Thanks for sharing this idea.
I agree that this ‘duo’ strategy could be a great way to build on the audience for your blog. The stats you provide are compelling, and the points you make really make it an enticing option to consider. It’s interesting that not many people are actively seeking to create partnerships as a direct strategy to bring attention to their blogs. In fact, this is the first time I hear it mentioned seriously in a post.
It’s important to find a good balance between yourself and whoever you are looking to partner up with. You both need to feel like you’re giving somehwat equally’ to one another, and that your partner’s fundamental message is complementary to your own.
Nice post again Glen.
I started doing this a little while ago but on a lesser scale just guest posts really. I think it’s time to ramp it up a little. Thanks for the good advice!
BTW Like the Skittles
Ah, so someone eventually noticed those?
Thanks for the comment!
Hi Glen,
Thanks again for the outstanding post! Keep them coming! I love when your new posts show up in my e-mail inbox.
I’ve started to connect with another blogger in my area recently. After commenting on each other’s blogs, exchanging e-mails, and guest posting on each other’s blogs, we spoke on the phone for two hours a week and a half ago. And we talked for almost an hour and a half again last night. However, in both cases, it felt to me like we were talking for 15-20 minutes.
I find it helps so much to be able to connect with somebody who truly understands what it is like to be involved with blogging. Other friends of mine just can’t understand even though they are often very successful at what they do. Blogging is a different world.
Furthermore, I really like being able to bounce ideas off of him. And he does the same with me.
I think you make a very important point about enjoying the connection. I think it’s unlikely to last if that is not there.
Have a fantastic day!
Thanks Greg, your positive comments are always awesome.
Wow, awesome example!
Thanks for sharing that. I think it shows how much blogging can add to your life in terms of connections as well.
Hey Glen, buddy, pal! Hehe! Actually, I have a drafted newsletter that talks about this very same idea – the other half, where I talk about you and I as well. I just can’t wait for what’s in store for both of us in the future, as we never fail to give each other a helping hand.
Speaking of linking to our Duo, you may have already noticed I included a link to your “year’s worth of content” post in the post I published today. And link you said in your post today, I was happy to do this because you definitely bring the content – useful content that I’m happy to share with my readers too.
Cheers Glen!
Hey Pat,
Awesome to see you here. I can’t agree more. it’s exciting times
Yep I noticed. I had already linked to you in the draft for this post before I found it. Nice coincidence!
Keep up the great work.
Thanks for the tips. Definitely something to consider.
Regards, Sandra.
Don’t you mean half as slowly with twice the ease?
‘nother good post. Like it. Thanks.
I don’t think “half as slowly” would have the same punch
Hey Glen. Its like all things, its better to have help then to do everything by yourself. Thanks for such covering such a needed topic in the blogging world.
~Gio
You’re welcome Gio. Thank you for taking the time to comment.
Hey Glen.. thanks once again for another great idea that I honestly hadn’t really considered… at least not consciously. lol I automatically link out to other bloggers whose stuff I like on a regular basis, but I hadn’t though of really purposely forming an alliance with a specific blogger to help each other grow.
Great stuff!
Hey Cori,
Really glad that you got something out of the post. Thanks for stopping by
I really like this idea. I just have one question though – doesn’t this kind of thing cause a kind of a loop or something that the search engines don’t really like? I thought I read something about that not too long ago. It would certainly be worth a try….we all love more traffic, right?
Thanks!
Hi Rae,
Search engines are of course something that people focus on but they provide only a small amount of traffic for most sites. They account for less than 10% of the traffic coming to ViperChill each month. Thought I had blogs with 90% search traffic, so it really depends on your aim. As I always say “Search engines follow people.” – If you focus on the community and building relationships, they’ll generally value your site and give it the rankings it deserves.
I wouldn’t worry about how search engines view your relationship.
Interesting post, thanks for sharing! Going to have to try and get into guest blogging.
Fantastic idea… and one I really hadn’t thought of. My guest blog posts (one published and several scheduled to come out later this month) have been in areas completely unrelated to mine (as I really enjoy the art of writing and had a lot of fun with them). Perhaps it’s time to find a blog in my own niche and work on establishing a long term relationship. Thanks so much for the advice!!!
This is definitely an idea that is not usually talked about. I myself just heard it from you. This is the reason why I love your blog…there’s real and unique content..More Power!
Ah, just an awesome idea Glen! I sure do have tons of blogging buddies which I linked out and mentioned to quite sometimes but I haven’t thought that I could leverage it and take that into the next level.
Its funny how I write a lot about blogging as a form of building relationships and making connections but nver really knew this idea.
i wont say thanks because i got tired sayin it.
Keep walking on water Glen! Never thought about team blogging.
Glen, a superb post as always. Btw, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but since I hope you keep blogging for a long time: From Renata Micha of the Harvard School of Public Health, whose study appears in the journal Circulation….”Processed meats such as bacon, salami, sausages, hot dogs and processed deli meats may be the most important to avoid,” Micha said in a statement.”
http://health.yahoo.com/news/reuters/us_heart_meat.html
Pretty good idea, I tend to link to lots of projects but not many blogger’s posts. Perhaps I should do that, more often when I see something good and relevant to my subject matter.
Thank you.
Wow, that’s a very obvious (in hind sight) technique. I’ve inadvertently done this with some projects and it’s been great. I never really stopped to think it out. Thanks.
I actually just found your blog through reviewme because I’m out looking for the same thing. Very timely, and I’m excited to go through your older stuff. Thanks!
Hi Glen,
Good post as usual. I just noticed something strange on your website though, your feedburner readers dropped by 3000, am i seeing things right?
that’s a very nice idea
its better to think of other blogs as allies and to establish partnership with some of them
well written
Thank You for writing this! Even as a new blogger I can apply what you are talking about in this article.
I really understand the power of a duo and your analysis of Get Rich Slowly & The Simple Dollar really made it clear. Knowing that this began (even if unconsciously) when the blogs were 6 months old is very inspiring. YAY, YAY, YAY Thank you for this article!!!!
You really made it crystal clear.
Oh, … and I LOVE the Image you chose for this article! Love it!!!
Interesting idea. I’m kind of doing this now but not the guest posting part. Need to step it up.
Hi Glen,
Happy b. day…love your blogging.Sent your post to facebook,delicious and twitter.Hope this helps
Kat
Thanks for the information. I have been doing this with several people informally on social media platforms, but hadn’t thought about bringing it to blogging.
Great post again Glen.
I am thinking of launching a website doing product reviews in a niche. I may look for blogs that offer similar but not the same products and ask the owner to share some traffic. It would also help the readers which is the main thing.
Wow! Just reading over and over as i find this post very interestng and much useful than the one i came across on other sites. Thanks a lot. Keep up the good work. Alex
Hi, I found this post and many of your others I have read extremely interesting and helpful. I am a 52 year old writer who is a virgin to the blogging and online web writing scene and have to say your articles have made it much easier for me to understand and plan a blog and online campaign for the blog and my writing. Keep up the good work – your family must be so proud to have such a clever and entrepeneurial son lol
) thanks again.
Nice post mate, I can’t say that I’ve read all the post written by you but this one is pretty interesting. Keep up the good work.
Hey Glen! Thanks for linking to my guest post over at Tamar’s techipedia.com blog (Social Media Advice: Fix you house…”).
Not sure if you realized it was a guest post, but it’s much appreciated (and a good example of just how powerful guest posting can be).
This was a very informative article and I will keep it for future reference. I had not thought about creating a relationship with another blogger, but I will keep my eyes open for the possibility of creating a duo relationhship with another blogger.
Thanks,
Jenn
This is a great peice of advice and something that I’ve never really considerded before. Primarily because my niche overlaps other niches. Which means I can form partnerships with more than one blogger! Awesome suggestion!
Glen – Fantastic advice. I’ve seen something similar in the real estate blogging niche over the course of a few years now. A handful of the early RE bloggers all linked to one another, promoted one another, and as a result, grew their traffic together. While this was not necessarily a one on one “partnership,” all involved benefited from the close relationship they established with one another, and they continue to thrive because of it.
Now that I find interesting. And I wonder how formalized it was. Because there are a number of syndication “tribes” that do what Glen has said, but amongst 10-50-200 members. Usually there are requirements and controls as the size increases. Controls meaning you must give to get. So there may be spreadsheets or software programs that are used to monitor everyone’s participation and give-back. Most of these groups have a substantial number of network marketer blogs. I keep thinking that there must be such groups/programs in other niche areas, including political blogging, artist blogs, and so on. So, I can’t help but wonder whether the real estate bloggers you mentioned had a formal arrangement like what I mentioned. It seems from your comment that it didn’t just “happen.”
This was a very interesting post. I actually stumbled across this blog while I was reading a post on John Chow’s blog. The whole idea of partnering up with other bloggers in my niche is a unique one. I’m looking forward to connecting with some fellow bloggers and seeing what can happen!
[...] you don’t know the importance of blogger connections, you may enjoy this article. Of course, it’s a little “risky” writing my plan like this here, because if I [...]
I’ve just started blogging and think this is a great idea. I’m a visionary artist and mandala maker, although I would say my blog, “Living the Heart’s Desire,” is really about spiritual awakening. The art and healing work I do is in service to that. If anyone reading this would like to partner with me, please stop by my site and leave me a note.
Blessings,
Atmara
What hosing site do you recommend?
I’m interested in starting my own blog and want some advice.
Thanks.
Guest posting is a great way to get in the door with other bloggers. Once a blogger sees your name on a site they read they will most likely come to your site and want to start guest blogging there as well. The system works and works well.
Great post. Really got me thinking, I really shouldn’t take on the blog world alone. It’s going to be hard to find someone with the same exact calibur as me. Because right now I’m cramming in content for the next two weeks and it’s going to hard for anyone to keep up.
Hi Glen,
Inspirational post. I can tell that you put a lot of time into it.
Now looking back, I sort of do the same things mentioned with a few other bloggers, though I’m going to try to expand our relationship by guest posting on the other blogs as well and promoting them on social media. The main benefit I’ve found with a blogging duo is just the opportunity to converse with one another and create a tight bond that will last years down the road. Every other benefit just follows naturally after.
Christina
The idea looks great, but if gogle penaliza one of the blogs, What will happen with the other?
Great ideas for a partnership maybe someone should create a page of potential blog partners. Each person could add their blog what its about and how frequently they post. Maybe I will create something like this one day. Bit busy at the moment with other ventures. I have heard about guest post and can see many benefits to this approach.
Hi, Glen!
Thanks for another amazing read.
I’ve been running my IM blog for a few years on and off but this year decided to go more serious about it. I always write original content and often enough I get a few “thank you’s” here and there.
So I set to find some information on getting better at blogging however I decided to pass by the WForum and sure enough I stumbled upon your incredible 10kSubs report
… instead of working on my blog I spent 5 hours reading yours !
Great stuff,
Thanks!
Alex
Loved the idea of Duo blogging. How do you find people some one who would like to duo blog ?
If anyone out there blog about technology than please do call me. You can find my number on http://www.fixtro.com. I blog about Technology that solves the small business problems. My topics include Computers, Security, Voice, Video, Social Media, WebSite, Graphic Design, Small Business Marketing. Like I said, my goal is to help small businesses grow. I truly believe that technology can help small businesses grow at rapid pace.
If you blog about small business or technology for small businesses than I am ready to partner up with you.
Great reading! A Blogging Duo is indeed a good suggestion, and so simple I was not thinking of it… I’ll definitely get to work to find my “partner”!
I am not sure if this a secret or not — maybe because it goes along with “Guest Blogging”. Glen, I am slightly new in the blogosphere and I have been surprised to get replies from popular/well-known bloggers giving ME feedback on the blog.
The most important thing I learned : Give them more than you receive and expect nothing in return.
Dilanka
You Wrote this long time ago and its still working till now.
I am going out there to find a blogging duo ( i so much love JV) and hope it works out fine for both of us.
Sheyi
hi glen,
just found this old article of yours and i must say i really love it! i´m reading your blog for some time but haven’t checked the archives. guess i should do more often and not just stumble over your post because pat mentions it in his latest post
thanks a lot!
This is such solid advice… I’ve been forming a couple ‘unconcious’ relationships but have now made them concious.
Looking forward to taking it to the next level!
Brendan