While bloggers that see incoming traffic to their site from another blog will notice they received a link, not everybody is addicted to the statistics of their site. An automatic pingback or a manual trackback send a comment to the specific blog post that got the link, tracking back to the site that sent it. This is a common practice, that enhances the interconnectivity – networking.

Read here more about networking through blog linking.

The latest version of Wordpress, while having lots of great features, stopped sending these notifications. Scheduled posts also stopped appearing amongst other problems.

Luckily, this excellent platform has a large community of people that care about it. A patch appeared quite fast. Dennis de Bernardy posted a patch here. It instantly solved the problem. Thank you Dennis!

Stay tuned for the regular schedule of networking posts coming up later on.

Spam- by David, on Flickr.

Joining a LinkedIn group gives you the opportunity to communicate with other members of the group and also to post your content there. My associate was thrilled to find another place to put links to his site.

While this can indeed be a nice platform for receiving quality traffic, from a well targeted group of professionals, this approach doesn’t always satisfy the group administrators.

The big mistake that he did was not to read the rules. The group rules strictly stated no links! I believe that if you’re a veteran member of such a group, and you make such a sin as leaving a link in the discussion board, you’ll probably be forgiven.

Well, my associate was not only hasty not to read the rules, but posted the link within hours of joining the group. This behavior was considered spammy by the group’s administrator, that used the strongest possible sanction: a ban from the group.

Not only did my associate lose his chance to post links there, he’ll have a much harder time to network with the group’s members, now that he’s sitting in the corner.

The lesson to everybody is: Don’t come too strong! This lesson is good for LinkedIn groups as well as for other social media sites and for face to face meetings. Take things gradually. Don’t push your counterpart…

Further reading: Keith Swenson writes about a new kind of spam in LinkedIn groups.

Linking to the whole blog means linking to the home page. The main drawback of this method is the lack of focus. Your readers aren’t directed to specific content but to a person.

Another issue with such a post is that there’s a chance that your gesture may be received as flattering – a stronger approach than you intended to do.

Writing a post praising the person you wish to connect will probably intimidate him, and will make the a follow up by email quite hard.

Even so, there are a few cases in which such a link will work well:

1. A new blog: If your fellow blogger just started a new blog, you can write a short post about this event, link to him, and wish him good luck. The context of the new blog will make your out-reach more comfortable, and may earn you points with that person.
2. Mentioning a meeting with the blogger: Similar to the case of “linking by the way”, you may mention the person you’ve met at a convention (or elsewhere) and link to his home page. This method also makes the “big” link more smooth.
3. List of bloggers: If your fellow blogs about a specific topic, and you’re writing about it, you can mention his name (with a link) at the bottom of the post, using text such as: “Bloggers who also write about these matters are: …”. Putting his name alone in the list might be a little too strong. Adding another name or two will help.

I’m sure there are other examples in which you can link to the whole blog in a way that will be moderate. The goal is to reach out and network, not intimidate. Networking is never instant.

Further reading: the introductory post about Networking through Blogs – 4 Ways of Linking. One more post to complete the series…

This type of linking method isn’t that complicated. You write a post that relates in one way or another to what someone else wrote. It’s better to focus on something that you would write about anyway. And while you’re writing your post, you link to your fellow blogger’s post when you relate to the topic he wrote about.

This method is the best way to link, and you can repeat it as many times as you wish. Here are the main advantages:

• Writing such a post is more “natural”: You write a post on something that you have interest in or something that you can contribute through. This makes the post interesting and worthy for your readers. It fits into your regular writing, and doesn’t stand out as a link post. So, these kind of posts can be repeated over and over, contrary to link posts that can be tiring.
• No risk of over-flattering: When the link to your fellow blogger is a natural part of a serious post, he’ll be pleased that you’ve noticed him, but he won’t be intimidated by a post directed only at him.
• Discussion: After seeing the incoming link and some traffic from your post, your blogger might join the discussion on your post. A deeper post triggers deeper interaction. And, what’s networking about, if not social interaction?

This method of linking is the best way for networking. It is an approach in the right dosage – serious enough to be noticed, but not direct to scare off the other side.

The disadvantage of such a post is that it takes more time to write. But if you want to give your readers quality content, you have to put some effort into it, don’t you?

When I talk about a link post, I’m referring to a very short post, which is usually not longer than 100 words. This kind of short post focuses solely on the link. You can look at such a post as a road sign. It briefly tells you where to go.

Advantages of a link post

• It takes no time to write. Apart from being a short post, it’s content is based on the linked post. Adding a small note of your own will enrich the content, but it’s still short.
• A link post drives traffic to your fellow blogger’s site. Since it’s focused on the link, the click through rate will be high. Like the aforementioned road sign, it tells your readers: “Go there!”. Sending traffic is naturally appreciated by your fellow blogger.
• If you’re promoting a cause, a link post is an excellent and quick way to show your show where you stand. It isn’t necessary to elaborate on your exact opinion. You just take sides quickly. Being part of a group is another networking opportunity.

Disadvantages of a link post

• It’s not really original. Linking to specific opinion tells also something about yourself, but in someone else’s words. Try not to write too many link posts. Remember that this post isn’t an isolated approach to someone, but just another part of your blog. In many cases, the blog is your “large business card”. If you have many links that you want to share, Twitter is a better choice for most cases.
• Too direct: Making a link post could be perceived as flattering by your fellow blogger. If it’s the initial connection with him, this way might be too direct.

Conclusion: All in all, a link post is easy to do, drives traffic, and especially useful for joining a group. It shouldn’t be used very frequently, and in most cases it’s better to use it after an initial acquaintance with the blogger that you’re linking to.

Do you have any link post experiences that you wish to share?

Why link?

Linking to a fellow blogger draws his attention in a positive way. In his blog dashboard he sees an incoming link from you, and he also sees incoming traffic. He also may get new readers to his blog, readers that came from your network.

This a gesture of good will that is taken positively. It can lead to having him thank you via your blog, or perhaps by a personal email. So, a link is good way of igniting a connection.

4 Ways to Link

1. Link Post: Your fellow blogger wrote an interesting post, and you wish to share it with your readers. If you have something to add upon it, it’s even better. Writing a short post that is focused on the link is a fast and easy way to link. This is the most efficient method of sending traffic, since it’s all about the link. Read more about networking through link posts.
2. Referring to a post “by the way”: This means writing a serious post, in which you mention the other person’s post. This is the best way to connect, since you don’t only link, but also express yourself. This kind of post takes more time to write and pushes less traffic to your fellow blogger. The advantage is that the discussion can last longer and the connection can become deeper. He can relate not only by thanking you, but also by discussing and perhaps linking back. Read more about referring to a post “by the way”.
3. Linking to the whole blog: You can write a post about the person you wish to connect with, and link to his blog. While this is a big gesture, it isn’t focused, and can hardly trigger a discussion. In such a post, there’s a fine line between a gesture and flattering. Read more about linking to the whole blog.
4. Adding to the blog roll: Adding a blog to the blog roll means a permanent link on all your blog’s pages. This is naturally the biggest gesture, but it’s very problematic for initial networking. First, it may not be noticed if it doesn’t generate traffic. It’s static content. Second, adding a permanent link is accepted only between good blog friends, and isn’t accepted as a first move. You should add a person’s blog to your blog roll only if the both of you are tightly networked.

These are the 4 major ways of linking between blogs. We might enhance on each method later on.

Do you have other methods? Networking and linking experiences you’d like to share? Your comments are most welcome.