You can be a friendly blog stalker too

Growing your blog takes time.  It's not for everyone, but for anyone who wants to do it, its possible and it will happen if you can put the effort needed into it.

It is very rare that a person creates a blog and it instantly becomes a hit and millions of people come and visit them daily to the point they are rolling into a six figure salary and quitting their day job.
If that happened to you, not only am I jealous.  But I am here to say, that is a very, very rare thing!

The key to success and growing your blog is putting the required time in for it.  A lot of that time can be spent in better ways than others.  One way is blogger Networking or to stay on today's topic I like to call it friendly blog stalking!

What is Friendly Blog Stalking?

Visiting others blogs, daily if needed.  Reading their posts and then leaving thoughtful comments, engaging them into conversation with you.
You like their topic, tell them.  You have additional questions on it, ask them.
Do it on all their posts, or as often as you can.
Don't stop there, do this to as many bloggers you can!  Spend as much of your free-time giving some friendly blog stalking.
Stalk them until they notice you!  Sometimes the effect can be immediate, other times it could take weeks.

How can this help you?

Well if you "friendly" blog stalk someone long enough.  Emphasis on friendly, as if you are sending them hate comments or dislikes to everything they write, well that's not really very kind and probably won't ever get you anything back in return:) besides them hoping karma comes around:)

But if you engage with them long enough you can bring ALMOST any blogger eventually back to yours. But you must make sure you are leaving a way for them to contact you back.
Whether that be subscribing to their blog, so their reply to you goes directly back to your email.
Or if they have a section to leave your blog URL or link to your last post.  Do it!
If they can't easily find you, if they do want to check your page out, you need to make it easy for them to find you!

Will this always work?

Nothing is a guarantee!  But there are a few things to consider when you do this.

First, does your blog and the blog you want to stalk have some commonalities?  Maybe your both mothers who blog.  Possibly your both runners, or avid book readers.  Maybe you both have blogs dedicated to entertainment or TV shows, pets, health, goals etc....
If you have some sort of commonality there is a much greater chance that person might come visit your blog and if they like what you say they may comment back.

Second, does the blogger appear to be interested in what others are saying on their blog.  A lot of bigger blogs will turn their comments off because they can't keep up.  Or some might never even check their comments.  Do you see them engaging with other bloggers at all?  Although this isn't always a easy thing to see, if you do see it.  It's a higher possibility they are just as interesting in interacting and Networking with other bloggers as you are.

Last, do you like their blog?  Do you like what they write?  Do you like their blogger personality? Do they seem like someone you would talk if you met them?  Do you learn from them, look forward to what they have to say?
Those are a few good things to consider.  When you are networking with other bloggers, you are essentially creating an online community for yourself.  They in time can actually become your online friends.  Heck, you may even meet up at a blogger conference if you can ever afford to attend one. They can become your tribe, your friendships that will help all your blogs grow together.
If you can't say yes to those questions, then move onto another blog and find bloggers that you can say yes to those things.

Take it one step further

Do you really like their blog, do you value what they say.  Is this something you'd like to share with others?  Then do it!
Take that friendly stalking to another level and occasionally share their posts on your social media channels.  Tag them in it.
I personally would only share things that you really like, then give them a reason on why your sharing when you do it.  Even if it's just a "Great post today."
I'll be honest with you, when someone does this for me, the first thing I think is; that person just made my day!  The next thing I think is, one day I am going to pay that forward!
If they don't take notice, don't feel bad about it.  Sometimes we don't all get our social media notifications like we would like.  But for something that takes only a few seconds out of your day to do, why not!

Other ways blog stalking can help you

Here is something else to consider when blog stalking.  When you are viewing these different blogs, reading their posts, checking out what they are doing.
You will also get ideas for yourself!
Although I never recommend copying exact, I think its wrong.  Sometimes you can read something and say to yourself, hmmm I liked that I would have loved it if that blogger went there.....  Then you just got yourself an idea for a new future post.
Sometimes we can get other ideas too, ideas for things we never would have considered on our own. Life is all about learning and improving, so is blogging!


How you can start today

Want to get started on friendly blog stalking right away?  Go for it.
I like to use the rule of 5, because it's a manageable number and doesn't take too much time.
Find 5 blogs this week that you would like to follow.  Add them to your follow list, and start stalking them as soon as you have time!
Maybe 5 is a good number for a few weeks, maybe you can add a few more each week.  Whatever you can do, do it.
Just keep it manageable within your time, and pick great bloggers your interested in.
Wanna "friendly" blog stalk me?  Go for it!  I'd more than welcome it, and I WILL return the favor:)
If you keep up on this, in time you will notice and you will begin to grow your blog with some other hopefully great relationships in the process!


Do you blog stalk?  Did you laugh at me when you read You can be a Friendly Blog Stalker too?
Or do you network in other ways?  I'd love for you to share!