How crazy is it that everyone has an opinion until they get the chance to express it? These days, it’s possible to become a part of the giant conversation going on everywhere at all times. No longer are we stuck in the days of seeing a news broadcast and only being able to talk to people right around us.
Saying that, I’m sure if you’re online, you are probably reading, watching or listening to something that gives you the opportunity to leave a comment. If you have that opportunity, why not take the minute or two it takes to give that person your feedback on what they just shared. After all, if they let you comment, they want you to tell them what you thought.
Advantages for Consumers
You are getting a chance to speak up and share your opinion in a public forum. You’re already there and have thoughts about it. Don’t keep those thoughts to yourself. That’s selfish of you not to share your unique insight into the matter. Leave the comment and be heard. Even if you do it anonymously.
Advantages for Bloggers/Website Owners
There is an obvious advantage of leaving comments and that’s the link back to your site of choice. On this note, I have an idea for you: Rotate links for comments and test. After some playing around with what urls, I’ve seen some interesting results with having these comment links going to social profiles instead of my blog. Try it out and see if it’s right for your business.
Advantages for Professionals and ‘Experts’
Comments on established sites gives you a great opportunity to establish your credibility without having to spend money on advertisements. Content sells and that’s exactly what comments give you the chance to do. Provide great content in the comments and not only will the viewers want to know more, you will probably have the site admin wanting to know more.
One last thought on the matter is that this applies to businesses that you frequent in your local area. You should use sites like Yelp and Google to let the companies know they are doing a good job and that you appreciate them giving you such a great product or service.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I've been trying to stress this a ton to the people who are visiting my blog! I find that the more interactions we can have with our viewers/customers/clients the better we can gear our message to them. It's like a win-win situation for both parties.
I've never thought about it as reading a blog and not leaving your comments is being selfish… I guess I need to start sharing more of what I think about people's posts and being more interactive on other people's websites to help them out.
Damn Brendan, you always get me thinking in a way that moves me in a positive direction for my business. Thank you
No, thank you for sharing. It's learning from each other that helps us grow as a community and provide more value to the world as a whole.
Comments are the best way to start a discussion . I love when people comment, when people leave a comment, it acknowledges that they actually read the post. It's the best feeling whether they agree with the content or not.
Haven't really thought of using Yelp or Google as commenting for local businesses, I'm going to start doing that more.
I meet so many people who refer to the article they read, and their views on it. I just wonder why didnt they comment on it!
I agree, in fact from DeskAway we comment quite a bit on interesting articles on the web. Only thing to be careful of is not to make it look spammy or irrelevant promotion of our brand. I have seen lot of companies do that.
That perplexes me also Priyanka. They put the time in effort in, why not take that extra step. It's often that extra step that gets you to the finish line. And I know that sounds cheesy, but that's true in my life so far.
The main reason that I mentioned that about the local business reviews is that these guys are working their butts off and could use the reinforcement that their providing a great service to the community.
And I totally agree with how it feels to get comments. I never write about a subject that I don't like and I love talking, so if someone just nudges the conversation it can get quite good.
Thanks for the comment this morning and wish you much success in your endeavors.
And this is something I've noticed from you that is different than most companies like yours. Your comments are always on topic and very much welcoming.
BTW, if you don't have project management software for you business, Deskaway is head over heels the best thing that's happened to my business.
RT @BrendanWenzel If You Can Leave a Comment, Then Do It! http://ow.ly/1p8Pfs
I hope the site admin will want to divulge into my site a bit more, that why we are here. I leave a comment in the hope you click through. You set up this website in hope that I visit.
And it all comes through as planned.
Is it too hard to leave a comment?
Yeah, for some people.
Ok I am going to start leaving comments everywhere I can and see how that works for links. Thanks for the post I'll give it a try.