Operation Bob

There is no shortage of blog networking sites like, BlogCatalog, MyBlogLog, BumpZee, etc where you can mingle with other bloggers, look at their stuff and show off yours. Here’s what I’ve learned from investing time on them.

Pro- They bring you some hits. I didn’t completely believe this until I tried it myself, but I quickly learned that if I spent a half hour dropping in on other bloggers, making friends, and joining communities I got an almost immediate response in the way of visits to my blog, comments, and feed subscribers.

Pro- Seeing beyond my sandbox. As I’m mingling around looking at other blogs I constantly find little morsels of useful information that I can benefit from, and pass on to my readers. I find new places to earn money, new ways to develop traffic, and a fresh informed perspective on the world beyond my own keyboard.

Pro- Exposure. Getting your name, your blog, your business, or whatever, out there in the community can’t hurt, and probably will help.

Con- My only con is actually one of my pros… sorta. It’s addictive. I start networking on one or the other sites and before I know it, hours have passed. Not a problem, except that if I spend all my time getting traffic - that traffic will end up coming to a stale site because all the new ideas I’ve come up with are still in my head while I’m off mingling.

In a nutshell, I think these sites are a great way to create interest and attract visitors. I think what I’ll do to alleviate the Con is to set a time limit for myself each day so that I don’t get carried away.