by Elizabeth, Delightfully Tacky
1. Using your twitter account, respond to @ mentions! If you get #FF @ mentions, you should thank them! You should also do your own #FF! It's also nice to shout out someone on Twitter saying how much you really liked their outfit. Or, if you're wearing a brand you like on your blog, @ mention them and let them know!
2. Promote others! If you find someone that you really love their style and feel like they deserve the spotlight, promote them! Talk about them on Twitter, Facebook, in a blog post. They'll appreciate it and spread the word. If you find a new blog you like, tweet about it!
3. Create a "favorite blogs" section in your sidebar or on a separate page in your blog. It's a great way to support your favorite blogs.
4. Create a little button for your blog to put inside a widget on your sidebar! That way readers can grab your button, paste it on their blogs and draw traffic to you!
5. Feature other bloggers. I used to do a feature called "Blogger of the Moment" where I would feature cool bloggers that I love. It was a fun way to learn more about bloggers and share them with my readers. One cool thing about it was introducing my readers to bloggers I like who they'd never seen before. Since people come to your blog and have similar taste to you, they'll probably enjoy the blogs you enjoy!
6. Have a commenting system that allows you to reply. For years I'd been hoping that Blogger would update their commenting system to allow replying directly to comments, but I gave up and switched my commenting over to IntenseDebate. I love that I can reply directly to comments, so if someone has a question I can answer them right there! There are a few different commenting systems you can install on your blog if your blog doesn't have a commenting system that allows for replying. Disqus, CoComment, and IntenseDebate are a few and there are plenty more!
7. Guest blog for another blogger, or have guest bloggers on your own blog. If you guest blog on someone else's blog, you'll be reaching out to all of their readers, many of whom probably have never seen your blog before. After they read your guest blog, they'll probably click over to your blog and check out more, and maybe become followers! If you have a guest blogger on your blog, they'll likely link over to the post on their blog, sending their readers directly to your blog to check out the post they did for you.
8. Be a part of online communities. Depending on what kind of blogging you're doing, there are tons of online communities where like-minded folks gather. Think Lookbook or Chictopia if you're a fashion blogger and MadeThis/LoveThis or Project Restyle for DIY folks.
9. Go to blogger meet ups! Try to find out if there is a blogger meet up anywhere in your vicinity. If you're anywhere near New York, there are always fashion blogger meet ups during NYFW. You might have to make a little road trip out of it, but it'll be worth it and so much fun to meet bloggers in person! You'll probably end up meeting some new folks too! If you can't find a blogger meet up nearby, consider coordinating one! It doesn't have to be a fancy shindig, you could all meet up in a park for a little picnic or go out to coffee.
10. If you're a fashion blogger start swapping with some of your blog friends! One of the main reasons I started the Delightful Dozen was because I wanted a more concrete way of interacting with blog friends. Whenever you post an outfit with a swap item in it, you can link to the person's blog who you got it from. And when they post an outfit wearing something you've loaned to them, they'll link to your blog! Pretty cool. Plus, it's an affordable way to style new items without having to buy clothes. Win/win.
