Blog Etiquette And Mentoring

Have you just started a blog? Are you thinking about starting a blog? If so, that's is absolutely wonderful! Blogging is such a wonderful experience and I hope that you get as much joy out of it and take as much pride in writing as I do.

In light of some recent events, I thought I would share some "Blog Etiquette and Mentoring" tips for those of you who are just starting out.

Also, if you are looking for some advice, mentoring, tips, etc.... please feel free to contact me because I would love to act as a "mentor" and share tips with you. I am not a pro by any means, but I have tried a lot of things, made a lot of mistakes, had some successes and learned a lot along the way and would be more than glad to share those experiences with you and help you get started.

Here are a few tips that I think are pretty important for those just starting out...

Anonymous Comments:

Leaving comments on someone's site as a great way to get involved and spread the word about your site, but don't leave anonymous comments. I totally understand the desire for anonymity online... I personally just don't share a lot of my personal information, I just don't feel it's relevant to the information and deals I share.

What I would like to suggest is that you set-up some sort of online identity. Create an e-mail account, a profile, etc. with this online identity. That way others have a way to respond.

I personally attempt to reply to all comments, good or bad and when you do not have an identity... you leave no way to do this. Leaving an anonymous comment (good or bad) without a way to respond can often look like spam and most of the time they get deleted.

Have A Way To Be Contacted On Your Site:

This goes hand in hand with the tip above. Make sure you have a way for people to get in touch with you. If not, someone might be forced to leave a comment for the world to read and you might wish they hadn't. For instance, if you are copying someone's material without their permission or maybe you have a fact wrong... it's much better to be contacted about that personally than have someone leave a comment. You may be innocently copying their material, but with no way to be contacted... you look like nothing more than a "copy cat" site.

As I mentioned above, sign-up for a new e-mail account just for your site. Keep is anonymous if you want... you can change setting to make sure your name is not displayed. Also, I would suggest putting your e-mail address as an image link in order to cut down on spamming.

Linking To Other Sites:

One of the highest compliments I can receive is if another blogger links to my site or post a snippet about something I have written. It helps everyone out... it helps your readers, it helps drive traffic to your site and the persons site you are referencing. I say link and link often if you feel it is relevant to your site.

If you are a new blogger, I would encourage you to have a "grab my button" link on your site so others can link to you as well. The blogosphere is a sorta "share the love" type of community.

Also, have you linked to PPP? E-mail me and let me know. I would love to stop by and send you well wishes, check out your site and possibly sent readers to your site if you have something that is relevant to PPP readers.

Quoting, Copying and Pasting Material, Copyright Infringement:

Pretty much anything written can be considered protected under copyright laws and when quoting another site there are certain guidelines that should be followed. Many people are under the false assumption that if you post where you got something from that it's okay to copy and paste word for word, image for image, someone else's work. Unless you have written permission, it is never okay to copy someone else's material.

If you just love something wrote and think it would help your readers out to share, it's perfectly fine to post a snippet quote with attribution of the source, but it's poor blog etiquette to copy and paste material, not to mention a copyright infringement. Also, if you use a free service like Blogger, you can wind-up with you losing your blog hosting due to copyright infringement, etc.

A lot of times what I will do is e-mail someone and let them know if I have quoted them. I think it's just easier to go a little over board and make sure you are using their material with their consent... not matter how small the item is.

Post Original Material and Post Often:

I cannot stress enough the importance of posting original material. I am not saying that you can't post a similar idea or concept... you can and sometimes you might find yourself in a situation where someone else is doing something similar and that's okay. Look at how many bargain sites are out there. Sometimes there are deals just too good not to post (i.e Walgreen's coupons, CVS deals... just to name a few). On days when there are items out there like that to be had, you will see the same type of post and link on literally hundreds of sites.

If you did not find out about a deal on your own via an e-mail or say a visit to the companies site... it is good blog etiquette to let someone know where you found it, but these deals are so "generic" and found everywhere that typically that's not the case and that's just part of blogging.
Also, there are sites out there that just surf from one deal site to another and copy and paste other people's deals and scenarios onto their own site. They feel like if they let someone know where this information came from that it's okay. Once again, it is never okay to copy and paste material without written permission.

Once you become established and get to know some other bloggers out there, then you may develop that sort of relationship where there is an agreement between the two of you and you copy and paste back and forth, but that takes a little time in order to develop that sort of relationship.

Also, I think that by posting original material and posting often you are giving people a reason to come to your site. If all you do is copy and paste other people's content... why should someone come to your site? They will eventually just cut out the middle man and go straight to the source since you really aren't providing them with anything of value.

Be Prepared To Put On Your Thick Skin:

Be prepared to be praised as well as battered. There will be some people out there who love what you do and think your site is invaluable (hopefully). At the same time, there will be people out there who loathe your site and personally attack you. It's going to happen. All you can do is realize that you put yourself out there by writing. As long as you are doing your best, giving 110%, following copyright laws, etc. you should be fine.

Also, for those newbies out there. If someone sorta calls you out on copying and pasting their material and you honestly didn't know better... don't get mad, but rather consider yourself educated and one step closer to being a better blogger.

On a personal note... I have had recent experiences with almost all of the above.
As I shared with you, I recently had someone personally attack me and imply that I was ignorant due to the fact that I posted deals about disposable diapers. That was interesting!

Also, I recently requested that someone remove an article where they copy and posted my material without my permission. They did not have a profile on their site where I could contact them or a way to contact them via e-mail or a contact form, so I left a comment. Come to find out they were new to blogging and just didn't realize that I would have a problem with them copying and pasting my material without permission. Needless to say, they weren't too pleased with the fact that I left a comment. They came by and left me an anonymous comment letting me know so. They said they were new to blogging, did not have a mentor and that they would basically not be reading PPP anymore and in a nutshell bad mouthing me on their site. Well... a special note to anonymous... I suspect you will probably still check in... if you are looking for a mentor, let me know. I'm not mad and I am sorry you feel like I handled the whole thing poorly, by leaving you a comment, but you left me no other option. I would love to help you! I want nothing more than to see others succeed.

So, in a nutshell. Be prepared to deal with this sort of stuff. It's not terrible stuff and it stinks that you have to waste time on it, but just put on your thick skin, deal with it and move on.

I know this post is so totally off topic, but if you like this sort of stuff let me know. I would be more than glad to share tips that I have learned the hard way.

Blog Etiquette And Mentoring