This brings a tear to my eyes..All I can say is thanks man, I really am honoured to get a piece like that.
Side note, your on my blogroll now 
Danny Coopers last blog post..What’s on Your RSS Reader?
It’s Not What You Know, It’s Who You Know
Okay, so maybe that has a small lie in it. As readers, you do care what a blogger knows, and continually visit blogs for their fresh and informative content. However, in saying that, you cannot run a business successfully, whether it be a small online blog or a huge offline company without connections.
Connections Are King
So why are connections so important? They’re important because of the massive marketing power behind them, free promotion and public awareness. In a blogging situation, you still might be thinking content is king… WRONG. What’s the point of writing good content if there is no-one out there reading it or taking some knowledge away from it. Apart from paid advertising, the only way to actually have readers visit and comment on your blog is to go out there and get to know them by leaving comments and interacting with them on social profiles. I’m sure many of you have realized that if you leave a comment on someone else’s blog, most bloggers will return the favor. If you do this regularly enough and post quality comments, you will be able to attract hundreds of visits each day and tens of comments simply from commenting.
Commenting also makes it easier to ask favors of other bloggers, as the relationship is already forming. The great thing about it is, it doesn’t sound pushy or spammy. Contacting other bloggers and asking them to be featured on link love and similar posts is what gives you that extra publicity to take your blog to the next level.
The more connections you have, the better. If you wish to release your own product, you are able to contact your connections and ask them to promote it for you, resulting in a lot more sales. In return, all that needs to be done is for you to return the favor at some point.
Case Study: Danny Cooper
Recently, a new blog run by Danny Cooper called Linkers Blog has hit the blogging world with a bang. If you’re reading this and have never heard of Danny’s blog, the only feasible explanation would be that you have been without internet access for weeks. . With a top 100k one week average Alexa rank, a rapidly increasing Technorati rank and an average of approximately 35 43 comments on his last two posts, the results of his networking and connection building through commenting are already clear. If you did miss it, Danny is running a case study on the effects of blog commenting for the month of October, and I have a feeling the results are going to blow us all away. He’s been able to achieve everything he has so far in the short space of this month through regular blog commenting and by talking to other bloggers. That’s it… nothing else to it.
The Benefits Of Networks And Connections
- Time to relax and socialize.
- Free promotion
- Growth
- Publicity
- Respect
Respect: The respect you gain from connections is a biggie. No-one is going to help out someone they have little or no respect for, but for someone they do have respect for they almost feel obliged to. Earn other’s respect and make a splash!
29 comments - add yours
Danny Cooper
October 7, 2008
Simon
October 7, 2008
Cheers – might add u to mine
1 question though – how did you comment on this post so quickly? – I want your superpowers
Sorry, off topic question – do you know why my threaded comments isn’t working – do I need to configure it or something?
Danny Cooper
October 7, 2008
I think threaded comments is one of the plugins where you need to modify your code a bit, I think it says in the readme.
Off topic – Your Technorati badge is out of place and not working very well.
Danny Coopers last blog post..What’s on Your RSS Reader?
Simon
October 7, 2008
Hmmm… suggestions? Do I need it centered? A break underneath it?
What browser are u using? I’m in FF2 and it looks fine here
Danny Cooper
October 7, 2008
On chrome, on this page, half of it is cut off, and yes it needs to be centered, also it would help if you blended it in by changing the background colour.
Danny Coopers last blog post..What’s on Your RSS Reader?
Simon
October 7, 2008
Okay, cheers – fixing it up right now – looks like half of it is cut off for me as well
Edit: It’s fixed – will change the colour scheme later though
Danny Cooper
October 7, 2008
Ok cool, looks better already!
Danny Coopers last blog post..What’s on Your RSS Reader?
Adam - Creadiv
October 7, 2008
Welcome to the conversation between Danny and Simon. Am I allowed in on this?
What Danny is achieving through commenting is amazing and it actually got me into the commenting world and since then my traffic is just shooting through the roof. People have been using this method forever, but Danny’s success at it is really inspiring people it seems.
Adam – Creadivs last blog post..I Choose Darren Rowse.
Freddie
October 7, 2008
Great comment on respect. It is funny how commenting can present you to the blogosphere in a positive way. People get to know you and become familiar with your line of thinking that is great for your networking purposes.
You don’t even have to comment on everyone’s blog because they will be reading your comments on other people’s blogs and still become familiar with you, your style of writing, and your thinking.
By the time they get to your site, they have some solid background on you and your business. Now, you just have to deliver with quality content and you could increase your readership that easily, while building relationships with other bloggers.
Good stuff here!
Peter Lee
October 7, 2008
Hi Simon,
Yes Danny told me he is addicted to blog commenting and so am I. But it will be real interesting to know the results of his case studies. I’m eagerly following his progress.
Peter Lees last blog post..Link Love-Links Round Up No.7
bbrian017
October 7, 2008
I’m still thinking content is king! To be honest I knew no one in the blogosphere! I started all alone and sometimes I still feel alone!
Creating relationship isn’t easy and picking the wrong one could potentially destroy your reputation!
I’ll explain why I think content is still king! I own a social networking website and from the content I get over 300 unique visitors a day! This is from Google.com and I don’t know Google personally! I know many bloggers but never get that traffic from them.
I agree building relationships is important but don’t think content isn’t king or you will be a slave to other bloggers!
none the less great article!
Mike Collins
October 8, 2008
You’re so right Simon. Is it possible to make a fortune online all by yourself? Sure. But its a lot easier and more fulfilling if you actually work together with your peers to help each other achieve their goals.
Simon
October 8, 2008
@ Adam – it seems a lot more people are now following the actions of Danny and seeing great results
@ Freddie – That’s exactly it – if you can build the relationships beforehand, readers w
@ BBrian – it is debatable, and I guess it all comes down to the personal experiences each person has had with each
@ Mike – I’d say at least 30% of your workload is taken out by working together
Vote for this article at blogengage.com
October 8, 2008
It’s Not What You Know, It’s Who You Know…
Okay, so maybe that has a small lie in it. As readers, you do care what a blogger knows, and continually visit blogs for their fresh and informative content. However, in saying that, you cannot run a business successfully, whether it be a small online …
Freddie
October 8, 2008
Yeah Simon, that is what I strive to do. Develop a solid relationship with the bloggers that I learn from and interact with.
Together
Everyone
Achieves
More
This should be the anthem of every blogger!
Simon
October 8, 2008
Haha, that’s an awesome motto / anthem – I had never seen it before
QuickPWN
October 8, 2008
Great article Simon! I have to agree with this one, connection is king and so is content. I have seen Danny make a lot of great comments on some of the other blogs I visit. Keep up your excellent work and your blog will be successful Danny.
QuickPWNs last blog post..Install Flash Player iPhone App
Kahthan
October 9, 2008
Good stuff Danny, that is kind of thing that inspires us all!!! keep it up!
salwa
October 9, 2008
Networking is King. In blogging their are so many ways for us to network and build our blogs together.
Thanks for the post Simon.
QuickPWN
October 9, 2008
Wow, Danny sure got a lot of frontpage backlinks on other sites as well. Congrats Danny!
QuickPWNs last blog post..iTunes App Store Apps
Max@Viliat-Blog
October 10, 2008
good post Simon, I would add a social bookmarking into the mix too. “3 Kings” so to speak, Content – value for readers, Connections – recognition and respect, Social bookmarking – discovery.
Max@Viliat-Blogs last blog post..Not Tracking CPA Network Offers Can Hurt Your Profits
Dennis Edell
October 11, 2008
Since I have boosted my commenting, all my “stats” have shot up….including networking with awesome people…a few of which right here 
Dennis Edells last blog post..Do Advertisers Judge You By Design? What Do You Think…
Balkhis Sweet Monday Link Love - 10/13/08
October 13, 2008
[...] It’s Not What You Know, It’s Who you Know [...]
Edward
October 15, 2008
“…content is king… WRONG. What’s the point of writing good content if there is no-one out there reading it or taking some knowledge away from it.”
Without great content, how do you expect to interest people to read and share? How do you expect fellow bloggers to take you seriously if you don’t offer your readers value?
Content IS king.
Simon
October 15, 2008
Good content is needed to keep interest, but there also needs to be a good level of marketing as well
I guess there just needs to be a combination of both
Dennis Edell
October 16, 2008
Chicken/Egg anyone?
Dennis Edells last blog post..Guest Post: DaBlogger Tells His Experiences with Social Bookmarking
Simon
October 16, 2008
it’s something like that…
How To Make Money
November 4, 2008
That’s so interesting. I used blog commenting years ago to build links to my sites, but now I am doing it to build relationships with other site owners and blog readers.
Me and my wife love blogging. She has taken on more of the “blog networking” side of our business, but I think it’s time for me to get it on…lol
So, hello Simon, My name is Kenney ; ) and I think your blog and the content here is “off da hook”.
How To Make Moneys last blog post..Speciality WordPress Theme Released
Me Debt Free
November 10, 2008
Danny;s Linkers Blogs is a great site. I hang out there quite regulary. I really dont know how he got all those 1,000′s of backlinks in a short space of time!
I agree Content Is King but also agree that without traffic, your content aint never going to be read.