The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes famously noted that human existence back in the bad old days – before governments, armies, doctors, society, and Twitter – was “nasty, brutish, and short.”
In fact, it got to be so bad, that our ancestors had no choice but to form collective units, implement laws, and stop killing each other in order to enjoy some degree of peace.
We tend to think of your blog strategy in the same way. Well, maybe the analogy is pushing it a bit, but Hobbes’ dictum points to the importance of building and cultivating relationships as part of your blogging strategy.
This is important because bloggers say it’s important: in Technorati’s recent “State of the Blogosphere: 2011” survey, close to 70 percent of the over 4,000 bloggers surveyed claimed that their biggest influence isn’t the Drudge Report, the New York Times, or Facebook – but other bloggers.
In fact, other bloggers are more influential than the respondents’ own friends, social media, and even family.
The takeaway for small business marketing planners everywhere: whether you do it yourself or partner with a blog writing service, build alliances. Find like-minded blogs with great content, and link to them. Put them on your blog roll and ask for the favor in return. Read them daily; comment often, and include your home url so their readers can find you.
After all, to quote another great Englishman, John Donne: no man – or blog – is an island.
