Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

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January 10, 2008

How to Know if You Are Blog Begging

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 3:25 pm

Worth Saying Again

relationships button

As soon as I turned on my computer, an IM popped up. This is the conversation that occurred. I’ve changed the name and location of the other party because . . . um . . . I’m the nice one. Truth is, I suspect that the sender doesn’t read my blog and won’t know about that post. I hope I’m wrong about that. If I am, I hope that we might try the conversation over.

Here’s what was said.

sender: hi liz please give me some trik for my blog

ME: Hi What is that?

sender: :) for some make good my blog

ME: Do I know you?
sender: :-oooh sorry. I’m from [name of country]

ME: again . . . do I know you?
sender: ok sorry

ME: You might tell me who you are.

[I'm pretty sure he was gone before I typed these words.
Did he want links or money?]

How to Know If You Are Blog Begging

Ask yourself these two questions. Then fill in the blanks in the sentence that replaces [what is asked for] with the phrase lots of money.

Using the answers from the IM Saturday morning the sentence now reads.

Hi complete stranger, would you give me lots of money so that my blog will be good?

Doesn’t sound las if it has anything to do with me.

It’s worth saying something I said once before.

I want a relationship, not a one-link stand.

Links might stay and stick for a few months. Over time, they die out and break. Links to people I don’t know have the protential to harm me. Relationships with like-minded folks are good things and have the potential to grow.

This is a an unusual blog request story. Not everyone gets a IM at “dark o’clock” in the morning. What’s the most interesting blog request that has come your way? Would you say it was blog begging?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!


Filed under Links, Successful Blog |



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33 Comments to “How to Know if You Are Blog Begging”

  1. January 10th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
    Ritu said

    I haven’t had any requests (begging) so far but I understand what you are talking about. I, like you, believe in building a solid relationship rather than links. If we build good relations with influential bloggers and so on we have a good chance of getting noticed by other as well.

    If all we are doing is begging for links ( money ), then the email is sure to get dumped. I believe in expanding your network by offering at first cause this allows others to recognize and give you without asking.

    My 2 cent :-)

  2. January 10th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Ritu!
    I can tell by the way that you relate that you understand how people connect in the blogosphere. :)

    Our influence grows as we show that we can be trusted and that our thoughts and suggestions are valuable. We show people who can help us what we know and they tell their friends. :)

  3. January 10th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
    Brian Clark said

    I feel your pain, Liz. I am often absolutely incredulous at some of the requests I get.

    My mental response is generally, “I’m a nice guy, but you’ve got to be kidding, right?”

    :-)

  4. January 10th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
    Phil Butler said

    Another great short Liz - hey can I borrow $10? :)

    Always,

    Phil

  5. January 10th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Brian!
    Sometimes it’s all I can do not to say . . . “Put a sock in it! Do your work yourself!”

    Dpdb . . . email if you want to know.

    Smiles,
    liz

  6. January 10th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hey Phil!
    I’ll borrow 20, but only give me 10.
    Then you’ll owe me 10 and I’ll owe you 10 and we’ll be even. :)

  7. January 10th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
    pelf said

    I have had requests to link to their blogs, though I wouldn’t say that they were “begging for it.” But I didn’t like the say they put it — something like, “Put a link to my blog on yours and I’ll link back.”

    Yeah, it sounded very much like a one-link-stand to me (I love that phrase!). So I put on my sarcasm hat and I’m sure you could guess what happened! LOL.

  8. January 10th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
    Allison said

    I have gotten a few emails from people asking for me to link to their blogs, and I’ve honored one of those requests. Of course, that person comments on my blog on a regular basis, and the others very obviously had never even read my blog! Those emails were definitely ignored!

  9. January 10th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Pelf!
    I can imagine exactly what happened. What fun!

  10. January 10th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
    Glenda Watson Hyatt said

    “I want a relationship, not a one-link stand.” I love that line! May I use it next time I receive one of those annoying requests?

  11. January 10th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Of course you can Glenda!
    Or course you can! :)

    It kind of sums it up, doesn’t it?

  12. January 10th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
    Elizabeth said

    To me it looked like “trik” was a request for tricks, i.e. tips for a more successful blog. Of course, if the requester actually READ your blog, he would already know the answer! lol

  13. January 10th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
    Busy Mom said

    I suppose I’ll really have “made it” to the bigtime when I get oddballs begging me for stuff.

    As it stands, I just get people begging for free advertising.

  14. January 11th, 2008 at 12:20 am
    Drew McLellan said

    Liz,

    Clearly he wasn’t a reader of your blog. If he had been — he would have known if he had asked with some manners you would have bent over backwards to be helpful.

    His loss.

    Drew

  15. January 11th, 2008 at 3:55 am
    Ricardo Bueno said

    Ha! This phrase is classic…I love it!

    “I want a relationship, not a one-link stand.” — Liz S.

    I’m with you on this one!

    RB

    PS. Happy New Year!

  16. January 11th, 2008 at 5:27 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    #*
    Hi Allison!
    When someone who knows us asks the story is different indeed. Usually they’re asking with respect, because they value the relationship. I agree.

    Strangers asking for a link, or even a link exchange, when don’t think there’s a person at the other side of this trade, have changed the balance and lost the value of a relationship. I say, “no thanks.”

  17. January 11th, 2008 at 5:31 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Elizabeth!
    Yeah, the person may have been asking for something else. The cultural differences make problems as sure as we’re here.

    Then, I thought, he called me by name. So he knew that a relationship had some value. He wasn’t willing to invest what comes with sharing his own. :)

  18. January 11th, 2008 at 5:35 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Busy Mom!
    I don’t about the big time!
    These requests seem to come at certain times of the year for me. :)

  19. January 11th, 2008 at 5:38 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Drew!
    I didn’t realize that, but it’s true isn’t it? I think you have me figured out. :)

    Sometimes I’m more transparent than I realize. :)

  20. January 11th, 2008 at 5:39 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Ricardo!
    I like that one too. It was a VERY rude young man who inspired that statement about a year and a half ago. :)

  21. January 11th, 2008 at 8:12 am
    Joanna Young said

    I got an odd request this week from someone who said we had a similar readership. I don’t go for link exchanges either but did (fool!) go and visit the site out of interest. They were selling shoes. I’m still trying to work out the connection :-)

    Joanna

  22. January 11th, 2008 at 9:12 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Joanna,
    I’m laughing to think of the ways I can make silly connections . . . Let’s see people who buy those shoes have a computer. :)

  23. January 11th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
    Kirk M said

    I’ll add another vote for the best original line. Wish I had thought of it first.

    No link exchanges for me although I had a couple of rather strange onetime requests one of which went along the lines of “I need my link in your sidebar so my blog will be successful and my son will be proud for me.” Considering the guy(?) didn’t include a URL to this “wanting son approval” blog, I took it with the proverbial grain of salt. Also considering the sender’s name was (not appropriate for public viewing) I figure he wasn’t really serious anyway. :D

  24. January 11th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
    Erica Ross-Krieger said

    Haven’t had odd requests to link but soon after I launched my blog last year, and was just getting my feet wet, someone from somewhere in cyberspace asked me if I wanted to guest post for them — I had no clue who they were, checked their blog out, saw it had nothing whatsoever to do with what I blog about (I write wellness tips, they write gaming stuff), and couldn’t believe that their request included a litany of reasons they thought that my saying yes would be “good” for me. Hah! I was green but not that green:)

  25. January 11th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Kirk!
    I think we could have a winner there! That’s really fun. Thanks for sharing it. :)

  26. January 11th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Erica!
    Too funny! Had you the time a post on the stress caused by gaming and how it kills brain cells might have been a fun response.

    Nice that he wanted a link. :)

  27. January 12th, 2008 at 8:08 am
    Freelance Writing Jobs » Blog Archive » Weekend Link Love for January 12th, 2007 said

    [...] How to Know if You’re Blog Begging. (Don’t be that guy!) at Successful Blog. [...]

  28. January 12th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
    Jay Thompson said

    Thanks Liz for your voice of reason in this see of insanity. From my email this morning:

    “When are we going to exchange links? Link to me this way (blah blah blah) and I will link to you (blah blah blah)”

    The short answer is: never.

  29. January 12th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Jay!
    Excellent answer. Never. :)

    Right up there with When are you going to notice that there is another person in this exchange you’re proposing? Never. :)

  30. January 13th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
    Lin said

    Hi Liz, I love that line “one link stand”, LOL.

    I can’t say I’ve had too many of these type requests, but it intrigues me because I’ve been recently reading some posts on Courtney Tuttle’s blog discussing the benefits derived from link exchanges like on a blogroll, and how we shouldn’t be too quick to refuse requests. Have you seen those posts? What are your thoughts on that?

    Speaking only for myself, I have a nice list of blogs on my “blogroll” which are simply a list of blogs I currently subscribe to. Do you know who Chris Garrett is? Anyway, he mentions in a post the idea that having those links on blogrolls only makes it appear to be selfishly motivated. Now I’m trying to decide if I shouldn’t just remove my blogroll list entirely. Hmm

  31. January 13th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Lin!
    Welcome!
    I have a blog post on how to decide what blogs to link with. You’ve got me thinking that I should revise it and bring it forward again.

    Yes, Courtney makes some valid point and I’ve got an entire Hall of Fame of folks I think worth linking to.

    Of course, I know Chrisg.com , he’s a friend and a colleague — a very wise teacher. I’m not sure that I agree about blogrolls looking selfish . . . I think it depends on how they’re put together and who they’re there for.

  32. January 13th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
    Troy said

    we’ve been facing the same problem with blog rolls. the requests seem legit, and i sometimes feel sorry for them.

    I talk about it here:
    http://blogger.rawsignal.com/blog/BlogPost.aspx?blogPostId=71241

  33. January 13th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Troy!
    It’s one thing to ask for a link politely. It’s another to tell a stranger that he should give me one. I don’t feel sorry for the second kind. :)

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