Every blogger goes through this at one time or another–that horrible sinking feeling that, deep down, they’re really just screaming into an empty room.

Sure, traffic comes and traffic goes.  There’s even a good indication that people are reading your stuff and clicking your links.  But sometimes, it just feels insubstantial.  Incomplete.  So what do you do?  Take your act on the road, of course–down the information superhighway.

I know, a little outdated, but the metaphor fits.  Go to other people’s blogs.  Comment on them.  Talk to people there. Build a community.  It’ll help, and here’s how.

1. Commenting on other people’s blogs makes you more credible.  Again, back to credibility–if you’re seen as a person who knows what they’re talking about, no screaming, no ranting like a loon at every opportunity, then your opinion, your WORK (I really don’t consider the occasional caps screaming, more like emphasis without bothering with italics) more seriously.

2. Linking to other people’s blogs helps THOSE people find you.  When you put up a link, it’s like acknowledging someone else’s credibility.  That in turn helps that blog by letting a bit of your traffic go somewhere else.  Don’t worry, traffic isn’t a zero-sum game–traffic ebbs and flows.  But in turn, that makes other blogs more likely to link to you, and that keeps the flow moving.

3. Comments and links help establish your role in the community.  Remember that thing we did on blog carnivals?  About how they give you a place in a larger community?  Well, chances are your readers read other blogs too.  And if they go to those blogs, and talk about YOURS, you become part of a larger whole.  It’s about adding your own voice to the larger community and improving the whole as a result.

So if you want to make your blog bigger, go give some other people some blogging love.  It’ll help them, and it’ll help you.

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