There’s always talk around the blogosphere about the benefits of commenting on other’s blog posts and of having a huge number of followers/friends/connections on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or other social networking sites. The first impulse is to agree completely and work your hardest to connect with as many people as humanly possible, and comment on as many blogs as possible, but I suggest that we should take a second look at that strategy.

It is irrelevant how many followers you have on Twitter, if your followers have no interest in what you have to say, are completely unrelated to your industry or interests, and are there only as a numbers building game. Call me crazy, but every time I get a new follower on Twitter, I actually click on the link to see who they are. If I can’t readily figure out within a few seconds why they would be following me, either by reading a few of their tweets, reading their profile or clicking on their web link, then I block them. I would rather have fewer, more meaningful followers than thousands of meaningless followers. I don’t need or want body builders, weight loss specialists, get rich quick scammers, get followers quick scammers, porn sites, real estate moguls or motivational speakers following me. When those types follow me, it feels more like stalking rather than following.

I’ve also been asked on numerous occasions to connect with someone on LinkedIn that I have never had any interaction with or knowledge of previously. For me, my LinkedIn connections are for people I have worked with, met, interacted with in some way or have knowledge of their expertise, work or reputation. I will not connect with someone on LinkedIn that I have absolutely no knowledge of. Association can affect my reputation, so I always make sure that I know in some capacity, with whom I am associating.

As far as leveraging blog comments to build traffic on your own site, I tend to comment on other people’s blogs because I’m compelled to respond to something I read and something moves me, rather than the notion that it’s going to drive heavy traffic to my site. My philosophy is to subscribe to those blogs that I have found that speak to my profession, or that I find funny or interesting, or that speak to my way of thinking or against my way of thinking, for that matter. Commenting on other’s blogs should be motivated by having something to add, in agreement or not, not just based on an idea that it will drive traffic to your site.

Building MEANINGFUL traffic to your site is like building a STRONG brand: IT TAKES TIME! Building relevant relationships is what will build your traffic, your reputation, your business, or your blog. Empty comments, empty traffic, empty followers will get you nowhere fast.