Solo Practice

While your favorite bloggers may write scintillating posts which you can't wait to read, now you get to see what they are saying on the blogs they read.

There is a new application on the block that will make following the commenting habits of your favorite bloggers so much easier.  The twist, you are following where your favorite bloggers comment.  And if you don't currently have a URL...you don't need one.  They will provide one to you!

BackType is a service that lets you find, follow and share comments from across the web. Whenever you fill out the "Website" or "URL" field in a comment form when you publish a comment on a blog or other website, BackType attributes it to you. We give comment authors a profile featuring all the comments they've written on the Internet. If you don't have a website to use when you fill out comment forms, sign up and use one of ours.

Backtype is a fairly new application which will post the most recent comments made by your favorite bloggers.  It allows you to discover what they are saying and where they are saying it outside the scope of their own blog.  The reason I find this intriguing is it allows me to discover new blogs based upon the interests of the bloggers I enjoy and respect.  And it allows me to learn how others are promoting themselves and to whom.

In addition, if I find a favorite blogger commenting on a post, I may join in to continue the discussion.  This will prove to be a valuable tool, I believe, as those who teach on blogging are emphatic on this point:  Blogging is 50% commenting on other blogs.  What better way to follow the conversation then through this application.

Note: How did I learn about Backtype?  I read the stats on my blog every day and look for new referrers to my site..another little tidbit I hope you start to do if you are not doing so already.  Discovering where your traffic is coming from provides a wealth of information for your own marketing purposes.  (That was an extra bonus 'tip of the week" :-)

Postscript:  Backtype hasn't gotten too much play by the big bloggers.  I think they wanted to keep it their own special secret :-)