Everyone wants to stand out online. Everyone wants to be one of the cool kid bloggers.

What are you doing to make that a reality?

Here are 5 things you should implement into your normal online routine if you want to start to see your community grow and your blog’s popularity take off.

1. Comment on Other Blogs

As a blogger, you are part of a tight-knit special community.

You know what it’s like to pour your soul onto the screen only to have limited engagement on the post you thought was Pulitzer-worthy.

It sucks.

You fully know the pain of not having anyone leave a mark on your post.

You, of all people, should understand the value of blog comments.

It’s time you started paying it forward.

Take a few moments during your crazy week to spread the love and provide feedback on other bloggers’ work.

Not only does it provide them happiness in knowing someone read their piece and cared enough to provide feedback, but it also makes you known to readers of that blog.

Commenting on other blogs is one of the top 5 traffic generators for Top Shelf Blogging at the moment.

Readers from those blogs, jump over from a comment I made and get exposed to my message.

This works great for quality traffic to your blog, and is the right thing to do for your fellow bloggers.

Oh, and make sure you leave quality comments.

Don’t just say, “Great post!” and bounce. Put a little bit of effort into it and add something of value.

If you need some guidelines on best practices for blog commenting, check out this great article from Adrienne Smith, What You Need to Know About Blog Commenting.

2. Reply to Comments on Your Own Blog

Ok, someone was awesome enough to take the time to provide feedback on your blog post.

Woo hoo!

Celebrate it as it doesn’t happen nearly as much as most bloggers would like (see number 1 above).

Now, stop celebrating and go reply to that wonderful person.

If they took the time to write something on your blog, make damn sure you reply to it…quickly and thoughtfully.

Just as you don’t want a comment on your blog saying, “great post!”, they don’t want a reply from you that simply states, “thanks!”.

Put a little work in to make your reply just as valuable as their original comment, or better.

By replying to their comment, you let other visitors know that there is someone actually behind your online brand.

They suddenly understand that there is another human (you) that represents the website they just landed upon.

That’s huge!

When they see that you engage with your audience and have a legitimate conversation, they will be more apt to engage as well.

This leads to more comments from visitors and a more vibrant conversation.

Also, replying to comments allows you to start to form relationships with your readers. You never know where that might lead – business partnerships, customers, etc.

3. Share Other Bloggers’ Good-ness

I appreciate when my stuff gets liked or +1’d. I really do.

But, I’m not gonna lie. A little part of me gets upset that they didn’t go to the next step with it.

What really gets me excited is when my stuff gets shared.

The real payoff for any blogger is when their content gets as many eyes on it as possible.

The best way for you to help the overall cause is to share other blogger’s content to your tribe.

I try to do this as much as possible. When I see someone’s latest blog post come across my Facebook newsfeed or I see it pop up in my RSS plugin, I try to share it as much as possible.

When I visit someone’s blog and like the article I read, I take the time to click on their social icons to share it with my audience.

A word of caution on this one. You should make sure whatever you are sharing ultimately aligns to what your audience craves.

This is especially true as you start to establish expectations for the value you will bring.

For instance, if someone I follow writes a new post on Vegan Lasagna, I won’t share that with my community. It doesn’t align with what they expect from me.

Now, if they were announcing the launch of a new site dedicated to Vegan Lasagna, then I would. It is a new blog and I could spin that content in a way that aligns with the Top Shelf Blogging brand.

Ultimately, you want to become known for being a provider of relevant and focused information for your followers.

4. Connect Other Bloggers

Jared Easley from Starve the Doubts is a master connector.

He is always looking for ways to connect one person’s needs with another person’s skills.

This is awesome on many levels.

First, it allows people to know that you are are someone that “knows people”…in a good way. They will soon start to come to you for contacts that might be able to help them.

You become a go-to resource for them.

Second, it begins to build your credibility and social proof among not only your audience, but also your peers.

Both individuals that you help (the person in need and the service provider) will look highly upon you for hooking them up.

They will also recognize that you did it all for the good of the cause and that you aren’t getting anything out of it.

You are simply giving…and that is a wonderful thing.

5. Sign Up for Mailing Lists

This is another way to pay it back to the blogging community.

We all are told over and over that we need to build our lists.

For most bloggers, seeing 1 or 2 signups to their list is something to celebrate.

Why not give back to the blogging community a little bit and start to sign up for other bloggers’ mailing lists?

This provides benefits on multiple levels. Not only are you helping a blogger grow their list but you are also forming a deeper connection with them and in many cases receiving something of value in return.

But, you need to exercise discretion when signing up for lists. Don’t be promiscuous and sign up for everything.

Your email inbox will suffer and you will spread yourself too thin.

The point is, even if you recognize the game and know why their opt-in is there, make the move and sign up from time to time!

Too many of us bloggers or online entrepreneurs see the mailing list and say to ourselves, “ohhh, I see what you are doing there” and leave without signing up.

It’s weird, but it seems to be the case.

In Summary

Bottom line, if you want to be one of the coolest bloggers online, you need to start to form real relationships with people and legitimately engage with them.

Visit their blogs, read their stuff, share their stuff, and sign up for their future stuff.

The benefits of interacting with and looking out for other bloggers will come back on you tenfold.