DIY Blog Tour: Making Friends

You know who your reader is and you've got a good list of places you think you can find them. Now it's time to make 50 new friends.

There's nothing stopping you from sending off a blind request to all of these bloggers asking them to be a part of your tour. But imagine the shoe on the other foot. Would you be more likely to help a stranger or a friend, a regular blog visitor? That's what I thought.

Of course, managing all of this can be a logistical nightmare and a huge time suck, but it doesn't have to be. If you don't have a blog reader yet, now's the time to get one and put it to work for you. I'm personally a fan of Feedly, but any reader will do.

Import all your potential tour stop blogs to your reader. I suggest giving them their own category. This is one of the features I like best about Feedly. Having these blogs separate from the others makes it easy to see who has something new and if you want to read it.

And that's the key. Just because blogger #26 on your list has a new blog post, doesn't mean you need to go read it and comment. Only read it if it sounds interesting and only comment if you have something to say. You don't have to comment on someone's every post in order for them to recognize your name.

With a reader keeping track of all the posts for you, you only need to pop in every couple of days or so, scan the new entries for the ones that catch your eye and then go visit them. This is why it's a good idea to start planning for your tour well in advance of when you actually want to have a tour.


The key here is to be natural. Stopping by every day to write "nice post" isn't interacting. Leaving thoughtful comments, answering or asking questions, and adding to the discussion will eventually make you a part of the blog community. And membership has its rewards.