AR Guidelines -- Blog comment spam. Is it okay to add this link?
Active Rain is a great real estate community with over 206,000 members . There is no better place on the web to get the valued information that one can get here, just by posting a blog. The conversations that ensue through the comment section add insight and knowledge to the blog topic. People reading the blog comments can gain extra value from those comments. Comments help build the blog topic into a discussion instead of a statement.
Along with real estate agents and brokers, there are real estate investors, loan officers, property inspectors, property managers, home stagers, SEO experts, video experts, photography experts. The list goes on and on. Each person proficient in their field and willing to share that information. All relative to the business of real estate.
I was reviewing the Active Rain guidelines and was curious about the specifics of the one that states;
Do not advertise yourself or your services in the comment section of another members blog post.
This was addressed back in February of 2008 in a blog written by Rich Jacobson Would You Like a Side of SPAM with Your Comments? - AR Guidelines Re-Visited.
Rich states: "Conversational blogging is about engaging the reader. It's about establishing a meaningful dialogue. The 'Comment Section' of someone else's blog post it is NOT, I repeat, NOT the place to promote your business, website, widget, services, etc.."
Have I been guilty of this before? I have left comments before with a link to a blog that I have written or that someone else has written. I left the link because I felt that it would add value to the "comment conversation" and further help someone else. It was not a link to my website. It was not a link to my business. It was not promoting my services.
In this comment that I left on my own blog, I added a link to a post by Brad Andersohn regarding your profile picture. The person I was addressing didn't have a profile picture. I felt this would help them. NO PROMOTION.
In this comment that I left on someone else's blog, I added a link to a series of newbie tips blogs that I had written. My intent was to give the blog writer more guidance and help as they were just starting out in Active Rain. NO PROMOTION.
Rich also states: "And further, by making 'meaningful' comments that are relevant to the discussion/topic."
I thought that's what I was doing. Making a meaningful comment that was relevant and added value. NO PROMOTION.
Am I guilty of breaking the rules by adding these links? Are these links acceptable?
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