I have breaking for news for anyone associated with link building.

We are not gods. (Or goddesses for that matter.)

I know, it’s shocking isn’t it? But we’re not. Don’t get me wrong, we work hard. Many of us are good at what we do. But time and again, I come across individuals who don’t know much at all about link building who assume that we have some black magic up our sleeves. That we can work miracles. That we can defy gravity. (Ok, so it’s never been assumed that I can defy gravity, but it sounded good in my head.)

Here’s a couple key things to know:

No link builder knows everything. Period. Every great link builder I know learns something new all the time. Myself included. I’ve always struggled with calling myself a link building expert because I realize how much more I need and want to learn about the industry. But I’m always on the lookout for new information including tips, strategies, information and technical knowledge. Those that don’t, well, I wouldn’t trust them very much.

We cannot get links if you don’t have (great) content. Building links to product pages is tough beyond some of the basics (directory submissions included) and I’ve met a lot of people with unrealistic expectations of how link building actually works. But if you don’t have something compelling for readers and consumers to enjoy, then you’re not going to get very many authoritative links, if any at all. We cannot work (ethically anyway) with poor content that doesn’t give users something to really dive into.

Just because someone “sounds” smart about links doesn’t mean they are. Test them. Find out what they truly know. Do some research and hit them with them technical questions. Are they up-to-date on industry news? Do they know what the search engines are up to? Are they actively participating in the online communities and sharing thoughts and ideas? Find out what a link builder really knows before you go attributing titles like “guru” to their name.

Be careful whose hands you put the fate of your site into. Hiring interns can be a great way to build links to your site (watch for a post on how to do this coming soon) but make sure you cover everything before you turn them loose. When you’re hiring a link building firm, do your homework. Make sure that this company is the one you want to trust your link building to. Again, just because someone says they’re a great link builder doesn’t mean they truly are. I’ve always maintained that anyone can build quality links provided they have the right training, interns included. Link builders do not have a “status” that is unattainable in the marketing world. I’m always watching for the next great link builder out there.

The answer is, I’m not so sure.

I try, I mean I really try to be a glass half full type of person. But inevitably at this time of the year, I tend to focus on what I haven’t done rather than applaud myself for what I have done. Perhaps I’m ambitious. Perhaps I’m a perfectionist. Perhaps I’m insane. Or a combination of all of the above.

Last year, I wrote a post about goals for link building professionals. As I look at that post, I can safely say that I have grown in my profession and that makes me happy.

I will tell you one area where I have fallen horribly short and that is blogging. Part of it is that I’ve been extremely busy and blogging doesn’t always make the priority list. Anyone who works in consulting realizes how crazy times can get with an ever growing portfolio of clients. I’ve also really focused on my professional expertise. I’ve been reading, testing, and learning from a variety of individuals across various facets of internet marketing. Shame on me for not blogging about this more extensively, but that’s just the way it has been this year.

Plus, I haven’t been all that inspired this year. Every topic I came up with sounded like a regurgitation of someone else’s idea. I know that some think there is no such thing as an original thought. I don’t totally agree with that but it feels like it’s coming true at times. I don’t want to repeat what others are doing on their blogs. And I get tired of reading the same post over and over again with a different author’s name on a different blog template.

But I’ll try to do better. If for no other reason than two people this week alone have asked me when I’ll start blogging again. I guess I should get back on the ball.

It’s been an absolutely amazing year. I’ve gotten to work with some fantastic brands, I have the most unbelievable talented team under the sun and I’m getting better at my job every day. What more could I ask for? Improvement for one. Creativity for another. I could go on, but I won’t bore you. Besides, it’s almost midnight.

Enjoy the New Year and I wish you all the best.

But, what about those individuals who don’t have any experience but show promise? The ones that seem excited about link building (and therefore have their sanity questioned by some individuals) and have a lot of questions? What do you ask them?

Personally, I love interviewing people like this. Especially the ones who really want to learn about the industry as a whole and not just link building. The ones who are so excited you’re even talking to them, not because you’re some kind of celebrity, but because they really want to learn about SEO in general. It’s infectious if you want to know the truth. It reminds me why I love my job.

So, how do you know if this newbie will be great for your team or a drag? I ask 5 essential questions to gauge their thinking as it relates to link building as well as life in general to get a feel for where they are and if they’ll fit on my team.

Question #1: Do you prefer researching on your own or educating others?

I ask this question because it tells me whether or not this person prefers to be behind the scenes or on the phone with the client. I also dig in further to find out why they prefer what they prefer. Do they like to work uninterrupted? Then if they join the team, they should get clients that have meetings on the same day. That way, the rest of their week can be focused on tasks at hand. Do they say they like talking with clients but not educating others? Perhaps they need some definitions on what consulting entails. Educating is at least 60% of my job.

Question #2: Are you detail-oriented or big picture focused?

This question tells me whether or not someone actually knows themselves. The answer I hear most often? “I’m both.” When I ask for examples, inevitably, they list 1 big picture item and 2 – 3 detail items. Or, they can rapid fire 3 examples of big picture focus at me but struggle to find one detail item. No one is 50/50 when it comes to big picture vs. detail items. Plus, for link builders, the detail oriented people are going to be best for recording their activities, reporting, and project management while the big picture types will be good for strategy, brainstorming and education-focused items.

Question #3: What do you like to do in your spare time?

Here’s the thing. Whether we like to admit it or not, link building can be extremely stressful. Not only do we deal with mountains of data for link requests and analytics, but we also get faced with rejection and downright angry webmasters on a regular basis (how dare you ask me to change my Web site!). There are days you need to have a stress reliever. If everything this person says revolves around their computer, then I have one of two concerns. Either (a) you’re lying to try and impress me with all the blogging / affiliate marketing / community moderation you do or (b) you have no stress relieving tool in your life. When you’re a link builder, especially when you’re brand new, those rejections can hit you hard. And when you have no outlet, you can start to hate life.

Question #4: Why do you want to learn about link building?

The answer to this question are very telling. Things I watch out for include “I think it would be a great way to break into the SEO industry” (which means they really want to be an SEO strategist, so you’ll end up losing them within a year if they’re really good), “I know that SEO is a hot industry and I want to be a part of it” (this tells me they’re setting up affiliate marketing sites and want to boost their rankings mainly because they used the word “hot”) and “My last job was really stressful and I wanted a  job that was challenging but that wouldn’t make me pull my hair out” (this means they have no idea what they are getting into). Things I like to hear include “I’m looking for a new challenge,” “I did a lot of research on it and I’m totally fascinated by the industry” or “It sounds like something I’d be good at because I love research, repetitive work and doing things the right way.”

Granted, I hear that last answer… well… never, but that’s mainly because these people are new to the industry and have no idea what link building is actually all about. Be sure to ask this question after you have given the job description and you’ve explained what the job fully entails.

Question #5: What questions do you have for me?

I love this question because it tunes me into what’s running through their head after we’ve been chatting for a while. I love insightful responses and I’ve had some doozies. Here’s a list of the best and the worst answers I’ve gotten from people who were new to the industry:

The Worst

• What is your process for link building? (Um, process? You sure you’re new to the industry?)
• What do you think about me?
• Do you insist on being copied on link requests?
• I saw a course for $39.99 last night on how to build links. I bought it, so will I still need to take your training?

The Best

• Since I’m new, can you recommend some resources for me so I can learn even if I don’t get the opportunity to work with you?
• What do you like most about link building? What do you like least? (This one totally caught me off guard and I have to give props to Matt who asked me this one when I interviewed him)
• Can I expect a well distributed workload between repetitive work and in-depth analysis style work? (This tells me they were paying attention)

There are a lot more, but I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this.

What do you do?

I’ve been there. Without a doubt, I’ve been there. And there is definitely something to do about it. Whenever I hear someone on my team say, “I’ve looked everywhere and I can’t find any more relevant leads” I know we have a problem for two reasons.

1. Link building never ends. Link building ends where the internet stops. I haven’t found that place yet so there’s still work to do.
2. Nothing stays stagnant and that includes strategies. If you’re still using the same link building strategy that you set up 18 months ago, it’s time for a new strategy.

Given those two statements, let’s look at some options.

Reassess Your Initial Strategy

Like I said before, strategies that are months (or worse, years) old are in need of some revisions. Why? Because the online space changes everyday. Don’t believe me? Take a quick peek at this little tool we call Twitter and tell me that the internet is the same as it was a year ago. Ask Google how different things were after a year or two of operation.

That’s one beautiful thing about the internet; things can change. Fast. So go back to your strategy and evaluate your goals. Are they still relevant? Which ones have been met and which ones need to be changed? Better yet, establish some goals if you haven’t already. I’m not just talking about #1 rankings for keywords. What milestones do you have in place? Number of links to a certain page or to a site as a whole? Traffic goals? What about goals in regards to brand searches? Set these up and then figure out a plan to get there. If you do a thorough evaluation of your strategy and it still stands, move on. But don’t assume that it’s fine and not bother to check it. Do the footwork even if it says that you’re still on the right path.

Identify Keywords

This really falls into two categories:

1. Are the keywords that you’re targeting in your campaign still the “right” ones to focus on? Have searching trends shifted so that your initial keywords are no longer valid? Are there new ones that you haven’t touched yet?
2. Identify the keywords that haven’t budged in awhile. If the answer to this one is “all of them,” pick some priority keywords and craft micro (or “mini” if you prefer) strategies to craft some focused link building tactics.

List Your Pitfalls (Chances are, there’s more than one)

Ask yourself a very simple question:

Why aren’t people linking to my / my client’s site?

Could it be your approach in your emails? Lack of content on the site? Too broad of a target market for link leads? Too niche? Too competitive? Create a list and see what you come up with. Be realistic. In fact, be brutally honest in your assessment. It will only help if you look at things in the right context. From there, come up with action plans to change your issues.

Lack of content = Content Strategy

Bad Email Requests = Change Your Approach

Too Broad of a Market = Pick a Niche and Move Forward

I think you get the point.

Have (Another) Brainstorm Session

I love link building brainstorm sessions. Take the information you’ve garnered from the first few steps and have another session (I’m assuming you’ve already had one). I already covered this topic in another post (pretty thoroughly, if I do say so myself) but the point is, get some fresh people in the room and hash out some new ideas.

First, understand that this post is not meant to be a fix-all. This is just a snapshot of my methodology. And it certainly doesn’t apply to every industry or site out there. I would be insane to make such a broad statement. But perhaps bits and pieces of this coupled with your own ideas would help kick things back into gear.

Photo Credit: http://www.markmallett.com/blog/wp-images/dead-end.jpg

1. I Follow Some Excellent People. I follow all kinds of people. SEO & link building experts like @graywolf, @wiep, @sugarrae, @lisabarone @dazzlindonna, @debramastaler and others. Social media friends like @chrisbrogan, @JessicaKnows, @ambercadabra, @cr8tivejen and @jowyang. And people who are just fun to know like @marybabysteps, @bellastrada and @chatterboxcgc. Of course, I have my real-life friends like @Jaimison10, @pittfall, and @boggles. Now my family is on there like @mpgarlock57 and @katiegdc. I’m a firm believer in the fact that if I’m the smartest person in my group of friends, I need new friends. I want people who challenge me and teach me knew things. These are a small portion of the people I follow who do just that.
2. I Read More Blogs. Because these people (among others) are constantly putting out great information, I feel like I’m in an industry news room every time I fire up Twitter. I get constant updates on new posts, insightful articles and more.
3. It’s Made me a Better Blogger. I want to keep up with these people as well as I can and that means that I have dig a bit deeper to come up with great original content to push out to my twitter stream. And since I know these kinds of people could read it, I don’t want it to be junk.
4. I’ve Made Better Connections. I’ve gotten the opportunity to work with tons of bloggers and content managers that have helped me with projects, given me insights into industries I didn’t know too much about and in all give me new ideas to brainstorm.
5. It’s Made Me More Transparent. The power of Twitter shows me the power of real time feedback and the need to be transparent. And by that, I mean in everything I do. I’ve always been a white hat link builder. Twitter has just pushed me to strengthen that position and pursue it with everything I’ve got.
6. It’s Taught Me That I Still Have a Lot to Learn. And this is the crucial element. As much as I know about building links, I’m constantly faced with blog posts and tweets that tell me I have a lot more to learn. And in my quest to be a link buiding expert, I think that’s critical to understand.

In all, I’m yet to find a tool that has been more beneficial to my career than Twitter. The relationships, the knowledge sharing, the candid discussions… they all play into this effect that Twitter has had on me. And, by the way, if you want to follow me, go for it. If you want to follow my company just hook up with @Intrapromote.

I know that any team I have been a part of has had an exceptional strength in strategizing for a link building campaign. Why? Because we have excellent brainstorm sessions. So I’m going to share our secrets on how to have a great brainstorm session for laying out link building strategies.

So here we go. Without knowing what you’re getting into when you call link building brainstorm session, you could be in for some trouble. Here are my top tips for having an outstanding session.

Lots of people set goals when it comes to brainstorm sessions. But those goals aren’t necessarily good ones. Goals like “I want 10 new ideas for links” don’t really help. Set definable, measurable goals that are well thought out. For instance, set a goal like “come up with 3 solid ideas to pitch to the client surrounding increased brand awareness” or “let’s brainstorm ways that we can reach (fill in the blank) target market with high-quality content” or “we’re going to brainstorm link bait concepts based on these demographics to push the client’s tagline and business philosophy.”

Bottom line, you should always have some sort of idea of what you’re looking for before you stick a bunch of people in a room together.

Never go into a brainstorm session blind. Research the client or the site that you want to build links to. Research the competition and what they’re doing. Know the target market. Where do they hang out online? What type of content are they most likely to be reading? Research everything you need to know before you step foot into your brainstorming session. Trust me. It will make things go much easier.

Brainstorming should never be a one-person show. While some people are very knowledgeable about one particular topic, no one is the end-all-be-all. If you’re having a brainstorm session with your team, dig a little deeper and find out who you have access to that has knowledge or just a general interest or passion in the particular topic you’re going to be talking about. One of my favorite sessions I ever held was a discussion about a camping supply company. We had everyone who was on the project in the room plus a couple of people who weren’t on that team but that just loved the outdoors. The output from that session was phenomenal.

Tool are also important. And they’re basic. Things like having food, coffee, or water for everyone taking part, a white board (anyone who knows me will tell you have an unhealthy obsession with white boards), markers that work, research findings, any creative briefs already pitched and documented goals should all be in the room when people walk in. Plus, I find that if you have snacks it becomes more casual and the atmosphere will allow the creativity to flow much easier.

This is where I see most brainstorm sessions fall apart. Someone throws out an idea and it’s immediately shut down. Never do that. Even if you can tell from the get-go that it won’t work, throw it into the mix anyway. It could lead down a whole avenue that no one considered and be your most stellar idea.

No brainer? Maybe. But I can’t tell you how often I’ve been in a recap session of what was brainstormed and someone will say “What was the idea that involved…” and we all know what they’re talking about, but no one can remember the specifics. Keep detailed notes including the overarching concept, design elements, target markets, and any other items you discuss. One person should be nominated the secretary to follow the conversation closely while someone else is writing on your whiteboard or whatever else you have for the creative portion.

Brainstorm sessions should have two parts at a minimum. Inevitably, two days after your group pow-wow, someone comes up with someone else, so having a “Session Part 2″ will be extremely beneficial. Plus, if the session just isn’t flowing, walk away and try again another time. Forced sessions never work.

You have your ideas and you’ve selected the best ones. Now what? Make sure you have action lists created at the end of each session. Things like who is going to put together the presentation to get client buy in, further research on a particular topic, the creative brief, strategy bullet points, final reports, etc. should all be included. Each item should have an owner, a deadline for completion, and follow up notes if there are any issues that need to be resolved before someone can finish their task.

Whether this process works for you or if you have to tweak a few things, find something that works for you and keep doing it. This type of a creative approach to link building strategies should be an intregal part of your team’s efforts. Without it, you may regularly struggle to find success in your campaigns.

As we come upon 2009 (and, by the way, where did 2008 go?) everyone is thinking about New Year’s resolutions and goals for the year that lies ahead. I’m a big advocate of goal setting that makes you better at what you do. Here are some of my goals for 2009 as a link builder.

1. Talk less, listen more. Any link builder who really knows their stuff loves to talk about what they know. But when it comes to working with clients, listening will give you the best ideas on where to acquire more links. Asking questions about sales cycles, target markets, seasonality trends, and business goals that they have will help you learn more about your client’s business as well as open the door for brainstorming more link opportunities.

2. Stay on your game. Don’t rely just on what you know. There are fantastic sites and blogs out there that help you learn more about the SEO industry as a whole, not to mention just link building. Keep reading and learning more. You’ll be better at what you do so long as you make this a regular part of your schedule.

3. Determine who knows what they’re talking about. Having mentioned the whole “stay on your game” thing, start to learn who really knows the industry and who just thinks they know something. There are lots of blogs/sites out there about the industry, but in actuality, only a handful really know their stuff and give sound advice. Find the leaders in the industry and see who they refer to in their sites or on their blogroll. On the flip side, there are lots of professionals who are not recognized as a member of the elite, but they are still unbelievably brilliant when it comes to this space. The more you read and research, the easier it will be to recognize who these current unknowns are.

4. Build your team. A former employer of mine used to say “Angela, if you want to be successful, just surround yourself with brilliant people and get ready for a wild ride.” I couldn’t agree with that statement more. Whether you have a link building team or you are just thinking about building one around you, make sure you include people who are quick on their feet, flexible in their mind set, and willing to learn. Building your team doesn’t just mean adding good people; it means building their skill sets and staying open minded for new knowledge. This is the best long-term strategy in terms of building a world class link development team.

5. Think long-term. When you are building links, it’s easy to get into the trap of only thinking short-term. Getting quick links is great. But when it comes to a long-term strategy, you need to focus on links that may take more time to research and build. Educating your clients and team on the long-term effects of link building will save you headaches both now and later.

6. Think outside your comfort zone. Brainstorming is an incredibly important part of link development for strategy and execution. Be sure you are pushing yourself to really exhaust every possibility when it comes to sites that you may be able to get links from. Involving other people in your brainstorming sessions will help you in this area.

7. Be incredibly transparent. If you ask yourself “would I show this link to a client and explain how I got it?” and the answer is “no,” skip it. Be more up front with your clients about what you are doing and why you are doing it. The business relationship will thrive because of it. This includes your reporting as well.

But this whole internal speculation about what I know and what I want to become has lead me to thinking about the difference between a link development expert and a link development specialist. What are the differences? How can you tell one from the other? They’re both out there and they both want your business and your attention.

A link development specialist:

1. Spends a majority of their time building links, checking links, finding good sites, etc.
2. Quite possibly enjoys link development, but doesn’t necessarily get that look in their eye when you hand them a sheet of links to analyze.
3. Is good at what they do and efficient at it too. They’ve been doing this for a bit, so they know the shortcuts and little tips that will make life that much easier.
4. They can hold their own in a link development conversation although they don’t necessarily get fired up about it all. In other words, they don’t scan the room for a white board to prove their point.
5. Knows the ins and outs of link development fairly well and likes to see those numbers climb every month.

On the other hand, a link development expert:

1. Spends all their time strategizing, planning, researching, organizing, analyzing and building links. They know that it’s more than just 500 directory submissions for one low price. It’s about quality.
2. Loves link development. They love nothing more than jumping on the computer to solve a “puzzle” when it comes to links from a competitor or something that may be hindering a client from ranking for a certain phrase.
3. Would rather spend hours cracking a tough case rather than take a shortcut with an answer that wouldn’t hold up in any court of law. They pride themselves on what they do and the level of analysis they take to get there.
4. They tend to run link development conversations. Not so much in that they only talk to hear their own voice or they dominate a conversation, but they ask thought-provoking questions that make the other participants stop and think. And I don’t know about other link developers, but I always like to have a white board handy.
5. Knows the ins and outs of link development fairly well. Cares more about quality of links and sustainability of a campaign rather than just the increase in link popularity. Takes time out to teach others and never minds helping a newcomer to the industry.

No doubt there are several other aspects that I have neglected here and I welcome comments about personality traits that I may have missed. As for me? I think I’m somewhere in between the two. But I am working every single day to climb the ranks.

How did you get into link development? How long have you been active in the industry?

I got introduced to internet marketing (and link development) about 4, 5 years ago by accident. During my Economics study, I had to work for a company that was a leftover of the dotcom bubble, as part of an internship. The company was still struggling a bit and was trying all sorts of online things and they let me (and a fellow student) learn by doing. The only problem was that the company basically was a selection of around 1,000 low quality (and I mean LOW quality), AdSense driven websites that were all connected in some way. On the other hand, you could say that this was the perfect learning route for me; in around 3 months I learned all kinds of things not to do online. After this internship, I had a part time job as link developer for around a year and a half. In December of 2005, I joined Tribal Internet Marketing on a full time basis, where I was made responsible for the link marketing division.

What is your typical process when doing research for a client?

The process of a link marketing campaign starts with understanding. If you are able to truly understand what the client wants, understand what the client does and sells, and understand what both the client’s company and the industry look like, starting a link marketing campaign is actually pretty easy. You’ll get lots of ideas of where to look for potential link targets just by talking with your client. These link targets will usually point you into the direction of new link targets, and so on.

What are your favorite tools to use for research or tracking the progress on a project?

There are lots of tools out there, but SearchStatus, Link Diagnosis and Joost’s Link Analysis are indispensible to me, as is Google. I have yet to play around with Linkscape, that one looks pretty great as well.

Where do you see link development in one year? The same, different, or somewhere in between?

I think that the past and recent trends in link development will continue on. We’ve seen that the amount of ‘quick & easy ways’ to influencing search results have decreased. Quality links matter more, at the same time these links are harder to obtain, which results in a rising need (and demand) for high quality content. On the other hand, a large part of link development has always common sense, and that large part probably won’t be changing a lot in the future.

What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve seen in link development?

LOTS of mistakes are being made every day when it comes to link development. In most cases, it comes down to what I answered at your second question; understanding. If you don’t understand what your client does, you’ll probably contact the wrong websites. If you don’t understand what your link target is or does, you’ll probably end up contacting them at the wrong address, not naming them correctly or something like that.

Other major mistakes are focusing on the wrong (usually short term) tactics, or relying on just a single link building tactic.

What are your favorite blogs for SEO / Link Development and why?

Oh, that’s a difficult one, I follow lots of blogs and love most of them, but one of my favorite link building blogs is Debra Mastaler’s Link Spiel. I also love resources like Micheal Martinez’ Link Theory (although I do not always agree, but that’s a good thing), Jim Boykin’s blog and Sphinn’s link building section. Oh, and your blog, of course (Angela: Good answer).

How do you define success as a link development specialist?

When a client sends you an email that his contract with you ends in about a month, and that he really wants to extend it asap, I guess that would be a sign that you’re doing a good job.

So you install Google Analytics or use SiteMeter to track the traffic that you are convinced is coming. They just must be quiet, right? Your post was so brilliant that they had nothing to add and “nice post” would have sounded contrite compared to the article you posted some twelve hours earlier. You get everything installed correctly, set up the tracking, and make another post. Again, twelve hours later you’re checking the traffic bracing yourself for the ridiculously high number of “hits” your blog has gotten. Only to find that the number is much lower than you expected.

So you turn to some link development. Good choice, I must say. And yes, I’m biased. But many people either don’t do it right or don’t do it well – both of which will only result in frustration, mixed results, and very confused bloggers. Here are the biggest misconceptions of link development when it comes to building links for a blog.

1. Internal links don’t matter. Of course they do. Just as in a regular Web site, internal linking is vital to the search algorithm. When you are blogging look for appropriate and relevant opportunities to link to a previous post or another part of your blog to link to. This also goes for links to your regular Web site if you have one.

2. Commenting will get you links. Think again. Most blogging platforms have defaulted to adding nofollow tags to signature links in comments. While commenting and adding value to the conversation happening on other blogs will most likely get you traffic, don’t bank on those comments boosting your link popularity. Additionally, many platforms have also added nofollow tags to any URLs placed in the body of the comment as well.

3. I don’t want to link any other blog because it will take my traffic off my site. Consider this: if you’re not linking to anyone else, why would anyone want to link to you? Best practices when linking externally will be to have the link open in a new window or new tab, so that traffic is not leaving your site. Your blog should not be an island, but a part of an overall blogging community, especially in your industry.

4. A site has offered to do a link exchange and they have great PR. Check a few more things before you start engaging in link exchange programs. What type of page are they offering to place your link on? Has it been cached? Are the links nofollowed? Are there more than 100 links on the page? Is it a high value page with other links of value? Is it a blogroll link or a link on a page of resources? Choose carefully who you link to (I still stand by the recommendation that you should link to others especially when you are commenting on an article they wrote).

5. If I just write great content, I’ll get links. I agree to an extent, but if no one has heard of your blog, then how will they link to you? A bit of self-promotion won’t hurt but you need to find a balance between writing/maintaining your blog and promoting via links, comments, etc.

6. I don’t need Technorati or other blog directories to list my blog. Most companies when looking for a blogger to reach out to, research, or follow online start with Technorati. Plus, those listings count as links. Make sure you are listed in the best possible categories for your blog(s).

7. I’ll just use the blog name for my anchor text. Branded links are great if that’s your focus. But does your brand deal with keywords that your potential readers/customers will be searching for? Keep this in mind when you are requesting anchor text for links that other people will put on their Web sites, in directories, or blogrolls. Paying attention to the details could pay off in the long run.