Passionate Blogger

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting Passionate Blogger!

Could you use some new friends?

We could all use some new friends. Making new friends online is much easier than you think. If your blog is a little lonely, I’ll show you how to find friends, find true friends, and make connections that could last a lifetime.

Making friends on the internet

10 passionate ways to make friends online

1. Social Media - Blogs are a great way to make friends online, but it can take a while for your comment to post and for the blog author to respond. Social Media sites such as facebook, twitter, StumbleUpon, Digg, Pownce, Plurk, and del.icio.us make it easy to connect and follow many friends at once. Social media sites are also some of the best places online to find friends that share your interests and hobbies.

I recently signed up for a twitter and Plurk account, within 48 hours of signing up and setting up my profile I had 240+ twitter followers and 68+ friends on Plurk. So in only 48 hours I meet over 280+ potential new friends using Social Media sites.

I would love to be your friend also. If you have accounts at some of the social media sites I listed above put the links to your social media sites in the comments of this post so other Passionate Bloggers can find you and become your friend. I’ll start the ball rolling, here are my social media links.

• facebook
• twitter
• StumbleUpon
• Digg
• Pownce
• Plurk
• del.icio.us

Leave your social media links in the comments below and connect to new friends.

2. Email Friends - Sometimes you find a blog or a post that really gets you thinking or compels you to ask a question. Why not email the author of the site or post? You just might make a new friend.

Many of the really good blogging friends I have met online started with a simple email. Don’t be intimidated if the person you want to email seems like an online celebrity or to busy to respond to your email. You’ll never know if you could have met a really great friend unless you send that email. In fact you can drop me a line using my Contact Page and you never know we might become great friends.

3. Contact Page - If you want to make online friends they need to be able to contact you. A contact page on your website or blog allows readers and potential new friends to initiate a connection with you.

If you are use WordPress on your blog the Contact Form 7 plugin is a great way to add a contact form to your blog. If you want to see the Contact Form 7 plugin in action checkout my Contact Page and while you are there send me an email and let me know more about you and your passions.

4. Help someone - No matter what you blog about chances are you are an expert on something. Many of the readers of your website are looking for more information or might need a question answered about a topic that you can help them with. Help them. Answer their questions, offer a solution, or just get to know them more. Helping someone is one of the best ways to start a relationship with what could become a true friend.

5. Comments - We all want comments on our blogs. Comments are not a one way street. Readers to your site will stop leaving comments if it seems like you hate your readers by never joining the conversation in the comments of your blog.

Don’t become a blog shut-in and avoid leaving comments on other blogs. Most bloggers love to get new and interesting comments. Read other blogs and join in on the conversation you just might find that there are thousands of new friends just waiting to meet you after reading your comments.

6. Make them famous - If you read a great post like this one link to it. If you meet a really interesting blogger why not interview them or write a review of their site on your blog. The web is built on links. Online relationships can start with a single link. Link up to a new friend today and make them feel famous. More ways to make readers famous.

7. Let readers promote themselves - Do your readers have a great post or blog that they would like to show to the world? Let them. Write a “Promote your blog” post on your website. Ask readers to email a link to their site and/or a post they have written that they think other people might find interesting. Promote the entries on your blog.

If you have written a great post that you would like to share with the readers here at Passionate America contact me or leave a comment below with the link to your passionate post. The top entries will be featured here at Passionate Blogger.

8. Reward friendship - Do you have some extraordinary commentors on your blog? Why not reward them for their contributions by featuring a link to their site on your blog? The Top Commentators plugin for WordPress is a great way to reward your commentors and make great friends.

9. Be personal - We could all just read Wikipedia or mainstream media websites all day long, but the reason most blog readers spend so much time surfing for great blogs is the personal nature of blogs.

When I first started surfing the internet I read many major news websites each day. Those sites always seem to be missing the human being in their stories. I soon learned of blogs and spent most of my time reading and devouring every interesting blog I could find. I sent an email to a blogger that I regularly read and we soon became close friends. A few weeks later because of the advice I received and the love of reading blogs I started my first blog Passionate America. I now have at least 10 blogs and write on many more.

The personal style of blogging inspired me to start a blog of my own and before I knew it, when people asked me what I did for fun my first answer became, “BLOGGING!”

Don’t be afraid to add a personal story in your posts. It helps readers connect with you on a more personal level than any mega corporation website can. And guess what, your personality might just inspire a new friend to drop you a line.

10. Guest Posting - Most of the blogs you read could really use some fresh inspired content and you just might be the person that can help them publish their next great post. If you read a blog on a topic that you have something to say about send the blog owner an email and offer to guest post. The blog owner gets a great post by you and you get to connect with their readers that respond to your guest post. Its a Win-Win situation.

You can also ask for guest posters for your blog. I’ll show you how its done. If you would like to write a guest post here at Passionate Blogger send me an email via my Contact Page with a link to your website and explain the post you would like to write. If it sounds like a great fit, your post could be seen here on the pages of Passionate Blogger. Also you might be interested in me guest posting on your site. See how easy that is. I’ll bet I meet some really interesting people.

Make friends! Leave your social media profile links in the comments and add some new friends to your network.

Want to learn how to meet friends offline? Checkout Passionate America for 10 ways to meet friends offline.