Reward Your Readers! – CommentLuv Tagline (and mission!)
Table of Contents
ComLuv Membership Club Is The Next Smart Move For CommentLuv Users
Good technology teaches you, makes you smarter, makes you glad you use it, makes you evangelize so others will use it too, and makes others envious of your smartness. Hands-down, the CommentLuv plugin for WordPress has definitely made it to my list of “good, smart technology.”
If you’re already a CommentLuv user, this might seem like preaching to the choir. But if the concert master left his wand at home or the lead choir singer forgot her robe, they’d likely appear half-dressed, or at best only half-ready.
Just to stay with the analogy for another moment … I stand here at the blogosphere podium to proclaim this one truth:
If you are not a member of the free ComLuv community, you are only half-dressed!
Only half-ready to receive what you expect CommentLuv to bring to your blog’s doorstep . . .
And thoroughly unable to take full advantage of what has been carefully — and luvingly — prepared for those who are CommentLuv users!
Hear me out . . . there’s a wildfire in the blogosphere, and only the savvy bloggers are being warmed by the heat.
Fire-Starter
You might call him a fire-starter but quite a bit different from that girl in the movie. In the world of comment management, the CommentLuv plugin developer is truly a fellow of insight and foresight. A busy businessman and benevolent do-er, he has stepped in to fill a need created by both the wildly popular WordPress software and the palpable desire of its users to create and maintain vibrant communities.
Andy Bailey not only offers his plugin solution at no-cost, he keeps the fires burning in the ComLuv community he’s built around it. You’ll find he’s even more accessible to you as a member simply because your stake in the community’s success will bring you in contact with him on a regular basis. His blog is one of those I visit on a regular basis just to see what new surprise he’s come up with for you and me!
Daily. Hourly. Blog owners are discovering the not-to-be-denied CommentLuv plugin.
I started using it about a year ago on two of my blogs. Although I use it as a plugin on WordPress, it also runs on a few other platforms, including Blogger and the Intense Debate commenting system.(If you need help getting it to work on Blogger, there’s a link to a video tutorial in the resource section below.)
In fact, CommentLuv has become so popular, blog owners aren’t just using it, they’re writing about using it!
I’m luving it too! But the real question is this:
Are you missing out on three of the most lucrative benefits offered by being a free member of the ComLuv community?
The Benefits of ComLuv Membership Ain’t No Secret
Installing the CommentLuv plugin makes you a smart blog owner. Contrary to a popular misconception, it does not make you a ComLuv member.
When you first download and install your CommentLuv plugin, even if you are presented with the info on becoming a free member, you might decide that having the plugin is enough . . . And maybe you’ll get back to the membership stuff later …
Later never comes and unbeknownst to you, you’ve let a lucrative oppportunity slip through your fingers! 
I used the CommentLuv plugin on WordPress for 6 months before I even thought about checking into the reasons I should become a member of the ComLuv Network. But you don’t have to wait 6 months . . . Instead, let’s talk about a few of those benefits you gain by simply taking advantage of the free membership offered to you by ComLuv.
Why? Because savvy bloggers take advantage of the benefits that come along with both installing the CommentLuv plugin AND becoming a ComLuv community member.
Two Immediate, No-Waiting Benefits
- Laser-Targeted Posts Under Your Comment
- Interactive, Info-Laden Profile Alongside Your Comments
Benefit #1 – Laser-Targeted Posts Under Your Comment
Laser-Targeted. Laser Specific.
You might already know that once you become a member of the ComLuv network you’ll have 9 more choices of posts to select from when you leave a comment. But that greater selection carries more weight than it appears at first glance. It’s not just the fact that you have the choice of selecting which of your 10 posts to use. It is more that that choice gives you another means of being laser-target specific.
A Quick Example: Mobile Apps For The Motorcycle Gang
Let’s say your blog is aimed at motorcycle enthusiasts. A few weeks ago you’d written a post on your blog ago about cool mobile apps for motorcycle enthusiasts. Today, you’ve come across a blog about all kinds of mobile apps. You arrived here looking to scratch an itch — you were looking for information about mobile apps that give you quick updates with GPS coordinates via Twitter as you travel to the latest motorcycle meetup. Yippee! You’ve found one and now you’d like to leave a comment on the post that describes it.
If you are not a member of the ComLuv community, the only post you’ll get back when you write your comment is the very last one you wrote, which is about rims for motorcycles with three wheels. Say what? You might not get many clicks!
Wouldn’t you rather be highly targeted, laser-focused with your comment?
Click that down arrow next to the ComLuv heart and choose the post that better represents your blog and the audience of this blog: “10 Cool Mobile Apps For Motorcycle Enthusiasts.” As you can see from the image below, if you haven’t yet taken Andy up on his free membership offer you’ll only see your last post — along with a reminder of what could be yours!
Being able to selectively choose which post to display under your comment allows you to be laser-target specific, enhancing your marketing efforts at all times. Yes!
Show your breadth and depth
Sometimes we read and comment on several articles within the same blog. This gives us an opportunity to showcase a completely different post each time — maybe one that fits with your niche or even in response to another comment that is outside your niche.
At times I’ve selected an alternative post from my CommentLuv drop-down list that doesn’t have anything to do with the blog post I’m commenting on. In the image above, I chose a post that would resonate with any techies who also use Linux. This gave me an opportunity to show the breadth of posts on my own blog.
These are some really neat uses but you only get to have these choices if you’ve gone the extra mile and become a free member of ComLuv.
Benefit #2 – Interactive, Info-Laden Profile Alongside Your Comments
Your profile is used to continue the mission of making you and your blog more memorable and easy to access. — Andy Bailey
Profiles are important. At one time they were given more ink, more attention. Well, even if everybody isn’t writing about them or telling you what NOT to put in them, does that make them any less important?
No!
ComLuv does some really neat things with your profile.
In addition to showing your photo, gravatar, or whatever image you’ve selected to represent you, the profile is used to continue the mission of making you and your blog more memorable and easy to access1 Looking at the image below, you’ll see what kinds of information Andy has managed to include in CommentLuv member profiles — in an unobtrusive manner.
As a user of CommentLuv, you may already be familiar with the way the profile information is displayed. On numerous ocassions, I’ve hovered over the little heart next to a post just to see what else the commenter had written lately, knowing I’d get a chance to see more than just the post showing under his/her comment.
Not to belabor the point, but unfortunately, unless you’re a member of the ComLuv network, your profile will not show any of your wonderful, world-changing information!
Oh, No! How important can this really be?
Since I began writing this article some neat things have happened that affect the ComLuv profile. Within the ComLuv site, the profile is used in at least 3 ways.
If you don’t have anything saved to your profile or a site description then you don’t get included in the top commenters pages or in the custom search engine. — Andy Bailey
Andy names two opportunities ComLuv members can take advantage of when they make sure their profile is complete: being listed on the Top Commenters pages and getting your articles indexed in the Custom Search Engine. The third exciting way your profile will be used is as the Author Bio when you write an article as a ComLuv Guest Blogger.
The SEO (search engine optimization) and backlink benefits are so important here, it would be nuts not to be a free member!
So go ahead and set up your ComLuv profile. It takes a little thought, but it only takes a few minutes. You’ll need a photo or image that represents you (personally) or your blog. If you already have a gravatar (gravatar.com), you can use that.
Benefit #3 – Do More Using The Members-Only Credits System
Lastly, there is a benefit that is not quite free but will bring back some free traffic, thoughtful minds, great conversationalists, debaters, and a few detractors. This is the “Credits” benefit. You can’t buy credits unless you are a member. Of course, you might not consider having to buy anything a benefit, but let me enlighten you. 
How Do You Get Credits?
Actually, there are three four ways to gain credits: Buy some, win some, get awarded some by the ComLuv creator.
Picking up credits in the ComLuv Network is one of the most effective, yet inexpensive, ways to boost your website or blog traffic. And it’s easy to do from your Member Control Panel.
Speaking of winning some, Official CommentLuv Ambassador, Ileane Smith of Basic Blog Tips recently ran a contest in which she awarded winners some of those much sought-after credits. I’m happy to say I was one of those winners!
Another lovely surprise was being awarded a block of credits by Andy when he noticed I’d attempted to help a fellow CommentLuv user resolve a problem she was experiencing. Guess how he notified me? Via Twitter! Thanks Andy! (Ahh … the rewards of social media!)
Oh, and the fourth way you can gain credits? Have a friend or colleague donate some to you!
How do I plan to use my newly acquired credits? Shhh … it’s a secret!
One Way To Use Your Credits
Once you become a member, you can add one website from which the 10 posts are shown. Thus, no matter how many websites you have, no matter how many installations of the CommentLuv plugin, only ONE of those websites is represented when you comment on other people’s blogs.
In order for the posts from any of your other websites to be available, you have to:
- be a ComLuv Network member, AND
- have some credits available.
Meet both of these conditions and you can add additional websites to your ComtLuv profile.
Listen, that’s not all you can do with Credits!
Andy has added some new, improved, and uber-cool features to the ComLuv site that give you more bang for your credit buck. (Like prominently feature your website or blog on one of his many high-ranking network pages.) Click and go to get the real low-down.
CommentLuv + Membership in the ComLuv Network . . .
. . . Enables You To Over-Deliver!
Who knew installing the CommentLuv plugin would allow you to over-deliver? When your visitors find out your blog is CommentLuv enabled, they’ll be more likely to share their experiences in your comment section.
The benefits you gain by becoming a free member of the ComLuv network kick your CommentLuv-enabled blog into high gear!
One Last Thing . . .
After becoming a free member, what else should you do to make sure you are fully ready to receive the extra traffic you expect CommentLuv to bring to your blog’s doorstep?
- Add the Do-Follow plugin2
- Get yourself a nice do-follow graphic3
- Install the KeywordLuv plugin4
- Grab the Twitter-CommentLuv plugin from the ComLuv member area
- Pick up some credits, either by purchasing them, winning them in a CommentLuv related contest, or being awarded them by the creator himself
My dear blogging friends, don’t go around half-dressed! You can let the heat of the wildfire raging through the blogosphere warm you up, too. Just step inside the Members Club prepared for you . . . See you on the inside!
Share Your Experiences . . .
Are you a ComLuv member? Which benefits do you like the best? Use the most? Share your experiences below in the comment section.
Resources
Using Google’s Blogger platform? Video Tutorial: Easily Install CommentLuv on Blogger. Created by Ileane Smith of BasicBlogTips.
Image and Photo Credits
ComLuv Member Handbook5 :: Whispering Secrets6 :: Move Mouse for ComLuv Credits7
Footnotes
- Quotes taken from the ComLuv Network Membership site created by Andy Bailey. All ComLuv images are used with permission (and maybe a little license to illustrate a point). [↩ go back]
- Do-Follow plugin for WordPress created by Denis de Bernardy [↩ go back]
- Extreme John convinced his son to pull these colorful Do-Follow graphics together. Show him some love! [↩ go back]
- KeywordLuv plugin for WordPress created by Stephen Cronin. [↩ go back]
- ComLuv Member Handbook is only for illustration purposes. Image created from a collage of PhotoBucket images along with some Snag-It wizardry. Feel free to use it yourself. [↩ go back]
- Whispering Secrets is only for illustration purposes. Image created from a collage of PhotoBucket images along with some Snag-It wizardry. Feel free to use it yourself! [↩ go back]
- Move Mouse for ComLuv Credits is only for illustration purposes. Image created from a collage of PhotoBucket images along with some Snag-It wizardry. Feel free to use it yourself! [↩ go back]
About Vernessa Taylor
As a Technology Consultant and Internet Coach, Vernessa Taylor+ works with both online and offline business owners. She writes about small business systems such as project management and customer referral systems at CoachNotes Blog.
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CommentLuv is a great plugin and the comments on my blog have increased and the quality has been really good.