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Right on. Something like that should be in Blogger’s help pages.
Yes, I agree with zoe. Very well said and why I keep coming back. Must. Work. Now.
Oh, btw, visited some of your commentors sites because of what they had to say and how they..you know, said it. Have added a few more to my must read list. Now, really, must. work.
That’s exactly how I started! By searching other’s blogs. I just love reading what other’s have to say. Sometimes I feel goofy commenting though...what if the blogger thinks, “Who the heck is this girl? Where’d she come from?” But when I like something, I have to tell the person. That’s just me! =) Great entry!
Zoe, yeah I noticed early on you had no blogroll. So I just checked out your commenter’s sites instead. Aww BP is afraid we won’t like her template? Nonsense! As long as it isn’t hot pink I’ll be coming back regardless. Okay, even if it is pink I’ll still come over, but pleeeeease put the content on top of some readable color! Thank you.
Joe, I’ve read Blogger’s help files on starting out. It’s fairly abbreviated and I can see how lazy folks can think they’re following it and still wonder why it isn’t working. We should tell Blogger to include a link to this post for a real life example on how exactly it should be done. Some folks just need it spelled out.
Deborah, work? Oh yeah! I should work too! 
Dana, next time you feel silly about commenting, remember this: Most people are absolutely thrilled that new people are finding and liking their blog enough to comment.
It was a while before I joined the traffic exchanges. I didn’t even know they existed until one day a few months in, I realized nobody was reading my blog. Then, I joined BE and a couple of others. They have their place (mostly name recognition) but nothing gets you loyal readers like leaving good comments on other people’s blogs. And you’re right--sincerity is key. If I get a “Hey, nice blog!” comment, I will either ignore you or I will delete you depending on how my mood is that day. It’s clear that those people are just looking for more readers by leaving comments that they could have left without even reading the post.
One time, I had two exact comments of “Cool blog!” from the same guy in two days. I deleted both. He can kiss my ass.
It’s true.
I started my Xanga blog (shaddup) in 2003. 2003!!! And when I look back at old posts, I can see it took quite awhile to gather together my own little merry band of bloggers.
I love them. But yeah, three years.
Yet another reason why I named the other one talking2myself. I knew I would be for awhile! *wink*
T, I once got a comment from someone saying something like, “I hope it’s okay but I linked to your blog and even posted about you there. You don’t have to link back to my blog, but I just wanted you to know.”
That last part wasn’t necessary and was obviously a ploy to guilt me into adding him to my blogroll. I well I checked it out once. It sucked, so I never went back.
J, that’s a good blog name, even if you have commenters now.
that’s like my friend <a href="http://shoverrobot.blogspot.com">Shover Robot</a>. She makes coments once in a while about not having any comments ("Not like anyone will visit me")
I keep telling her, you want people to know you exist, you have to go comment on other peoples blogs.
That is the way I eventually ended up with a FEW readers. Comment, they will come check you out. Even just the other day I received TWO new folks whose blogs I hadn’t read but who obviously noticed my comments on other people’s blogs or saw links to my site from someone elses.
You can’t expect people to magically know that you exist.
Great advice!
(btw: how fitting is it that my comment on your post about searching for other women has this as word verification: WOMAN)
Look at you being all helpful like a good blogger fairy…
A friend told me I would be a good blogger. So I started a blog, well I deleted it cuz I wrote some things that were true, but hurt someone’s fellings.
I wish I did not do that cuz, I wrote some great things.
Anyway, I read bloggs everyday. I have been felling gulity about not having a blog for others to read cuz I read theirs.
Thankx for the public service.
Karen, guilt is one of those unhelpful emotions. You felt guilty about writing something, so you got rid of it. Then you felt guilty for not having a blog. No need. Commenters are welcome whether the they have blogs or not.
Di, I think I like this Blogger Fairy role. I like being helpful.
Pusher, that’s funny that your friend can’t seem to comprehend this. I decided to visit, just to check out what Shover Robot was all about. All I saw was a bunch of photos, some funny and some not. Very few had anything written about it, and it just wasn’t a very interesting blog to me. It’s like they don’t want put any effort into it. So I left. Without commenting.
Let me see...I’ve been blogging since 12/01. I think 4 people I knew from the net in general knew I had one.
then a couple people found me from I Say Fuck and some webrings and that kind of stuff.
I think it took about 6 or 8 months before more than 15 people read my blog...I think it took 2 years to break 50 unique visitors. I think it was somewhere around 3 years when i broke 150+ visitors.
It takes time. Lots of time.
Plus back then there probably weren’t as many bloggers everywhere as today. However it still does take time. Eventually the search engines will find you and more people will stumble upon your site accidentally.
yeah...back in the olden days, you had to wait for your damned site to load and you liked it!
It took you 3 days to upolad it but you liked that too!
Back when I was just a whippersnapper things weren’t as easy as they are for you kids!
Hell, I’m still and outsider and I like it that way. 
I’m glad you stumbled on my blog. It’s been fun getting to know you.
It does take time to develop a readership and it seems to be ever evolving. I lost some readers due to my posts on HNT but oh well...not the end of the world. I’ve found the best way to find blogs is looking at who people have linked that you, yourself have linked. It2m has been pretty good for finding decent blogs too...I think that’s how I found yours.
Hey I totally agree. It took me a few weeks before I think anyone actually took to reading me, or commenting. I love reading others and commenting. Just now catching up to everyone after getting back from Vacation.
I always pay attention when there is a public service announcment. You know how the TV starts that beeping and you know you need to drop every thing and go watch (actually I only heard it once when it wasn’t a test...)
anyway.. I agree. well put.
Heehee, weese, you never know when the TV is going to beep and announce that Godzilla is making a beeline for your house!
Miss Ann, how’d you know I liked it? Dial-up was da bomb!
Suzanne, you’ve got your group of wonderful supporters who wuuuuv you, you’re not an outsider.
Mike, heh HNT is not well liked in some circles.
Donna, welcome back from a well-deserved vacation!
I wanna be in a clique! 
Mmkay, notsomuch. But I do notice that “we” run around in a lot of the same circles.
Excellent public service announcement and very well stated. I’ve found most people to be very welcoming if you comment on there blog. I don’t really assume people are cliqueie, they just have some time invested in each others blogs. Really, there is not a secret handshake or anything you just have to put yourself out there and be sincere. As in real life there are people who click and people who clash.
I am so terrible, I love finding new blogs though other peoples blog rolls, yet I don’t have one myself. Partly out of lazyness and partily because I don’t want a blogroll a gazillion feet long. But, I will soon have a new template and I will also have a blogroll. Shocking!
Side note, BP is affraid that people won’t like the template that she made and that they will stop reading my blog. She is eventually going to be adding a skin it feature with multiple templates, including the original boring blogger template. She cracks me up. I don’t think I’d stop reading a blog because the template changed, unless is was really distracting or something.
zoe | 05.04.2006 | 1:17 PM