I think people spend a lot of time (inordinate amounts, actually) focusing on what to do about negative blog comments. What should you say? What should you do? What if you don't like the person? What if you do like them? *gasp* And on and on . . .

Let's talk about the best way to handle positive blog comments.

You write a rockin' rad blog post and someone comments and seconds your thought process and/or adds to the discussion in a meaningful way. What do you do?

*Jeopardy game show music here*

Do you:

a. Forward the comment notification to all your friends and brag about your new comment?
b. Secretly gloat that you got a comment and then delete the notification e-mail?
c. Delete the e-mail straight away? (Drat those spammers!)
d. Respond to the comment via e-mail only?
e. Respond to the comment on your blog only?
f. Respond to the comment on your blog and via e-mail?

If you answered "f," you're on the right track! If you answered anything other than "f," you need help, and you should read on.

Here's why the answer is "f":

You want to reply by e-mail because it's easy to do so. When you get the comment notification from your blog software, it has the commenter's e-mail address in it. When you hit reply, just copy and paste that e-mail address into the "To:" field and write your reply. This shows the person that you're responsive--you respond to comments. It's a way of showing gratitude; remember, people don't have to comment on your blog.

But when you comment by e-mail only, what do other people who are reading your blog see? You guessed it. They only see that one comment there--lonely, with no response. Not a good look. Even though you responded by e-mail, it looks to everyone else reading your blog as though you didn't reply at all.

Sooo...

The same comment that you just sent by e-mail: Copy and paste that text and comment on your own blog, just like you would if you didn't own the blog.

Make sure you refer to the person as such:

@Steve (this will show that you're responding to Steve--do this even if you only have one comment and it's from Steve):

Thanks so much for reading my blog and for your comment.

What you say is true. Snails DO have toe hair.

Make it a great one!

You might have to approve your own comment. That's OK. Do it. I do this all the time. This let's people reading your blog know that you really do respond to your comments. Not responding to a comment is like starting an intense and interesting conversation with someone and walking out of the room while they're talking to you. Rude.

There are many social media "experts" who will tell you that responding to comments in this way makes the number of comments on your blog seem inflated, and your comment takes up space for other people who want to comment.

Rubbish and hogwash. What matters is that you respond publicly and privately. Period.

Develop the conversation one-on-one with the commenter, and then let everyone know what to expect when they comment on your blog by posting your reply on your blog as well.