Just recently I have received messages such as ' Read my latest work' (you know who you are), there was no, how are you and I have read your poem/article and left a comment, just a cold call. It was followed by several beautiful messages from Triond friends, they enquired after my health and family, they left comments on my work in the correct box and generally lifted my spirits. I returned to their work and selected work that caught my eye and did likewise. I got messages from new fans and we became friends.

I then started to get more 'cold calls' and was ready to hit the block button ( I may still do so).

After a few weeks of this I made a decision, anyone who cold calls gets ignored, I do not return the friendship, anyone who is a true Triond friend, those who support my work will get it, as always, returned. Those of you who know me well enough, know I am a supporter, giver and never call upon you to read my work, I leave you to find it at your leisure.

I then took it a step further, I stopped writing on Triond, I have well over 100 pieces of work here and with various other writing projects and family wedding commitments I felt there was enough for folk to view.

My findings:

a) My friends never left me

b) My friends read  my original work and still took time out for me

c) My friends are the true back bone of Triond

d) The cold calling continued

e) I still gained fans but no message or introduction either through a comment or message

f) I gained fans through messages

g) I gained fans through comments

h) I had time to view more work of new writers

I) I had time to view more work of undiscovered writers and of my friends older works

j) some writers/ fans appear to only look at the new work that appears in the new feed, old work is ignored

k) My Triond earnings were the same!!!

Yes I earned no less than before.

The result of my findings:

a) I have loyal friends

b) I dislike cold callers and will remove them from my friends list very soon, unless I see their name in my message box or comments box...

Okay, you newbies will say, but I hit the 'I like' button as I whizzed by, please answer this, how do I know?

Old friends will do this and I have no worries about that, this is because at least once or twice along the way they remember me, or they take time for a selection of friends over a period of time or they introduced themselves at the very beginning of our supportive Triond relationship. Time as we know is precious, but just think, if you make an effort then you gain a friend and remember this, that friend has friends too, they could become fans if you take time and make the effort. Don't forget my friends have been writing on here for a long time, some of their older works are interesting and deserve a viewing, don't just rely on the daily news feed for your Triond fix. Happy Scribblings!

I then looked through users and found faces not logos, faces. I contacted those faces by reading an article and leaving a comment. I received messages back to thank me and we made friends.

I found a comment in a box at the bottom of one of my articles, I was delighted, I contacted the writer of said comment and we became friends. This is the procedure I use all of the time, it is called saying Thanks for noticing me and taking time out to comment, I am doing the same to acknowledge you exist and I noticed.

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During my time of reading the work of a writer I came across, I noticed the article had a few errors that distracted me from reading what was a potentially good piece of work, I wrote to the writer through the comments box not wishing to follow the abusive insults that others had  left behind, the writer contacted me, asked for my advice, I gave it and the article was 'fixed' , resubmitted and  the writer contacted me to say the earnings on this article had more than doubled in a day, we became friends.

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I left a comment once that maybe should have been a private message, I learnt a lesson that day but the outcome was I apologised publicly and the writer and I are friends, we support the work of each other on a regular basis.

Every day I read the work of my friends, ninety nine percent of the time I try to leave a comment, not just click the 'I like' box  but let them know I support and encourage them as a friend would. They in turn, by about fifty percent, return the favour. All the time I am reading I am noticing others and the way they comment, curiosity about their name or the style of how they comment gets me looking them up, I usually find a new friend.

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Never have I gone cold calling, not bothering to leave a comment in the box provided and then messaging them to tell them their work is great and would they go and read my work, if I want them to notice my work, I use what I consider the polite method of leaving a comment on their work and then messaging privately to see if they will befriend me.

My Blog Method

I have three active Blogs, one that I use for advertisers to come and go, one I use for my hobby and the other I use for linking to my Triond works.

I have links to my friends from Triond, the links takes the world and his friend to their profile page, this is my way of saying, thanks for supporting me, the link list is growing and therefore the more visitors I get a portion of them will call into see my friends too.

I have a side bar set up with the titles of some of my works published by Triond, visitors from outside of Triond click and find, therefore gaining the extra viewer from outside of Triond.

My Website Method

I have a people friendly non-earning (for me anyway) website, I have added a writers corner for my Triond friends to add their scribbles and links to their work, this is a new item and I am thrilled to see a few faces that I know there. The links are linked to my blogs and Triond, see how it can get you noticed? The address is on my profile, but don't forget if you want this effort free way of getting your work linked, be my friend at Triond first.

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StumbleUpon

I and several of my friends from Triond use this method, daily I get the nudge from the StumbleUpon toolbar to say, 'Hi how are you? What do you think of this?' we move our work around together, supporting each other outside of Triond and because we are not clones and we have different types of friends from around the world, our work get seen in places we never knew existed.

Digg

I will confess, I use this method but not often, I find it a little confusing to use at times but that is me, my friends here use it a lot to support each other.

So that is how I use Triond to get noticed, support my friends and get support in return. It is not hard work and it pays to be polite.

• Prepare Your Ground: Research

  Always take time to research. Is it safe material to use? Is it legal? Think plagiarism.

• Plans

  Look for new designs. Your confidence as a writer will show through good planning and you will create your own style that others will recognise, look for new angles but don't be afraid to go back and use old materials or styles, draw up your plans, and write down your ideas and findings

• Scaffolding

  Support your work, use spell check, dictionaries and thesauruses, check the grammar, this will help your work stand strong when ready for public viewing

• Laying Down Foundations and Building

  For the writer, having a platform to build upon is essential, a topic or a character in the mind is an idea or a dream, the moment they are put on paper or captured on the computer they become a reality, something to be built, prepare strong foundations, have all of your basic tools and preparation ready, spend time smoothing out and levelling faulty work, add to the décor, find new fonts, clipart, illustrators etc. Work each day, take breaks, proof read, think positive and enjoy what you are doing, it will show in the finished product.

• Add Windows

  Photographs can enhance a piece of work, they can be the windows that the reader looks through to understand a little more of what you have written. Photographs allow the reader to add to the piece by using their imagination, this could make the reader feel the work is personal to them; it could make them feel that you have written just for them, you then gain a fan. Writing a brief outline of what the article or book is about helps the reader, it gives them an idea of what your work is about, it is the window into your work, a short descriptive, sentence can capture the readers eye.

• The Roof: Copyright

  This protects your work, a piece written by you is yours unless you sell the rights to others, keep copies, register your work if you wish with the copyright office of your country, post your work to yourself but keep the envelope sealed, the date is proof if you need to contest your right legally. There are several ways of protecting your writing, just type copyright on your search bar and you will find many answers.

• The Front Door

  This is the invitation to enter. Your finished piece is ready for viewing, the key to your success is to push it open and invite people to publish your work. Use email to contact publishers with a brief outline of your work and yourself, use an internet publisher site such as Triond , traditional stamp and post to publishing houses, there are the many ways you can get your work out into the big wide world, there are guidelines and how to get published articles on the internet, there are books with the names of publishing houses and the style of work they are looking for, the books are for sale or in public libraries, once you open that door be prepared to go to work.

• The House

  You have found the home for your work, now you can send the new address, sit back and enjoy the rewards of your hard work

• Property Maintenance

  If you have written an article using dates, be sure to return and update the piece if relevant, i.e. Building regulations for 2008 will need updating in 2009, maintain your property and it will last forever.

• Selling Up and Handing Over the Deeds

  When selling your work i.e. a book, get a reputable agent to act on your behalf, make sure you get good legal advice, read the contract before signing and know the full value of your property.

There you have it; builder or writer the answer to getting noticed is starting with strong foundations and working hard.

Many sites nowadays have areas for comments where the visitor can view an article or product then leave an opinion or review, a comment.

If you are the writer of one such article what do you hope for?

Do you look in the comment box with dread?

Do you look forward to reading others opinions of your work?

Whatever happens if you get to the comments box and it is empty are you disappointed? Yes?

Why?

Why fear what we might read and then feel rejected?

What is it that makes us feel we have been personally bypassed when figures show 800 people have looked your work but not one had left a comment, good or bad?

Many of us forget that the machine that holds all the answers is just that, a machine, we forget that the people using that machine only have milliseconds of time to spend viewing each hit, so if they click and find your work and the title doesn't grab them, then off they go, no interest, no time and therefore no comment, however when they do find a title that grabs them, they do read an article that interests them and a percentage do leave a comment. Never feel that your article is not good enough, just accept that it has been read by those who want to read it but do not have the time or feel there is nothing further to be added.

Is the importance of getting seen, read and commented upon in the title?

Many would say yes, the title is the hook, it catches the eye, it grabs the imagination or it might be just what the reader is looking for, some titles will read as long as the article and can put the reader off, other titles just don't have that zing, for example if you are writing about brown roofing tiles the title is really not going to stand out as appealing if it is simply called Brown Roofing Tiles, ah ha, or is it? Is that person looking for brown roofing tiles going to stop and read your article? Of course they are you have got what they are looking for, short and sweet. The title is the headline of the article; you want the reader to know what it is about.

If you had played around with the brown tile title and called it The Terracotta Essential for the Top of your House it might have gotten bypassed by the brown tile researcher, therefore maybe it is not so wise to be clever with simple articles or ones that have a definite field. Does it matter that there are many titles on the internet with the same name? No, what matters is getting the article in the right field, with a title that suits.

Viewing an article that catches your eye can change several factors of your life, you may find the brown tiles you have been searching for, you may learn a new piece of trivia that will win you quiz night bonuses, you also might learn how to improve your article writing, whatever you are looking for if there is a comment box, stop and think how you feel when your comment box is empty and how you might make another writers' day, a simple, short comment free from abuse can lift a writers confidence.

If you are writing an article hoping to catch the eye of the brown tile researcher, think about how you are going to catch their attention.

Maybe you have written it in seconds, held onto it for years or taken a lifetime to write it, what you have now is the courage to share.

You do a bit of research and find the place that suits you, the place to unveil your work, and for example Triond is your chosen place.

Your email shows that your work has been accepted for publication and where they have placed it for viewing, the excitement mounts, you click on the link and there it is.

The background shading suits the theme, it looks good and you feel good, you scroll down reading and hoping a fix is not needed, no it looks fine.

You move down to the,” I like it box” and yes there are folk who like it, next stop the comments.

What's this? Someone has said they don't like it? They think it is ********* or ******, they have read better, they think you are wrong, they think the writing is bad, stupid, uncool, it sucks and other modern day terminology used to describe something bad.

What are your thoughts and actions?

• Find this person and leave comments on their articles in much the same language as they used on yours?
• Reply in your comment box and start a verbal war with this person?
• Ignore it ?
• Cry?
• Give up writing?

STOP!

Never give up over destructive criticism and don't give the author of the comment the satisfaction by retaliating.

Don't cry, your keyboard won't like it!

Use only the constructive comments to your advantage, take onboard what they say, can you improve or fix your work? Do not linger over those who cannot be bothered to explain why they don't like your work, those that use comment boxes to try and shock with words that mean nothing.

Take the hurt and use it in constructive energy, write about it, move on, become a stronger writer but do not give up.

If you feel you have let your writing down by poor spelling etc, make friends and ask for their input but never let the destructive take over from the constructive.

For the destructive commenter, you make others stronger writers and make yourself look weak; this can be off putting for potential readers of your work, therefore stop and think before you try to be clever with your destructive abuse, you may end up only destroying yourself.