Be honest… did the title of this post intrigue you a little? I am sure it is not the best title to help drive search engine traffic to a site about making money online though. But I do think it is the perfect title for this post, as it is about helping out your fellow blogger, or anybody for that matter and that is what today’s “Quick Tip” is about.
Have you ever had something hanging from your nose, or maybe a little ranch dressing (from whatever you ate earlier) dried up on your chin and no one tells you about it? I know I have. Usually, the only way you find out is when you are going to the restroom and see yourself in the mirror. You think… “How embarrassing, how come no one told me about it?”
Of course you do have those certain friends that will give you a little nudge, point to where it is on their own face and then whisper in your ear… “Hey, you got a little something right there”, and you thank them, grab a tissue or napkin and give it a little wipe and that would be that. I really appreciate those types of friends, and that is the kind of friend I try to be.
So where am I going with this post? Well like the “there’s something hanging from my nose” analogy, I really appreciate it when someone tells me when something is wrong with one of my websites, or they think something can be done better. Three times in the last week I have had people tell me that something wasn’t working correctly with this site.
First Lax from over at Tech Zoom In emailed me to let me know that in my Feedburner Emails, at the bottom it was showing the word “Array” nine times in list format for no apparent reason. I did a little investigating and found out it was a simple setting in my DamnSexyBookmarks that was causing the problem and with a simple uncheck of a button the problem was solved. I am sure other readers probably noticed this for weeks, but no one ever let me know before Lax, so I never knew to fix it before then. Thanks Lax!
Also, in regards to my Email RSS Feed, not only was it not displaying correctly to the subscribers I already had, but the subscription form on the homepage was not working either. Alfredo over at Asswass.com contacted me last week to let me know about that. We probably lost a bunch of subscribers in the last few weeks because that was not working. We won’t lose them anymore. Thanks Alfredo!
Then just yesterday, Jared over at The Money Cult let me know about a problem that was happening with the comment editing plugin that we were using. When you clicked the edit your comment link, it opened up someone else’s comment, which was not good. So I ended up deactivating that until I get it fixed. Thanks Jared!
As for me, I am notorious for letting people know when something is wrong with their site, or if I think doing something another way might be beneficial to them. I honestly just like to help people out, and I probably overstep my boundaries sometimes, but no one has ever complained (at least to my face) about it. If you read my post “2 Simple Fixes that Could Increase Comments on Your Blog” you know I am NOT a big fan of Captcha in the comments sections of blogs, and from reading all the comments, most other readers are not either. So whenever that I am surfing the net reading blogs and leaving comments… if a person is using Captcha in their comments section (after I write my comment) I usually mention to them that they might get more comments if the get rid of it.
Now that is just one example of things I do. I also send out emails if I notice something doesn’t look right with someone’s site in my browser or if a link is not working correctly. You name it… if I see something wrong, I usually try to let the owner know. Now I am definitely not trying to brag here that I am this great guy, because that is not what I am trying to do at all… even though you would probably say that is you met me. 
What I want you to get out of this post is we are all just one big giant family on this planet, and the Internet has brought us a lot closer together. We all need to help each other out and if you see something hanging from the nose (you know what I mean) of one of your fellow bloggers or website owners, let them know about it, as I am sure they will appreciate it. Remember, what goes around comes around, so the nicer you are… the nicer people will be to you!
I also read a great post the other day from Liane over at Better Blogging for Bloggers where she talks about how friendly most people are on the Internet. I have found in general that usually is the case.
So how about you guys? Do you go out of your way to help your fellow bloggers or website owners out? If not, maybe you should!
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Tycoon Blogger on Sun, 30th Aug 2009 6:02 pm
great point Doug, and I can recall at least two occasions when you made some suggestions that helped improve my blog. I do appreciate it when other bloggers take timeout to help other bloggers. I try to pay it forward whenever I can.
Tycoon Blogger´s last blog ..Sunday’s Best – week ending August 30 2009
Doug Dillard on Sun, 30th Aug 2009 11:42 pm
Thanks Dan! Yes, I am a big fan of the “Pay It Forward” movement. Imagine what a better world we would live in if everyone joined
EarningStep on Sun, 30th Aug 2009 6:06 pm
i will tell you if i found something wrong with your blog my friend . let’s help each other to make blogging more better in the future
EarningStep´s last blog ..Get cash back when you shopping online – bigcrumbs cash back diagram
Doug Dillard on Sun, 30th Aug 2009 11:43 pm
Thanks! I will definitely do the same.
Stefan on Sun, 30th Aug 2009 11:35 pm
I always try to do my best when it comes to helping others and give them constructive critique when it comes to developing their site. Just like you I am sure I have overstepped my boundaries more than once, but no one have complained and I think most of them appreciate the help I am trying to give them.
Stefan´s last blog ..Make Money Online With Sponsored Tweets
Doug Dillard on Sun, 30th Aug 2009 11:52 pm
Stefan, that is one thing I really appreciate about you. Your comments on this site, as well as your comments I see on the many sites that we both frequent are usually very constructive. I agree that most people really do appreciate the help, but I am sure there might be someone that might feel insulted… but that would be a rarity.
The Gooroo @ iBlogPlanet on Sun, 30th Aug 2009 11:46 pm
Very nice of them to point of those problems. I like how you used the whole nose analogy for this — neat.
I try to help others out when I notice something, but in most cases, someone seems to have pointed it out before me. Nonetheless, I continue to look for little errors in blogs to help the blogger out.
The Gooroo @ iBlogPlanet´s last blog ..Keyword Optimizer SEO Plugin
Doug Dillard on Sun, 30th Aug 2009 11:58 pm
It definitely was nice of them!
Thanks Gooroo… I came up with it because it happened to me the other day… so when I also got help from 2 friendly bloggers… that just popped in my head. I was hoping everyone would get the correlation.
As for me, I don’t go looking for errors on other sites ever. If I notice one in my daily surfing that pops out, I will usually say something though.
Sire on Mon, 31st Aug 2009 12:44 am
Sure do. I usually leave a suggestion if I think something isn’t quite right. I know I’m always telling people to install the subscribe to comments plugin, and most times they do.
I don’t usually tell anyone that their theme sucks though, because I think that’s getting too personal, sort of like telling them their wife has a big butt.
Sire´s last blog ..Sometimes It just Doesn’t Pay Being Jack
Doug Dillard on Mon, 31st Aug 2009 12:48 am
I believe I have seen your comments on a few blogs suggesting that they add the “subscribe to comments” plugin. That is a perfect example of helping out your fellow blogger.
As for your send part Sire… are you trying to tell me something?
Sire on Mon, 31st Aug 2009 1:56 am
Me? Nope, I love everything about this blog Doug, you know that.
Sire´s last blog ..Blog Me This You Blogging Fools
Mike CJ on Mon, 31st Aug 2009 4:57 am
I can vouch that you do Doug! Thanks for pointing out to me the issues with my commenting system. As you can see from the post attached to this comment, I’ve resolved the problem by going with Disqus comments.
Mike CJ´s last blog ..Switching to Disqus Comments
Doug Dillard on Mon, 31st Aug 2009 10:00 am
Thanks Mike. I am glad to see you have found a solution. I really appreciate you mentioning me in your post, but you didn’t need to. I am just happy you got it fixed, as I am sure it was costing you at least a few comments here and there.
Asswass on Mon, 31st Aug 2009 6:55 am
I really appreciate everything you’ve told me about my blog Doug. That’s why if I find something wrong with yours I will let you know. BTW, I see that now your subscribe-to-feed by email is now working and I’ve just subscribed.
Asswass´s last blog ..This Week’s Top WOP: Miss Universe 2.009 Stefania Fernandez
Doug Dillard on Mon, 31st Aug 2009 9:53 am
Thanks Alfredo!
I must have been tired when I wrote this post, as I forgot to mention what you did for me, as it probably had the biggest impact on the site. I actually edited the post above and mentioned you as well. I really appreciate your help as well Alfredo!!!
Asswass on Mon, 31st Aug 2009 10:50 am
haha Doug I didn’t write the comment for you to add me to your post. But thanks anyway
.
Asswass´s last blog ..Monday WOP: Which is your Favorite Sport and Team
Doug Dillard on Mon, 31st Aug 2009 11:06 am
I know you didn’t… but seriously your help probably had the most impact to the site, especially when I am running a contest trying to get people to subscribe. I had to add you!
bbrian017 on Mon, 31st Aug 2009 8:02 am
If the issues is affecting what I want to do then I will normally say something but if it’s not affecting what I want to do I might not notice it and might not say anything. So I guess I do normally say something or send an e-mail but I don’t unless I notice it or it affects me.
A few months ago I was active over at Deneil Merritts blog. He was sending his e-mails from daniel merritt @ hotmail.com or wherever ok and I always had to manually open them because he was sending the e-mail using a different address then the domain he was sending it form.
Finally about 6 e-mails later he e-mails me back saying he was going to fix it and didn’t for about another 2 weeks or so. Point here is he never did and I was so annoyed I stop reading his blog and unsubscribed from all the articles I commented on.
bbrian017´s last blog ..Follow me and enter your blog into Keller Hawthorne’s best blog contest 2009
TechZoomIn on Mon, 31st Aug 2009 10:53 am
Hmmm i thought something else when i see the title. Good that you educated everyone
Friends let’s help together to improve our blogs
TechZoomIn´s last blog ..10 Basic Tips to Keep Your WordPress Blog Secure
Doug Dillard on Mon, 31st Aug 2009 11:08 am
I thought the title might encourage people to read the post… but it probably is keeping some people away from reading it as well
I agree… let’s help everyone we can!
Extreme John on Mon, 31st Aug 2009 12:15 pm
I love everything about this article, minus the fact that you had a few issues “hanging around” if you know what I mean.
See I use the Feedly feed reader Firefox Add-on so I just hit the “next” button, I never even noticed any of the feed reader issues.
Doug don’t sweat it bro if I notice something, I got your back.
Extreme John´s last blog ..Dumbest Twitter Sales Pitch Yet
Doug Dillard on Mon, 31st Aug 2009 3:07 pm
I am definitely going to add that Feedly feed Reader Firefox Add-on today. I have heard lots of good things about it. Thanks John!
Klaus @ TechPatio on Mon, 31st Aug 2009 2:54 pm
I feel so bad. I’ve noticed that list of “array” many times, but I never once told you about it
I think it’s because I still clicked in to read your post in full and then I forgot about or, or so I hope, cause there’s really no excuse for not pointing it out – not even lazyness, as it would take only a few seconds to mention it in a comment or email.
Oh well, perhaps another time
Doug Dillard on Mon, 31st Aug 2009 3:06 pm
No biggie Klaus. That issue wasn’t really hurting anything… it just looked bad.
I am sure there will be a next time when something we do screws up
Christie on Tue, 1st Sep 2009 4:46 am
I’ve always emailed people privately when I find something like an incorrect link or Ranch dressing on their chin.
Last year I made a nice connection with a Linux blogger in the UK by telling him about his FeedFlare and what it was doing that he wouldn’t have known about otherwise. It’s a cool and easy way to help our brother and sister bloggers. 
Christie´s last blog ..Google Wave Sandbox – I have a login!
Typhoon on Wed, 2nd Sep 2009 5:28 am
It feels great when other readers or people point any mistake which is very important. Well looking in your case, the problem occurred to the feed readers mostly but I haven’t subscribed to it till yet as I’ve bookmarked the blog for visiting daily.
I am amazed to see the problem caused with the Ajax Edit Comments, Did it really happened like what you said. If yes, then it’s really horrible to see if some one would have misused it.
I will just subscribe now and will help you let know if any problems arises in future to your feeds
Typhoon´s last blog ..The importance of cloaking affiliate links & how to do it
JIm Hardin on Fri, 11th Sep 2009 10:00 am
Hey Doug!
I definately have to come back here more often. You got a lot of great stuff here. Logo contests, article contests wow cool stuff. This particular article grabbed my interest because of the title. I think its funny and I hate it when I have something in my teeth and no one says anything.
Jim
JIm Hardin´s last blog ..Remembering 9/11