Ubuntu Linux Help

I’ve been struggling with how to keep the Ubuntu Linux Help blog successful (and alive). One issue I’ve had to deal with is server costs. Finding money to keep this blog going is difficult and it would be easy to shut-down the blog. But… I truly believe that it provides value to the Linux (and non-Linux) community (based on many of the positive comments received).

I’ve thought to place a “donate” button somewhere, but that means you, the reader would be asked to send money. I don’t want to do that. So, I spent some time and a little creative thought to think of some free ways we can thank bloggers. The following are some of (what I think are) my better ideas.

1) Post a comment…
This is one of the best ways to say “Thank you”. Doing so provides a positive blog experience and atmosphere. Why is that important? It tells blog writers that you are genuinely interested and encourages them to keep writing and improve the content and post quality. A simple “Thanks, I enjoyed the post”, says to a blogger “Good Job”. While leaving a comment, you can also provide yourself with some link love (a link back to your website).

2) Blog about the posts…
If some of the posts in a blog fit nicely with the niche or subject of your blog, write a short post about it, perhaps quoting a passage and linking to the source blog (of that passage). This provides the original blogger a link to their original post and increases their ratings within various blogging communities. And think… it also gives your blog some inspiration, a passage or two to quote and some valuable input you can contribute via your own blog. When your posts link to the original blog, they often link back to you! (That’s “Link Love”) For example, you will notice that many of my posts list the sites that have enabled me to do research or from which I’ve quoted a passage.

3) Click ads you’re genuinely interested in…
Many bloggers rely on the revenue their ads provide (so they can pay for their servers, etc.). Because many are paid on a PPC (pay-per-click) basis, more legitimate valid clicks, means improved revenue. I only click on ads (of blogs I visit) that have products or services which genuinely interest me, because the advertiser is paying for those clicks, and I should not waste their money. When I click an ad I’m interested in, I read the presented page also because it’s a good way to find things to blog about as well as learn about new products, services and websites I’d not heard about before and can use.

4) Send the post to StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit, Del.icio.us, Google, etc…
Submit the blogger’s post to a social news or social bookmark site, etc. Doing this helps to send more traffic to the blogger’s site. It is one way of telling a blogger “Thanks, great post, I’d like others to see it too”. Again, this improves community ratings of that blog as well as the potential of greater numbers of visitors improving revenue.

So… instead of asking for money, here are four more creative ways you can thank a blogger!

Update: To those who posted comments here: How to “How to Thank Bloggers“. I have placed the appropriate link in the comments of that page. I received a large number of messages via the contact page (also requesting the link… and I was surprised about this), and will be sending personal responses to those individuals. Thank you.