Banned by John Chow! First Google and Now This!

Posted by Not John Chow | April 25, 2008 .

That’s right folks, John Chow has removed my name from his Top Commentator’s list!

One minute I was there, the next I was gone.

Okay, that doesn’t actually constitute being banned, but I am disappointed. After all, I was beginning to see some traffic benefit from it.

Check this graph showing how my traffic has gone up due to John Chow, Shoemoney, and Zac Johnson’s blog. It isn’t big but, considering the size of my blog, it is significant.

So, what do I do now? I think that I will use a surge method and try to be top commentator every other month for a week and then let it fade. By doing this with different blogs I will be able to spend the time writing better quality comments and I will be attracting readers from different blogs.

What do you think? Is this a good plan? Will it work? What would you do?

Please Join My RSS Feed & Share These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.

Posted under Creating Traffic, Learn to Blog | Like this article? Subscribe to our RSS feed

Leave a Comment

If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.

Name

Email

Website

Comments

Enable CommentLuv which will try and get your last blog post, please be patient while it finds it for you
Notify me of followup comments via e-mail

30 Comments so far

Michael Dunlop April 25, 2008 1:47 pm

Thats not very nice hope he sorts it out!

Not John Chow April 25, 2008 2:23 pm

I am sure I haven’t offended John. I think if someone is on the top of his list to long he clears the que and starts fresh.

Syed Balkhi April 25, 2008 8:39 pm

I don’t know if thats exactly how he do it … I know I have been in his list for quiet some time and so is alan from affiliate confession and a few others … The comments are restarted weekly (But it is set to a system that every day your comment count decreases because the new week start every week) kinda hard to understand but thats what it is..

You are always welcome to hit the top spot on my blog .. though it is competitive
Syed Balkhi’s last blog post..Wordpress 2.5.1 (Very Important Security Fix) - Upgrade Now

Wakish April 26, 2008 4:36 am

This is also a sign that you should not just comment on A+ blogs and just for traffic. Get out of bucket! Go comment and visit other blogs, build a true relationship.. there are better average blogs out there than just hitting the ice-bergs..

- Wakish -

Wakish’s last blog post..WordPress 2.5.1 - Another Immediate Update Needed! What The Heck?

tyna April 27, 2008 10:11 am

You should try other sites,especially new ones they need your comments,inorder to grow too.

tyna’s last blog post..Take charge of your destiny

Not John April 27, 2008 6:25 pm

Sorry, I have been out of town and off line.

I do comment on other blogs. Actually, I comment mostly on other blogs. I do however make a point to comment on John Chow’s site daily. I am not sure if John “banned” me or not. It really isn’t that important. The important thing is to generate a discussion about commenting. This experiment with top commentators has shown that you can boost your traffic on sites that use this plugin.

Mattaw April 28, 2008 8:28 pm

Not a bad plan, any blogs you have in mind to target?

Mattaw’s last blog post..Workers And The Work Environment Pt 1.

Not John Chow April 29, 2008 8:38 am

If you do a Google search you will find blogs that list other blogs that use the top commentator plugin. Then you need to review those blogs to see if you think they are good targets. I have started this process but, it is not yet complete. Do you have a list of blogs you comment on?

Wade April 29, 2008 9:39 am

NJC - The Top Commentators plugin automatically resets after one month. The time can be changed to never, one week, ect. I am not sure the exact interval that JC uses. I have been “removed” from the list a few times. Just keep commenting again and you will reach the list. So you haven’t been banned, it is just a setting that is set for everyone.

Wade’s last blog post..Start your own website

Not John Chow April 29, 2008 11:56 am

Wade, I figured I haven’t been banned but, doesn’t “banned” sound more fun? Also, it allowed me to have banned, John Chow, and Google all in my title!

Not John Chow’s last blog post..My 100th Post!

Puneet May 2, 2008 6:55 am

Yes “Banned” sounds more Fun … and i think u like it a lot and love to get banned from top ice bergs
Puneet’s last blog post..Small cars post gains, trucks fall as gas prices rise

marlon May 2, 2008 8:08 am

I agree with Wakish and tyna - It’s a good idea to build up some solid discussion with other bloggers in a similar sphere AND of a similar size.
It’s too easy just to target John Chow et al and it’s important that smaller / newer bloggers work together help build our own communities, instead of just making the ‘ice bergs’ bigger.

Not John Chow May 2, 2008 10:40 am

I agree as well, whereas the name NJC gets some useful traffic from JC, I spend most of my discussion and commenting time on smaller blogs with whom I am aquainted.

Let me ask you this: How did you find my blog? If you found me through John Chow, then I have gained by enjoying your conversation. If not, that is good as well.

marlon May 5, 2008 5:52 pm

Good point well made. Obviously, your blog is designed specifically to target spillover traffic from JC which is undoubtedly a smart move. And indeed I found you whilst searching for JC so it certainly works.

Chip May 25, 2008 5:11 am

You should repeat this game every month. Who knows, maybe he’ll write about you “What a stubborn commenter!”, maybe even link to your blog. And then, explosion!

Chip’s last blog post..Sunday Speedlinking

Not John Chow May 25, 2008 10:49 am

Chip, sounds like a good plan. I will definitely keep poking fun at John Chow in the future. Have you read this one?

http://www.notjohnchow.com/john-chow-killed-by-panda/

Yan - Blog for Beginners May 30, 2008 2:18 am

Excuse me, is there any top commentator plugin in this blog? Oh maybe I’m lost but seriously I couldn’t find one. If there is any, I’ll like to make myself available for the top spot..

Yan - Blog for Beginners’s last blog post..How To Change File Permission - CHMOD

Not John Chow May 30, 2008 6:24 am

Yan,

Not yet but, it is in the plans! I’ll try to get it up this weekend. Stop back and check out the June contest and I will try to get the top commentator up and running.

Yan - Blog for Beginners May 30, 2008 2:20 pm

Aha, you got it up and running pretty fast. Your efficiency in dealing with your readers’ request is commendable.

Actually, I was just asking myself earlier why would you want to be the top commentator on other blog while you do not have one here on your blog. No offense, will you?

Yan - Blog for Beginners’s last blog post..How To Change File Permission - CHMOD

Not John Chow May 30, 2008 8:02 pm

Not offended, I just have a very long to do list. I have been distracted lately by my full time job and family responsibilities lately. Make sure you check out my new contest launching on June 1st which I was working on instead of my to do list!

pmonchet June 5, 2008 2:50 am

Now I’ll start commenting to be on top of commentator’s list. Seriously, it is only now that I am beginning to understand the importance of giving a comment. I content myself by just reading other peoples comment or reaction to a certain blogs.

pmonchet’s last blog post..Land of Serenia

The Wealthy Blogger June 10, 2008 11:03 pm

Hmmm - you seem to be there on the sidebar today at John Chow’s place.

The Wealthy Blogger’s last blog post..Should You Tell Others Your Goals?

Not John Chow June 12, 2008 5:47 am

Yep, it appears that I am back. Maybe if I am careful John will let me hang around for a bit!

Tom - StandOutBlogger.com June 19, 2008 3:55 pm

I think JohnChow.com is starting to go downhill. I recently saw that TheUniversityKid.com had a better alexa ranking than him, and whats with the dating posts?

Tom - StandOutBlogger.com’s last blog post..Should I Enter ‘Blogging Idol’?

Not John Chow June 19, 2008 7:38 pm

I think John Chow goes up and down. I don’t think he is in trouble any time soon. But, what was that dating thing?!

Austin June 24, 2008 12:29 pm

A lot of other blogs are out there. I would try some others.

Austin’s last blog post..Top 10 reasons to use Firefox over Internet Explorer as your main browser

kidkiller87 July 8, 2008 3:53 am

you are cool man !! LOL

kidkiller87’s last blog post..Worth Read Make Money Online Blog

Not John Chow July 8, 2008 9:20 pm

Thanks for the support!

Tony July 9, 2008 7:18 pm

Hi,
I actually think it’s not that good as far as strategies go.
Basically what you’re trying to do is to “steal” traffic, which seems to come from a scarcity mentality.
I don’t think it would ever take you very far, whereas doing stuff that adds value would make you more traffic (and money) really fast.

Tony

Tony’s last blog post..Kill your father

Not John Chow July 9, 2008 9:34 pm

Actually Tony,

John Chow has helped my blog get started rather quickly but, “Stealing?” Really? If as you say, that the internet is not a model of scarcity, how can you accuse me of stealing?

I also take offense that you assume that I am not adding value. Occassionally, I add value by adding humor. I also add value by showing you that it isn’t as simple as following John Chow’s example.

Perhaps I will go to your blog to see how you are making more traffic and money quickly?

Hmmm… No statistics there!