I’ve always wondered - “How did they make it to the top?” If someone could tell me the 10 ways to make me a popular blogger and make everyone link to me. I read and I read but it’s all the same s*** everywhere. B

So what does it take to become a popular blogger, accepted and trusted by everyone (well almost) ? I’ve found some traits interesting, from every blogger that I followed. Some were common, and some unique. As a blogger I think we should absorb the best ones, from the people who made it big. Here are a few i gathered, let’s see if you will disagree with me.

 12 habits of successful bloggers you should copy 

1 - Read more than you write ( Courtesy Darren Rowse )
I found this habit of Darren, very interesting. We bloggers spent a major part of our time tweaking, and writing contents for our blog isn’t it? And with a popular blog like ProBlogger, anyone would assume that Darren uses most of his time with his blog, writing content and tweaking the design. But it was interesting to know that Darren spends most of the time reading than writing.
That is indeed a great habit for a busy man like him. I guess it’s about keeping you updated and “in the loop” with the blogosphere.

2 - Respond to emails (Courtesy Darren Rowse )
Another habit of Darren that I admire. Even though he’s a celebrity, if you send Darren a genuine question/suggestion on email, it would most probably be replied. This shows how passionate he is and open to ideas. I think we all should keep this as a reference point and copy it in to our lives.

3 - Social media (Courtesy Pete Cashmore)
Every popular blogger is the super star in a social media network. A look at their friends number itself will make you feel like the silliest living thing on the planet. Well, it’s not magic that got them those many friends, but hard work. Popular bloggers are social media enthusiasts they talk to people, they are open to discussions and ideas and this reflects in their friends number on facebook or orkut. So go out talk to people and build your network, it’s a powerful tool.

4 - Be the first to jump in ( Courtesy John Chow )
I learned this from John Chow. John jumps first into any affiliate marketing or money making tool that comes in (or so I guess). And this is exceptionally good because if the tool takes off, he’s probably going to sit on top of a gold mine some time from now. All he needs to do is sign up at the first place. So be the first to jump into things, most of them are free, so what’s keeping you waiting?

5 - Ask questions ( Courtesy Darren Rowse )
Another one I loved about Darren. He always asks questions and manages to spark off discussions on the “seemingly” silly topics. It’s very easy for bloggers to “feel” that they are masters of the trade and asking questions only will degrade their status. Of course not!

6 - Be friendly ( Courtesy Michael Martine)
I love to talk to friendly people, and so do you right? To me, it’s not the knowledge level or celebrity status of a person that makes me respect him, but his willingness to be friendly and share the same frequency with you. Many a times, you have people who have enormous amount of knowledge but would never come down to your level and share knowledge with you. It’s a frustrating situation. But there are some very pleasant personalities like Michael Martine, who are very friendly and supportive. The interesting thing about talking to such people is that they are willing to share the same frequency with you, and they’ll share knowledge with you. It’d be a win-win situation than a one-way process. I wish more bloggers be this way, and it’d be lovely to network with them.

7 - Either be seriously good or be evil ( Courtesy Kumiko )
I learned this one from Kumiko. And she’s very right. People like to listen, hear and sometimes do evil. So if you are all set to grab people’s attention, either be seriously good or be damn evil - the smart way. Either way, do it the appealing and smart way. (Being evil doesn’t mean harming someone, but being smart.)

8 - Show off your money ( Courtesy John Chow )
I don’t think everyone will agree with it, but I have to agree that some guys do it best. Like John. This man flaunts his money like none does and hey, that’s his USP. So if you want to help people make money, come on first show me how much you got? (A good lesson to all those “money making gurus” on blogspot.)

9 - Give attention to details that others may miss ( Courtesy Amit Agarwal )
This is a simple yet very effective in convincing readers. A good example of this would be DI’s Amit Agarwal. Amit’s “WOW” factor in his posts are the simplicity. If you look at his popular posts, all of us would feel unanimously say - “Damn! Why didn’t I think about it earlier?”
That’s exactly what makes the man popular. He has keen attention to details and he brings up all the tips and tweaks possible for even the less important applications.
Paying attention to details finally pays off !

10 - Be consistent (Courtesy Amit Agarwal )
I think every popular blogger would agree with this one. Think about it this way, was Darren popular when he started his blog? Was Amit aware that he’s gonna be featured on the cover page of a national weekly? No, isn’t it?
So the point here is - Consistency. If you have the passion in you, keep it going and success will automatically fall in place.

11 - Live on criticism (Courtesy Amit Agarwal )
Criticism and bad mouthing is the part of the game. No one would be popular without hearing abuses and criticisms. Or ask the blog celebrities today. They would most happily agree that through out their career, there were criticisms, bad mouthing swearing even. But the idea is to keep the flame burning, come what may. (A good lesson for young bloggers who fret over monthly AdSense earnings and Google PR)

12 - Link Voraciously (Courtesy John TP )
We all know it’s about the network ! Let me give you an example. John TP. This young man is not very common in comments or networking (John this is only an example, hope you will take it in the right spirits) so once I thought he’s not social. But looking at his posts, I found that John links voraciously, to every possible resource. And he even writes posts to refer someone or a tool. That’s a great virtue if you ask me. Because, you may not be good in socializing but linking to fellow bloggers and resources makes you equally popular. (This is a lesson to all those bloggers who think 24 times before linking to someone. Spare me, I think only thrice )

There must be a couple of other habits too that makes a blogger popular but I’m leaving it to you. We all know there are no “Top 10″ rules (Like the digg lists) to fame in the blogosphere, it’s all common sense and hard work. We all have the answers in us, it’s just that we are not speaking about it.