This past weekend the girls over at SITS spoke of how to build up your blog. But the most interesting thing was was how they speak of “tribes”. Tribes being a group of blogs that you yourself follow regularly, and in turn, a bunch of people/blogs that follow you regularly. So I thought more about this and have decided it’s a wonderful idea! There are so many blogs that I follow regularly that my readers may also like, and there are also so many ways to be able to follow After the Alter that I feel a lot of you don’t take advantage of. So today’s post is Part 1 of 2 of how I am building my tribe.

I am going to start by sharing ways that my readers can get more involved in topics being discussed here at After The Alter. Then tomorrow I will go beyond that and share with you some people that I consider being part of my Tribe.

After The Alter: The Blog

I try to write on this blog 5 days a week Monday-Friday. I enjoy it immensely and I love to have people comment. Comments are so important to a blog because it allows readers to speak their mind about what I am writing, and it also allows me to find new blogs that I may not read or follow yet. (that is if you include your url) Also, I have added a new feature on my side bar which lists my top commenter’s in order of the number of comments they’ve left in the month. This way I can showcase those people and thank them for loyally commenting. Another great way to get involved is by REPLYING to comments that other people have left! If you look to the right of the commenter’s name you will see the word REPLY. If you click on that, whatever you write will appear in Pink below the comment you want to respond to. This way you can not only interact with me but each other.

After The Alter: Google Friends Connect

I LOVE google friends! If you aren’t familiar with what it is, it allows you to follow a blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in my sidebar widget. It then automatically adds After The Alter to your google reader so that you don’t miss any posts. It also allows me to see who is following me, and allows me to find your blog too! If you are WAY behind the times and don’t know what a google reader is….you go to www.google.com/readerand set up a google account. This allows you to follow all of your favorite blogs all in one place! (you may be asking..doesn’t everyone know what google reader is?? and the answer is NO! Yes I know crazy..but true) And they automatically update in your reader every time one of those blogs posts a new topic. So go on…become my google friend! You know you want to.

After The Alter: Facebook Fan Page

Did you know that After the Alter has a Facebook Fan Page? Well I do! Here I would LOVE to get a little community going of people who want to talk and share about life, marriage, relationships, homes…pretty much anything. In a perfect world people would come here to post things that work from them, advice and pretty much share any “After The Alter” tips they may have. Currently I try to do a nightly “Question of the Day” and I do get some responses. It’s funny because I personally know most of the responders. Those people rarely comment on the blog itself, so it’s nice of them to come out of hiding and participate on the fan page. Also, a benefit of the fan page is that I post all my posts on the page, so it’s an easy way to keep up to date with all the After The Alter posts!

After The Alter: Twitter: @afterthealter

It’s a fact that I am addicted to Twitter. I was always that person that didn’t get what all the fuss was about. But once I started blogging I found out really quick. My twitter name is @afterthealter. If you don’t follow me yet please do! I pretty much tweet about any random thought I may have. It’s amazing how much you can get to know people through 140 character statements. I really have been building Internet friendships through Twitter, and I am so happy about that. In the 2nd part of this post series I plan to share some of my favorite Twitter friends. So please stay tuned.

There are so many ways to interact with me and others on After The Alter. So it’s time for your lurkers to come out of hiding!  There are mommy blogs, and TTC blogs, and tons of other little niches, but what about good old marriage blogs. I want this to be a place to share your life, and get ideas from me and others. So lets start building the After The Alter Tribe. I can’t do it alone, so let’s get this party started!

Stay tuned for tomorrows post in which I will showcase who I consider to be “my tribe”. I hope to build this tribe, but for now I love my current Internet friends. Thanks all!