New England Outside is just over 1 year old with 36ish posts! This still makes me the new kid on the outdoor blogging block but I have already leaned the most important lesson: build relationships with other bloggers and treat their blogs as you would like yours to be treated.

You might think that the keys to blog success is to write tons of relevant content, post plenty of pictures and create a good page layout; at least that is what I thought at first. Well, no matter what Kevin Costner says, if you build it they will not necessarily come. If no one knows your page exists then no one will read it; believe me I have the initial low page visit numbers to prove it!
You are not alone in the outdoor blogging world. There are tons of other blogs outdoor out there that are written by great people who are just as enthusiastic as you are. Connecting with these people will open your eyes to new ideas, create awareness for your site and maybe even help you make some new friends with the same interests as you.
Here is the important part; if you reach out to other bloggers then be sincere about it. Do it because you really want to expand your network and build a meaningful connection with like minded folk. This means that you should not post self serving comments to use their blog to simply direct traffic to yours.
So take a look around the blogging world. If you see something interesting then let the writer know and post a few comments on stuff that interests you. After all that’s the way you want readers to treat your blog right? Don’t be surprised if your own page views start going up as your network grows.
These are a few of the blogs that I read on the regular:
Guthook is a long distance hiker who has done over 6,000 miles in four years.
Here you will find great trip reports and pictures of lesser known, but still epic, hikes in the Whites.
A Nordic based ultra-light hiker with amazing photos.
This is a great blog about day hiking in New Hampshire. Its owner is a very nice fellow who was one of the first people to link to New England Outside.
This site is about backcountry skiing and mountain biking to the extreme. The writing style is engaging, informative and funny at the same time.
Sectionhiker.com really sets the standard in outdoor blogging. Here you will find trip reports from all over the Appalachian Trail, gear reviews, and a whole range of outdoor related insights.