Blogging Is No One-Way Street
A big, probably the biggest, mistake new bloggers make is to believe that you just have to fill your blog with content, and the readers will come. After two weeks of writing they feel disappointed and their posting frequency goes down, along with their motivation.
What some fail to realize is that a blog is not just another way to publish content. Blogs are community hubs. If you don’t interact with other bloggers, they are probably not going to notice you.
There are lots of possibilities to get your name out.
- Comments - Don’t just write a comment or answer one on your blog. When you leave a comment and get an answer, reply to it. Start a discussion. Comments are forgotten pretty fast, good conversations are remembered.
- StumbleUpon - When you come across a post you like, stumble it. Use it as a bookmark tool. Mention your stumbles from time to time. If your posts are worth it, you’ll see people starting to stumble them.
- Advertisement - You made a bit of money selling ads? Why not reinvest some of it? You want people to know you, and bloggers tend to be very thankful to their advertisers.
- Your favorite blog has a post including a question you’d like to answer or comment on? Think it through and make a post on your blog. Mention the other blog and start a blog conversation.
These are just a few examples for blog interactions. Whenever you see an opportunity for blog dialogue, take it. You will instantly realize the benefits.
I’ve become acquainted with really great, interesting people since I started to blog. Don’t miss out on that.
If you don’t have a big advertisement budget, a lot of content for search engine traffic, or influential friends, you need to interact with other bloggers.
The exchange of opinions & ideas is the essence of blogging.
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It’s true that blogging is (or should be) a social activity, and this is something I’m becoming more aware of. It might be time to turn on the comments on my blog!
[…] Blogging Is No One-Way Street from Bloggers Journey. […]
Tobsy,
Truer words were never spoken.
Blogging is an interactive exercise and one should be diligent in commenting and responding to the comments - by doing this you can build ‘fans’ and become a fan of others - this all leads to socializing which, as you know, where it’s at.
Great post. Thanks.
i like the point about redistributing your ad revenues. there’s a real get rich quick goldrush culture about…to reinforce the idea of slow, sustainable long-term community…thats great. thanks.
Great advice, I always try to reply to each person who comments on my blogs, always feel good that someone is reading what I write and feels moved to leave feedback.
Not only does it help your traffic to interact with other bloggers but it makes it a lot more satisfying too.
The point about reinvesting some revenue makes good sense too.
[…] There are lots of possibilities to get your name out if you are starting to blog. The biggest secret is to remember that blogging is no one-way street […]
What you wrote is very helpful and informative especially for bloggers like me. As to one of the points you mentioned, a friend who introduced me to blogging shared the same principle, “paying it forward” was how he called it. Thanks, again, Tobsy!
very unique and efficient ways thanx for sharing.
Jeff had a great point. “pay it forward” is a great goal to put to blogging. It’s not just writing the content and putting it out there, you have to interact with your “customers” and in return they’ll keep coming back to your site. Thanks for sharing!
Very good points. It takes a lot more than just “content is king” to get over the hurdles of today!
I agree with you on all the points. Question posts encourages comments, and allows you to talk to your readers, which allows you to develop a connection with them. This almost instantly makes them a a reader that comes back. Also advertising along with StumbleUpon will increase your traffic for sure, but the StumbleUpon users are usually ad-blind, which isn’t the best if you are using Adsense or other programs like Adsense.
Another great thing you can do to get your readers up is a contest. Even if the prizes are small, free is free to your readers. You can promote it in forums related to your site, and getting prizes is as easy as asking places nicely if they will sponsor you.