May
30
Asking questions like, “what’s your favorite color?” may generate a response in real life, but asking questions like that on the web is about useless. The question will usually fall into the chasm known as the series of tubes, never to be heard from again. These type of questions, while sometimes may go answered, are only answered with one word. RED, or BLACK, or whathaveyou.
I recently reviewed John Chow’s website for that wonderful link back thing that he does. I always hear that commenting on other’s pages is a good thing and it’s always a good thing to respond. So, I asked a simple question, twice. And, you know what I got? Nada.
What I’m illustrating here is that you want to inspire conversations with your readers. I can think of several ways to do this:
Firstly, state your opinion and why you think the way you do. Secondly, maybe give an anecdote or a story behind your thoughts and opinions. It’s like if I prefaced my music-related posting with “Once when I was about nine years old, I found my first fill of Def Leppard and can still remember the rush I got listening to Pyromania for the very first time. It’s funny that music can usually bring certain memories instantly to your mind.”
Can you think of a memory that is attached to a specific song? What made that special to you?
See what I’m trying to do there? I’m attempting to engage you, my readers, in some conversation. You’d probably start thinking of the first concert you went to or the first song that really made you form what your opinions of music are today…..and share that with me.
What you can do after someone decides to comment or share an experience with you, is comment back. Always respond. Always.
So, share with me. What’s your favorite color? Just kidding.
____________________
My name is Roberta Ferguson and I’ll be putting my two cents in here and there regarding the very basics of blogging. Even though a lot of you already know about some of this stuff, some don’t. My normal haunt is music blogging at Earsucker, but what I’ve learned in my journey in blogging, I’ll be telling you here.
I get that same rush. Def Leppard rocks!
They are my all time favorite, and I could write about them until I was blue in the face, because that’s what I grew up with and that’s the type of music that I know.
Their concert is going to rock, again!
I’m the worst at commenting back. If I don’t do it immediately I never will (got an email sat in my inbox I must respond to, but I can’t be bothered).
Oh, and to answer your question - Creep by Radiohead I remember when I was Entertainment officer at Liverpool University, sitting on the floor at the back of the theatre, with me, three mates, and Thom Yorke messing around with a guitar singing that song. Was amazing.
Rhys,
Thanks for the comment, then
I am the opposite, I’m always looking for something to occupy my time, so I jump right on emails and comments. It doesn’t help that I have the attention span of a peanut.
Black is my favorite color … LOL
Darin
Haha, Darin, I knew someone would come out with that! lol
An interesting article - I raise similar points in my post entitled ‘Engaging with members‘ back on 3 March.
If your aim is to develop a successful online community, it will never succeed unless you engage with your members.
It is essential to be personal, be responsive and accessible.
- Martin Reed
Thanks for the suggestions, they give me an idea for a post.
[...] Engaging your readers is an important part of running a successful blog. You may write stimulating and thought provoking articles, but if there’s no call to action or reason for your readers to to leave you feedback, what purpose does it serve? Is your blog simply a repository of information or is it an evolving community of like-minded people who share thoughts and ideas? [...]
Many people read my blog just to read it. I encourage that. I didn’t like returning 25+ comments five days a week and i always return comments
Do have a site meter that shows how many page views I get, many links etc
When people begin talking blogging formula, they’re taking a new medium and making it into something that doesn’t have room for growth into different genres.
Blogging gives us the opportunity to express ourselves in the manner we’re comfortable with
if people are interested they will read the whole post. if they like it they will come back
I knew nothing about blogging when I began, but people read my blog anyway
The more I learned the more I realized this is the one medium I could say anything in.
I love discovering quirky blogs that the blogger has put her soul into