The Great Social Networking Experiment (continued)
I know you come here to listen to me moan about various woes, low-paying jobs, and my latest hangnail, don’t you? You don’t? Well, maybe you should tell me why you’re here. What compels you to stop by this site and honor me with your presence every day/week? I know you do – you’ve left your comments, made me a Favorite, followed me, get my RSS feed, and run up the total on the site visitor meter. And I can’t thank you all enough for it. Without you, I’d be twisting in the wind – the sound of one hand clapping. Laurel without Hardy. Tea without sugar.
This blog was started as a place for me to build a little bit of e-street cred among my peers, and as a place where potential clients could find me or check out my style. It seems to be working – you’re here, at least. The clients? I’ve had a few from the blog. Yet even though I have a purpose in mind for the blog, it’s taken on its own life form. It’s entertained, informed, maybe even educated a few along the way. And I’ve had people view me as an expert of one form or another. That’s never a bad thing (unless you see me as a brain surgeon, which would be a bad, bad assumption).
If you think blogs can’t do much more than serve as your personal platform, you’re wrong. Look at the careers that have been launched, enhanced, or even damaged by blogging. Did you know who Michael Stelzner was before blogging? Devon Ellington? Have you watched your favorite newcomers become leaders in the blogging world (like Melissa Donovan or Jennifer Williamson)? Haven’t you enjoyed Kathy Kehrli’s irreverence enough to make her a Top Blogger? How about Susan Johnston’s Urban musings? These folks have all marked their territory, so to speak, through blogging and keen utilization of this handy little social networking tool.
But beware what you write, for cyberspace has an infinitely long memory and even worse, people are much more willing to get ugly with you online than in person. One best-selling book author was badly attacked over some off-hand comment she made (I won’t embarrass her by pointing you to her). Worse, her comment landed on another blog and the blog owner and her followers quickly began eviscerating the author, each comment more caustic and harmful than the last (we call that the pile-on, and it’s akin to watching lemmings leap in succession over a cliff).
Are you using blogging to its potential? Here are a few things that will make it easier for readers to return:
Allow for multiple subscription methods. Be it email subscribing or access via a feed reader, give your readers what they ask for. I recently added links at the end of each post that allow people to bookmark favorites into various bookmarking/subscribing tools. I also provide Feedburner access so you can follow via email or read posts in IE (if your version is new enough). Another cool little tool that Blogger allows is the “Followers” widget. You can quickly add someone to your “Blogs I’m Following” list, which appears in your dashboard. Moreover, others can follow you.
Register your blog on reader sites. I use Technorati and Bloglines, which both compile summaries of your favorites and introduces you to other new “favorites.” Users can also search for blog topics and if you’re registered, guess who they’re going to find? And like all good RSS feed readers, these online sites grab your updated content regularly.
Get an Entrecard. This is a neat little social networking tool all its own, but it works in tangent with your blog to bring traffic to your site. Think it doesn’t work? I know of at least 6 loyal posters here who came in via Entrecard. And like chum Kirk Petersen found out, Entrecard, if approached with patience, does work.
Link, baby, link. Want to make new friends and maybe get a reciprocal mention on another’s blog? Share a link to their blog with your readers. Don’t link willy nilly – make sure it’s relevant to your readership (your primary audience and focus), and make sure it’s useful. For more punch, head over to the linkee’s blog and post mention of the link in the comments section.
Build a blog roll. Nothing drives traffic to your site more than being an active member of others’ sites. By active I mean commenting regularly (once a day, once a week, whatever suits your schedule) and extending the courtesy of alerting others to these blogs.
Comment elsewhere and respond to your readers. Recently I removed one or two blogs from my blog roll for one reason – the owners never commented or acknowledged their readers, nor did one of them ever venture outside her own little blog world, which after three years I’m not putting up with that! All I’m saying is putting up a blog isn’t just a “Here I am – adore me” notification. It comes with responsibility to be a good member of the blogging community. Interact once in a while.
Alert your Facebook and Twitter communities of new blog posts. I admit I don’t do this in Facebook as that is my “completely social” network, but I have begun Twittering my latest posts, which have already begun to bring in some new faces. If the technology is there to spread the word, spread it thickly, but with care.
How do you promote your blog? And why do you visit this blog? How did you find out about it?
I’m here because it’s like having morning coffee with a friend and colleague, a place to brainstorm, discuss ideas, and maybe come away viewing the world a little differently.
And thanks for the link love!
I have my blog link in my email sig line, and do some of the things mentioned in your post, mostly b/c I'm a yappy friendly southerner vs. actively promoting my blog.
I visit here because I like your honest about freelancing and your sharing of tips & linkage. No idea how I found you…probably following someone's blog roll or from when you commented elsewhere. Oh, to be able to defrag my brain!
*rushes to comment*
“…I have begun Twittering my latest posts, which have already begun to bring in some new faces.”
This is exactly the kind of confirmation I have been waiting for prior to investing time and effort exploring the possibility of using Twitter. Thanks for being my crash test dummy.
Even last night at a San Diego Bloggers MeetUp, as I listened to young mommy-bloggers enthusiastically endorse the latest shiny toy in the social media arsenal, I still didn’t get it. One of them did mention using Twitter to promote your blog, but I worried that it would just turn out to be another time sink.
*sighs, trudges off to Twitter*
Whoops! Sorry, I forgot to contribute something possibly useful, and that is that I use the Writer’s Digest forum for cross-fertilizations with my blog. I know that works, and I can share there more and more often than I can/do in my blog.
You’re so right about tackling tech selectively. No sense in wasting energy on fruitless efforts, but you don’t know until you try, sometimes.
For you, Devon, anytime. :))
Angie, I was thinking I found you via Entrecard, but my brain’s in need of rebooting itself!
Georganna, a week into my experiment with Twitter and I’m not sure I get it yet, but I’m not as confused. And it’s not proving to be a huge time sink – yet. I see the potential for abuse on my part, though.
Do you mean you post links to your blog content on WD forums? If so, excellent idea!
Oh, yeah! I’ve tried using “teasers”, but don’t know their effects. Sometimes I just copy the whole post, other times I write about the subject and mention the post with a link.
Sometimes I reference or use material from the forum in my blog, and then let people at the forum know. That’s most effective–people love to read about themselves!
Chum… isn’t that what you throw in the water to make the fish excited? Anyway, thanks for the shout-out. 🙂
I used to have my blog in my email signature — I started the blog at a time when I had no current clients. I would delete the blog from my sig when I sent email to potential clients. I style myself as a red state voter in a deep blue state, and I’m leery of calling attention to my blog with prospective clients. (Yes, I know they’ll find it if they Google me.)
Then I got an actual client, my email volume went up, and I started forgetting to delete the blog address. So I took it out of my sig.
This may be an excess of caution — anybody who freaks out at my mainstream views is someone I don’t want to work for anyway. I’m considering going to the opposite extreme and integrating my blog with my marketing site — the blog gets a heck of a lot more traffic than my marketing site, and it showcases the writing skills I’m trying to sell.
Lori, you sometimes post about what I think of as stupid client tricks — ever have a client take offense at your blog?
I primarily rely on Twitter and a link in my signature. What i like about this blog is the very useful information delivered in a straightforward style.
I read your blog because i feel like reading. Hehehe
My blog is linked to my other sites and I read you because I learn from you.
Kirk, to date no client has taken offense. In general I don’t blog about current or past clients – only those who never quite made the cut. And I’m careful to give some fairly general descriptions that wouldn’t embarrass them. Those I blog about are those I don’t work for, and even then, you have to keep their privacy in mind.
Like you, I don’t put my blog in my email sig, and for the same reason. I have my website addy, which has a link to this blog. I’ve worked with people on the opposite side of my political views. They’ve never known because to me, the job is to make them happy, not to insert my own opinion.
Willie, I’m glad you feel like reading. 🙂
khaye, I love your blog. Your insights are thought-provoking.
Kimberly, thanks. I thoroughly enjoy your blog for exactly that reason. 🙂
You’ll never be fish scraps, Kirk. 🙂
Great post Lori, and I have to say, you brought a blush to my cheeks.
One thing that I constantly see bloggers fail to do (especially newbies) is engage in the community, especially with comment reciprocation.
I understand that bigwigs like Problogger, Copyblogger, and Dooce couldn’t possibly reciprocate all those comments – but many smaller bloggers are missing a huge opportunity to connect with other bloggers and build (or retain) a readership.
Anyway, that’s my two cents 😉 Thanks again!