Today’s a busy one. Plenty of work came in – none of it from my marketing efforts but plenty from older contacts. You never know.
I had a conversation with a few folks about bloggers and trust. We came to the same conclusion; there are some people who ruin it for themselves. Blogging isn’t rocket science. It’s finding something to say and saying it with honesty and consistency. That last part is crucial. Some bloggers just talk out both sides of their mouths.
Luckily, bloggers-gone-bad are rare. But we all make mistakes in judgment, say things we can’t take back, or tick off someone or many someones who don’t agree with us. It’s those bloggers who can’t own up to that who find themselves going down in flames.
So if you’re blogging or wanting to, follow the simple plan for keeping your readers’ trust.
Don’t lie. Honestly, do you think your readers can’t see through that? Even stretching the truth a little can, and most likely will, catch up with you.
Do be honest. Even if it’s painful sometimes, be honest in both your approach and your responses. It’s so easy to lose trust, and so hard to win it back, if you even can.
Don’t play the emotion card. I’ve seen bloggers who can’t win people to their side of an argument resort to emotional manipulation to win sympathy. Sure, sympathy you’ll have, but when your readers get tired of your whining, you’ll be singing to an empty room.
Do own up. You screwed up. You tossed out a fact or an argument that was flawed, weak, or just plain untrue. The moment you say “You know what? I was wrong” you gain a lot more credibility than that attempt to gain sympathy by saying “The nasty emails I’m getting made me cry and kept me up all night.”
Don’t endorse products you’re paid to endorse on your personal blog. I endorse few things here, none of which I’ve been paid to endorse nor have talked to the companies directly about at any point prior to my saying “I LOVE this.” That’s the way it’s going to stay. And when I run across something I don’t like, I say so. It’s called journalistic integrity. The moment I accept money to endorse a product, I’m no longer a journalist. I’m a paid mouthpiece. Big difference.
Do be upfront. If you’re paid to push the latest product or service, say so in your post. Believe it or not, your readers can tell. I stopped following a few bloggers because it was blatantly obvious they were being paid to drop that name or product mention in their posts. I don’t know about you, but I feel cheated when I read stuff like that. If the bloggers had bothered to say “This is a paid endorsement” I’d have read it and not thought twice about it (but would have questioned why a personal blog is suddenly a paid, endorsement-laced advertisement for the highest bidder).
Don’t state facts that aren’t facts. It’s why I can’t follow too many political blogs. I simply cannot see facts turned, nor can I see one more blogger say things like “EVERYONE does this!”
Do remain skeptical. If you’re presented with something that sounds factual, don’t pass it on blindly. Remember that photo of the kid supposedly taken on top of the World Trade Center as the plane was coming in? If you fell for that and didn’t check up on it, maybe you shouldn’t be blogging.
What blogging sins drive you away?
17 responses to “How to Blog Like You Mean It”
–People who want you to "sign up" or "register" to leave a comment, or make you jump through hoops to comment. I should be able to use my name and my URL and that's it.
–People who don't visit back, but want to "exchange links" — which, to them, means I put them on my links list and they ignore me as they cold-email others. Especially when their blog/site has NOTHING to do with me or my interests.
–Whiners.
–People who blog once every few months and then wonder why no one visits.
–People who don't do their homework and parrot political (usually right wing) lies and act like they're facts.
I hate the sign-up red tape myself, Devon. I had one blog I stopped following simply because I couldn't get through the ridiculous process required to view the content. I tried it twice. Then I decided nothing being said could possibly be that important.
Not a fan of the "Follow me!" requests that never get reciprocated. Also, I loathe trying to connect and converse with a blogger who either A) doesn't respond at all, or B) doesn't even enable comments on the blog.
I'm no blog expert, by ANY means. But, as a blog reader, I've come to realize that trust is a big thing. Going with the endorsement one off your list:
In the past, I've been able to overlook the endorsements, if the site provided good information. But, that all changed with one comment from one particular blog. The comment insinuated that you would only get half the story from now on. The half that showcased the endorsed company. The comment was on a guest contributor's post in response to a fairly nasty remark that a reader had commented. (I don't want to go into specifics)
It made me question everything that I had read after the endorsement started. Then, I started to question everything that anyone has ever written on there during the whole time that I started reading the blog.
I looked up to that blog owner and put a lot of my trust with them. I saw them as an expert in starting your own blog and a few other things. Now, my trust has sunk faster than the Titanic. That was a person that was upfront about it.
All I ask is that what you do write on a blog is YOUR thoughts, opinions and ideas. Not write what you will think the endorser will like, so you can get paid. You no longer care about your readers; just the almighty buck.
Wendy, that brings up another point – if you want to endorse products, there's nothing wrong with that as long as you're doing it on the right platform. A personal blog, an advice blog, etc. – not the right places. On a blog that the endorsed company runs – fine, great, superb. If you're paid to endorse multiple products and services, separate that from your personal, already branded blog. Otherwise, your credibility is going down the toilet.
People can have a blog endorsement and still write their completely honest and unbiased opinion about their endorser.
Also, Fox News is an unbiased no-spin zone.
;-P
A big part of my business writing blog is making things simple. So, I often share different sites or products that I like because they make it simple.
I often forget to put that I have no affiliation. I guess it's the way I'm wired, if I did have an affiliation, I would definitely say so. You nailed it with – be honest.
I left a very popular blog because I hated the whining attitude-drove me nuts. Quite frankly, I could not understand how the person got so successful.
I'm with you about the comments, but a blog also loses creditability with me if they don't have a good spam blocker and the comments are filled with spam-ever seen Yahoo blogs?
I don't mean the bloggers who are new and don't recognize those "Great post" comments for what they are. I can't believe how creative spammers are getting-get a life.
Sometimes I amuse myself by reading the spam that Akismet caught on my blog. Very entertaining. 🙂
Yo, you crack me up. 🙂
Cathy, on your blog, you can tell your comments come from your heart. There's nothing there that even hints that you've been paid to preach, so to speak.
I've left a few blogs because of that very issue, too. It's just frustrating to go to a blog where you're used to reading X only to find that today, we're whining endlessly about C. A little of that, sure. But constantly? Get a therapist! LOL
Amen to all of the points already raised. I'd like to add the one more blogging sin: Narcissism. Worse yet, one-sided narcissism.
When blogging first became popular, a couple of online friends of mine quit posting to our shared groups and cut back on e-mails saying, "Just read my blog." Guess what? I didn't. (Okay, so I checked one of them a couple times, but not to read the posts. I checked the comments. The two main responders? The other blogger who'd ceased all non-blog communications and the guy whose blog it was.)
That "me me me me me" attitude seems to have shifted more to Facebook. "Oh, you didn't know about my great new job/baby/spouse? I posted on Facebook." Sorry. I'm not on Facebook. I'm just not that interested in one-sided communication with people who aren't nearly as interesting as they think they are.
There's only one personal blog I read, and it's by a long-time online friend whose posts aren't all about her. She uses small examples from her life and spins them into thought-provoking lessons applicable to us all. I have no clue how she does that on a near-daily basis.
As for honesty and taking responsibility…loved the scene on Mad Men last night where Joan chastised (and fired) Lane's secretary for blaming someone else for her screw-up.
Paula, absolutely true. I get a little weary of it myself.
Worse is when the blogger's interaction is limited to a select group – every time. Hey, if you don't want to respond to every poster every time, fine. But to limit your attentions to only those posters whom you think will benefit you in some way – that's lame.
It surprises me that those who are guilty don't see it. Or maybe they do and don't care? I'm not sure which would be worse.
Well, I'm affiliated with several for pay deals… and I think I've made it clear which one's they are.
What drives me crazy is promises to write regularly, than nothing happens for weeks, followed by an apology… like Devon… no whiners please, unless it's the classy way Lori and I do it.
Automatic sound! But I've whined about that already 😉
let's see… enough from me I think.
I'm quickly driven away by blogs that appear to have been designed for the purpose of getting me *to* the blog rather than actually engaging me once I'm, ya know, *there.*
I realize that SEO, keywords, Google-friendliness & the like are important (some would say essential) concerns — but when these matters cease being a means of promoting great content & instead become the purpose of the site, then that site quickly drops off my proverbial radar screen.
Your Google rank and/or link strategy may get me to your blog once — but the content & community I find there will determine whether or not I return on a regular basis (or ever again).
"All I ask is that what you do write on a blog is YOUR thoughts, opinions and ideas. Not write what you will think the endorser will like, so you can get paid. You no longer care about your readers; just the almighty buck."
Agree with that completely. I have no objections whatsoever to bloggers promoting affiliate programs or even accepting private sponsors.
But I DO object to those affiliate relationships or sponsorships influencing the editorial side of a blog (given, I don't consider any of my blogs to be "personal blogs" either — they're all a part of my business model and not just for promotion and networking).
If a sponsor insists that all mentions of them be positive, or if they require you to write about them (as opposed to purchasing banner ad space in your sidebar or something), it's a completely different game imo. And the bloggers who allow that to happen are the ones that will continually come under fire and lose credibility. And as you said Lori, they do it to themselves.
My own policy is pretty simple. I only endorse affiliate programs if I've either purchased or used the product / service or if I know the person behind it well enough to be comfortable recommending their stuff (usually the former). On top of that, I put a banner at the top disclosing the affiliate relationship. That banner also links to my affiliate policy page (for the writing blog at least — I haven't added one to all of my sites yet). All reviews include both the good and the bad — generally in the form of suggestions for improving it.
I want my readers to know what they're getting before they purchase based on my recommendation, or sign up for something. And that policy's served me well over the years. It builds more trust, which in turn leads to more sales anyway. I wish more bloggers would understand that sales aren't about sleazy marketing and their quick buck for the sponsorships. In the end it's all about trust. You might fool readers once with a BS, biased review. But it's highly unlikely you'll get away with it again.
Anne, exactly. I don't even realize you have affiliates because they're not intrusive and you're not drum-beating. I'm fine with them too because you've earned your trust – and you're just cute as a button. 🙂
Hugh, I'm the same. I used Entrecard to find a number of my current favorites. They did the rest by providing content that was real.
I don't even know what my Google ranking is. Probably pathetic!
I do have to add that I don't mind ads like adsense or the affiliate ones. Usually, they're off to the side and just sit there.
On an occasion, I will see a blog that will have them and point them out about every other post. You'll see things like, "For more information on this check out the sidebar on the right." (where you'll see ads for the post topic)They're not specifically pointing an ad out, but they're getting you to look in that direction. I don't care for that, because it tells me that the posts were specifically written for that purpose and not just to give you some good information.
Jenn, perfect points. My big bitch with endorsements are with these types of people – they do so on their personal blogs. They do so without telling anyone they're doing so. They make it sound as though it's an unbiased, unpaid endorsement. They change their tune about said product/service midstream – the moment they're paid, they're suddenly saying something completely different. They drop that name three or more times in one post (obviously being paid for SEO saturation). They make every post about that product/service, or they take on so many endorsement deals it's more like watching a string of infomercials.
That, to me, makes a mockery of the readership. If you can't be straight with people on a personal blog, you can't be trusted to do so at all. Who wants to hire that kind of writer?
Wendy, I don't find AdSense offensive. I have it here. Most of the time I have no idea what ads are up. I have no choice in what appears. And I don't think my posts have ever referred to an advertiser or product at the same time it showed up on my AdSense.
One blog drove me so crazy I wanted to write to the blogger and say "Really? You think no one gets that you're paid to write about that? What's that have to do with your writing?" I didn't. I just stopped following. It was crazy – the posts talked about office product one day, healthcare prodcuts the next. It was so schizonphrenic. Bad reading!
Hi Lori,
I'm only relatively new to blogging but have been writing all my life. I have searched the net for blogs that entertain me, that deal with writing, blogging and real life events. Yours is one on my list of blogs to regularly read.
Why? for all the reasons that others have commented on. It's easy to read, its informative and I agree with a lot of your comments.
Blogs have got to be interesting to me, not whining and I like regular postings not constant apologies for why people haven't written when they said they would.
The blogs I follow are those where people have something to say, its honest and its not full, and I mean really full, of ads and rubbish which has no relevance to what the person is saying.
Personally, my blog is my life, my opinion. If people want to read it thats great and if they don't thats fine to. I don't have a blog to fill with ads and rubbish. I don't like it on others blogs so why put it on mine.
Keep up the good work
Fiona
Great seeing you here, Fiona!
I don't like when bloggers say "I'm sorry I haven't written in a while." Just write already! 🙂 I do think people get stuck for ideas. That's fine. Just blog when you have an idea.
I'll check out your blog. 🙂