This blogging everyday thing is challenging. I am only here once every three days, but I post for Ernest ( paw recognition software in the works), and on banamak.org as well. I feel like I am becoming a content creator par excellence.|Trust me, I have some pretty awesome content when I try. It is hard to keep my voices distinct. I could have Ernest blog about my life (yawn) or cooking (yum) or I could post recipes on Ernest's blog.
I could just chuck the whole thing out the window and start over again.
I get lots of great feedback from my friends, my three admirers and my eight detractors on my content. Some of you are also now starting to post comments and I am trying really hard to engage you by replying to them.
In school, we talked a lot about engagement. I think this is key to building a solid brand and following, and something I should have paid better attention to a while ago.
I love twitter because it throws things out to the universe and usually you get some quick feedback or see if you content goes viral with very simple twitter analytic tools. In my opinion, this is much harder with blog content. With share buttons on blogs or at the end of blog posts, you can all share out my content (please do). But to comment or have a dialogue requires commitment/conversion/a call to action of you, dear reader, to register (no!) or tell me more about yourself (as if I would do anything with that information), in order to engage. In this day and age, this is too much work for the consumer. What would work better for you? I would love for comments, I would love for shares, I would love likes.
I think I'm pretty freaking funny (at times) and have something witty to say (upon occasion) and usually have something worth sharing (more than ever). If you like this content, please send me a sign.
As I learn more and more about how the consumer/reader acts when encountering any sort of marketing/information on the interwebs, I realize how important it is to engage and start conversations. While I am not trying to sell you a toaster/natural supplement/insurance quote, I would love to convert you to a loyal reader and follower of my love of food, commentary on life, social media, travel, and what a six year old basset is really thinking if you let his humans blog for him.
Trust me, this is not an easy thing to write, nor post. I am trying not to grovel, just trying to figure out where to go next.
nm
6 comments:
ok - here I am commenting and I am going to have to prove I am "not a robot" even though I have commented before. I do not have to do this on tea's, or paola's blogs. I don;t know why. There is a reason I do not have a blog and here is one of them
how about ask me who I am first and then decide you need to ask me if I am a robot.
this is the rhetorical you
also - it is wasier and more fun to comment on facebook than it is on a blog - sorry, but that's the truth
Tea responds to almost every single dingle comment and frankly, that seems tedious - and it comes across treacley and squealy - but she's all starry eyed about building community and stuff
a big fat whatever to that.
If I didn;t know her - I would have quit that blog long ago
sorry Tea - love you!
what ever you do - do not send out virtual hugs
that is my advice to you
love you
mean it
Engage.—I remember having a conversation with someone in 2005 about how overused I thought that word was. She stated that it was an important word in the consultant field and if you did not “engage” you were not doing your job. I thought it was just another popular word that would die out when something came along to replace it. Boy, was I wrong!!
I think how we engage with you—and each other—is dependent on your goals for the various blogs/message boards/twitter feeds. If your goal for these accounts is to just throw your words out there, then no reader engagement/feedback is needed. (My mother would call this “talking just to hear the sound of your own voice”) if you are looking for interaction, feedback, income, then you are right, it is not enough to just create good content. While it needs to be easy to share, like, and comment on, it also needs to be comfortable to do so. Liking something on FB is much safer than making a public comment on a blog. I need to feel that I—the reader—am an important part of the blog and not some faceless consumer. I need to feel that it is ok for me to comment or ask a question—(Ie like where the H. do I find “Fines Herbes”?) I need to know that I am necessary and not an intrusion into someone’s private thoughts. BTW, the content IS good—always has been!
Here I am, making the effort to get out of Google Reader and into the... real world? :)
You are indeed funny, and erudite, and insightful. I love your photos; you have a great eye for composition. I'm not necessarily a dog person, so, my apologies to E, but I haven't followed his blog.
Is it really feedback you need? Or validation, though? I blogged assiduously for years, and finally decided (thanks to my internet stalker) that I don't actually need to post as much any more. But when I do post, it's for my enjoyment. I rarely get comments, but it doesn't matter. The words need to come out someplace, and a blog's a good way to do so, even if my audience is only me.
I find your posts thoughtful and entertaining. And often, my mouth is watering in expectation of the next great recipe. I've never tried to comment before, so we'll see how this works....
Did you ever watch the movie "I heart Huckabees"? One of my favorite scenes was about the phrase "I am not myself". Good stuff, great movie. Netflix it. Also, please know that I read Ernest's blog between contractions in the early part of my labor (when there was still time between contractions). That is how much I love it. Lisa
You could combine all three and have a unique blog from three distinct voices!
I enjoy reading your blogs. I'm a fickle blog reader and grumble when blogs don't have an email subscription option. That's how I like to aggregate and manage my online reading content.
There are three Sydney food blogs that I've been reading for several years and I rarely comment on them. I love them but I don't feel the need to engage. They're all successful blogs so I like to think that they know they're loved. But I do appreciate a response when I comment or tweet!
So here's a sign, continue writing. :-)
Post a Comment