I have been thinking about this topic for a long time. I tried to keep my inner voice to myself, but if you have read my blog before, you surely noticed that my inner voice has a bullhorn. I say what I think. I have said it before that “I do not try to please everybody, and that pleases some people very much.”
Call me a crusty old bastard if you like. Worse things have been said before, and you will not hurt my feelings. I only get my feelings hurt by people who care enough to create a meaningful dialog with me, and make a relationship. I welcome them to my table, and I will share my blog feast with them any day.
Conversely, trolls can have the corn preserved on the other side of my digestive system. Regarding lurkers, I kind of think of them like zombies. I am not sure if they have thoughts and feelings of their own, because they refuse to reveal them.
So what about the blog trolls and lurkers? I could take this examination to all new heights, because I know trolls, and I have enough lurkers to fill the Mariana Trench! Rather than drawing this out with a lengthy psychological analysis, I will just heave a heavy-handed slap in their direction and let you rip them a new one with your comments if you feel up to it.
Blog Trolls: Read the Sign!
Blog Trolls Read the SignTrolls suck! I have read multiple new blog articles that touched on the topic only yesterday*. Blog trolls are the bane of a blogger’s existence, and they insult our hard work.
Trolls leave pithy comments on blogs, and drop their website links in attempts to boost their ranking in search engines at the expense of hard working bloggers. Some trolls are out to cause an argument or to harass writers for missing a comma or spelling somtheing inkerektly.
Blog trolls don’t have any meaningful input, and they are just out for themselves. Some companies use blog trolling as their core online marketing strategy. If you want to see how “brilliant” that plan is, read about Ray Skillman.
When a blogger sits down to write about something, they are trying to communicate with you. They usually want to open a conversation with you, and they value your input as much as their own. It is how we learn together and often build meaningful relationships.
Two way communication is a basic concept of blogging. Collaboration is not something the doctor does when he lifts your gown and tells you to relax. It is a way for a community to enjoy the benefits of more than one mind.
Blog Lurker Bank and TrustBloggers often work very hard to research and produce something that is useful or interesting to you. Yes, you, and not the person standing over your shoulder reading your screen.
People often treat elections this way, too. They just assume that “the other people” will vote. In case you have not noticed the state of politics in this world, that is not productive thinking. It is not productive in politics, and it is not productive in blogs.
If you just suck up a blogger’s knowledge like free grape soda, without so much as nod of approval, or giving something back, don’t you feel just a tiny bit ashamed? Are you the kind who will walk up to the cash register at a convenience store and grab every coin in the “Take a Penny, Leave a Penny” tray?
Didn’t your parents ever tell you that it is nice to share, and that keeping everything to yourself is not polite? Oh, and seriously, do you really not think we bloggers see the 18 minutes you spent reading three articles, and then come back two days later to suck up another 43 minutes of our hard work? Yeah, we see that, and we know you are there.
We appreciate that you appreciate us, but why don’t you at least say “hello” and introduce yourself? I mean, we are your free labor, often doing the research that saves you countless hours of frustration. You could at least throw us your two cents between our long working shifts.
Trolls and Lurkers Say “Who Me?”
If you think this is directed to you, you are right. I am writing directly to you, whether you are a blogger, a blog troll, or a lurker. Until you take the initiative to introduce yourself to the other readers of any blog, you are missing the best value of blogs.
Sure, you can sneer at me and think I am an ass for saying what millions of other bloggers feel. I cannot speak for all bloggers, but this will cover a majority. We are working hard for your benefit, and what you failed to notice is that the greatest value comes to those who participate.
Maybe you think we get paid for this. Some bloggers do, but most are doing this to share good information above all. Some have advertisements to help cover their cost, and some blogs are there to promote a brand. There are many good reasons to blog, but most blogs are produced to be helpful and thought provoking, regardless of any other motivation.
For example: If you think that I write about SEO and social media marketing just to sell you something, consider this: If I sold my services to any more than one in 50,000 readers, my services would suffer, and I would be too busy to write this blog. I am not here to fool you, but rather to help you. If I get the benefit of a new client, or a little respect for knowing my job well, that seems pretty fair for both of us.
Don’t ask me for pandering, undue compliments, or to fluff your Teddy bear and pat you on the bum. Heck, just search Google for how to polarize an audience, and there I am … in your face! If you want somebody to tell you how it isn’t, go somewhere else. I will tell you how it is … according to Murnahan, of course.
Even if you are the least tech-savvy person since my mother, it is clear that you will see this company popping up in more places during 2011. The name, “Disqus” (pronounced as discuss) is spread far and wide across the Internet, and its exposure is growing quickly as top tech and news blogs implement the service.
In November 2010 TechCrunch reported that there were over 500,000 communities using Disqus for more than 160 million conversations between 18 million profiles. According to Quantcast, Disqus is moving up quickly. Maybe you are not so sure about its importance just yet, but I am, and I want to share why Disqus is quickly climbing my list of favorite social networking tools.
I named Disqus a while back in an article titled “6 Essential Blogging Tools for Bloggers and Non-Bloggers” and that is certainly worth a read. Since the time I wrote that back in March 2010, my opinion of Disqus is better than ever.
The idea of using Disqus as a networking tool may sound completely off the wall to the many people who never heard of Disqus or took the time to understand its greater value. Likewise, sending a bunch of Twitter updates sounded pretty absurd in 2007, but we all watched how Twitter took off. I suppose I don’t need to say much about Facebook. The 650 million Facebook users pretty well sum up the public interest in that platform. So, how can Disqus be placed in the company of these massively adopted networks? I will explain, and I think you will have a much different view of the service by the time I am done.
Something many people may overlook about Disqus is how seamlessly it pulls together a broad picture of a user’s interests, and how well it can connect people.
Disqus will not become the next Facebook, threaten Twitter, or replace LinkedIn. What Disqus can do is to tighten people’s existing networks and create many opportunities for new and stronger network connections.
In the face of social networking becoming “looser” than ever for a lot of people, tighter networks of like-minded people are not only important, but something many Internet users are begging for. Disqus delivers on this need, in a big way, for people who choose to use it.
Let’s take an under-the hood look at Disqus for a moment. A lot of people may simply see Disqus as the commenting system on some of their favorite blogs, but completely overlook its best assets. First, let me explain what Disqus is, on the surface, for people who are unfamiliar. Then I will move on to the reason that Disqus is useful for networking, far beyond just its value to blog administrators.
What is Disqus?
Disqus is a service that is used by many blogs for moderating and responding to readers’ comments. It allows users to comment on blogs the “old fashioned” way, by entering their name, email, website address, and comment, or they can choose to use their photo and information based on a variety of other profiles, such as Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, OpenID, or simply their Disqus profile.
Optionally, readers can choose to share their comment, on a comment-by-comment basis, with their extended network. This is good for readers to share their point of view, and also good for bloggers who enjoy their work being shared. It is a win-win relationship.
Disqus provides for real-time updating of comments. In an active discussion, this allows readers to see new comments without even refreshing the page.
Disqus also provides options for users to receive updates of replies to their comments by email, or simply within their “Disqus Dashboard” where there is a section titled “Replies to you”. It makes blog commenting more interactive than ever, and opens a lot of possibilities for people willing to look three inches beyond their nose. It is a lot easier than other methods of subscribing to follow a thread, and much tidier for monitoring replies.
Disqus Dashboard is Easy and Searchable
Disqus Creates Deeper Conversations!
Maybe you have hoped that posting a link on Twitter or Facebook to an article that you read will give people a feel for what you like, what interests you, and what you read. The trouble with this is when it leaves them hanging without knowing what you thought of it. Believe me when I say that most people are not going to dig through the comments to see what you said about something. Most of the time, they will not even click to see the article, but rather draw conclusions and comment on the title.
Maybe you can add in a little bit of flair with your commentary, but then the conversation is all broken up between the article, the shortness of a Twitter post, and your Facebook comments versus the comments of the other people who read the blog. That all tends to create a lot of off-topic discussion, and dilutes what you and others had to say about the topic.
On the other hand, if somebody sees it in your Disqus profile and follows what you read and have to say on a topic, the whole character starts to change. Disqus makes it very easy to follow other people. It is a chance for others to be more involved in your conversations around the web. If they like communicating with you, it can give a good feel for who you are and your points of view. It can also help you to gain a closer relationship with the people you choose to interact with. For example, if you happen to come across my political views, you may find that I am feisty but fair. If you come across my business views, you may find that I read carefully, think a whole lot, and try to bring a my ideas to the discussion.
It is noteworthy that commenting on a blog article reflects a greater commitment than most other social networking quips and snippets that people leave behind. Blog comments are commonly lengthier and more thought out about a specific topic than comments elsewhere. It really does generally allow for a closer sense of a person’s views on a topic. I invite you to see an example of this in my Disqus profile. If you click on “Activity” at the top, you can scroll through and see comments I have made here and on other blogs.
Turn Any Website Into a Blog
I can point out a lot of reasons that Disqus is growing quickly, and this is certainly a big one. Disqus makes it simple to add commenting to any existing website. With their simple “Universal Code” Disqus commenting system can be added to any web page.
Let’s say you have a boring old static website and you want to add commenting to a page, or a set of pages. There is more to a blog than the commenting features, but many people would consider comments the most obvious feature of blogs. Disqus makes it simple to add their commenting system to any boring old website, and has excellent code and documentation for many popular platforms. They have made it extremely easy, even for a relatively novice web developer.
Disqus Security Considerations
You can certainly post on blogs using Disqus with an alias, or anonymously, but the things you have to say are the things which interest people. It is really not much fun to have people like you for one reason, but then find out they think you are horrible when they dig a bit deeper. If you posted it anywhere on a blog and somebody wants to find it, they will find it. This is the Internet, and most bloggers do their best to be sure a lot of people will see it. I think of this in a way similar to my article titled “Facebook Privacy Fears Are Absurd!“. Living in the fear of your own shadow is something that will be there with or without Disqus.
I guess this realistic view of the Internet and social media is why “social media transparency” has become such an overused buzzphrase.
Disqus and SEO
I know that a lot of people wonder about how Disqus affects search engine results, whether as a blog administrator, or as a commenter. I would stop at simply pointing out that I use it here on my SEO and Social Media Marketing blog, but that may not be enough to comfort you.
Many people who comment on blogs really love those links to their website they leave behind. After all, more links is a good thing. Disqus still allows you to leave your link, and it is still as valuable from an SEO standpoint as any other commenting system … perhaps even better. I may write about this at a later time, but I can tell you that the comments are well-indexed in search engines, and the links associated with those comments are also just as valuable as any other commenting system.
What I think sometimes confuses people about Disqus links is in the layout for non-logged-in “Guest” users. Disqus simply shows a “post as” link, but once you type your comment, you have the opportunity to add your website link and your Gravitar.
Disqus creates multiple links. If you click on the thumbnail picture of a user, it will show you their Disqus profile information, including their other communities and even their most recent Twitter update, if they associated their Twitter account. If you click on their name, it will link directly to their website of choice. If they have associated their Twitter account with their Disqus profile and you click to share your comment on Twitter, it will also send a reply to their Twitter username.
Disqus Signup and Other Links
If you made it this far, you are probably pretty curious to look a bit closer at Disqus. Here are some links to get your started.
I could keep writing all day to help you understand the ways to get the most from Disqus. There are a lot of excellent potential uses. For example, you can search with an email address to see what a person is saying on other blogs … did you know that? I wrote a 140 page book about Twitter, but I don’t plan to repeat that with Disqus. Instead, I will share what they say in their own words, invite you to discuss this, and happily answer your questions and comments. Here is what Disqus has to say:
What is Disqus?
Disqus (dis·cuss • dï-sküs’) is all about changing the way people think about discussion on the web. We’re big believers in the conversations and communities that form on blogs and other sites.
Now what do you have to say? Here is your chance to use Disqus and jump in the conversation. Please add your comments and don’t be shy. Another great feature of Disqus is that if you screw it up, you can go back and edit the comment.
I recently visited with a friend who is pretty aware of technology, but he still feels a bit awkward when it comes to blogs. He spoke of how subscribing, commenting, and joining into a discussion can feel a bit daunting if you are not sure how it all works. When I looked at it from his perspective, I realized how right he was. Perhaps bloggers don’t look at things from a new user perspective as much as we should. We should try harder to be more welcoming of the uninitiated, and that is what I hope to do here.
I am writing this for you, whether you are completely new to blogs, or an experienced blog owner who may have forgotten how lost you felt when you were just figuring this blogging stuff out for the first time. I also want to inspire you with some significant benefits of participating in blogs.
My friend mentioned how some people have their little picture by their name, and wondered how that happens. He really snapped me back to the reality that this whole blogging thing can be a little confusing to “ordinary” people (as opposed to “blog people”, of course). I intend to help clarify some issues of how to participate in blogs, how to find blogs worth discussing, and how it can benefit you even if you are one of those “ordinary” people.
I will begin with the very basics, so if you already know this, I urge you to be reminded that many others do not. If you have your own blog, it is easy to forget all that stuff you have learned about blogs and how they work. Here is a question I have heard more than a couple times:
How Do I Get My Picture to Show Up on Blogs?
I suppose I will begin with that little picture beside peoples’ name. No, it does not mean they are a member of some elite blogging fraternity. Having your own unique picture show up on blogs when you comment is as simple as creating an avatar. More specifically, a “Gravitar” which is a globally recognized avatar image that you can use in more places than a Visa card (that’s a lot).
Gravitar Setup: In order to set up your Gravitar, simply go to Gravitar.com and sign up. You only need to do this once, and it really is easier than you may expect.
There is a benefit to the image, too! A graphic along with your comments can be strongly identifying as people read through comments, and especially at blogs where you plan to return often. People will identify with your avatar faster than by reading the names as they read through comments. If you are interesting to them, they will be looking for your image.
They Want My Email?!
I am probably the most reserved person you ever came across when it comes to giving out my email addresses. In fact, I am borderline obsessive about this. I love having a clean inbox, and I hate when people clutter it with junk. This is especially true with some of my prized email accounts like my very special one that is only seven characters, including dots and the “@” (example: x@xx.xx). Yes, I hate giving out email addresses on websites!
Gravitars are based on the email address or addresses which you specify at Gravitar.com. Most blogs and forums use Gravitars to pull in your avatar, which is why they ask you to enter your email address. Of course, email addresses are also one way that blog administrators can quickly blacklist people who spam their community with useless or offensive comments. This is a good thing … a very good thing.
If it makes you feel any more comfortable about the matter of email, I have a specific email address which I use for commenting on blogs, and I receive no spam at that address at all. I really do feel totally safe on this matter. Additionally, many blogs allow you to use your image from other services like Facebook, Twitter, OpenID, Yahoo! or others, but don’t get flustered. I am getting to that part, and it will be easy … have a little faith.
What About Commenting Systems Like Disqus and Intense Debate
When commenting systems like Disqus and Intense Debate came along, I was really reluctant at first. I liked the good old standard system of entering my name, email address, and website address, adding my comment, and clicking “Submit”. That made sense to me, and it was so simple.
Now let’s have some “whisper time” while I tell you a little secret …
[Mark leans in close and screams into ear:] Disqus and Intense Debate Do Not Require a Signup!
This is the one thing that made me so frustrated when I saw these commenting systems gaining popularity. It appeared that I needed to sign up for more stuff. I already had my Gravitar, and I just wanted to add my two cents to a blog. Why did they make it so darn confusing all of the sudden?!
I am really glad that my buddy brought this to my attention, because I felt the same way. Somehow I had this misconception that because the blog commenting systems allowed me to log in, that I needed to log into something. This is not the case at all. You do not need to set up a new account to use either of these systems. If you want to make a comment on a blog using any of the popular blog commenting systems, you may comment as a “Guest”. You can still add your email, use your Gravitar, and add the link to your website. Let us end that confusion right now, and put a period after it.
The benefits of these systems are numerous, but optional. They allow you to click a button to use your Facebook, Twitter, OpenID, Yahoo! or other profile information, but it goes further. They also let you easily share the blog articles you comment on, along with your comments, across social networks. Sharing is still optional, even if you log in using these services, but there can be great cases for alerting friends on what you are discussing on a blog article and getting their opinions, too.
There is still more benefit! These services also aggregate comments that you make on different blogs into one place where you can go and see replies to your comments, and thus making it easier to respond to them, ask or answer questions, build rapport, build community, and etcetera. They also include profiles that you can use to follow other users’ comments and join in their communities of interest, too. Of course, I cannot give you my login to see all of the goodies, but here is my public Disqus profile which shows comments I make on other blogs which use Disqus.
In my opinion, these are some really useful tools, and more bloggers would probably adopt their use if they, and their readers understood the full benefit and usage. That means ending the confusion surrounding them, but I am trying! I use Disqus commenting system here on this blog. Try it out by adding your comment. It really is as easy as I said.
How to Find Good Blogs
Can you believe how many blogs there are out there on the Internet? There must be a squillion people blogging about everything from A to Z. Finding the good ones which fit your interests can be a lot easier with the right tools. Try a Google blog search (http://blogsearch.google.com/) for things which interest you. Try a Twitter search, and monitor it regularly! Even if you do not have a Twitter account, you can still find a lot of value in the search features. Get creative and try it out at search.twitter.com and be sure to try the advanced search. There are also a lot of blog aggregation services like Blog Catalog and Technorati, along with many which are targeted to specific interests or industries.
A great place to find useful blogs is by paying attention to what people with your same interests or in your career field read. You can often find that out by watching their Twitter, Facebook, Digg, or better yet, go look to see which websites are linking to their website by searching their web address on Open Site Explorer. If they leave comments on blogs, you can bet the links will show up. Just think of all you can do with that information.
Once you find some blogs you like, subscribe to them! You will really not get much benefit from a blog if you make it easier to overlook them. I use Google Reader to subscribe to many RSS feeds, but I subscribe to my favorite blogs by email and by RSS just to be sure I keep in touch with them. If you want to know more about tools to help with blogs, I strongly suggest reading “6 Essential Blogging Tools for Bloggers and Non-Bloggers“.
SEO and Blog Commenting
Why should you participate in blog discussions? Have you ever heard of WiiFM? It means “What’s in it for me?” You want to know the answer of what’s in it for you, right? After all, you are still human, even if you are one of those “blog people” I mentioned.
The benefits of blog commenting are not just as they seem. Certainly there is a strong benefit from a SEO (search engine optimization) standpoint, but let’s not get irritating with that! I will touch on this topic and then move on. If you take this as a suggestion to go out with a hope of leaving meaningless comments on a bunch of blogs to become popular, you will not be popular in the way you like. In fact, I consider it a horrible SEO strategy (but very common) to try and use blog comments to build up your incoming links. Sure, blog comment links can be quite valuable, but without being courteous and useful, you are just peeing down your leg. You will find a much more profound benefit by being useful, and I will explain that.
Think of it this way, if you try to use blog commenting as a tool for SEO, imagine how much greater value you will find if your comments make people like you and want to know you. If they come and read your blog, they may like what you have to say there, too. This is precisely the reason my blog here at aWebGuy.com is listed with a link from every page of a whole lot of blogs in their “Blogroll”. They are also more likely to reference you with a link in one or more of their articles. That seems a lot more valuable to me than the SEO value of links from a few comments I made. Wouldn’t you agree?
NOTE: To all of those who have blessed me with a link in their blogroll, or in an article, I truly appreciate you! I am still planning to add a blogroll here someday. In the meantime, I still try to write something about you whenever I can.
When you comment on a blog and include your URL (website address), it will appear as a link on most blogs. Those links are what search engines use to discover and judge the value of websites. More links means more value, but of course it is not that easy. More of the right links can add huge value. The SEO tactic of seeking blogs with great search engine ranking just to leave worthless comments misses the target in a big way. Just imagine if you said something funny, interesting, useful, or otherwise put your unique spin on a topic. People are more likely to like and respect you, and there is definitely a better chance that they will want to know more about you. I have gained a lot of readers because they saw my comments on another blog and liked my take on things.
An example I recently suggested to a client was to use blogs to learn more about her related industries. She just opened her second Pilates studio in Aventura Florida. We talked about how to book up her new location by looking at who wants or needs her services.
We discovered that golfers can benefit from Pilates. I suggested that she read more blogs about golfing and get to know the community. She also said that equestrian is another area she sees a lot of business. I suggested getting to know the equestrian community in her area. Just reading about these topics, alone, can help her have a better conversation when these people contact her, but also give her a lot better understanding of their needs when it is time to write about these things on her blog. If she choses to comment on topics in these fields with something useful, she could become a lot more valuable to the community. It adds up over time, in a big way. Now, imagine how nice it will be for her if her website lands in the blogroll of a handful of related blogs because they like her input.
Good Blog Commenting
What is a good blog comment? Sometimes it is perfectly fine to add a brief comment just to thank the author, but it is far better to say what you really think. “Thanks, great blog post.” is about generic enough that you may just earn the sugar-free cookie award for being boring. Step it up a notch and ask a question, answer a question, or do something more than look like you are just trying to get a link on their blog. Trust me on this … bloggers are pretty skeptical about those “Thanks, great blog post.” people. There are thousands of people in India (no offense to my Indian friends) who are paid about four dollars a year to sit and add “Thanks, great blog post.” comments to blogs.
You can do better, and it really does make a difference! Doing better usually means that you should slow down and participate. The scan-and-click nature of the Internet leads to a lot of waste. If you actually slow down and give your attention to the blogs you like, and the blogs where you find value, you can create more value for yourself.
I should note that bloggers love comments, and it validates their hard work. It makes sense for it to be really easy and inviting for users to add their input. I would probably have a lot more comments here, but I am just crazy enough to put my toll free telephone number all over my blog. I love having brainstorming calls from friends and strangers. It keeps me sharp. My phone rings … a lot! Since most bloggers probably do not want my telephone bill, a fantastic alternative is comments.
Stop and Read the Comments!
Once you find blogs that you like, be sure to read the comments. Those comments are written by other people who may have similar interests and you may find that you really like them. You may find a connection to your next great customer, friend, supplier, or job. If you do not slow down and pay attention, you will never know. If you don’t leave your comments, they won’t either!
Most of us will probably agree that collective thinking as a community is more beneficial than our individual thoughts. This does not mean we will all adapt to the thoughts of our community. Sometimes we will disagree, which can also prove beneficial. The fact remains that communities think bigger than the sum of their parts. This is why we have terms like “two heads are better than one” and why social media has become so useful for cultivating ideas with collaboration, for those who choose to embrace it. My blog thought for today is about the communities which we create, and how much of the community involvement is easy to overlook.
Blogging creates small communities which are often loosely connected, and it does so in some unique ways. Some of these small communities which blogs create are closely connected and some are only loosely connected but yet just as valuable. Often times, the community effect is simply the sharing of an idea which seeds thinking for others. It creates a collective intelligence which guides us on our way.
The ideas I write here on my blog must have received influence from somewhere. I could not have written about SEO and social media marketing 20 years ago. Sure, I largely write from my experiences, but it is influenced by a community of others. Sometimes the influence is a thought that I saw expressed in a blog or combination of blogs, then I nurture the thoughts and add my experience. Thus, it still reflects the community thinking I mentioned. When I can define sources of my inspiration, I try to link to those blogs so they will know that I am a part of their community. I also try to add my thoughts to the respective blogs’ comments and hope that it benefits the community.
Your Community Extends Beyond Your Blog
Many bloggers are too critical with their perception of community, simply because they do not recognize ways to measure it. One of the greatest gifts a blogger can have is a huge stream of comments on their blog articles. Blog comments are just one notch below the prize of a link referencing their work in another blog article. However, this is not always the most important measurement of their community reach.
Sure, I am one of those who wonder “why didn’t people add their two cents” in the comments, or why they will use my work without crediting me, but then I look at the other measures and I can relax again. Yes, the comments bring the sense of community into one place where it can all be sorted out and discussed, but let’s take a look at other ways you can know you made an impact.
If your blog is syndicated through RSS (basic examples of syndication: Squidoo; GoodReads; BlogCatalog), it likely reaches a lot of other places where it is discussed. When I click “Publish”, I know that my blog is automatically published to a lot of other networks, so I try to be mindful of this. I try to keep an eye on what people are saying “over there”, too. There are a lot of blogging tools to help you measure this, and you will find some of the in the article titled “6 Essential Blogging Tools for Bloggers and Non-Bloggers“.
I think of a blog as the hub of social media for a business. It really is the center point, but it is not always the actual website where the blog resides that receives the discussion, or gives and receives all the benefits. It is the information of the blog … the message, which is the hub, and not only the website.
Important Community Tip: Look outside of just your blog.
I can reliably measure that over 80 percent of my blog’s engagement comes from outside of aWebGuy.com. That is a sizable statistic to overlook, and it makes up a massive portion of my community. Just imagine how easy it would be to miss this critical part of the community I work so hard to build.
Syndication can spread a message far and wide, but it also carries a responsibility to know how the information was received and how it may adjust your thinking on a given topic. This could mean Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, other blogs quoting your work, and many other possibilities. Discovering these places and finding out what people had to say can be very useful. Plus, if you seek them out and communicate with the respondents, it gives pretty compelling evidence that you care what people have to say.
If you count on Trackbacks to find all of the places your blog content is being discussed, you will surely miss a lot. Taking extra care to follow the flow of your work can be quite enlightening.
As a person who writes blogs, I do not have any delusion of being a critical piece of a community outside of my own blog. I try to be valuable to the larger community, but I am just a cog in the machine. This big machine will run with my participation, or without it, but I remain here to keep fine tuning it in my own little ways. I add my little piece of “community” with my thoughts and I find that it often benefits me, and hopefully those around me, too.
Thoughts for My Blog Community
I want to leave you with some thoughts to consider about your blog community, whether you are an author, or reader.
When you think of your community, what does it mean to you?
There are a lot of organized blogging communities, but what about the extended community which influences your blog or is influenced by it?
How are you building that community?
Are you overlooking your expanded community?
Which blogs provide influence to you (links welcome)?
Sometimes the value of blogging is simply found in the collective thinking accumulated from multiple sources and experiences compiled by the author. This does not always require direct two-way communication. All the same, it is often greatly enhanced by participation.
These questions I have posed are not just rhetorical questions to help you think about your blogging efforts. If you have an answer, please share it with the community.
Blogging from experience may not seem all that revolutionary. After all, I suspect that if you write a blog, you probably already understand this. It is best to blog things you know, and know well. I want to drive the point a bit further and inspire you to use your experience, and to pull from the experience of others around you.
I will tell you where I find much of my inspiration, in hopes that it may help your creative process. When I reflect on my work, it is pretty easy to find blogging material directly from my daily life. I blog about things I know, but not just something I pulled out of the back reaches of my mind. I blog about things I have actually encountered … usually recently. Some of the best stuff comes from questions people ask me. When I hear something a few times, I start to think to myself “I’ll bet there are a lot of other people who would like to know more about this, too.” A great benefit of blogging this way is that it becomes “evergreen” blogging material which is useful for more than just the moment. It often becomes something people can look back into my archives and find useful months, or even years later.
Blog What People Ask You … They Are Not Alone!
If your work inspires questions from people, blog about it. It is usually true that others have the same questions, too. Listen to things people ask you over the phone, in email, or even in the grocery store line. If you are paid for answering the questions, don’t worry about giving something up for free. If you are not answering the question, you can bet that somebody on the Internet is willing to, and they will be a lot closer to getting the new customer if they are the one being helpful.
Blog from Others’ Experience, Too!
Do not limit it to just your own experience. Ask your receptionist, customer service representatives, sales staff, service technicians, customers, and others in your line of work what people are asking them or what challenges they face in their jobs. Keep in touch with your front line so that you will know what people want to know. These are the things people also ask when they sit down at their computer … with their favorite search engine.
Make it Easy and Make it Useful!
Don’t mess this all up by trying to sound too impressive or trying to use the most amazing industry buzzwords. In some instances it is best to keep it really simple and write it as if search engines don’t exist. Word it similar to the way it is posed to you. If you are an attorney and somebody asks you a legal question, blog about it in a useful, human, and conversational way. Don’t make it a lecture filled with a bunch of legal industry terms that we don’t understand, and don’t keyword it up just hoping to land people from every possible search engine query.
If you make it useful, easy to read, and it is something people want to know about, they will find it. Once they find it, the real search engine optimization comes into play, because it is relevant to people’s questions. Relevant enough that people will share it with others and all of the sudden you have yourself a blog that becomes popular. Then the SEO keyword stuff and assumptions about SEO being a bunch of tricky programming code and geeky witchcraft starts to look pretty darn silly. Sure, that stuff matters to a degree, but if it clouds the view of the people, you will be doing them a disservice.
Use your experience, and do not assume that just because it seems obvious to you that it is not useful to somebody else with a different background.
