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Speak Your Mind
By admin | May 27, 2007
I’m a hypocrite. Naive would be a better word actually. When I started blogging I was very eager to talk to those that were a huge success in the blogosphere and learn the tricks of the trade. I did not have any idea of what the blogosphere looked like and who stood where. So what I did was just mail the people behind the blogs with all sorts of questions. When I look back; Questions to which I could have found the answer for myself with a little work.
Often I got a reply but sometimes I didn’t, felt ignored and this ticked me off. When you’re talking to someone you expect that person to talk back, even if out of pure politeness instead of interest. What I did was stop visiting the big bloggers sites, a childish form of “getting back” if you like.
Now, tree months later and an increasing blog popularity, I am experiencing a vast increase of email traffic coming my way and have to admit that I have subconsciously have become selective in not only what I reply to, but even what I read. Once I open my inbox I start scanning through the headers first and often delete emails with grammatical flaws in their headers unless there’s a catchy headline. It’s not because I believe I’m to good to read or reply to a specific email, it’s because I too just don’t have enough time.
One thing I did learn though is that you should not be afraid of approaching one of the big names in the blogging game. They are just ordinary people like you and me. I’ve had a few mails going back and forth with a few of them; John Chow, Darren Rowse and Brian Clark. Nothing important, just common chitchat. (Although I have mentioned an idea I had for a great blogging happening to Brian Clark whom expressed his interest in the project a few weeks later.)
I feel the best way to communicate with a blogger is by commenting on his or her posts. One of the reasons being that if the blogger does not answer any questions you have, one of the other readers just might. This is also a good way to do some networking amongst the crowd. An email gets read by just one blogger but your comments by the world!
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Topics: blog |
May 27th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
I feel the same way about not receiving feedback on other blogs. I’ve left messages before as a way to acknowledge that someone has read the fruits of their labor, but more importantly, to reach out and cultivate ongoing dialog with the author — most of the time.
As my blog increases in popularity, I’ve had to divert more attention to the incoming email notifications of people responding to my posts — and I love it! I think it can only help a blog to grow.
When something is well-written and strikes a chord with people, it will naturally evoke a response. To ignore those responses makes a blog no different than a magazine to be left in the stack.
May 28th, 2007 at 8:58 am
Quite an interesting post. I get a little annoyed at e-mails asking things like “how do you put an image in your header” when putting that exact phrase into google would you get the answer in much more detail than I’m going to provide in a two-line reply.
The worst is “I have a new blog. Please teach me how to make money” to which I usually reply with “Sure. My pricing starts at $150 per hour for personal consultation”.
To be honest though, I usually use those emails as inspiration for posts. Those questions represent what readers want to know and what will bring them to your site!
May 28th, 2007 at 10:04 am
hmm, it’s actually not a bad idea to use these emails as posting material. Never really thought of it that way
May 31st, 2007 at 5:02 am
Fantastic post. My blog is not yet popular enough to receive lots of annoying emails, but I do hope it is popular enough one day!
Keep up the great work
May 31st, 2007 at 10:54 am
Thanks Tay, I’m sure you will