Time for new student bloggers and the typical questions: “How do I get more readers?” and “How do I get people to comment?”
My standard answers have been these three:
1) Comment on other people’s blogs
2) Announce your new posts on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn
3) Add a user-friendly comment device [don’t make commenters jump through too many hoops].
However, after reading several of their posts, I have another simple answer — but, first, a story:
My Story about Peter
Several years ago, when I was teaching beginning journalism students at Southwest Missouri State, the students’ daily chore was to write in a log. . . . and then I read them.
Big mistake — both the assignment and me spending time reading them.
When left to their own devices . . . students wrote about such earth-shattering events as breaking up with their boyfriends and flushing letters down the toilet to buying a pair of boots at the mall to the scores of basketball games in the local conference. Needless to say, I was questioning my sanity for having asked for these papers.
Until Peter, that is.
Peter wrote plays and poetry. Peter analyzed the news. Peter shared intelligent conversations he had had with friends. Peter reported on books and articles he was reading.
And his writing was so flawless that I was envious.
But I loved reading his stuff and looked forward to every entry.
I was in awe of his talent and wondered what I could offer him.
So I went to several of my colleagues to ask their opinions; one comment stood out: “Peter’s stuff is good because he writes about things that are important and interesting.”
When you blog — and you want people to read and comment — WRITE ABOUT THINGS THAT ARE IMPORTANT AND INTERESTING.
Why write about anything else?
Ms. Weiss I really like your choice of music on this website; it’s both soothing and energizing at the same time.
Reading this made me think of my high school English class and when we use to write in journals about our days or what we were thinking. The story of Peter really captivated me and brought to my attention that not everyone is thinking about what they want but that they have real things to say yet don’t know where to put them.
On the blog platform I use, there’s a program to get our blogs popular without the need to share our blog on facebook nor to comment on other people’s blog post.
I’ve been blogging since 7th grade, I blog about my daily life here in the United States for my friends in Taiwan to see. That’s one of the ways to connect with my friends in Taiwan. You also get to share about your life to anyone who as access to your blog, which is really cool. 🙂
i think using Twitter and Facebook can get more people to read a blog. and I think if your blog can include photos, that will be even better. Also via internet we can communicate with many people living far away.
I think these are very useful methods to teach ppl how to get more blog readers. I believe a lot of ppl after having seen your blog will use these three methods.
I think this story is very interesting because there are a lot of people who just blog with no thought, writing simple things that won’t get any comments .Now if you blog things that people can resonate with, you will see the difference. What’s the point of blogging if you can’t connect with the social world.
I strongly agree with most arguments on the topic that a lot of Facebook, myspace, and any large online community network. Most times I’ve logged on facebook I see some nonsense that wasted my time by skimming through the post. Even at times there are posts that are either too much info of unclear ideas to just a few words that I think was pointless to post up.
At times, people make a big scene about something minor then turn it to something big. For example like being emo about someone leaving you or posts about being angry at the world and saying “all of you should die” but when I read something close to that I just roll my eyes and think to myself next post.
Also for reviews about computer software sometimes on a post I see things completely irrelevant to the software about like some relationship issues. Then the rest of the blog or post was completely thrown off topic. I agree that people need to post better and inetresting blogs than waste my time I rarely go on any community sites because all I’ve been reading lately are all just gossip.
I completely agree. When having the chance to write freely people should write what they are most passionate about or show interest in. My senior year I got the choice of choosing a creative english class-I picked “World of Media” over “Short Stories”. “World of Media” was a films criticism class- we essentially watched films such as westerns and noirs-then analyzed these films in terms of politics and director’s view. This class was my favorite class. Whereas if I had taken “Short Stories” I would have not been as happy because of the pressures to create creative stories. I do not want to be forced to be creative, but be creative on my own terms. Thus I believe writing for one’s self and interest.
i am glad you didnt give up on reading what they wrote after all those pointless ones, because if you didnt you would not have gotten to read peter’s log
Llanet, Great post and good point, I see what you mean about that; its what the reader wants to learn about it,thats makes it interesting to them, however what if the reader doesnt find it interesting, is it probably because they dont want to know about it or attepmt to gain knoweledge from the Log.
Absolutely! I think more people should be using social media sites to put out a positive message. Nothing bothers me more than seeing people who post all day about non-sense. I always ask myself doesnt anyone have anything meaningful to say. Recentley i’ve found that when I when i post about something of importance i get way more “likes”.
It is true that when blogging, that there needs to be some kind of information that others can relate to. Whether is a personal subject that others may have in common, or just something fun that is interesting.
To me, blogging is a somewhat fun activity for anyone who loves to write about whatever is on their mind. It is true that writing blogs should be more about subjects that matter and are important. But for some readers, it could be about anything that writers write because it is a “blog” not an essay to write about a specific topic.
Whenever you write, you have to discuss things that are going to make someone want to keep reading. It’s also going to make them want to see what you can do.
Blogging has become a powerful tool in the world. I agree with what other people have said, if it is something that is not important and interesting then why bother. A few months back I realized how powerful social media has become when I was invited to dinner by a Arab friend. I asked if he thought all the protests about the middle east are ever going to succeed. He said of course they are in effect because of the internet. Without the internet and social media, people would not have gathered as quickly as they have in the past. Now if you see the news, plenty of the top government leaders of the middle east have left their post of power.
It goes to show you that there are diamonds in the rough. If you would have never taken the time to analyze thoes blogs and articles you may have missed out on the enlightment you can receive on a daily basis. This blog post wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for Peter lol
I see how the story goes along with how getting people to subscribe to your blog. Write about something interesting and most people flock to it. But I don’t get how it relates at the same time. I mean he’s a good writer and may have a good story to tell. But i don’t think that blogging is all about writing well. I have a blog and I mostly post pictures of random things and little thoughts that pop in my head.My friends that blog are the same way. I have a friends who works with Oaklandish and he takes pictures. His blog, covered with pictures. I feel that if this blog was suppose to answer a “question.” Then my question hasn’t been answered.
I too agree that the importance of the information being blog is a main contributor to acquiring followers but at the same time I think that the number one thing is the interest factor just for the sake of recruiting!
I agree that people do post about shocking events, even a little thing like getting your tooth pulled out or events like what they are doing the next day. Even so there are lots of mysteries in the world that some people want to share with other and that I thank them for.
Thanks for sharing the story peter it was very interesting to read.
This article shows that even though most of the students in that class wrote about unimportant things in their log, there was that ONE student who showed you that there was still hope out there.
The thing I liked most about the blog is it’s the truth. Some people don’t care about what they blog they just do it . This makes me think about what I post on facebook I need to make my post more interesting.
peter sounds like he would be a good person to learn from. this blog has helped me realized that it takes time and effort to become a good writer
i think that more people should write or blog about more important topics than breaking up with someone. the internet would probly be a better place lol
I believe when someone post some thing that is real and flows that’s is when it caught the eyes of viewers who understand and would love to read and hear more and more so they come back, like some go ice cream. I would not give it up but if it’s not my flavor its all bad, i move on to the next so as long as it grasp my attention, there is a win will he/ she post more i really feel this post are better yet i understand what the person is saying,Post more.
peter sounds like he should be a teacher…I feel reading this story blogging is alot like essay writing. you have to put time and energy into it to make it interesting.
Shari, I love reading this post because it rings very true to me…
I have so many friends on facebook and other social networking sites that constantly complain about people not commenting on there posts!
Well if you want a commenting right something worth reading! I’m just saying…
Right something that the people on the other end can relate to and get something out of, I often find myself scrolling threw my facebook updates wondering when am I going to run across something more then just, I feed my cows on farmvile. WHO CARES! LOL
Very interesting blog-site hope to get one up this summer! Looks like it will be very good resource..
Only when you write more and when you really put effort into your writing, you will impress yourself and others. To key to successful writing is practice with accuracy.
Peter seems like a talented young man when it comes to writing. He has a gift. But like most students, we write about our problems when it comes to a writing assignment.
It is true that writing something interesting and important will attract people to read the blog. People post more about their daily life but not the interesting and important one.
Dear Shari
Thanks for letting us know about your blog! It is so much to learn from.
My dad is a hardcore blogger who updates daily, but most of his posts are pictures and a couple of sentences. I think it is a good communication tool for us since we live far away from each other. He posts stuff as if only showing for family member so I am worry about his internet literacy in order to protect our privacy. How can I educate my father about importance of blogging manner?
Tomoko, since you found my blog posts useful, perhaps you might suggest that your dad read some of the Blogging Basic articles as well.
I think it’s very important for bloggers to post informational articles.
There’s so much going on in the world and some times the newspapers are just not enough, because when editors omit the truth people aren’t able to truly develop their own bias about certain issues. We need bloggers out their to follow on stories and play checks and balances with the newspaper agencies. We all now sometimes the truth can be lost. However I agree that if bloggers post useful information and and grab sometime off emotional appeal, people will have commentate on issues they can identify with.
I agree that when you post something up on your blog you should write about something interesting. What you write makes people want to read and comment on your blog or not. I also thing that its your blog and you should write about whatever you feel like writing. There are always going to be some people that like what you write and others that don’t.
I like this blog because i agree with the writer because it’s true people only write about their daily life for example: basketball game, what did they eat today and clothing, they don’t write about poetry, poem or the economy.
i think that’s what blogging is all about. Write about something relevant. In order to attract people attention on your blog u have to have that one element that will grab their attentions. so it doesn’t have to be only relevant to only you, but to the society too.
It is really helpful to me in order to get your post pointed out. I think people would pay attention to something that is important and useful things rather than wasting time reading meaningless posts…:D
In some ways i could understand your logic behind looking forward to his posts but what was it about Peter’s posts that stuck out more than the others kids posts? Was it beacause it seemed like everyone was talking about the same thing all day everyday?
Fred, the first reason was because I always learned something I hadn’t known before. The second was that I could tell he had really put forth a serious effort, rather than simply dashing something off.
I agree that using social medial such as Twitter and Facebook is a great idea to get more readers and for them to comment on other people’s blog.
I enjoyed this Blog.. The point you made was a very good one. I will use this advice
It only makes sense that Peter’s work was something to praise. He was a young man who understood that blogging was an outlet for him to express his opinion as well as imagination to the world beyond his backyard. I must say this post has been very helpful and next time I sit down to write to the world I will keep in mind to express myself in a meaningful manner.
Good post. I used to blog, but I just talked about some random stuff about my life and never proofread before I posted, so my blog doesn’t have many readers. I became lazy and then stop blogging. Now, I have found out why my blog doesn’t have many readers.
So, Yuru, what kind of “interesting and important” subject do you think you can blog about?
I most definetly agree that you should not even bother writing anything if you do not think that it is interesting or important. Because if the value of that piece of writing is worthless to you, how do you expect it to be of any valuable to someone else?
Juan, what topics are of particular interest to you? What would you be really excited to share your knowlege about?
Shari I totally agree with you sometimes it’s just plain boring to read about others’ problems and drama and stuff. Reading poetry, plays, news,or anything about books is interesting especially if you don’t write those things yourself. If I would have read Peter’s stories, I probably would have felt some connection to them because he wrote about something worth reading.
Mynia, you bring up a good point about finding online information that can help you learn about How-To-Do almost anything and everything.
I think everyone’s writing is interesting, but t depends on the reader, i.e., what he or she wants to learn about.
Peter catches the eyes of others; he not only talks about things that interest him — but what interest the readers.
Nice post.I think one of the best ways is to comment on the blogs of other people.We can also have plugins like commentluv in order to get some good back links but the focus should be on getting goos reputation rathe rthan back links.
These are great suggestions, except that it’s not practical for me to announce new posts everytime one goes up. I post at least one item a day, sometimes more. Only when I think something I have written is, as you recommend, important, do I send out announcements.
Wow, Jo, publishing everyday. I admire you. So how do you build your audience?
And, I might add… important and interesting to YOU, so you can write about it with passion. That makes readers want to respond and interact with you.
Thanks for sharing your story about Peter. Stories always make it come alive for me… i.e. interesting. 🙂
Willena Flewelling
Willena, thanks for reading Peter’s story. Personally, I learned so much from being his teacher that I have tons of stories to share with current students.
Nice post – and point well taken. I’ve invested a LOT of time commenting on other people’s blogs in exchange programs and that’s about run it’s course for me because so few of the participants in those groups actually live up to the recipropal part of that “exchange”. Quality content has always been important, but people still need to FIND you. I don’t think there is any magic formula other than a diverse marketing plan and lots of hard work 🙂
Marquita, you make some excellent points in just a few sentences:
1) I, too, question the value of “reciprocal exchanges”: of course, sometimes when the content is inspirational or instructive, it is worth making a comment on. One problem, though is when you have to “waste” a lot of time going through content that isn’t really well done enough to merit a comment.
2) When we talk about how to get people to Find You, though, these reciprocal exchange mechanisms can introduce blog readers to blog writers they may not have found any other way.
3) Re: Magic Formulas for “getting found”: it all comes to one’s objectives: money? influence? engagement?