Blogging Montage (Photo credit: Blogging Librarian)Ah, Facebook.
I have mixed feelings about the social networking site (good for networking, bad for privacy), but every so often I get a message or other interaction which restores my faith in Zuckerberg's living wet dream.
The following message came from Vichet, who shared an advisory (also known as home room) with me in high-school.
Vichet has a blog called Table Theory (check it out), which was the subject of his message.
This was my reply:
It's true, there really aren't any tricks. Plenty of people write blog posts about how to get subscribers for your website, but I believe these articles are written because of the SEO value they hold.
[So many people are starting a blog for the first time these days, or wondering how to better their current blog and attract more readers, and so they search for articles on the web to get answers.]
These articles all basically say the same thing:
All these articles about better blogging say the same thing because these methods are tried and true, and should be common sense.
There may be methods some use to draw huge crowds, but I am not privy to that information. Some people may hire a PR agency to help them promote their websites, others may take to self promotion and turn themselves into a brand.
I think the best advice, however, is to just have fun with it. The minute writing and updating your blog becomes a chore, you should take a step back from it and ask yourself why you want to blog in the first place. For me, writing a release, but I can understand how regular updates can be an unnecessary pressure for some people.
So have fun with it, and if you're not enjoying yourself you should consider ways to make blogging more fun. Maybe switch up the format-- start adding video, or photography, or draw pictures. The blog world is your oyster.
I have mixed feelings about the social networking site (good for networking, bad for privacy), but every so often I get a message or other interaction which restores my faith in Zuckerberg's living wet dream.
The following message came from Vichet, who shared an advisory (also known as home room) with me in high-school.
Vichet has a blog called Table Theory (check it out), which was the subject of his message.
Yo yo - been meaning to ask you for some tips on blogging.
Started mine in March. Been focusing mostly on just producing content. Been reading on how to get better search engine results, and also how to capitalize on social networks.
Had a windfall from Reddit yesterday - 17k views because people liked my link. Not sure how to convert all those people to subscribers though. Reddit loved it, but how do you go about growing your follower base?
Any insights would help. Thanks!
This was my reply:
Wow! 17 K hits in one day is extremely impressive. What kind of post was it? Maybe I need to get on Reddit!
My advice is to be engaging and let it come naturally. That is what I have been doing. There really aren't any tricks to getting subscribers
It's true, there really aren't any tricks. Plenty of people write blog posts about how to get subscribers for your website, but I believe these articles are written because of the SEO value they hold.
[So many people are starting a blog for the first time these days, or wondering how to better their current blog and attract more readers, and so they search for articles on the web to get answers.]
These articles all basically say the same thing:
- engage your readers
- check out other blogs and leave thoughtful comments
- engage people on social media by adding relevant commentary
- write, and write well
- don't be spammy
- leave good comments on other blogs, et cetera ad nauseam
All these articles about better blogging say the same thing because these methods are tried and true, and should be common sense.
There may be methods some use to draw huge crowds, but I am not privy to that information. Some people may hire a PR agency to help them promote their websites, others may take to self promotion and turn themselves into a brand.
I think the best advice, however, is to just have fun with it. The minute writing and updating your blog becomes a chore, you should take a step back from it and ask yourself why you want to blog in the first place. For me, writing a release, but I can understand how regular updates can be an unnecessary pressure for some people.
So have fun with it, and if you're not enjoying yourself you should consider ways to make blogging more fun. Maybe switch up the format-- start adding video, or photography, or draw pictures. The blog world is your oyster.
2 comments:
Good advice! I'm bad at this whole blogging/social media thing. Thad probably why I jump around so much with blogging.
But I'm going to keep at it - who knows, right?
Good advice! I'm bad at this whole blogging/social media thing. Thad probably why I jump around so much with blogging.
But I'm going to keep at it - who knows, right?
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