The Blogosphere is Big!
- Blogs are read by millions of people every day
- Blogs have a global audience
- A popular blog post can be read by hundreds of thousands of people over its lifetime
It’s very easy to get caught up in the size of the blogosphere and picture your blogs readers as a crowd.
However the reality is that when people read your blog they are alone.
Forgive me if I’m wrong but while it’s likely that a few thousand people are reading this post today, very few of you are doing it in the physical company of anyone else.
While you might be aware that others are reading this blog most of you are probably sitting in your work cubical, your home office, on a couch, in bed, in a cafe…. alone (have I depressed us all yet?).
While blogging has some wonderfully communal aspects to it we need to remember that it’s also about individuals connecting with other individuals.
I get the feeling when I read some blogs that the blogger sees themselves as standing before a large crowd. They use language and have attitude that backs this up. I don’t know about you but I’d much prefer to be spoken to like I was an individual.
The Challenge to Write for the Individual
So when you sit down to write on your blog next time I challenge you to push aside the image of the crowd and focus on the individual.
- Personalise your writing
- Use ‘you’ language (it’s much more engaging and personal)
- Tell stories (especially personal relatable ones)
- Show photos (include some of yourself from time to time – it gives your blog a more personal touch)
- Use singular language (make the person reading your blog feel like they have your complete focus)
- Pretend you’re having a conversation with one person rather than giving a speech
- Keep a level of informality
- Make it accessible by using everyday words (don’t use big words to impress – write words that people use in everyday language)
- Respond to individuals (in comments respond to individual comments, send emails to readers)
It’s not always easy to do all these things. I know that I’ve been guilty of getting sucked into the ‘crowd mentality’ as much as anyone – it’s easy to do (and at times it might even be appropriate) – however remind yourself of the individuals that read your blogs from time to time and you’ll inject something into your blog that could just take it to a new level.
