The next post in the b5media 12 Days of Christmas Series (I’m keeping a full list of posts there now) has been submitted by Christina Jones, another of our newly merged blogs fom the About Weblogs Network. Christina blogs for us at eBeautyDaily and the Birthday Blog (which will be merged over onto it’s new domain and design shortly). Here’s Christina’s tip on Getting Personal on your Blog
Hi there – I am Christina Jones, from eBeautyDaily, and I want to offer my thoughts to you about the importance of getting to know your readers. One of the joys of reading other peoples blogs is getting a glimpse into their lives and their personalities. For some reason, this is always fascinating to us as humans. I have blogs ranging from the very serious to the very informal (with eBeautyDaily falling somewhere in between), but in all of them, you can see a personal part of me. I try to write from the heart rather than from the wallet. Without the heart, you might as well be writing a press release.
As a Problogger it can be beneficial to you to encourage your readers to interact with you and express their feelings about your topics so that you can gear your writing and your advertising towards things that they might be interested in. I believe this is the reason that blogs have become so very popular as a method of building a business, and as stand alone businesses themselves. Two things that I can’t stand to see on a blog are a lack of ability to leave comments, and no contact information. These are the very first steps to getting personal with your readers – without them I immediately wonder if I can trust any of the information I am reading, and I usually never return to the blog.
Yes, I know, you will get some spam. There are dozens of scripts to cloak your email address that you can look into, and most blogging platforms have options or plugins that can stop comment spam from overtaking your blog. The few moments of time tending your blog comments are nothing compared to the benefits you will receive from interacting with your readers. Also, don’t slack on responding to your comments, this is the interactive part of blogging, and what makes blogging so much fun. This is also the place where you can really reveal your personality, especially if you are blogging about more serious subjects. And don’t forget to thank your readers for reading occasionally. Ideally you are building a community, and if they don’t believe that you care about them, they might forget to care about you.
I hope you have a joyful holiday season, and thanks for reading!
You are so right, Christina! Comments are totally the way readers know that bloggers are people too and not some faceless automaton generating spam articles. Bloggers who don’t respond to comments don’t capture my attention for long.
Great post Christine! Part of the reason I came to trust Darren so much was because he allowed us, his readers, to familiarize ourselves with him and to be able to relate to him.
One of the FIRST things I look at when browsing sites is the about page. If I can’t relate to the person or if they seem too “stuffy” to me, I leave and don’t go back.
I like hanging out with the humble people and people who are willing to let me know THEM and not just what they have to pitch :)
If you really can’t stand to expose your email address to all the nasty spammers out there, you can use Ryan Duff’s WordPress Contact Form instead. You can see it running right here at ProBlogger, in fact. Just click the Contact link :)
There’s probably something similar for MT as well, but I strongly avoid MT for pro blogging, or any blogging for that matter.
EXCELLENT post Christina! You’re absolutely right…people are always looking for a ‘connection’ to someone else, and good writing with a personal touch gives them one.
Y’all are my biggest fan club..LOL *hugs* Gayla, I totally agree about Darren, that must be a huge part of his success, and maybe was the first place I discovered the importance of personality in blogging. In case I have never said it before, thanks Darren for all that you have shared with everyone and taught us, we are forever grateful! :)
I have to second that one Darren – I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the education I’ve gotten here! OH and come Christmas Morning – my kids are going to appreciate you too ;-)
My blog: http://madebig.blogspot.com feels pretty much what you said a non-interactive site that noone visits. I am just too apprehensive to put myself out there. I let everyone know what is going on in the business but noone cares. I was more apt to post and see what was going on with other people when I actually shared from myself. Good post Christina.
[…] Day 1 – Writing Gooder Day 2 – Ethics for Science and Health Bloggers Day 3 – It’s all about the Lifestyle Day 4 – Fund Your Love of Blogging Day 5 – Get a Little Bit Personal Day 6 – Tips for Writing Hardworking Posts – Part A Day 7 – How Pictures can Sell Your Post (and Your Product) Day 8 – Niche Blogging Benefits. […]