Over the last two weeks I’ve been lucky enough to have some time away with my family in Singapore and Indonesia. With our 3rd child arriving in early July it was our babymoon and a last chance to get away with our two little guys for a bit.
The bulk of our time was spent on Bintan Island (Indonesia) where we stayed at Club Med Bintan (note: the pics in this post are all iPhone shots I took at the resort over the week) – a resort which had been recommended by a couple of friends.
I’ve never been to a resort quite like this one before. We usually try to get a self contained apartment in the locations we visit which we can do day trips from – but with ‘V’ (my wife) pregnant and with two active little boys we thought we’d go for an all included option like Club Med which also had a kids club and plenty of activities on site so that we didn’t have to travel once there.
While I was at the resort to relax and do anything but blog – my mind (as usual) did stray a little from the task at hand and I began to think about what I could learn from the experience on Bintan Island that I could apply to my blogging.
A couple of things stood out – one of which I want to explore today:
A Culture of Welcome
As we were bused down the front drive of the resort the first thing we saw was 10 Club Med Staff in front of the lobby clothed in bright T-shirts waving at us. They knew we were coming and a welcome party was out to great us (and our fellow guests).
As we were helped off the bus (while the resort’s theme song played and staff clapped) we were then ushered into the lobby where we were given cold towels and a cup of tea to drink while the manager of the resort welcomed us and told us what to expect over the coming week. Her welcome speech was interrupted only by the staff around her breaking into applause and cheering at numerous points.
OK – so it was slightly cheesy and over the top – but right from the very first moment it was clear that we’d been noticed and were being valued and integrated into the resort.
This continued for the coming 7 days that we were guests. It started with a personal tour of the resort and continued every time we walked past one of the many staff in the resort – on every single occasion they greeted us with a ‘good morning’, ‘good afternoon’ or ‘good evening’ and on many occasions they engaged us (particularly our children) in conversation.
Staff joined us for meals, they went out of their way to learn our kids names and integrate them into the children’s programs and at the end of the week a ‘farewell’ party again gathered to make sure we and our luggage found our way onto the bus and were thanked for staying (and our kids were given personal certificates for graduating kids club).
Our last view of the resort was 10 or so brightly clothed staff standing in front of the lobby waving until our Bus turned a corner off the driveway.
I’ll be honest and say at first I found the personal attention a little over the top (I’m an introvert and went expecting some ‘cave time’) but what I noticed over the week was that the intentional welcomes and attention that staff gave seemed to ‘infect’ those who were staying there. I’ve never been to a hotel or resort where guests interacted as much or where the ‘vibe’ of the place was so positive.
The experience was in stark contrast to our last hotel in Singapore (one which we paid more per night than the resort in Bintan) where there was a real absence of any kind of personal attention, where check in took half an hour and where we spent half our time on the phone to reception trying to rectify mistakes with our booking.
As bloggers – what can we learn from this culture of welcome?
People don’t go online simply get information any more – they want to belong. I discovered this early in my own blogging (in fact it’s part of what attracted me to the medium) so the more you can do to welcome and integrate people into the community of your blog and into relationship with you the better.
While it’s not possible to greet every single new reader at the door in a bright T-shirt with a wave – there are ways to make sure people feel noticed and welcomed when they arrive.
- Writing in a personal tone about real problems and issues that your readers face
- Inviting comments in your posts
- Using ‘Gravatars’ in your comments so people have the opportunity to see their own face on your blog when they do interact
- Responding to comment
- Inviting readers to contribute with guest posts
- Interacting with readers in a personal way on Twitter, Facebook, Ustream or other social media
The list could go on.
This is all particularly important in the early days of a blog. When YOU yourself take the lead in this community building/welcoming what then happens is that your readers begin to pick up on it and interact on the same way.
YOU have the opportunity to ‘infect’ your blog’s readers with a culture of inclusiveness and welcome. What happens when you do this is that you start to see readers taking initiative in welcoming other readers and creating community on your blog.
How do You Create a Culture of Welcome on Your Blog
By no means do I feel like I’m the best at creating this culture of welcome on my blogs. I try but if there’s an area that I constantly feel I could do more in it’s this.
The challenge with growing a blog past the early stages is to find ways to give that personal attention to larger numbers of people.
So I’d love to hear how others do it? How do YOU build a culture of welcome on your blogs (big and small)? I’m keen to learn from you!
Thanks for sharing what you’ve gained with us Darren. Happy Birthday too! :)
These pictures from Bintan are really lovely, I hope to visit the place too :) I agree with the concept of your welcome structure, we should all do this to give our readers a “sense of belonging”. Thanks for sharing this.
Hi Darren,
Congratulations on your expected new addition to the family! Glad to hear you had such a wonderful vacation and I’m so glad you’ve chosen to share it with us here.
I try to create an atmosphere of “Welcome” by addressing my readers by name whenever I reply to comments. And even though I can’t always respond to every comment personally, I have a plug in that delivers a personalized message that I wrote to each new commentator.
I also try to take time to check out my readers’ blogs and share their content when I can squeeze the time – I try to be as helpful as possible. That usually opens the door for a wonderfully and mutually beneficial relationship.
thanks Kiesha – appreciate you sharing.
Darren-
Good post and a good way to integrate your trip into your blog. I’m on vacation as well but my story won’t be beach friendly. Thx again.
:-)
Glad you enjoyed such a great getaway with family.
I love to help people or even show them ways we can work with rather than against our brains. Often this generates from my own curiosity.
I have seen bloggers writing on how they learned a new way of blogging from different means of aspect but the way you have written the post is amazing i mean so deeply and thoroughly you have explained your views on it.
Hey Darren,
It is so nice of you to share your wonderful moments of vacation with us. The culture of welcoming or being so nice about hospitality applies right to every blog.
With my blog, I pay a lot of attention to encourage the commenters and make them feel warm. I reply to comments, I make myself known with a face shot of mine, I list the top commenters, I also do a lucky draw for active commenters (bi-weekly) and offer free adspace for them.
I use a plugin, comment reply notification that intimates the commenter when I reply to their comments, this increases my interaction and connection with commenters even after they left my blog.
I am also active on social media and welcome readers of my blog so that they feel warm wherever they see me.
In addition, I am learning and improving daily to see how I can enhance the experience of my loyal and random visitors.
Cheers,
Jane.
great stuff Jane – good to see you taking such initiative with it!
My blog is new and tiny small… but, I have a hard time to speak in a more natural and personal way. When I visit the blogs I like, especially the smaller ones, I feel welcome and close to the owner and this is a big part of the reasons that make me come back often and feel better going there. I wish I could make people feel this way too. Maybe it’s an art that comes with time for some…
Flavia – its one of the numerous things about blogging that does come with time – keep at it!
“Culture of Welcome” I like that.
I am also little bit of an introvert, I am not sure how crazy i would be about that for a resort. But for a blog, the ideas are superb. Those personal touch and interactions are what really can make your readers see you as a person and not “just another” site.
I reply to comments on my blog and interact to them via the FB fan pages which I have and those which I have joined.
Inspiring post, and a great example of how effective sharing some of your own non-work-related experiences on a blog can be.
I bet that resort gets a lot more bookings now too!
I love finding ways to use real life experiences to illustrate a point :-)
Hi, Darren. I’m a big fan of yours. This is the first time I’m commenting because you coaxed me out of “lurkdom.” :-)
A few things: I have a personal blog I’ve kept for 3 years. (Still can’t believe it’s been that long, but there you go.) One commenter mentioned that it was a drag to leave comments on a blog while the blog owner never responded. So that’s big for me. Whenever someone comments, I usually will reply with a response. If it’s someone I’ve never seen before, I will thank them for visiting. I always thank people, either for their kind words, good points, or just visiting.
The other thing I’ve done is occasionally post a “Noteworthy Blog” entry that will focus on someone’s blog and how I enjoyed it. I took that idea and posted a “From the ComBox” entry that will feature someone’s comment and I’ll riff off their thoughts to create another post. I was surprised how well-received this has been and will be doing more in the future. The general response is, “Wow! I’m honored you thought so much of my comment that you featured it in a post!” So I think that a “culture of welcome” can definitely be done on a blog. The key is noticing people and letting them know you noticed them.
Now I just started out on my new side business and hope to do the same with my business blog as I gain more readers. I love to interact with people, share new ideas, and reciprocate when I’m able. I’ll be focusing on how I can be more welcoming, thanks to your fantastic post!
Whew! I guess this is what happens when one comes out from “lurkdom.” I exploded in your combox! :-D
Happy Birthday!
thanks Mary – glad to have you out of lurkdom!
3 years – fantastic, most people give up after 3 months so you’ve done amazing!
I love the ‘noteworthy blog’ idea. I’ve done it occasionally on my photography blog by highlighting 10 or so posts from the last month that caught my attention from readers blogs. It similarly gets a great response not only from those I link to but others.
thanks too for the birthday wishes – had a great day!
Great post – so true!
A wake up call. What’s the blogging equivalent of offering a cold towel on a hot day or a seat in a crowded train? Welcome videos, personal invitations to ask the blog author for help? Your questions should be stuck on the computer screen and answered before the blog article is posted. Will do this in future . Thanks
Thanks Julie – the welcome video is a good solution.
Interesting! And I just came back from Bintan yesterday! We stayed at Nirwana Resort Hotel. Love the pristine beaches, the food and friendly people.
its a great place isn’t it. I heard there were some other great resorts on the island – will have to research before our next trip :-)
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and those great pictures Darren! Sounds like you had a great trip!
One of the things I have done on my little blog to ‘put out the welcome mat’ is that I have a “come introduce yourself” post. It was a post I did a while back that has 10 or so random questions just to learn a little bit more about my readers (I answered them too in that post), silly things like “what did you have for dinner last night” and “if you could be any animal what would you be”.
I have a link to that post at the end of my “about me” page (“now you know something about me, I would like to learn a little something about you!”). I also have a link at the very top in my side bar (“welcome to Practicex3! Please come introduce yourself!”).
Not everyone comments on that post of course, but I do think it sets a tone of welcome on my blog.
Jennefer
that’s a great idea Jennefer – really cool!
the most beautiful country
I really like the tips you give here about being welcoming. Sometimes I forget about really making my communications have a personal inviting tone. Perhaps I should go on a tropical vacation for more inspiration! =)
Now I want an iPhone and a trip to Bintan–they’ve been added to “the list.”
I’m trying to create a community on my very small blog. I ask questions at the end of posts and respond to all comments. I find that the hardest part, though. I am an introvert, too, but i try to respond to comments as though I were an extrovert. I started asking questions in my replies as well, but I don’t know that people generally come back to read the responses to their comments?
I like that you have pictures of yourself on every page, too. It reminds us of where we are. :) I think I need to add that as well.
Not everyone comes back – but I think when they do and see that you’re engaging it really does make an impression. It also makes an impression on others even when they see you interacting with someone else.
I’m glad you’ve shared on the Indonesian resort. Although I came from Indonesia, but it was an interesting experience.
If there is one thing I pride myself on, it is being inviting. While my blog is very new, I think I did a decent job of setting that stage right off the bat. I have very few official followers so that makes personal touches easier. I welcome you all to check out my site and see what you think. – nice hun? ; )
Hi Darren
It would seem like a lot of bloggers are introvert, including myself. I wonder why?
I’ve only recently started blogging full time and I honestly find it a bit difficult building a community. I have gravatars enabled, I answer all comments within 6 hours and I try to write as I would speak to someone visiting me in person. I’ve tried making polls, but after a couple of days and 0 votes it was kind of sad.
I think the best way to make people feel welcome is to speak/write naturally. I can’t clarify that further, because I’m not sure I entirely understand it myself. It’s mainly about being yourself when you blog, I think.
I hope I’ve made some sort of sense here :-P
Cheers,
Thomas
there’s something about blogging that allows me as a slower paced person and an introvert to communicate (something I’m passionate about) in away that is comfortable and that gives but doesn’t take energy. I love people – they just make me tired – so to communicate with people without having them face to face all the time is GOLD :-)
That is exactly how I feel! :) When I’m not blogging, I work as a virtual assistant. I love that I can help people and communicate with them, but at my own pace and on my own terms. I can leave the computer if they start making me tired. :)
Hi Darren
You are absolutely right, I feel exactly the same way. I enjoy, on occasion, to be with other people in person, but I am also dead tired afterwards. I feel the need to be social, just not be with people, if that makes any sense.
Still I find it hard to really “open the gates” when I blog and be myself. What if others hate me? Or think what I write is stupid? The introvert in me crawls up in foetal position every time I hit “Publish”.
I guess I’ll learn to live with it :-)
I’ve gotten quite comfortable in the fetal position since I started blogging. :) I didn’t tell my family about it for a long time because I was worried what they would think. I can still feel myself blushing when I see them after I’ve posted something. A little sad, but I’m getting used to it.
But I have found that in social situations I’m becoming a little bit more of an extrovert since I’ve started blogging. It still makes me tired, but I’m much more willing to contribute to the conversation now.
Great ideas to share with!
I always try to reply ALL the comments in my blog, so that the interaction between the readers and me will get a continuity all the time :)
Hi Darren, very inspiring post. Making people feel welcomed and feel that they are ‘reached’ by us (the blog writer) is not a simple thing. Even the basics of giving full attention to a reader as an individual and not writing as if to a crowd is a tricky thing for me.
As for the tourist destination itself, the power of ‘word of mouth’ and ‘experiential marketing’ has proven well to attract more ‘conversions’ or ‘landing pages’ .:-)
Thanks for the insight.
Thanks for such a comprehensive post and a reminder of what is important and the places where this can be reinforced if you are looking..
You’ve hit on an issue I’ve really worked on since I began my blog 9 months ago. I write for cruisers (those funny people who live on boats and travel around). There’s a real feeling of community amongst cruisers and I’ve had to work to bring that to the blog.
A couple months in, I was really hurt when an experienced blogger responded to a question I asked, saying that they doubted my blog was anything other than a spam site. But it forced me to look at my home page with fresh eyes. It didn’t welcome anyone and I would have passed it up if I’d run across it in a Google search. I set out to change the site to make it one I wanted to read.
I created a “sticky” welcome post, with my picture, my story, and what the blog was about. I put an image of my signature (actually, a font since I didn’t want to risk forgers) at the bottom of the post.
A few months later, I added a “Get Started” section at the top of my sidebar so that new readers had a place to begin — I listed my cornerstone pieces.
More recently, I’ve added a section about myself to the sidebar for those people who come to a specific post on the site and don’t see the home page. It starts with “Hi!” shows my photo, and ends with good wishes.
I respond to every comment, e-mail and FB note. I don’t do it because it’s good for the blog, I do it because I enjoy interacting with my readers. Maybe it’s come full circle — as a cruiser, I learned the cruiser culture of helpfulness and friendliness and now I’m passing it on virtually.
great stuff Carolyn – while not nice to hear I’m glad you used the comment of the other blog to propel you to do something constructive. Thanks for sharing.
Sometimes it takes a real wake-up call!
This post makes me proud to be an Indonesian and as a blogger it strikes a cord for me too. Thanks for the great tips!
Interesting story about how the warm, welcoming gestures affected the atmosphere at your resort (beautiful photos by the way). I’m a very new blogger but am finding a new, small community is growing on Twitter where we all read each other’s blogs, then comment or retweet, then thank each other for doing so :-). At first I resisted all of this, but now I’m rather Into it and the welcoming atmosphere is nice.
Darren,
I think it’s all about engagement.
I do encourage comments at the end of every post.
I try to reply to all of the comments that I can. I even have a app on my phone that allows me to do that and I will randomly check every so often.
I use a plug in that thanks people for their comments and I also try to thank people who are kind enough to retweet my post.
Not to mention comment luv and a plug in that shows commenters on post and top commenters.
! social media site in a lot of ways. Great post and pics!
Steve
I am also active on social media and welcome readers of my blog so that they feel warm wherever they see me.
Great! Some real good tips. The great thing about social media, is its ability to shorten the cord with people. I see that we all have a need to be part of each other in some way, and social media makes that possible.
Hi .. Daren
I think, you’re very happy to be a holiday and met the family in Singapore and Indonesia. Particularly in Indonesia, its people have a culture that is very high. They are very open and always welcome every guest with a smile, be it from domestic and from abroad.
Turning to the topic of blogs, I often write about personal problems and sometimes the writing is only lamentations. How do you attract visitors to the blog which contains only complaints?
I’ve provided a column for comments, but almost no one comments on my blog other than to put a link only.
Can you give tips to attract visitors with a personal blog containing only grievances like a diary book?
Darren, I think the key to creating a welcome environment is to speak in a welcoming, engaging, honest voice on all platforms. I believe most people check others out on a variety of tools: blog, twitter, facebook, etc.
When we speak in our (over-used word) “authentic” voice, and maintain a demeanour of approachability, openness, camaraderie and friendliness, while providing information and content that is of value, that’s the best “welcome mat” we can put out there. People can sense genuineness and sincerity…and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being “wrong”, and showing our vulnerabilities too. We’re all fallible.
Good manners; good content; genuine friendliness; giving without the intention of receiving; admitting and taking responsibility when we’re wrong; expressing gratitude…all are the ingredients of a good welcome mat on every platform. Cheers! Kaarina
Lovely images and sounds like you and your family had a great time.
Some great suggestions from other bloggers here and if there was only one thing we were allowed to do to welcome our readers … for me it would be replying to every comment … every single one.
I get some great insights, feedback and ideas from my readers and I really value that they have taken the time to reach out and write something to me.
On each of my blog posts I end them with an activity and series of questions and the feedback I’m getting shows that people really appreciate them … it’s like an additional ‘present’ to the reader.
My Blog and Facebook Page are really interlinked in my and my readers minds. FB allows me to add short content and give a lot of the back story to Life Dreaming as well as highlight other bloggers and sites. I also always respond to comments on FB.
On my 4 year old personal blog I was even able to find 2 readers a cottage to live in here in Ireland and they became dear friends.
I believe that if we act with generosity and a willingness to share information then most of the time people will respond really well. I have found my readers and other bloggers very supportive over the years.
Liz
On the last comment I put the wrong address in. Gave me time to read some other comments from some good replies. Great stuff!
About making people feel welcome and a part.I am a really really really small blog so this might only work for me but when a person comments it comes to my email so I always send them a reply. If they are a non-reply comment I will sometimes leave a comment on my blog especially answering questions.
Thank you for these great tips.
It all makes sense to me Darren. I had a similar experience on the Greek island of Crete. I think I became a better person because of all the examples of courtesy and kindness I got while I was there. Yes, I try to apply it to my blog. As a newbie though, I’m still learning.
Hi Darren
Thanks for sharing Info .One thing i would like to inform you that I am an Engineer in profession who just shared Home Design collection with others. one day I just came to your page and started applying few recommendation
After applying these I started sharing lot of Home design ideas as per readers need and completely Free.
Other designers also started sending new ideas.
“Writing in a personal tone about real problems and issues that your readers face” this is what i am Going to focus next onwards
Thank you Darren, Have nice day ahead
hanks for sharing Info .One thing i would like to inform you that I am an Engineer in profession who just shared Home Design collection with others. one day I just came to your page and started applying few recommendation
After applying these I started sharing lot of Home design ideas as per readers need and completely Free.
Lovely images and sounds like you and your family had a great time.
Some great suggestions from other bloggers here and if there was only one thing we were allowed to do to welcome our readers … for me it would be replying to every comment … every single one.
I get some great insights, feedback and ideas from my readers and I really value that they have taken the time to reach out and write something to me.
Walking in the presence of giants here. Cool thinking all around! Thanks!
Darren, I really enjoy your posts. And the concept of welcoming, it seems that we have suppressed our delight in being enthusiastically noticed in our culture, but it does seem to grow on us when we get exposed to it.
One thing I used to do (and your post just reminded me that I should get back to it) is I pose a question on fb or twitter. Then I ask folks for their answers or thoughts on the topic. I choose about 5-10 of their answers and use it in a post crediting them, and then I write my opinion about it. I find that people feel like they are a part of the blog and I actually listen to them and value their opinions (which I do). I call those posts Keepin’ It Real because they talk about dealing with real life issues and how they (and I) have dealt with them.
I try to also make people feel welcome by not trying to make myself look super-human. I try to relate to them, and show my downfalls and mistakes (as well as the good things). People don’t relate to super-mom. I try to be real and I think that helps them feel like they can trust me and feel welcome to come back to the blog. I often pose questions towards the end of the post to see ask what they think, and I respond back to them in some way.
Hello Darren!
My first time drop into your blog. Nice entry for share, and wanna asking u, why not come to Malaysia? =D
yours
SH
Thanks for sharing this. Indonesia, wow!
Indonesia has a lot of great place and also Singapore but Indonesia has more nautral looking place. I am in Singapore and it will be a great opportunity to meet you but missed you. There will another opportunity to meet one day. Thanks for sharing your journey … awesome Darren!
Darren,
As a smaller blogger it gives me the great opportunity to connect with my readers on a more personal level. I share my own stories about the things I have done in my life and the way that the world inspires me. In return my readers sometimes do the same. I am in the process of slowly building a community. In this community the people care about each others well being and only want to help each other in anyway they can. To me that is inspiring, not as good as an Indonesian resort but still good nonetheless. Thanks for sharing what you learned from your experience I found a ton of value in it. I would say more but I have some community building to do. Great post!
Darren,
Thanks for writing this post. I appreciate your ideas. Sounds like your family had a nice vacation.
I think it is important to make people feel welcome, like they belong, and have a sense of community.
Whether at a hotel, resort, at home or elsewhere–I think this is important anywhere you are in the world.
Offering a guest a delicious meal is a great way to break the ice. Equally important, learn their names and include their names often in your conversations. Make a person feel like he/she is the most important person in the world and such a person will thank you for it and remember you with fondness.
It also helps to ask a person: “let me know if there is anything I can do for you.” Provide service with a smile and a pat on the back. Escort them or walk with them to unknown places. Treat them with the courtesy they deserve. Offer suggestions instead of advice. Make eye contact while you have a dialogue.
Cheers.
Thank you Darren has given a positive opinion about Indonesia. Hopefully Indonesia will be more safe to visit. But if you will visit Indonesia again in the future, other than Bali, I suggest you to visit Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta’s people are very friendly, creative and you will find unique things there.
Hi Darren. The welcoming sessions reminds me of autoresponders. We should have a welcome email, then guide them through their journey with us, with several follow up emails. It should be applied to a welcome page in our blog. This should also present a step by step guide for user to explore our blog.
Cheers
Hi Darren.
I have recently started blogging, I think it’s 8 months now, Being personal with the blog is what makes a blog alive,Static websites are like abandoned houses we cant interact with them but blogs are like a warm homes it reminds us to go back there and check whats cooking. I am reading many blog gurus these days and I have found ‘You’ and ‘Yaro’ true from the heart I don’t know how you came upto here.You used ethical ways or not.But it feels you are a blogger from your heart.Day by day my blog is becoming everything for me I spend hours with it. I want interactions.i want to make my blog a warm place.Thankyou Dareen to guide us.