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A few of you have emailed me beautiful messages about this series and how you've noticed a difference in your blog statistics and the engagement on your blogs. Congratulations! How exciting. It's all you though. I just sit here and tell you what I've learnt. What my blog friends have taught me. What my readers have taught me. Your comments about turning this series into an e-book have not gone unheard. It's something that I've filed away, maybe once the PhD is done. Thank you for continuously pushing me to be a better blogger and person!
Week Six: Engaging, Connecting and Reconnecting
It's easy to get excited with all the new traffic and engagement as your blog grows, that's normal. It is exciting, you feel like your place as a 'blogger' has been solidified. It's easy to carry on being excited and concentrating on blogger meet-ups, spending money on your blog, embracing your blogger tittle a little tighter, continuing to focus on your content and posting and using social media to promote your blog. One of the greatest lessons I learnt as my blog grew was that it was important to stop all of that every now and then.
I often take a week off from posting but spend that time looking at new blogs and engaging with other bloggers by leaving comments, sending emails and through social media. As my blog grew I found that I didn't have as much time to visit all my favorite blogs. Yes, I go back and visit the blogs of every single person who leaves a comment on mine but as my blog grew I wasn't able to leave as many comments on blogs I love (whose bloggers didn't comment on mine). And yes, I still engage on the blogs of people who do not necessarily comment on mine! I think too many bloggers get caught up in just engaging with bloggers who engage with them.
For a whole week every couple of weeks I dedicate my blogging time to connecting with new bloggers. Sometimes I do a Google search, sometimes I click through on sponsor buttons on my favorite blogs, other times I ask my blog friends. The point is just to open myself to bloggers I haven't come across before. In addition to engaging with new bloggers, I also use this time to reconnect with bloggers I may have been close to in the beginning but with whom I may have lost touch. I also engage more with bloggers I sort of know, but would like to know better. It really is about creating and maintaining relationships, regardless of whether the blogger actively engages with my blog. I give these blog relationships a damn good shot!
What does this do for your blog? I'm not sure it directly does anything for me. It did mean I had a few new people clicking through. I think this is more like smiling at a stranger on the street or saying hello to the bus driver. When I do this 'activity' I'm not expecting anything in return. It introduces me to new content, I'm usually inspired by these new to me bloggers and it also keeps blogging real for me. It reminds me that it's not all about my blog. It's about the relationships and the community.
Maybe this 'activity' isn't for you this week or maybe even next week, but I do encourage you to take a chance. Put your blog aside and engage and interact with other blogs and bloggers (outside of those you normally interact with). Pretend that you don't have a blog. Maybe something wonderful will happen. You might make a good friend. You might discover a great blog...what goes around may come around...
Is not blogging for a week and engaging, connecting and reconnecting with blogs something you would consider doing?
Do you already do something similar?
24 comments:
This is actually something i do and i'm currently doing. I tend to take a while off blogging and just try to focus on why i want to blog, and what it means to me. It also gives me more time to find new blogs and learn from other bloggers. I find that when i'm blogging, i can't really do the other 2 as much because there aren't enough hours in my day to squeeze this in
xo Stephanie
I've loved the relationships I've made through blogging and social media. As a relatively new blog, I always feel like I have to put I the extra effort and am happy to do so.
Connecting with other people is definitely one of my favorite things about this whole blogging thing. I think it's such an important thing to engage with other bloggers and especially your own readers. I've been loving this series, Vanisha!
Connecting and engaging is one of the best parts of the whole blog deal, for me anyway. I think it's a great idea to take some time to refocus on doing those things - I need to remember to spend more time on engaging and re-connecting!
If you don't mind, I'd like to share this series in my "Odds + Ends" post this Friday - kind of a weekly roundup of things I've read and enjoyed, thoughts from the week, etc.
These are fabulous tips! I can't wait to give them a try!
Kate xo petite-adventures.blogspot.ca
I think this is one particular step that I have neglected so far. I recently have found a few bloggers with styles and points of view that I find interesting (yours is one of them), however I often read the blogs on my phone and it's really difficult (or sometimes, virtually impossible) to leave comments in the mobile version of many websites. Then I think "Oh, I'll do it later" and I either lose the inspiration to write the idea the post had originally prompted in me or just forget about doing it.
Also, I am not used to have to search and reach for people. I had a reasonably popular blog before, and my experience with it was that people somehow just found it and started commenting, and some of those commenters where like-minded people who also had blogs; that's how I started connecting and interacting and building a community over time. However, that was in 2004, when there was only a handful of blogs compared to the enormity of the blogosphere now. Times change, uh?
My favourite way to engage with bloggers without really expected anything in return is when they inspire me and I write a post about how they inpsired me. Often this happens when it's a blog I've just found and I just want to share it.
I'm not sure I'd take a week off blogging just to engage, but that's a big part of blogging for me. I don't consider writing a post and clicking submit to be the hardest part! It's forming those connections and reaching out to people to tell say that you've heard their story.
This is something I try to do a few times a week when I can. I will often add blogs I discover and love to my bloglovin feed. Now I have never set aside a few week to do this. I just sort of do it as I read others comments or sponsorship buttons on the sidebars.
Chao
Poppie
http://thepoppie.com
I really like that you mentioned engaging bloggers who don't necessarily commit to your blog. I think that's important too!
This is such a great idea, but I would miss blogging too much to take an entire week off!
I reply to every comment I get, and I also visit all of the blogs that I have time to/who's post of the day sounds interesting to me :)
Really helpful post, I have to read all the others too. I think I know what will I do this afternoon :)
Thank you for the great tips!
i try my best to visit my favourite bloggers even if they don't comment on my blog.
i also take some days of to connect, engage and reconnect with other bloggers.
Another fantastic post in the series!
I always try to make time to discover new blogs because there are so many inspiring blogs out there, so much to learn and great new people to connect with :)
I absolutely agree that engaging in other peoples blogs!
Of course I'll be happy when they pop by my place and say hello, but that is not my intention. I love being inspired by new content, and if I like a blog I cannot stop commenting and sharing my thoughts! I mostly spend 2/3 of my blogging time to read my favorite blogs (which I have listed on mine and blogger always tells me as soon as there is something new :)) and explore the web for other blogs. I am naturally curious and would not stop reading new blogs.
Great idea to turn this series into an ebook!
Love from the other side of the world
Svenja
Happybluebird
Definitely great advice and yes, it is about giving and taking. People want to interact w/ the blogger!! xo
Another informative and interesting post in this series. I like to visit my favourite blogs and also respond to those who comment but I love to discover new blogs - always good to be inspired by new content and I'm interested in the way people present their images etc. Time as you say is always an issue but I do find myself buying fewer magazines these days as blogs offer so much!
http://missbbobochic.blogspot.co.uk/
It's a very good point. I used to blog 7 days a week and eventually it became too much... So I switched to 5. Made life a lot easier and allowed me to switch off from time to time. x
Hi Vanisha, really insightful advice, love your thoughts and ideas on engagement, it does become difficult with so little time to engage with all the bloggers on your reading list. I must keep these brilliant sparks in mind :)
Vanisha, I have thoroughly enjoyed this series from the very first week when you stated you were after quality vs. quantity. Your words, and my daughter's birthday month, really got me thinking about how caught up I had gotten with the numbers, giveaways and hops at the beginning of the year in contrast to why I started the blog in the first place. I will definitely be taking time off from blogging in the near future to do what you've suggested here as it is so needed and I think doing it in this way will keep me from being overwhelmed by it as well.
Love, love, love this series and can't wait to hear more of your thoughts on this whole blogging thing!
I say yes to the e-book!!!
I think that maintaining a connection is one of the the things I find the most difficult. I think I have missed opportunities to make really good friends because I havent had time to give the development of the friendship as much time as it needs. I am really trying harder to respond to every comment and keep up with all my fave blogs - maybe I need a week off to concentrate on this too?
I know what you mean about making instant judgement calls! I have been guilty of that in the past - I try to make more of an effort now but sometimes first instincts are right...
Sorry I havent organised for us to catch up - life is just crazy at the moment - we are away every weekend for the next four weeks bah! I know your busy too so hopefully we can catch up when things slow down.
This is something I involuntarily did a little while ago, I found I was too busy to blog myself but whenever I had some spare time I had a look through some other people's blogs, it really is a great community to be a part of!
I'm glad you were able to have a bit of a relax and read today, I have done the same and finally feel like I'm catching up a bit! I also, inspired by you, had a major clean out of my makeup, which then spread to my wardrobe... And my car... I got a little carried away! I'm feeling very cleansed... It's nice! Enjoy what's left of your weekend xx
I try to check out new blogs sometimes, but tend to forget because I'm often addicted to blogs I'm already following on a regular basis and would usually revolve within that circle. That's a really great tip and I'll keep that in mind.
I really love looking through new blogs, and finding people that I can connect with. I have a list of favourites on my sidebar, and love that accessability. I weed through them, and have my favourites at the top, then delete them after a few weeks if I don't like them. Sometimes it's hard to find a new to me blogger that I can really relate to.
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