Be part of the community

The theme today at Works for Me Wednesday is "blogging tips". I love reading web sites with blogging tips, so I definitely will be checking out all of the links on this one.

I still have a lot to learn about blogging, but I do have a tip to share.

Back in my previous life, I was a newspaper reporter, so I wrote words for a living. That was back in the dark ages, when people preferred to have a newspaper dropped off on their front porch so they could read it while drinking their morning coffee.

It was a simple process: I wrote words. My editor read them. They were published in the paper. People read them. Once in a while, people would write a letter to the newspaper about something I had written.

I developed relationships with lots of sources. But I didn't really develop relationships with my readers, unless they were enthusiastic enough about something I had written to call or write to me.

And that is how blogging is completely different from the way the written word was published in the past. Blogging is a two-way relationship. It is so much more than just writing and expecting the world to read because you have the most interesting and thought-provoking words on the planet. Sending words out into cyberspace without interacting with readers is kind of like dominating the conversation at a dinner party without listening to what anyone else has to say.

When people comment on my blog, I try my best to interact with them. (And I KNOW I'm not perfect, but I do try!) If they have a blog, I pay a visit to their blog to read what they have to say. For those who don't have a blog, I try to respond to comments either through my comments section or by sending a personal e-mail, especially if the person asks a question.

If you do comment on blogs, I highly recommend that you enable readers to click on your profile, so they can read your blog. Also, set the preferences on your comments to include your e-mail address for the blogger so she can respond to your comment. If you don't want to do that, then subscribe to the comments. These are the only three ways the blogger is able to interact with a commenter.

This interaction goes both ways. I read lots of blogs and if something strikes me, I take a minute to leave a comment. That is the only way another blogger knows that you were there. Leaving comments or following other bloggers is a good way to encourage someone else. But it's also a way to leave a little "calling card" that can generate traffic back to your blog.

I'm not trying to say you should leave millions of comments just to serve yourself, but if you don't leave comments, it's impossible for other bloggers to even know you exist!

For more tips on blogging, visit Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.

What do you think? What is your #1 blogging tip?

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