Blogging - Outside the Circle

Many authors are already doing many of the right things when it comes to blogging. Many of us don't for various reasons. Don't think it helps sales; don't think it's pertinent to writing; afraid to step out into a world unknown; don't have time. In some cases these are legitimate reasons. For someone like me who has mega time on her hands, there is no excuse. Although, I could come up with dozens of reasons. lol

Whatever your reason, my reasons, we need to get over it. Oh, I post on a few blogs, I comment on a couple of blogs here and there. I follow a lot of blogs officially and unofficially.

Blog marketing is a valuable tool if you have a following; are posting on the right blogs; realize marketing as we think it is, is not what the readers want. The consumer doesn't want blatant sales in the face posts. They don't care what they can do for you. They care what you can do for them. They want something from you when you post. In most cases, it's valuable information they can relate to and/or use. In other cases, they want to win something, like an e-reader, or free books. If you're doing nothing but promoting books at various blogs, you're probably getting few comments unless you have friends following you around which is cool, but you want new followers.

I've watched blogs I frequent, checked out others. I started paying attention at the blogs I follow. I have seen tons of comments for some, none or few for others. There are so many factors involved in this. One, lack of advertising of the blog poster; wrong topic for the blog; people simply aren't interested in yet another stale interview or promo.

One of the blogs I've been following for a couple of years has changed. I loved it because it was personable; the posts were relatable topics to both the writing community and to me as a person. In the last six months I noticed a change in posts and number of people posting on the blog had gone up. I found I was skipping posts, and many weren't worth commenting on. What were these posts I was skipping, blatant promotion or some personal story that doesn't belong on an author blog as it didn't pertain to any aspect of writing and too personal for me as a stranger to know about. I'm not crazy about the simple things I can get in my group digests daily. I want a blog post to be interesting, fun and if a promotional bit is included, that's cool. I love the behind-the-scene-look into the authors making of the story. That's a hook to bring me into the post, but depending on the content, I may or may not comment.

Also, many who follow your blog aren't going directly to your blog to see what's going on. They are reading the headlines of all the blogs they follow. So, headlines can be a draw or not. But keep the headlines relatable to the blog post. I've come across some there were simply to get you there. Enough of this from the same blog site or blogger and you'll lose followers.

I don't like to comment on posts I don't feel really interested me. I only like to post when I have something to say. Commenting on a blog should be real communication, not simply to say you like the post or don't like the post. Each time you post a comment, you are saying something about you and leaving a link back to your blog - it's called in inbound link. One would hope those who read the comments would like what you had to say and go check out your blog, leaving an outbound link for you to go check them out. It sounds like a game of tag, but who knows what you'll find doing this. And another thing you want is to have interesting content on your blog to keep them returning. That's a whole other issue.

The real reason I'm posting this post on blogging is because I heard this great idea in an older class I listened to last week and it's something I'd already been doing.

Limiting your time to author/reader blogs can get old, stagnant and downright boring. For me, at times, I feel closed in and need to get away. It's kind of a like having a job where your boss expects you to put the place of business first in your life. That is so wrong. You have to have a three-dimensional life or your life is going to eat you alive. I know I get agitated, I get fed up and I get witchy. It means my life has become one-dimensional and I need to back off and widen my path to include other things I enjoy. Either that or I've not been listening to music. lol

We need to get out of the cocoon and step into a new arena.

What are your hobbies, interests? Do you like to crochet, knit, scrapbook, garden, do pottery, anything that doesn't include writing and reading? If you do, Google blogs on those topics. Look at the top five that come up. Check them out to see if one or two of them would be a great place to hang out. Read a few back posts that seem interesting then start commenting on their posts. After a while, if they take guest posts, offer yourself to do one here and there on the topic.

What are your books about? Do they have a general topic; do they pertain to community or world issues? Whatever they may be about, Google blogs on those topics and check out the first five. Hang out, comment and post if they'll let you.

In these new guest posts, if you've written a book about the topic, or included the hobby in a story, it's ok to mention the book once, but don't do any blatant promotion. You're not there as an author, you're there as a person with the same interest. Become a part of their community. Let the post interest them enough to want to follow your link back to learn more about you. I think if we do this with a genuine interest of simply sharing with like-minded people, we'll find sales will eventually follow.

My first two books are set around the food service industry, and since this is my profession, I find the blogs especially gratifying. I like getting in there and talking with people who go through the same ups and downs I do. I couldn't say if anyone has followed me back or bought my books, it'd be nice, but that's not really important right now. Building a trust, a relationship is what is important. The one thing I don't want them to think is that I'm there for research for another book, because geese, I don't need more research on this topic, I have enough stored information to fall back on.

So, what do you think? Are you doing this already? Do you think it'd be something you'd be willing to try? Any other ideas?

Bekki
http://bekkilynn.net/

Blogger tip: We all have busy schedules and sometimes find ourselves in a pinch to write a blog for the day we're scheduled. Blogspot has two features to help ease that burden. Write and save it in draft mode or schedule it for the day you're supposed to post.