Empower or Encourage your blog readers to get involved in the conversation (Day 6-31 Kick Butt)

Lesson #1 Introduction to Blogging-1.jpg It is day 6 in the 31-Days to Kick Your Blog in the Butt and today is the last day in our discussion of F.L.E.E. Here are the previous days discussion:

Today’s Lesson

Today we are going to cover the last one, Empowering or Ecouraging, others, mainly your customers/clients and prospects to take the opportunity to tell their stories and engage in the conversations is really what all of those steps above are about. And F.L.E.E. sums it up in four simple letters for all of us to remember.

This [the conversation] is the essence of blogging and why it’s a different and perhaps a more powerful means of marketing than traditional PR & communications.

And it is the conversation we must empower and encourage our readers to engage in. To do this, we can not sit on our hands and hope it just happens while we watch. We again have to be proactive and not only empower and encourage. As bloggers we have to also go after it.

Here are some of the steps you can take to have the conversations on your blog which you are looking for:

Ask for comments. If you don’t ask, why would anyone want to leave a comment? One of the ways I do this is I simply ask. I sometimes will put this line at the end of a post, “Let’s keep the conversation going, please leave your comments.” It can really be that simple. You could also ask for people to visit your post on twitter and leave comments too. There are a number of ways.

Ask questions and seek opinion. Write your post in a way people will not be able to help themselves and they will just have to leave a comment. Especially if you ask questions or ask for your readers’ opinion.

Reply to the comments you get. Why on earth would someone want to leave a comment on your blog or get involved in a conversation if they are not seeing you do the same on your own blog. If people leave comments, reply. Respond to them and keep the conversation going. Your other readers will see that you get involved in the conversation.

4P Computing Device Survey for infoDev - Wayan Dot Com-2.jpg Make it easy to comment Provide a very easy way for your readers to comment. And for god’s sake, don’t make them register first like the blogger requires in the image to the left.. If there is one way to not get comments, make me register first.

Use threaded comments. There are a number of great WordPress plugins that help you do this. Threaded comments are great for keeping a conversation going. You and your readers can reply directly to a particular commenter. They work great.

Today’s Homework

If you have a blog, do those things we discussed above. It is very easy to simply ask for comments and you will see results. But if you get them, make sure you reply.

So, lets’s keep the conversation going, please leave your comments and questions below.

Mrs Green

Excellent advise - I find if I comment on a site and don't get some responses from the host then I don't bother going back after a while. It's like saying something to someone's face and having them ignore you!

I view my blog as an invite into my 'house'. If someone comes over and makes conversation, then I would converse back - why should being online be any different.

I like your first suggestion - "Let’s keep the conversation going, please leave your comments" as I always tend to ask a question related to the post I have written. I really like the idea of an invite to simply keep the conversation flowing.

I spend a couple of sessions a week answering all comments on my site. I used to do it daily, but don't always have time now

Grant Griffiths

I tend to check comments coming into my blog throughout the day. Two reasons, I moderate all comments and want to get the non spam ones up ASAP after they are left. And I want to try to reply to as many comments as I can. The volume of comments on the series has been great and I don't want to get too far behind answering as many of them as I can either.

Christine Livingston

Hi Grant,

Are there any particular plugins for threaded comments that you'd particularly recommend? My aim for today/tomorrow is to write a post, following on from something I had a conversation about on another blog and to ask for comments to it!! I like the threaded comments idea, and if I can add that too, that'll be a real result.

Have a good Tuesday!

Mark Hill

Hey Grant

Great post - on a technical note, I know you had a few challenges with multiple emails going out yesterday, but I've not see the email announcement to this post - can you check your queue? Thanks

Grant Griffiths

Unless you subscribed after October 1st, Aweber is indicating all of the emails went out to those subscribed. Please check your spam folders. I even have 3 test accounts subscribed too and I am getting the emails right on track with the lessons. Let me know if the issue persist.

Mark Hill

Nothing so far - but we can DM about this later if I do not get your notification on the 7th - FYI - I am getting the comment notifications.

Gina Cuclis

Most of what you advise here I already do. However, I don't always respond to comments unless I think I have something to say that I haven't already said or that isn't simply a lame, thank you for your good idea. I've notice many blogs where the blogger only occasionally responds comments.

Grant Griffiths

Blogging is a conversation. And that conversation is more than the blogger posting a post. If we are going to encourage comments, we have to as bloggers, respond and engage in the conversations we have created. If we don't, we just as well shut off comments and talk to ourselves. Thanks for taking part in the series and please jump in anytime and leave your comments and input. We all get better by the interaction we can have.

Donna Seyle

Help - I'm falling behind! Just kidding, but this is alot of great information and processes to establish, sometimes I just gotta take a deep breath. So today's question is: could you identify the WP plug-in that you like for threaded comments? Thanks.

Grant Griffiths

If you are using one of the more recent version of WordPress, threaded comments are included. I also like Disqus comment plugin.

Marilyn Katz

Hi Grant-

I always reply to comments left on my blog. However, this is usually the end of the conversation. How do you encourage the commenter to continue the discourse?

Grant Griffiths

The best way I have found to continue the ongoing conversation is to just engage it. If it goes no further, I can feel comfortable with the fact I gave it a good try. Another way to get it going and keep it going is when you might post about something that might hit a nerve with your audience. It doesn't hurt from time to time be a bit "shocking" to your readers. But be careful doing that. You have to know your audience. And don't go too far.

Robert Fay

Thanks for identifying the WP plugin Disqus. The Twitter route and asking what your readership has for problems they want fixed are both great tools.

Dawn Elaine

Umm, this is one area where I have HUGE questions!

Frankly, many of those who visit my blog are angry, vicious, or ignorant and I really don't WANT their comments on my blog. OR they use it as a platform to beg for free legal services because they have a "just cause."

I had to delete the same comment from one guy three times before he got the message. I sent him a polite, but firm, email, privately, telling him I was NOT the Maryland Father's Rights Free Legal Clinic, but he was not deterred.

Then there are the ones who are so busy up on a soapbox, banging the drum about THEIR rights, that they can't imagine that what is right for them may possibly NOT be right for their kids (because they are self-absorbed slugs whose only difference from the self-absorbed wasps they had children with (i.e., the maternal carriers) is their gender.

I don't want their comments appearing on my blog either. So I delete them. Quite frankly, there are few comments that actually promote my mission, which is to assist the GOOD fathers in Maryland who respect my expertise enough to actually pay for it.

My question is, how do I both FIND and ENGAGE the very, very, very narrow niche market I really love to serve.

Dawn Bowie

Grant Griffiths

Dawn, first of all you should be moderating all of your comments on your blog and they only go public when you want. Second, if there is a guy like you just described, spend him to spam on your blog and it will happen for you after a couple of times. Don't waste your time.

You are not going to get a lot of comments on your blog you may even want public. What you can do with the ones you want to communicate with is to send them an email offering to set an appointment to speak with them about their issues and problems. Some will, some won't.

Cathy Ribble

This one really has shed some light on my perspective. I had not really thought of my blog as opportunity for ongoing conversation, engaging my target audience.

I am relatively new to blogging. This series is helping me understand how the process should work. I need to pick up the pace on my blogs and reply to to all comments! Thanks for the tips!

Christian

Great info in this post. Asking for what you want is one of the most basic sales skills and one of the ones so many of us skip. I also like that you included using threaded comments. It's a great example of how the gear we use really can make a difference.