Welcome to my retarded little rant. So, we all want people to check out our blogs. Hell! People have come up with a lot of ways to get other bloggers and people in general to follow them in some way, be it through their site feed(s), Twitter accounts, Technorati favs (didn’t that go out of style?), site listings in online mags…the list goes on. I, myself, was looking at a few ways to get people to notice my blog since it seems to be slowly dying and going unnoticed. I haven’t run out of shit to say!! There was a lot of things to try out on Mom Bloggers Club, so I started poking into it further.
Aside from my idea of offering free WordPress themes, I found groups where you post your FaceBook Network Blogs url, groups where you post your Twitter profile and get followed by other people, and groups where you can get your posts voted up on social media sites (omg more of those please!). Even the idea of when people post contests and giveaways, they list following them in some way or another as a way to enter. We’ve all seen those, I’m sure. Now, that’s all well and good, but at the end of the day, unless your a high profile blogger with a well set group of roadies, you got nothing really. Just a lot of clutter in your profiles.
You know what I noticed? And I don’t know if this has happened to others. I’ve run two giveaways on this blog, one of them being unsuccessful which sucks cause it was awesome. People subscribed, followed, commented as they were told to do to enter. But when the deal was done and the giveaway was over, I started getting emails saying this person unsubscribed from my feed and/or that person unfollowed me on Twitter. I don’t think I’m the only one this is happening to, but what was the point in asking them to do so if they were gonna undo it later? It kind of defeats the purpose and it makes my site (and me) sad that people don’t think I’m worth keeping up with. They’re probably right, but still!! And then there is the whole submitting to Digg, Kirtsy, StumbleUpon and other “vote for my post” sites. And no one votes for your post(s) unless you’re well known and the most seen blog in the universe. What about us little bloggers? We feel unloved.
So, in conclusion, unless your already popular and have been around for a while and are known, I don’t think it’s worth trying to get up to your eyeballs into all of this social business. Granted, it takes time to build readership, but personally, I don’t think it’s working out for myself (being the comment whore I am) and a lot of other people I’ve seen having the same issues. I’m not saying I’m giving up though. ‘Cause I’m not! I shall own the internet one day, you watch. And I’ll be the super networker everyone wishes they were. Mwahahaha!!
True. I guess we just have to write because we like it and build our own friend network slowly
Thx for stopping by leaving your kind comment. I’m kinda in a hurry, busy with preparations before going to our summer island. We’re staying there for a month, then home a few days and then off to France 2 weeks, so you might not hear anything from me until after summer…. Remind me again then.
Happy summer
You know what I so totally agree with you. In fact I am doing a giveaway right now and I am rather discouraged. I have done everything I possibly good and I feel like I have failed… Don’t get me wrong the giveaway isn’t over yet. But like you said with yours It’s a awesome product. Just keep plugging away! By the sounds of it you won’t give up!! There are alot of idea on mom bloggers club. I am in a comment club there were you visit no more then 30 sites and comment on each others blogs. I like to read blogs though. But I have the same feelings as you girl!!
Hi
the problem is, i think, that unless you are talking about internet stuff a lot of people see no fun in all this social networking nonsense.
As for giveaways, increasingly we are in a”for free” culture with little moral reciprocity. So like you I have found people will take the info and unsubscribe.
To a certain extent we are all doing. I think a small network of trusted friends is probably more useful!
Duly Dugg !!
Lance
You know what? My son (www.curtistucker.com) had a picture of himself (at age 14) getting a Farrah Fawcett poster for his birthday, on his blog. The day she died he had 9000 hits on his blog. Out of that CNN.com contacted him and he was featured on one of their stories on Farrah (http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/06/30/farrah.fawcett.poster/) and within an hour of his coming out he had 1000 hits. See what it take!! Your thoughts on this subject are mine also.
Giveaways are not the way to build a blog following. (I say this having a review blog and running oodles of giveaways LOL) What will keep you growing is just being there and showing up.
So many bloggers get stuck, or quit, or get bored, or have a baby….there is always room for one more popular blogger. Why NOT you?
Glad I found you. Am now following you on Twitter….but I’ll unfollow tomorrow just to be a bitch. (Kidding!)
I’ve never cared a whole lot about traffic, but whenever I’m writing from the heart they seemed to show up and stick around a while. Even now that I haven’t posted regularly in over a year, I still have a ton of friends online… Then again, commenting helps them remember me, I suppose.
Hello Jenny,
Thank you for visiting my blog and your nice comment. I am now discovering your blog too and will return frequently.
Peter
Honestly, the best way to build genuine readership is to go out, find blogs that either interest you or has similar content to you, and build a rapport with that blogger (by commenting, subscribing, following their Twitter, etc). Most of the blogosphere runs on an unwritten “I’ll scratch your back, if you scratch mine” code, so you’ll need to put forth an effort to get to know other bloggers more, as opposed to just running various contests.
Hi! I find the best comment/blogging buddies do become trusted friends. I moderate comments, and sometimes all I see is who it is and the first few words and I know everything will be OK because of who they are. And some of those friends are from the comment club. I hope you enjoy the club like I have. Welcome to cc3. You are no longer pending.
It’s funny isn’t it? I started my running blog for myself, really, yet I’ve had people from all over the world reading it. Sometimes, though, I write what I think is a really good post and get 0 readers! Funnily enough, my family aren’t very good at reading it and they never comment. Grr!
Subscribers and Followers…
So, we all want people to check out our blogs. Hell! People have come up with a lot of ways to get other bloggers and people in general to follow them in some way, be it through their site feed(s), Twitter accounts, Technorati favs (didn’t that g…
Subscribers & Followers…
Welcome to my retarded little rant. So, we all want people to check out our blogs. Hell! People have come up with a lot of ways to get other bloggers and people in general to follow them in some way, be it through their site feed(s), Twitter accounts, …
It will come just takes some time, we all feel fed up some days:)
I am here from the comment club, so something you did worked:)
Yeah, I’m the same way. I’ve tried a lot of different ways to get readers at my blog. It has taken time but I am slowly building up readers. I found the way I got the most readers was by commenting on other people’s blogs. If you show interest in their blogs, then most of the time they will start to do the same, especially if your interests are similar.
that’s the spirit, never give up… you wouldn’t be able to take over the internet if you stop believing…
Just keep trying. It takes time to build relationships and the internet is really fickle. You post one thing that is not interesting enough and you start loosing people. Fast.
Most people who have had blogs and websites for a while can spot a spammer right away. But build your credibility and you’ll eventually have people coming back over and over.
Mom bloggers club is a great place to start because almost everyone there is like you, also looking for an audience, and are supportive of each other. Just make sure you keep popping into the scene every once in a while so you’re not forgotten
Considering how many people comment on your blog I think you should feel pretty good about your success – you’re building a following. I found you via It’s Frugal Being Green.
I agree…the giveaway people only come by for the giveaways…I have no idea who they are most of the time…but the ones that comment on my posts from the heart..those are my peeps.
I think that even though some people fall away after a giveaway or a comp, you’ll have some people that will continue to come back.
You may get one or two loyal readers from a giveaway, but commenting is the real way to build your bloggy network. For example, you commented on my blog, and while it was a long time ago, I have been visiting and reading, and today I am making a recommended list and hey, you’re on it, lol.
It does take time, and it seems that it’s kind of like love-it’s when you stop worrying about finding it and just worry about having fun that it falls in your lap. A few big name bloggers know me, and a couple even read me, hah!, but it’s the smaller bloggers that I feel closest with because it is a more intimate kind of relationship. It’s a little less flashy of a “network”, but it’s a lot more valuable.
At this point I think i’m just going to try and make sure that I offer unique content to build a readership. I’m a photographer, so I’m trying to post images and a story behind each one so that I can get people who are interesting in photography. I feel like that’s going to help me build a better readership, but who knows. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.
Dory’s chant comes to mind, ” Just keep swimming swimming swimming.” Ah blogging is a fickle business somewhat like high school sometimes it seems. I love the new connections I make each day.
I really think review and contest blogging is so new that people don’t have the integrity they will eventually get so there is a lot of subbing and unsubs going around. Don’t give up even it you’re the loan voice. You’ll find your connections.
Commenting on others is a really good practice to do.
I hear ya! I am not giving up either. I am a comment whore. I put on the imaginary go-go boots and the miniskirt and go whore my last post that I dug, if I can say so myself, on social networking sights.
You have to keep trying. What else are you going to do. It’s not like you’re going to run out of goofy, silly, ironic, hilarious, sad, humiliating, human things in your life, right?
[...] have noticed a trend in the shallowness of some bloggers. Everyone wants to be linked and seen by other people, but it doesn’t always have to be a [...]
Hey Jenny. You have an amazing sense of humor that resonates with the audience. As someone who is fresh on the scene i can relate to many of the challenges you have faced. I have buzzed your post and linked to you at my blog.
Looking For My Life
http://www.lookingformylife.com
http://www.lookingformylife.com/home/2010/2/1/1-month-anniversary-challenges-achievements-and-goals.html