 |
 |
|
 |
 |
70
Steve Weber
you’ve struck a chord, you’ll know immediately from the response. When
you lay an egg, you’ll know that too, from the silence.
Just as theater companies try out new productions in the hinterlands
before storming Broadway, authors can fine tune their material on their
blog, says technology writer Clive Thompson:
Ask writers who blog regularly—like me—and
they’ll tell you how exciting it is to be wired in directly
to your audience. They correspond with you, pass you
tips, correct your factual blunders, and introduce you to
brilliant new ideas and people. The Internet isn’t just an
audience, it’s an auxiliary brain. But you have to turn it
on, and it takes work. You can’t fake participation and
authenticity online.
Indeed, the true power of blogging is the momentum created by your
audience. Once your blog has 100 frequent readers, it has critical mass.
It may take six months or a year to get there, but from there it’s all
downhill. Members of your core audience begin competing to hand you
the most useful, compelling ideas by writing comments on your blog and
e-mailing you directly. That’s when your blog becomes electric, a magnet
attracting new readers. Your core audience swells as word of mouth goes
viral.
Blog comments: pros and cons
Most blogs include space below the author’s posts for readers to add
their own views. These comments can take the conversation in a totally
new direction, and become the most interesting material on your blog,
thanks purely to your readers’ efforts.
For the blogger, comments bring three key benefits:
Instant feedback on your ideas and writing, and a sense of what your
audience finds valuable.
Feeling of participation and loyalty among your audience.
Adding valuable keyword density to your site, making it much more
visible in search-engine results.
|
 |
|
