Perfidy Valence

European bull in thought (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Why Perfidy Valence?

      One afternoon last year I woke up from a power nap with an odd term on my mind--"Perfidy Valence".   I accepted the term with a fleeting moment of clarity as though it was something completely natural to me and made perfect sense.  Then, as I became more fully awake, the phrase continued to stay on my mind while losing any significance to my real world of thinking.   However I felt compelled to write a blog post regarding the phrase and to use "Perfidy Valence" as my blog post title.

      The advice most often given to bloggers in regard to increasing site traffic is to use titles that will draw readers.   Commonly the tactics include using a question that interests many people or presenting an idea that will appear useful to others.  Overly technical or obscure titles typically do not attract readers since there is nothing in the title for them to connect to.

What Attracts You to a Blog Post?

      Perfidy Valence strikes me as a blog title that would attract few visitors.   You who visit this particular blog post will most likely be regular readers who are visiting out of habit, reciprocity, or just to see what I had to say.  Those of you who have dropped in might have have done so without even noticing the title of the post while others may have read the title and thought little of it since--well, because I sometimes come up with weird stuff and this was just another one of those things.  

      Then there will possibly be those who drop by because they were intrigued by the title.  Perhaps the phrase had some sort of actual significance for some.  For others the pairing of these words evoked a sort of puzzlement that attracted them to the post out of curiosity.   If there were any of you who fell into these categories, I hope you don't feel scammed that you were lured here under any sort of false pretenses.  For that matter I hope regular visitors aren't thinking something like, "What an idiot!  There Arlee Bird goes again with some oddball notion."

It's a Legitimate Question

      From my view on this topic of blog titles, it's not so much the words "perfidy valence" that are the real focus here.  Some readers may have expected something about a villain from a movie western or a post about science.   There are many things the title could suggest since the word "valence" has a range of meanings and "perfidy" is a word that is somewhat charged with emotion and negativity.

      In the past I used another term derived from a dream on this blog--Dynamic Flow,  After googling the term I found that others had actually used it, though I had no recollection of ever having heard it before.  I ended up with the post Dynamic Flow: The Dream as well as Dynamic Flow:  A Guest Post By Halina Goldstein.   Later I recycled my dream post as Deja Vu Blogfest: Dynamic Flow.   I can't say that any of this took on viral post proportions, but I did get some interesting reactions on all of these posts.

       However I do think legitimate questions are raised in regard to using obscure blog post titles.  Can a title of this nature increase readership?  Might using this sort of title cause a new visitor to feel ripped off after reading the post?   In this present post I think my topic is a fair one, but could my title be construed to be a deception?    

        Does using certain key words (such as sex, football, best-seller) or other names or phrases which have topical significance (for example Obama, ISIS, Kim Kardashian) in a blog post title constitute a rip-off if the blogger does not actually discuss to any great extent the word or name used?  

         Do you usually make an effort to formulate titles for your blog posts that you think will draw new readers?    Are there any particular titles that you have used that have had a particularly good response or even caused your blog post to go viral to some extent?   Are there any blog post titles that have backfired for you?

         What made you visit today's blog post at Tossing It Out?

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Zombie Acropolis

The Acropolis in Athens (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

          It's not necessarily Greek to me why the zombie genre is so popular in modern culture.  Humans have long been interested in reanimation and resurrection as well as the supernatural aspects of the living dead.  We're scared and yet morbidly fascinated with the concept of zombies.   I'll give you my theory about the popularity of zombies this coming Friday November 7th.

          This post today is not a real post, or at least not in the sense you might expect.  If anything this post is more related to what Alex J. Cavanaugh was talking about in his post that asked the question "Have authors killed blogging?"    In short Alex was wondering if blogging has been hurt by too much promotion by authors.

          I'm not trying to sell anything, but my post today is all about promotion.   The "Zombie Acropolis" title is merely a come-on somewhat related to my most recent topics.  As you might know, blogging experts recommend a catchy title to lure visitors to your posts.  If for no other reason, I figured that my chosen title might lure a few folks to chide me for misspelling "apocalypse".   And since zombies are an attraction of themselves I thought some zombie fans might stop by as well.

         I don't mean to disappoint anyone, but count this as another blog experiment--like maybe Dr. Frankenstein might come up if he had been a blogger.  Besides I've had this title sitting in my to-go queue since spring when I was developing my short blog posts for the summer vacation season.

         By the way, on the subject of attention getting blog titles, there has only been one stand-out post traffic wise on Tossing It Out of late.   For the most part traffic here is adequate, but not overwhelmingly amazing.  Not viral.  The posts where I've taken part in some fest or interactive event usually get the most visits.   However the biggest surge on this blog in the past several months was the post with the title "That Wasn't Very Nice".   I'm guessing that a lot of visitors were expecting some real dirt about something bad that happened.   Instead they found a post about ballet and Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring.  I thought that the topic was very interesting, but judging from the relatively small number of comments compared to the high number of visits on that day I'm guessing that most visitors were not particularly interested in the topic I was presenting.   I suppose that some might have thought I was not very nice in insinuating that they were going to get to read about something not very nice and they found a story on The Rite of Spring instead.

          Still, I'm going to promote a few things right now.  First don't forget the Wednesday  Insecure Writer's Support Group monthly meeting to be held at hundreds of blogs including my own.  My post will be staying kind of on topic with death, zombies, and whatever comes to my mind between now and then.   Coming on Friday, as I mentioned earlier, I'll be divulging my zombie theory and announcing the winner of my most recent Battle of the Bands vote.

          And speaking of voting, U.S. citizens don't forget to vote tomorrow Tuesday November 4th.  Let's vote the old bums out and bring the new bums in.   It's a pain in the bum, I know, but someone's got to stir the political pot now and then and that someone is us.

         But whether you're voting in the political elections or not, don't forget the really important vote!  If you haven't voted on your favorite song version in my Battle of the Bands please do so as soon as you've finished reading this outlandish post I've put up today.   Please!

         Aren't you glad I don't have a book to promote!   Can you imagine?

          Are you a fan of the zombie genre?   What type of blog promotion annoys you the most?    Is there anything that's keeping you from voting in the Battle of the Bands (and don't say you don't know anything about the music--you don't have to know anything, just listen)?

         Now go vote at When I'm Dead and Gone.

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Ask Arlee: How Should I Catch the Attention of a Blogger I've Mentioned In My Post?

Image via CrunchBase

         Today's question comes from Robin at Your Daily Dose:

Well, I do have one question for you. On my Thursday posts I dedicate Youtube footage that (ideally) resonates with something a reader wrote earlier in the week. Sometimes I have a difficult time getting that person to SEE it. In the past, I have taken several routes with this problem. I have left a note on their blog. Usually this is only necessary if they are a sporadic blogger. However, this isn't always the case. What do you think I should do? Should I have to hold their hand (aka leave a blog note)and lead them to the "good stuff?" Or should I just let them miss it? What would you do?

        Robin, I think you've taken the best approaches there are.  My favorite is the comment left at the blog of the blogger whom I've mentioned in my blog post.  If that blogger is a regular visitor to my blog I don't say anything about my mention of them.  I just hope that my comment will serve as enough of a prompt for them to come to see my post about them without being too blatant.

        Sometimes the direct approach is the way to go if you really don't want your featured blogger to miss your mention of them.  I try to avoid a direct email but I have resorted to that a few times.  More often I will leave a comment at that blogger's site that lets them know that they have been featured.  That usually does the trick with the added benefit of drawing a few of that blogger's readers to see what I've posted.  

        I guess it depends on how badly you would like them to see your post.  When you've included me as one of your dedications, I usually find it because you've left a comment at my site.  When you have directly told me in the comment that I've been featured, I'm over at your site right away.  Some I've almost missed but gotten to later because I'm visiting you after the fact and remember your Thursday dedications.  

        The best way to get your featured bloggers to be less likely to miss that you have dedicated a video to them is to get them in the habit of visiting your site all the time.   Isn't that the goal most of us have?  Your presence on the sites of others through your comments reminds us to visit your posts.  I know this to be true because my comments have dropped drastically since I have been commenting less on other sites. Time consuming I know, but it's the catch 22 of social networking.  It's a matter of priorities.

      So I've answered with the obvious that you already knew and that most of us bloggers learn pretty quickly:  Do we spend the time blogging and promoting our blogging efforts or devote our time to doing the things that we need to get done.  It's mostly about balance, but it's also a matter of priorities and what time we have available to us.   

     The bottom line is that I think you're doing your job the right way.  You, as well as I and all the rest of us, have to do what's best for our lives.  Some bloggers (such as Alex whose last name doesn't even have to be mentioned to know who I'm talking about) have things down to such a slick system that they can manage work, writing, blogging, and other activities with seemingly effortless proficiency.  We are all different and have our own life situations which face us.  

     Now back to the question.  I'm going to test the simple comment method.  I'll go over and leave a comment on Robin's most recent blog post. If I've already left one I'll leave another one referring to my current post mentioning her.  Since Robin is a regular commenter on this blog this may not be the best measurement as to how well my suggestion works, but we'll see what happens.  Will Robin see this post in which I've mentioned her?  Probably.

      Oh, and any of you who are reading this, why don't you stop by Your Daily Dose and say hello to Robin.  You can tell her that you saw her mention here.   And maybe later you'll be featured on one of her upcoming video dedications. 

        Can you think of any other ways to get someone to see a post you've put up that mentions them?   What is your best advice on achieving balance that includes adequate time for blogging?   Have you had a video dedicated to you at Robin's site yet?

    

Winner of Yolanda Renée's  e-book

The winner of the drawing for a choice of Murder, Madness & Love or the upcoming release Memories of Murder is commenter Sheena-kay Graham.  In order to make arrangements to receive your e-book copy please contact Yolanda at address: yolandarenee@hotmail.com and she'll send a gift card for the book to your email address.

Thanks again, Yolanda and all of you who left comments for her guest post!

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