Here We Go Again!

            Yes, I know its been done many times by many bloggers and you may even be one of them.  I know I've covered the topic of following more than once and now I'm going to do it one more time.  I just want to clarify where I stand on the issue.

            On Monday I alluded to a fine post by Jeffrey Beesler on the topic of following as in doing something because others were doing it.   The comments on this older post of Jeffrey's reopened and I noticed this comment from Michele Gregory of Beautiful Chaos:

i'm a crowd follower too, but am trying to change that. i'm cheating at this - doing all my posts ahead of time, and i know i can't get to every blog. i can barely get to the blogs i follow now. on top of that, it feels fake to follow a blogger just to get a blogger to follow me. i should probably do a post about that. or maybe not.   (I've added the underlining to emphasize my topic for today.)

         I asked Michele if I could quote her in this post.  She responded with this clarification:  

 no problem. it's the topic that i think of most when i hit the follower button. i want to be genuine in all my interactions with people and though i follow because i think a blogger has said something that resonates with me (as in i don't just hit the button to get someone to my blog), i know my chances of getting back to that blog to comment or read is iffy at best. i have a few i always read no matter what, some that interest me sometimes, and others i wonder if i should stop following because now i'm not interested and my time is limited.



on the other side, i've met some really great bloggers because i followed them or they followed me - you, Kristie Cook, Lisa Yarde, Alex Cavanaugh and others. i might have missed those friendships if i hadn't followed their blogs. i don't think there are any easy answers. and i do want people to follow me because i try to be encouraging, etc. it's not so much about promoting my books as it is to give readers a lift. i know that i have to follow and comment to get people to come so they'll read those posts.


not sure if any of that makes sense, but there you go. and you can quote this response too if you'd like.

           What Michele's said does make sense and I want to thank Michele for allowing me to quote her because she expresses concerns that many of us think about.   In the list below I want to try to clarify my personal opinion, philosophy, rule, or whatever you'd call it concerning the multiple definitions of "following"

1.     I want to have a large "following", that is number of followers to my blog.  With this comes the understanding that not all of the followers will always be readers.  The numbers are mostly for show, but also for that possibility that a non-regular reader might occasionally come back to check out what's happening on my blog.   A large following looks good to most people (including agents or any professionals wanting to see something about my platform).

2.     I believe in the reciprocation of the follow.  Whenever I can I will follow back anyone who follows my blog.   It always helps if when someone follows my blog, they let me know in a comment so it is obvious to me.   Silently following me does not guarantee a follow back.   I want to be told.

3.     There is no limit for me as to the number of blogs I will follow, but no matter if I'm following 200 or 20,000 blogs, I will not be "following" the majority of these in the sense of reading them on a regular basis.  I will prioritize according to the commenters on my blog first, and then the ones that happen to catch my interest.

4.   If the follow has to do with reciprocation then I don't think there is anything fake about it.  I believe it is a ritualistic blog act that is often found associated with blogfests and "follow days".   When most of us hit the follow button I think we know that there is no guarantee of a close, lasting, on-going relationship.  It can develop, but it is something that relies on mutual interests and goals.

5.   I will unfollow only if a blogger is rude, crude, or is in such extreme opposition to my values that it might hurt my reputation if anyone knew I was following that blog.   That has happened very few times.

6.   I tend to be wary of those bloggers who invite me to follow their blogs as though they are in some way so special that they never have to visit or follow anyone else's blogs.  Unless the content of that blog is so utterly amazing that I am compelled to stay, I will unfollow them eventually if I have happened to follow from their original invitation.  Those bloggers do strike me as fake and not at all interested in any mutually beneficial relationships.

7.  I only hit the follower button if I feel that there might be a possibility of some future blogging relationship, even if it seems remote at the time.  There have been blogs that I have followed that initially seemed of little interest to me, but there was something there that spoke to the future.  The act of following may amount to nothing in the long run or it might eventually blossom into something special in the future.  It's like a business adding people to a mailing list.  Not everyone will become a customer, but maybe someday they will.


            Those are some of my rules about following.  The main thing is to distinguish between the ceremonial ritual of following as in collecting numbers of little portraits, the building of an actual list of potential blogs to visit, and the literal act of following as in reading blog posts.   I wish Blogger had come up with a different term than "followers".

           On Monday I passed 700 followers and currently the sign-ups for A to Z are most certainly destined to go past the 600 mark.  That's a lot of blogs that neither you nor I will ever be able to visit on a daily basis.  I don't think anyone has been fooled into thinking otherwise.   Just like the local library has more books than I'll ever be able to read in a lifetime--but it's nice to know that they're all available just in case there happens to be one I'm looking for.

            Have fun blogging.   And enjoy the treasure hunt.
            What are your blogging rules?   Are there any of mine that are still unclear or that you disagree with?

**********       

Blog Boggled: More Comments About Comments

            I have often indicated that I am a student of Blog Science--the study of how blogs work.  It's an analytical approach I like to take when I start doing something that interests me.  I like to know how things work and how I can make them work more efficiently.  And as any scientist has a tendency to do I like to experiment in order to test the theories I hear about or come up with myself.  In this first year of blogging, Tossing It Out has been my blog laboratory.

            The first thing that captured my curiosity when I started my blog was how would I get people to read.  I also recognized that having followers sign up would mean the greater likelihood of potential return visits by readers.  Also the attractiveness of numbers of followers on a site often makes others want to linger a bit to see why that site is so popular.   Let's think psychology here:  If you see a business with an empty parking lot you might be inclined not to go in, whereas a crowded parking lot might make you want to find out why the place is so popular.  It's not always the case, but overall, popularity attracts more attention.

         So how to get the visitors?  My first step was to contact friends and relatives.  Perhaps a cheap shot, but why not?  Wouldn't they be interested in what you have to say?  I called people I knew and sent out emails.   I asked them to tell all of their friends and relatives to read and follow as well.  I posted an announcement about my blog on Facebook and LinkedIn. These methods got the word out, but it was also the toughest sell.  Most of these folks weren't bloggers and didn't understand the process.   I got most of  my first twenty or so followers this way, but I still wasn't getting many comments for the first month.

        The first step I took to get commenters was to go to my Blogger Profile and find others with similar interests.  I visited their blogs, left comments, followed, and invited them to visit my blog as well.  As most of you know these visits will reap a pretty good return rate for acquiring followers to your own blog. 

         Before long I was getting daily comments for my posts.  This is where an important part of the process enters the picture.   First I would try to leave quality comments as much as I could and leave an opening for continued dialogue.  I subscribed to the comment sections so that if I saw that anyone responded to my comments I could comment back if it were appropriate.  I would also follow the comment thread in order to  find and check out other bloggers with interests similar to mine--poaching as Elana Johnson referred to it.  Time consuming?  Yes.  Productive?  Sometimes.  If nothing else I was establishing blog presence--check "ARLEE BIRD TOSSING IT OUT" on Google.

           A few of the bloggers who I have seen notably use the subscribing to the blog technique are Stephen T McCarthy, Larry of DiscConnected,  Judy Harper, Gregg Metcalf,  Dezmond the Hollywood Spy, Sig of BeadedBear, and Trish and Rob MacGregor .  Sometimes they argue, sometimes answer questions, and sometimes it's just pleasant banter, discussion, and conversation.  Whatever it amounts to it's meaningful relationship establishment and building. 

          The other thing that I did was respond to any comments I received and attempt to give a quality response as much as I could.  When I look back over some of my earliest comment threads I see actual discussion going on between me and commenters.  To me this represents a healthy exchange of ideas and a good potential for learning. I try not to leave any question unanswered and any comment unaddressed.

           Still another approach I took was announcing special posts to certain people that might be interested.  For example, when I did a series of interviews, I would go to my Blogger Profile and add to my interests and favorites a number of things that might relate to my topic.  I would then find other bloggers who were interested in those things, visit their blogs, and leave a comment which would include an announcement of the blog post that I thought might interest them.  As a result I would get some good comments for that post and often new followers for my blog.  

             The Blog Events-- such as the lists of favorites that bloggers like Alex J Cavanaugh have hosted; the BBQ hosted by KarenG, or the recent Great Blogging Experiment hosted by Elana Johnson, Jennifer Daiker, and Alex Cavanaugh--can all reap many new followers for those who follow the etiquette and visit, follow, and leave comments.  Any of these bloggers will probably agree that hosting a successful blog event probably gains the most followers in the shortest time, but it involves a lot of work.  When I hosted the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge, I gained over 100 followers, but at a great investment of time and effort. 

          What it boils down to is how badly do you want followers and readers?   They are probably not just going to come to you unless you have something very special going on with your blog.  You've got to work at gaining and retaining your followers and you've got to give them something that they will want to come back to read.  It can be a lot of work.  What you need to do is figure out why you are blogging and what you want to get out of your efforts.

If you have hosted blog events, what was your return and was the effort worth it?   Do you use the Blogger Profile to find others of similar interests?   Do you encourage conversation in your comment thread and if so how do you go about it?     Do many of your family members or friends follow your blog?   How do you get non-bloggers to be interested in following and reading blogs?  If you are one of the commenters who regularly subscribe to a comment thread and I did not include your name in the above list, please add to the comments here--I know there are more.