Blogging is one of the strangest and potentially loneliest activities. When I began blogging, I felt like I was writing in the middle of the forest.
You: Because it was dark?
No.
You: Cold?
No!
You: Were there bears nearby?
No. It felt like a forest because I wondered if anyone was reading what I was writing.
You: How is that like a forest?
If a tree falls. . . if a bear $hit$ . . . that kind of thing.
You: Gotcha.
Then, after a while I started to notice traffic picking up. Suddenly, one day, someone comments. A week goes by. Another comment. Then another. I start to think: “Okay, I’m making a difference.” Then –
You: Yes?
Nothing. Silence returns. Traffic stays but it is grows eerily quiet once more.
You: Like a forest. I get it. Kind of a bummer.
No doubt. Fortunately, I was able to fight through those early months. Now the Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck blog is growing quickly. It’s syndicated in a bunch of placed including at the Quicken’s Community. Recently, traffic is exploding and comments are too.
You: Really? It doesn’t look like comments are way up.
I know! It’s kind of a bummer (and also one of the reasons for this post). You see, there’s now a post about the home buyer credit with 36 comments on it and another post about the economic stimulus with a dozen. Each post is now approaching 2,000 views! But they’re not new posts, so many people don’t realize how our community is growing. So here’s the thing: “It’s okay to comment!”
You:I know, but there’s comfort in numbers.
That is so true, especially in blogs. There’s hardly a post, I’m finding, with exactly one comment. It’s either no one commenting or at least three or four folks. It’s just like at a seminar. No one wants to ask that first question, then someone does and next thing: I’ve got 20 questions headed at me and a line backing up from the autograph table!
So, go ahead and comment. One of the best opportunities was yesterday’s post asking what do you want from the blog. That’s an easy one to comment on. Check it out and let me know what you think. Or you can tell me to take a flying leap below (but it’ll cost you a comment.)
Loading ...
