Blogher DC - Report and Rethink
You know, there’s nothing like going and talking about blogging ALL DAY to really make you prioritize and evaluate your blogging goals. Blogher DC is something I really needed, but not for the reasons I would have expected. I learned a lot about tools, sites, ways of driving traffic, etc., but I wouldn’t say that’s the most important thing that I came away with.
Listening to people talk about how to get more readers and how to make my blog bigger really made me rethink my personal blogging goals. I remembered why I started blogging in the first place, and that was because I wanted to find a community of other moms. I didn’t know many women who had children, who understood what I was going through as a new mom, and on the internet I found many. I went from feeling totally isolated to feeling like I had a support system, without actually ever “meeting” anyone. Three years later, that’s still the most important thing to me.
It’s hard to remember that sometimes. There’s a lot of pressure to keep up, because blogging is fast and furious right now. There are new social networking sites that are addicting and constant, and there are always blogs that explode with readership to make us little guys feel obsolete.
But we’re not. I love my blogging community. I love my readers and I love your blogs. I LOVE that I feel I know the people who come here, that it is not just a passing interaction. It’s not about stats. It’s really not. I already feel backed-up when I know that I haven’t made it around to your blogs in a while, and it’s because I feel that commenting is very much a give and take. Personally, I want to feel it is all manageable.
The general consensus that I got from the conference is that the very best way to get readers and build your blog has not changed from when I started a few years ago - be a “Good Blog Citizen.” Get out there and read blogs. Check out the blogrolls of those you already enjoy. Leave comments, thoughtful comments that show you are listening and thinking about what the blogger is saying. Respond to the comments you receive either through email or leaving a comment yourself. Keep up the communication and keep up the good content on your blog.
It’s perfect, really. The more involved you are, the more involved you will become. By supporting each other, we also support and promote ourselves - it’s a win-win.
I, for one, have no intention of utilizing many of the tools discussed. I like the old school way that I just described because that is what keeps me tied to the reason I love blogging. I have no interest in researching the most effective tag terms to drive more readers to me through search engines. I’m not going to Twitter. (And if you do these things please know I think that’s great - but for me, I already feel behind. More is just not an option because I may explode.)
What I am going to do is focus more on being a better reader, a better commenter. I’m always just a little behind when it comes to responding, but I’m always going to press on and get there eventually. I try very hard to respond in some way to every person that comments here, either by commenting on their site or replying in an email. And I love it when those email responses end up going back and forth several times in discussion. That’s what it’s all about.
One tool I do want to point out just in case some aren’t aware of them are sites like Kirtsy and Stumble Upon. I know you all probably know what they are, but you may not use them and/or understand how easy and helpful it is. When you’re looking at a post that has little buttons at the bottom for some of these sites, it means you’re looking at a blog where the writer has a vested interest in their blog and their writing. If you like what you read, clicking on one of those buttons (and leaving a comment, of course) is a great way to let the writer know you appreciate their work. And maybe it will help them out by driving a few more readers to their site. And if you want to add these buttons to your own site, I recommend the Share This, because it includes ALL of the sites in one cute little button, allowing your readers to choose the one they happen to use.
I put a few buttons on my blog a while ago, but had never actually Kirtsied or Stumbled anyone else, which is just kind of silly. I mean, if I would appreciate people doing it for me, of course I should share the love by doing it for them. Again, being supportive of others is the best way to promote our community in general, which benefits all of us.
So I’m actively going to start doing this for the bloggers I love when I see a great post. There’s no reason not to. It just takes a moment. For those of you who have never tried, all you have to do is set up a username for the site of your choice - the general consensus at BlogHer was that Stumble Upon is good. I personally am going to use Kirtsy because it just seems more prevalent among the blogs I read, and on their site the Family & Parenting section is featured much more. - Once you’ve set up your account you stay logged in and when you come to a post you like, you click the button the blogger has set up, then you’ll be redirected to a page where you can type in a few things about the post so that readers of Kirtsy or whatever will know what the post is, and that’s it. I Kirtsied my very first post today, and it felt really good to share the love. And it was oh-so-easy. The more people that Kirtsy the post, the more likely it is that more people will find it.
I encourage you all to participate in this wonderful thing we have going on here. Trust me, the more you give, the more you get out of blogging. So happy reading, happy writing.
i agree with it all! and i’ve been stumbling for a while, but kirsty is new to me. i hafta check that out. . . is it the same sorta deal but with a different name?
I haven’t added those buttons or used them yet as I am still trying to figure out the breadth of my blog goals. I much more enjoy commenting as I find it is easier to be my opinionated self, than the measured, grammatical one on my blog.
I’m bummed that I’m a little late to the game and missed the DC BlogHer event! Thanks for sharing your thoughts so I didn’t totally miss out!
Always appreciate your clarity of thought, Beth! Thank you for bringing those wise reminders to the fore…
You’ll always be one I want to read!
YES! All of that. I do Twitter b/c it is FUN! It’s like a party all the time, lol. I love it. But I don’t use it as a promotional tool as much as I do just a place to throw out a thought or chat a little bit with whoever is around.
I have recently started using Stumbleupon. I often stumble posts I like, b/c as you say, I figure it makes me a more valuable reader to them and I know how much I appreciate it when the same is done for me.
I can’t keep up with all the different social media outlets that are out there and I am clueless about keywords and tags and SEO and all that jazz. It is overwhelming when I hear more professional bloggers going on about that stuff.
I do run ads so traffic is appreciated, but I realized the last few weeks as comments have really dropped (still don’t know why but I enjoyed the conversations that resulted from my post inquiring about it this week) that ultimately THEY are what matter. The community is what matters. Without it, would stop blogging, even if my traffic doubled. It’s no fun without the socializing that results.
Great post!
I am one of those old school bloggers, too, that doesn’t want to have to think about the technical and maybe I don’t check my sitemeter but once a week. I am more about the writing and the community and am clueless when it comes to technorati & stumble upon. But for now - this works for me and keeps it fun- and that is most important!
Steph
I have a feeling that the blogging community will only continue to grow hugely. I also started blogging for friendship and the ability to write my life down. It would be fabulous if everyone loved me, but I don’t have the ability to commit to the time that that would require.
I have been meaning to check out kirtsy or stumbleupon, but keep forgetting!
It’s so cool that you went to Blogher. I always thought it would be cool to go. But as you know I am FAR AWAY!! Oh well. I like the kirtsy idea. I should register for that.
I agree about manageability. I like the idea of growth but I like it to be manageable growth. And I also started to build a community of support and that is what I still do it for.
I’m sitting in a hotel room in Nashville where I attended BlissDom ‘08. I, like you, learned a lot about ways to drive more traffic, but I probably won’t do most of them. (I may add a few more tags to my blog, but that’s mainly because if I have something that may be helpful to someone I’d like them to be able to find it via Web search.)
I enjoyed reading this quite a lot, moreso because of my BlissDom experience (which was great by the way).
I do a few things here and there, but not anything to push for more traffic. What I want are connections to other moms who are going through similar things, or have been through them, or have wonderful motherhood stories to tell. But I work just enough to make it hard to get around to all of the blogs I want to read. Catch 22, I guess.
This is the first time I have visitied your site. I came here from Mel’s Box of Chocolates. I just wanted to say that I read a lot of blogs but I don’t often comment. Your post though, makes me reconsider. I usually just consider myself more of a lurker but I will try to be more involved now though!
Thanks for the info. I didn’t really know what Kirtsy was before, exactly, so I appreciate the crash course. I also want to try to be better with commenting. It is so easy just to read my favorite blogs on Google Reader and never click through to comment. But like you said, the commenting is the beauty of the blogging community.
Liked your post. I have always wondered if I should be participating in more social sites - but I just don’t have time. I have a small group of readers, but it’s always growing and I enjoy making new friends through my blog.
I was told when I started out that one of the best things to do was to comment everywhere I went and that it was a nice thing to do - so I have done that ever since unless I truly can’t think of anything to say or if I really disagree with a blog and/or am offended by any content.
Blogging is a great tool for me to journal and reach family and few friends, I love to read blogs and it’s something that I can fit into my mommy workaday. But I get to freaky about stats if I allow myself to, and I doubt that I’ll ever do stuff to get more readers. It’s taken a few years to get where I am at, and as comfortable as I am with my wee. sweet bit of the Internets.
I’m good with old school. But I’ll check out your suggestions.
And I agree - comments are important. When people never comment back it drives me away because I feel like they don’t care and won’t miss me. I don’t even care if they comment on my blog - but if they don’t respond to their comments (or email their responses) that makes me feel like they don’t care about me as a reader, which stinks, because as a reader, I grow to care about the blog friends I have.
Honestly, I’ve never Kirtsied or Stumbled either and just have never taken the time to figure out what it’s all about.
But if there was an actual post written about Elf Man? I may just have to make the exception.
You really put things into perspective here. Many of us started blogging to connect with others that we could identify with and even chronicle the growth of our children…they do grow up fast and it’s tough to remember it all. I was wondering how BlogHer DC went and am glad you had a positive experience and had the opportunity to go. It’s so easy to get consumed by the add-ons, widgets and ads that you can have on your blog. The real reason we all started blogging was to share something — a story, an idea, a new cool product we found. And if some can help pay the bills with it; that’s great! Beth, thanks for this post…a good reminder to be true to ourselves and our blogging goals.
Well said.
I Stumbled you.