When you invite readers to visit your blog,
give them a chance to leave feedback. A fellow author said
she didn’t include a comment feature on her blog because
she didn’t have time to read the comments. She also
includes her email address in case readers feel they must
contact her. I cringed as I read those comments.
That’s one way to operate a blog, but I
believe it’s more effective to encourage interaction with
your readers and to make it easy for them to speak with
you. I admit that’s only my opinion, but I feel it’s
important to share the idea with you.
It’s helpful to know what visitors think
about your blog content and if there are things you should
do differently. You will only know this from their
feedback or if your hits start to dwindle. When your hits
drop off, it’s too late to get those visitors and
customers back. This is one reason to see what your
visitors are thinking. Their thoughts could give you ideas
for future posts.
What to Say
What should you do if nothing comes to
mind? Every writer has that problem some times. Writer’s
block is a frustrating situation and it can happen with
your latest e-book, novel or blog entry. Here are some
tips to get the creative juices flowing.
Did you read a blog entry or a news
article that prompted some fresh ideas? There’s nothing
wrong with that. Maybe you read about a current event and
it spurred positive or negative thoughts. Share these with
your readers and see what they think. You could start a
lively conversation.
Guest Bloggers
Do you have a writer friend who would
like to sell more books? They could be a guest blogger for
the day or a week if you’re out of town. It’s nice if they
take a moment to mention your book, but that isn’t
necessary. Take a chance to ask your visitors about the
kind of guests they would like. They may want someone that
you can’t deliver, but try to find someone that fits their
requests.
Share Your Thoughts With Blog Visitors
Can you provide a fresh slant to a
subject you discussed before? If a subject gets good
response, then tweak your approach and reuse the ideas.
There are many ways to broach subjects and if you are
creative you can recycle ideas in quite a few different
ways. Keep your readers interested even when they are
basically hearing the same thing for a second or third
time.
Have you found an interesting site or
download that might interest your visitors? You could
feature the information in a post and include the link for
your readers to see what you’re talking about. This makes
you look like a good resource and shows that you know
where to find additional documentation and information.
Use Caution With Your Blog Comments
At times you need to vent or get
something off your chest. Can you do this without
offending your visitors? We all know the sort of subjects
that are likely to upset people and it would be good to
avoid those unless you are ready to handle the potential
fallout. A friend of mine posted her opinions about the
romance industry and it prompted harsh comments on many
blogs, message boards and several people even sent harsh
emails to her publisher. I read the post and she stated
her opinions well, but she didn’t expect things to get out
of control. This is an example of the reasons why we need
to be cautious when you post your comments.
Nikki Leigh - Fiction and Non Fiction
Author
http://www.nikkileigh.com
