1/27/2010
A Dialog on Blogging Focus, Part 3
In the midst of a fascinating, long distance Skype conversation, Robin Dickinson and I got on the subject of Blogging Focus – in other words, how do we find the right blogging formula? How do we strike the right chords in the branding, writing, and marketing of our business blogs? How can we balance the need to be authentic with the need to advance certain business goals?
Robin and I have similar business philosophies and attitudes about life in general. Since I’ve been blogging quite a bit longer, Robin thought I might be able to help him answer some of these questions, questions he is struggling with mightily right now. There was some advice I could offer, but as we talked it became obvious that Blogging Focus is a vast and complex issue. Every one of Robin’s questions raised three new ones, including many that have perplexed me for years.
We decided to continue our exploration of Blogging Focus as a series of blog post dialogs. We’re going to bounce some of our questions back and forth and see where it takes us. Our hope is, this little exercise will bring some clarity to our blogging approach, and perhaps help you to do the same.
How do you judge whether you blog’s theme and topics are successful?
Robin, this question is far more complex than it appears, partly because there are so many ways to measure “success”. Here are a few that come to mind.
1. Number of comments on your blog
2. Change in number of blog comments
3. Quality of blog comments
4. Number of RSS and email subscriptions
5. Change in number of subscriptions
6. Profile of subscribers
7. Conversions – number and quality of inquiries and sales
8. Number, trend, and quality of links from other blogs
9. Social media mentions/links
10. Invitations to write on other blogs in or related to your niche
How many others can you add to the list? I’d say that trends are more important than raw numbers – that’s for sure. Bloggers shouldn’t get discouraged if during the first several months they have few subscribers and infrequent comments. You’ve got to give blogging a good year – maybe more. If you see even a gradual increase in readers and comments, that’s a great sign you’re on the right track. If people like what you’re saying, they’ll tell others. But it takes time to make an impression. There are millions of blogs. As an avid blog reader, it usually takes two or three posts that capture my interest to really get a blog on my radar. That process could take a few weeks, or as much as several months. There are blogs that I was vaguely aware of years ago that I became a big fan of only recently. So I assume that other potential Word Sell community members look at me the same way.
When I sense that a particular topic or style is resonating, I try to stick with it. At one point, I dropped my cartoons from my blog, thinking that I should adapt a more serious, professional tone. But several of my dearest community members, including the brilliant Robyn McMaster, urged me to bring them back, so I did. Listening to your community may be the surest way to get a feel for when you are on track.
Is any of this helpful? How can we be more precise about measuring success – or is that even a good idea?
Brad, as you know, measurements and metrics are very close to my heart. It’s probably my scientific training that has me erring on the side of always seeking empirical evidence of success. You offer a comprehensive list of success measures that are very helpful. Spot on!
One point I would like to bring up is that the times when my blog metrics have been the best, I’ve felt the least successful. What I mean is this. Several times over the past year I have published an article that was a runaway success, relative to the rest of my posts. The views were well over 1000 in a couple of days. The comments were plentiful and of good quality. The subscriber numbers got a boost and their profile was right in the crosshairs of my target audience. So, why the feelings of failure?
I felt I’d failed because the articles where specifically written to draw a crowd rather than to be congruent with my on-line purpose and identity. The material had been squashed and squeezed to ‘tickle many ears and please many eyes’ first and foremost. I had deliberately laundered the quality of message to appeal to the quantity of viewers.
Perhaps this is how artists or musicians feel when they write for what will sell, and in so doing deviate from their authentic picture or song. It’s a fresh manifestation of an age-old dilemma – mass appeal vs. artistic integrity.
So how do we measure for this? What standard can we apply that allows those of us who experience this tension to check our work against? I wrestle with this and have only come up with rather lame subjective ‘measures’ like: Does this post feel right? Is it consistent with my values? Is this my authentic voice and message?
It’s a topic that I would like to discuss with you in more detail, Brad. In the meantime, let’s get some feedback from your blog readers. I would love to know what they think.
One Response to A Dialog on Blogging Focus, Part 3
Hey Brad, thanks for continuing this dialog, it’s taught me a lot.
The new look and feel of your blog works really well – and it loads quickly too. Well done.
Best, Robin