Why Do You Think Readers Read Your Blog Posts and Who Are They ?
This may seem a silly question because most of us think we add value to people's lives with our real estate information, market updates, community assets and events, etc. but since we don't usually talk to most of our readers, how do we know what is attracting them and keeping them interested.
What if we don't add specific value, do consumers stop reading us? Perhaps some do but I think because value is subjective we may often build followings for other reasons.
Among our peers here in ActiveRain we don't always add specific value to their lives with our content so perhaps other things are taking place. Building a following sometimes starts with just reaching out and building a friendship. We can do that easily here in the Rain with our peers but perhaps that could also be true for the consumers out there.
When you respond to comments left on your post, your tone and your way of expressing yourself tells a great deal about you. Even more than you might think. And the post content itself is sometimes not the most interesting part of the post. It might be the way others are responding and also in the way you are responding to them. If you were writing about a community event, many times there is not a lot of personal editorial about the event. But when people comment and you begin to express your community pride and your personal support or attendance at the event, the dynamics are much different than the post itself.
The majority of us on ActiveRain are probably not going to be buying real estate anytime soon but I venture to suggest most of your reading of other blogs is about real estate, communities you have never been to, events you will never attend and market reports that you can't use. So what's the interest?
Some do it because they want to be vital in the ActiveRain community itself. Some do it to support friendships. Some do it to learn how others think and do their business. Some like the entertainment value and some do it just for points gained. For most it is likley a combination of these things and the reasons are not always clear because the reasons change often. But to be sure everyone has their own reasons.
I think the same would true for consumers. ( except for the points part). Seriously, we don't always know why but what most of us do not do is to invite consumers to interact with us more and actually give us the feedback that could be valuable. Yes, we all have contact information to be accessible included in our profiles linked in the post but how many times have you actually invited interaction by other than your ActiveRain peers?
As I have pondered this I realized that after 4 years of writing blogs, photographing community assets and events, I never actually asked anyone outside of ActiveRain to contact me with questions or comments that could be insightful for me to learn even more ways of reaching out.
Maybe we should have some type of a Call to Action contact form within our posts that invites consumer interaction. Actually allows them to comment or ask a question or get clarification.
I think I shall rethink how I do things here in the Rain that could very well enhance my community presence both with my peers and outside readers in particular. I am a sponge and would love to soak up your insights as well as your personal experiences in this regard.
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