Hmm..."Like the show, not the commercial"...food for thought!  (good point, just couldn't resist the phrase)

Thanks for the tips.  I am slowly getting my feet under me.  Oh and my next post is to announce I got my first hire as a trainer from the Rain.

good info..I have a long way to go before my movie is seen all the way through. LOL

Hi Rich - I need to get better at this - I am trying!  I like the visual though, and ARDELL is right!

Oh so true with all blogs, those here within AR and the outside blogs as well.  They need to engage and provide service that's when people keep coming back for more.  Great reminder.

Rich,

Congratulations on this 400th Blog Post, how fitting that you reflect and give us such wisdom. You are an incredible gentleman, I am humbled by your incredible performance and the 400th blog post achievement. This was another great post indeed. Lance

I saw a post this morning with a comment that had about 3/4 of a monitor for a logo signature. That type of self promotion has no place in comments. What are they thinking??

Rich, there has to be a happy medium between the show and the commercial.  You have to present yourself as an expert, a professional, a person, someone somebody would like to do business with, or maybe build a friendship with.  But, there is always a little selling going on.  Thats what we do. AJ

Rich~I love your comment on your initial "literary gems" they serve as reminder of where I've been and how far I've come. How very true that is. I had checked my stats in mybloglog and found the Google searches that were made for many of my posts and an old one came up from the beginning about an opportunity I had to volunteer in our community. Because it was still getting readership I changed the picture format so that they weren't so scattered on the page. It was a hard visual for sure, but with a little TLC I brought it back to life.  I love your outlook with the entire post and that is what it's all about, share, help and encourage. Thank YOU for all that you do here in the rain. 

Rich - That is a very funny observation! Looking back at some of my posts when I joined, I think to myself - YIKES!!

Rich, I'm w/ Ardell on this one. I know that when I open a post, if I see a huge sales pitch in or under it, I'm instantly turned off and rarely take the time to read. However I also acknowledge that these folks may not be(and probably aren't)  writing for moi, so if it works for them and their businesss, C'est la vie. (I'm not French, have never taken French and have no idea why I'm using French in this comment)

I've started to notice a bunch of commercials, often boiler plate stuff inserted at the bottom of posts.  I find it a little distracting.  Maybe a little self-promotion isn't a bad thing, and I've always thought that a well-written, informative blog does that. 

AJ - We can establish our professional credentials and knowledge without touting our 'self-promotion' horns. Our words will convey much more value to our readers than simply dumping all of our contact info. Our blog posts already contain our profile picture and link to the right of each of our articles. There is an additional link at the bottom that people can click on to access more info about us. For the life of me, I just don't understand why people feel that it's necessary to clutter their posts with redundant promotional advertisements? Especially when those 'commercials' take up more room in their post than the actual 'content.'

Engage your readers with meaningful, relevant content...and they will seek you out!

Rich,

We sell ourselves without selling ourselves!!! Thanks,   Fran

Rich - This is important information to keep in mind, especially with all the encourgement to brand and market ourselves these days.

But what are your thoughts on the "call to action" buttons and such that many, myself included, have at the bottom of our consumer posts. CAll to Action is recommended by many experts as a way to get consumers to do something other than read your post. Do you feel this is too much of a commercial. Anyone else have thoughts?

Jeff 

Jeff - You're fine. Your links and buttons are inobtrusive and flow with your articles. The overwhelming majority of your articles contain really excellent relevant content for consumers. That is what will attract and engage them. Clicking on the links and buttons will be a natural result of reading your content. It's the posts that have very little or no valued content, but hoards of self-promotional clutter that I take issue with.

Rich - Loved ARDELL'S comment, very astute as you pointed out.  I enjoy learning from these posts and will try to continually evolve with my own efforts.

Sardi - you're 'evolving' rather nicely.  You dance write to the beat of a different drum, which, in and of itself, is a rather refreshing departure here. Keep on doing what you're doing!

The posts with a couple of lines and four paragraphs of the "me syndrome" don't do anything to catch my attention..wonder what the public thinks?  I'm the opposite...I try to do a Localism 'short' post and still can't do that ...for some reason I believe there's more to tell than just a teaser that'll leave everyone hanging ... what do you think?

Sally - I guess it just depends on the subject matter. You definitely don't want to tease, unless it's to direct them to the full article elsewhere. I think you can only maintain the reader's interest for so long. I prefer shorter, more concise, direct to the point, articles. But that's just me....

I doi like that reference of like a show and not a commercial.  I know when I first started I made many mistakes.  Fortunately the members were patient and helpful.

Rich... I don't have much more to say than what was said in the first comment and a few others. I like the analogies used by both you and Ardell. And yes, there are several that post... I am great, I don't like.... this is my program that I am offering... call me.  I know a few loan officers dislike these people because first off, they are misleading the public on a few programs. But at the same, I told them not to worry. From what I have learned, they won't get searched often. Secondly, as you mentioned, they will go to their blog and leave....  it's self-advertising and boring. Thanks for your input on this.

PS.. in regards to what Sally said and your comment..  sure, short and precise is good, as you did with this post. But for most informational posts and especially the touchy feely posts, it's hard to keep them under 650 words for the most part. But yes, each one is different. I think in reality, the consumer has a longer attention span out there than many 'Rainers'.... why?  Because they want to comment all over the place... points included.. and they don't have time for a good 1,000 word post. This has been proven on several occasions...  even with remarks from moderators and AR people, when reading...  

I can't get into too much self promotion on a post.  I don't mind one or two lines at the bottom.  Some posts can be more concise, and others need more explanation.  I like the variety of posting styles from our many and varied personalities here.  Like the public, we connect with those whose style we like.  I'm a big proponent of Keep It Simple, S-----.  The KISS principle works.  I'm still working on finding what works for me.

Oh....that is a good point Jeff made. So often there are members who say...well, I don't read the long ones....  Well, when it comes to my Localism posts...it's nice to get comments but those posts I do in length and detail for the consumer/public.  How am I going to write about Ancient Hawaiian History and Superstitions without going into detail?  Did I go off subject too much? oh, well. Bottom line....I'd rather have lengthy info than lengthy ME and ME and ME syndrome :)

Rich- This is a good post about not being the commercial. The days of image advertising hit the road in the mid 90's. The consumer is a different breed now and we must be able to change with the times. 

Rich - Great reminder!  Many of us are learning this craft, and it takes time. 

Congratulations on your 400 blogs!  That's big!

Sally... we both agree on that. I was even told by some behind the AR scenes and moderators that some posts were over-looked, because they were too long... and because they have so much to read, more of the focus was on those that were like 600 words or less. Adam Waldman wrote an awesome post just yesterday... or 2 days ago and it was 1,520 words long.  But it was one of the better ones that I have read.  I know he had like 10 to 15 comments, the last I noticed.

Overall.... I have ignored what so many members on AR want and have said, about length. It's the consumer that I want. Just ashame sometimes when a great post goes unnoticed because it was slightly too long. Just my .02.

Rich... overall, as Marzena mentioned, this is a great reminder... 

Rich, there needs to be a balance between the "Commercial" and the "War & Peace Novels".  The best bloggers have learned to do that.

Rich- This community has an interesting balance between promoting who you are and also retaining some anonymity! I always find it easier to swallow an idea when it is presented to me, not sold to me! Thanks for the great post and big congrats on your 400th blog! 400 blogs??? You must be neglecting something in your life!!! ;)

Thanks for sharing! Good analogies.

Hi Rich,
I approach blogging as sharing  instead of selling.  whether it's information about my community, a blogging tip or idea.  

Elaine - yeah, just ask my wife!!!

Jeff - I agree with you for the most part. Consumers will utimately decided what they will or will not read. If an article is well written, your chances of having someone read all the way through an article are pretty good. But I would have to say that the majority of consumer readers want clear, concise information. They want it packaged in easily digestible amounts. I think your content and subject matter would have to be pretty darn amazing to keep them engaged for any length of time. That's just my experience. But to each their own. To a certain extent, you have to be true to your own inner muse at times. Somes things cannot be rushed or confined to a few short paragraphs....

I love your analogy and think it is sooo true. Sometimes I think I've stopped on a website rather than a blog site because some of them are just so full of self promotion. It turns me off but then I'm not a consumer...who knows maybe they like it.

Why don't you feature this? I've been busy all day and it was far down on my subscriber list, I almost missed it.

One day away and with as many subscribers as I follow, I almost missed it. Good stuff. 

Missy - as one of those empowered to 'feature' I have to be careful to monitor which of my posts get featured. I typically reserve that option for things like my ongoing series on the ActiveRain Guidelines. I don't want our members thinking I'm full of myself or hogging all the Gold Stars. We have plenty of very excellent writers, you included, that provied plenty of great articles to feature without throwing mine in the mix! But thank you!

Rich you are soooo right! Being in the "Rain" makes you think before you ink! When i first started it was all about the points and i'd put up just about anything. Now, after a little seasoning i realize i've got to have something to say. something others can relate to or just plain find interesting. Thanks for the insight

Rich,,, so true. If I could please everyone, I would be know from east to west. Just as I say, if I could help everyone in regards to mortgages, I would be a millionaire and I wouldn't be commenting here right now, because I would be so busy.

Overall... sure, a catchy title helps, but more so on here and not in cyber space because of the searches... sure, content is key and also is the topic... but those first 3 sentences could be the life of the blog or the killer of the blog.   

Rich, again you have made me stop and think.

I know crazy isn't it! 

Congrats on your 400th blog!

Jackie - then my work is done, and I can go to bed! Thanks!

Rich, very good subject. Like with anything else, some people are "natural" good bloggers but most of us have to learn. I believe this blogging business takes a while to get used to, and it is great when we have people like you giving guidance and ideas to the rest of the members of AR.

Hi Rich:  Thanks for sharing some great reminders for me.  Lots of stuff to think about.  You mentioned you have thought about going back and deleting some of your earlier "literary gems."  Remember that when you do that, you also delete all the comments other people have made on those posts... and their comments points that go along with them.  Rich... thanks for sharing... 

Reading this one made me hungry. Think I'll go make a hot pastrami sandwich. Cause you helped us so much with point one when we first started. As you know.

Have had the pleasure of writing Don Rich a few times in the last couple of days. Has a certain ring to it.

Rock on...  

Rich - thanks for the advice, Ardell made a good point! 

Karen - I deleted my first few without thinking, I regretted it because I lost the comments that meant so much to me.

This is GREAT stuff and I agree with Missy ! It should be a feature, I missed it totally until I started thumbing through my associates !

Rich as always you wet our appetites and fed our desire to become better bloggers.  Oh great!  Now I just made myself hungry!   Thanks Rich!

Rich,

I appreciate your call to us to take it to the next level. I also enjoy reading all your comments to others' comments.

Rich,

Thanks for the great adivce. I appreciate your desire to see us become better bloggers and step it up.

i don't blog for leads. if/when they come, they come.

i'm always concerned about content. does it have value.

i have learned not to include any anger in my blogs. constructive criticism is okay, but the angry blogger would be best served to rethink their position and maybe give it another day. 

Hello Rich, I have somehow not read any of your blogs for the past six months since I started this. I didn't know what I was missing. Thank you so much for helping to judge the contest and thank you for appreciating my entry. After reading your posts I am even more tickled. Where have you been all my AR life? I can see how the "advertisement" side of posts would turn people off. I learn more every day. Thank you Rich and I will enjoy reading you from here on out! Deb

Debra - I had stepped out of the Rain for a little while, but have jumped back in with both feet! Nice to have you comment here, and thanks for reading my stuff!

Rich - I noticed my points were almost 10,000 and am very proud of myself for even trying to blog.  So I decided to score the final 25 on your blog since your easy reading style first made me realize that I could blog, too.  I already commented, but this is the crucial 25!  Very fitting, since this blog made me realize that I have been serving sandwiches. 

Actual comment worth THE 25 points:  Thanks for the support which you give to all of us!

Virgina - What a really nice thing to say! Thank you! I was really fortunate to have several really great mentors here in the Rain when I first got started, so I'm simply paying it forward. You do the same as you become more confident in your writing, okay?

Rich, As always a great blog. Interesting when you went over to AR, suddenly all of us in WA moved up one position in rank. It was like the big whale leaving the tub. If that does not sound flattering, well it was meant to be.

Rich,

This post slipped past me! May I order one of those sandwiches...hold the tomatoes!!! THanks,   Fran

Great post........ I'm still wet behind the ears with this new think callrf aBlog... Thanks for the great info !

Rich,

The essence of blogging is right there, provide the consumer relevant information, in other words the show, and he/she will stay with you for it. The refrigerator quickly becomes the top priority if you push him too much with a commercial spiel.

Steven - you're not that far off! I could stand to lose a few pounds, although I have never been mistaken for a beached whale!

Gracious Rich...

I am guilty of deleting some of my older posts.

I guess I'm that vain :)

In the big scheme of things my blog doesn't really matter most of the time. So it's no big deal.

But I do agree with the points you've made for those who are Blogging for Business.  

P.S. The Rain Drip Series needs to be featured every time you write one. Pass that on please :)  

TLW...ROAR!

Rich

Good to know that you'd done mistakes. What is left for the newbies then? I am reading the post

Does your blog causes.............Thanks