Lessons in Blog Communication

In an effort to communicate more effectively with my fellow bloggers I participated in a teleconference with this afternoon with a very successful blogging coach by the name of Michael Martine. Not that Michael discounts the SEO side of his blog, but a strong component of his traffic comes from what are knows as “referrals”, or bloggers finding him through other sites.

If I am being honest, I was hoping for the proverbial silver bullet from him. A better way to automate my communications… quicker ways to persuade via my posts… An easier way to be more effective with my blogs…

In a bitter sweet realization, my hopes of the quick paths were not met… Let’s talk about the bitter pill first. Now don’t get me wrong, I learned some amazing stuff… Michael was generous with the information he communicated. It was formatted in a simple fashion, linear, easy to understand and comprehensive. The total sum of his teleconference though was completely void of the words “automatic” or “easy”. Without going into specifics (you’ll have to pay for it if you want to pick his brain), his blogging communication success has come from hard work, personal attention and giving value to his subscribers.

The reality of the matter is that there are a number of short cuts you can take… You may even get some traffic spikes and some subscribers from using them. That being said, the only true way to build a long list of subscribers is through the combination of working smart AND hard. Subscribers are people and need to be treated like, well… people. They aren’t numbers and viewing them as such will all but guarantee your blog some lonely night ahead. But, if your plan is based on the notions of how best to help each person and add value, then you are indeed on the right track.

Regarding the sweet side of the equation… EFFECTIVE BLOGGING IS HARD WORK! As much as the lazy little boy in me just wants to show up at my computer and log into my thousands of adoring fans, I am so blessed that it isn’t that easy. You know what they say; if it were easy everyone would be doing it. Well, although pretty much everyone is blogging (or at least leaving drive by comments) not everybody is successful at it. The challenge and the work is what have left those who want success a great venue in which to achieve it.

Building a strong and loyal subscriber list is hard work… It takes effort, communication skills, commitment, intelligence and strategy… all wrapped up in a nice thick blanket of compassion, and true hard earned value. This is evident in Michael’s work and his results speak for themselves.

I left the call convicted of three things in particular:

1. If you can’t add value… true value, you won’t have long term success.

2. If you don’t add the personal component, sincerely… you won’t have long term success.

3. Working smart, giving more than you expect in return and placing the needs of your subscribers first will earn you their loyalty.

For more quality information than you can get your arms around, feel free to check Michael’s site out to learn more. See you in the blogosphere…

David J. Parnell