Yesterday, I published a blog article asking for advice on how to get more interaction and readership. I can honestly admit that I was shocked (but very happy) with the response!
Your Response To Yesterday's Readership Appeal
I’ll share with what I learned:
Illustrate Your Point
People seemed to love the Wordle I’d done. I’d seen it in a presentation by a marketing agency to me at work on Monday and thought “I’ll nick that idea” and, quite rightly, it’s been nicked since by Jon, for one. It’s a good thing, so why not? It’s what the internet is for.. Well, that and naughty pictures.
Address Your Audience
I posted the article because I thought it might be close to readers’ hearts, as well as my own. It seemed to strike a chord and as a result lots of people gave feedback, even people who had previously been silent readers, hiding in the closet of internet anonymity. I don’t expect them to suddenly become vociferous advocates, but it’s been nice to see them pipe up. Howdy!
Act On Advice
I asked for ideas. You gave me ideas. As a result, I put a “Subscribe By Email” widget on here last night. Already some of you have used it and I thank you.
There has been other advice which I will consider. My writing style probably won’t change much on this site, but if I ever get myself together and focus on a specific niche blog, I will make sure my brevity, focus and thought leadership issues are carefully managed. Basically, I’ll talk less crap on more useful sites. This particular site is my mouthpiece and, as such, I’m sorry but the drivel will continue for the foreseeable future.
Self Pity Sells
If you ever want something, ask for it. I wanted advice and more readers, so I got on my knees and asked for them. You delivered: good advice and harsh truth, but I did get more subscribers and a lot interaction.
What’s the worst that can happen? Somebody might take the mickey a little (Joby). If you’re flaky, you might be left feeling insecure. What the heck, if you don’t ask, you don’t get.
Visitors Stats
Feedburner Figures
Now What?
This kind of jump can’t be expected to be sustainable, but I’m delighted there’s been a step change in response to a direct appeal. As a marketeer, it can be recorded as a very successful niche marketing campaign. I suppose all I have to do next is start adding some actual value before I lose all my new customers!
I’ll get my thinking cap on.
No related posts.
Cheeky f*cker.
I for one won’t be subscribing to this blog anymore.
Go f*ck yourself.
Yes Joby, it is you I was talking about
LOL
Good good monsieur
I’m like you actually, I blog about whatever happens that day or how I’m feeling. It’s a good thing to do I think.
Best thing to remember is that it’s your blog so do what the hell you want with it (to a degree anyway
)
Ta for putting up the email subscription thingy. I have the rss thing too for you, but check my email more than i do my web feed.
I totally agree… so?
Yellow tyres or not?
If you don’t ask you won’t get?
Can I have a Marin Titanium Team Frame please? It’s only 2.5k frame only.
Thanks in advance…
I agree..
It’s your blog, you can do whatever you want with it!
So, yellow tyres anyone?
Clive, I think you have to ask on your own blog. I’m kind of new to this.
Rooley: Orange I think, with your olive frame. Stick to Autumn shades. Or natural, like Lost’s race tyres. Tasteful.
@phill: Ah, but the natural tyres are slicks and for track racing not knobbley mtb tyres. They don’t make natural tyres for road or mtb.
@rooley: the yellow look better than the red with your frame colour.
Only downside with phil’s ‘autumn’ shades suggestion is that we’re in SPRING now
Lost: Yeah but I’m not suggesting Rooley changes tyres every season, it’s a bike not a bloody swimming costume! I just want him to have a bike that doesn’t look like a plate of sick.
I believe you can get natural walled knobblies. But, the yellow ones do look ok. And Rooley, stop pimping your blog in my comments
Phil I spoke about this at a blogging session I did this morning. Thought yesterdays blog was fab and today’s is good too. I love wordless I could spend hours doing it but then there would be no time for blogging!
it’s called a multi-fathomed approach!
Pimp Your Bike!
Hmmm I’ll let you off there. Mine are natural all over
Rooley: Multi-fathomed? Multi-channel maybe, multi-pronged perhaps. It’s all about the routes to market.
Lost: You’ve just thought of the next MTVTreeHugger channel’s new show! That and Pimp My Sandals.
Sarah, Welcome to the blog! Thanks for the brilliant comments, perhaps I can consider my ego stroked now. You make a good point about playing with gadgets reducing time for actual work. I love toys, but they’re a great work-prevention exercise sometimes aren’t they?
Thanks Phil I dont av much to say on my blog not confident to write stuff but appreciate the following so once again when ure blog is massive I can say that celebrity Blogger Phil was my first follower probaly the only follower cheers m8
Do you have a blog Les?
He’s on lezzzzzz – it’s a blogspot – here you go: http://lezzzzzz.blogspot.com
Les is on http://lezzzzzz.blogspot.com/ Joby.
Les, When YOU’RE massively bigger than my blog, give me a little credit
His blog keeps forwarding to something else
Hit escape just as it loads…
Cheers.
I would apologise to Phill for hijacking his blog but he likes his comment count to be big so he’d better well f***ing (see – I starred it for you mate) appreciate it!
Odd, Les’s blog loads up ok here. Why’d you need to escape? Hey, it’s just a blog, chat amongst yerselves. And thanks for the self-censorship. I don’t mind a good swear but certain members of my ‘closet’ audience would sieze upon it. Nuff said.
Actually I lied, Les’ blog is f*cked.Les, I’d sugget you appeal for help via twitter. That’s what I do and people are brilliant about telling you how to fix stuff. Not come across that problem before but it looks like someobody hijacked yer site.
that’s why I pressed escape.. It stops the javascript from executing on the site and redirecting to the other site..
Just remove that counter top left – thats probably what is causing it.
Thanx Phil and Joby will do that now
Cheers Joby thats what was causing the problem bin hijacked by something called china tv
Glad that got sorted whlst I was in Asda having a brew. We can all read Les’s blog now
Good work gents.
There’s not much in it as yet I am not as good as u experienced bloggers
We’re not good, just full of crap like most people, but we write about it. Oh, and a little pad to remember random ideas helps! There’s my tip of the day right there. In fact, I’ll write that in my little pad as a blog title… *writes* .. T…I..P..S.. O.. F.. T..H..E….D..A..Y..
Phill do u know why my picture dnt come up on ure and Joby’s blog but does on clive’s any idea’s m8
It’s because you and Clive are on blogspot and some of the rest of us are on WordPress. You can fix it by going to http://en.gravatar.com/ and creating a gravatar with your usual username. Then that’ll come up whenever you comment on a WP blog – sorted! Joby taught me that.
I have a Google and a Gravatar account, with t’same picture so it’s all seamless.
Thanks for ure help Phil as u can see it works