One of the first things a business blogger has to understand is that they are part of an ever growing conversation.
Too many business bloggers come into the world of blogging with a monologue mindset. They may have a pre-set agenda of what topics they’ll discuss, what products and services they’ll promote, or what reputation issues they’re going to try to mitigate.
But as business bloggers we need to remember that in order to influence a conversation, we must first become a part of the conversation. We need to have an audience before we can be heard. The best business blogs get this. They know that you simply can’t build a blog and expect it to find its audience. And that once you get an audience you have to interact with them.
Leadership is about influence and in order to influence you have to interact.
Somewhere on the Internet right now it is very likely there are conversations going on about the products or services your company offers. The conversation may even be about your own company.
Your job as the blogger is to join the conversation. And there are some very simple steps to do this.
1) Find the blogs that are likely talking about what you want to talk about. Read as many blog posts and as many of the comments as you need to in order to feel like you know who the participants are. Try to answer the following questions: What are their views? Do they have any bias toward a particular company or product? Who comments the most? Who gives the most value-added comments (not always the same as the most)? Which commenters have thier own blogs? Read those as well.
2) After you feel you have a firm understanding of the particular dynamics of the blog, start to leave some comments on some relevant posts. You don’t need to comment on every post and your better off commenting on the newer posts rather than on something that is a few months old. If possible, make sure to leave a link to your own blog when you comment.
3) If a blog post interests you enough to write your own post then link back to the original blog post in your entry. This will let the people involved know that the conversation has moved.
Even if you choose not to participate in the conversations on other blogs, make sure you participate in the conversation on your own blog.
If someone leaves a comment on your blog, don’t ignore it. Respond kindly to it and thank them for their time. It can also be a nice touch to send them a personal e-mail thanking them for their time.
Remember: The more you interact, the more opportunities you have to influence.
photo credit: Brian Solis
{ 0 comments… add one now }