YNOT – When it comes to marketing communications, blogging no longer is a take-it-or-leave-it proposition. The web has changed the way people interact and absorb information. If recent political meltdowns have taught us nothing else, they’ve shown how quickly popular blogs can make or break an individual’s public image…and just as easily, a company’s.
How to approach bloggers and gain their favor is a topic for another article. In this one, we’re going to suppose you are the blogger who has gained all that attention with your golden prose and preternatural insight. You’re funny. You’re hip. You’re the best in your field at understanding and explaining some aspect of the business. You have insider access to the hottest talent around, and you’re willing to share. Whatever your niche, you’ve struck gold with readers, and now you have a loyal following who can’t stand to go a day without your words of wisdom.
And that’s where the trouble starts. Anything humans do on a regular basis has a tendency to get stale. Even though you may have the most delightful blogging voice on the planet and you always have something interesting or controversial to say, by the time you’ve written a post every day for a year, you’ll be ready to chuck the keyboard out the window at the very mention of the word “blog.” Your inspirational well will run dry and refuse to fill up again. What do you do?
First and foremost, resolve to have fun. Do something to shake up yourself, and consequently, your readers. Make a radical change in topic. Find an offbeat news tidbit or a crazy idea and put your own unique spin on the subject. Be careful not to make accusations you know aren’t true (unless you’re clearly writing satire), and if you decide to skewer living individuals, be prepared for backlash. Backlash, if handled well, can provide fodder for many, many blog posts to come.
Whatever you do, don’t make the all-too-common mistake of throwing up something quick and easy and completely uninspired just so the page isn’t blank. That’s cheating, and your readers will call you on it…and they should. They follow your blog for a reason, and if you’re no longer providing that reason, you can’t blame them for walking away.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Consider asking someone you know to write a guest blog. In some mainstream blogging circles, “blog tours” and “blog chains” are popular among both writers and readers, and for similar reasons. Blog tours are similar to old-fashioned media tours, except they occur online. A person or company with something to promote makes the rounds of a group of blogs devoted to an appropriate topic, either writing a guest column or engaging in a Q&A or interview with the blog’s author. Blog chains are groups of bloggers who cover similar topics and “feed” off each other’s posts. Sometimes one will ask a philosophical question, and every other blog in the chain, taking turns, will give a unique answer. Sometimes blog chains simply decide on a topic for the week, and everyone addresses that topic in their own way. Blog chains usually link to each other and share traffic, which can provide an incidental bonus.
The point is, everybody needs an occasional break, and shaking up your followers with someone else’s voice from time to time — as long as that someone else has relevant material to contribute — can add spice to your virtual relationship.
Give the fans the floor. If your blog has attracted a significant number of readers, pose a burning question and let fans and foes take over in the comments section. The amount of background and direction you provide is up to you. Just be sure to resist the urge to argue if someone says something you don’t like. Trolls are not confined to forums.
Reruns work online, too. If you’ve been blogging for a long time, doubtless you’ve generated an impressive catalog of “classic” material. Don’t rely on the tactic too often or you’ll lose your audience, but when you just can’t face another day of grinding out copy or you’ve scheduled a vacation, consider running a “best-of” series from the archives. Be honest with your readers about what you’re doing, and pick past posts that continue to be relevant. As a bonus, if you offer an RSS feed or auto-tweet your blog posts, you may pick up new readers who never knew you had something worthwhile to say about that.
