Perhaps my post on remembering that blog readers are people was a touch too ‘warm and fuzzy’ – so I thought I’d balance it with another characteristic of blog readers that it’s well worth keeping in mind as you blog…. that being that….

Blog Readers are selfish!

Ok – that might be a little harshly put…. blog readers have many characteristics and motivations for reading blogs, but from my experience of both reading and writing blogs – there is at least an element of truth to the idea that most blog readers have some selfish element to their motivation (and I put myself into that also).

Most of us live pretty full lives with plenty of opportunities when it comes to deciding how to spend our time. I often lament that I wish there were more hours in a day because I never seem to have time to do everything I want to do.

As a result of this when I find a new book, website, TV show, newspaper article…. blog …. etc – I tend to ask myself a question of some sort to work out whether it’s something I want to spend time doing. When it comes down to it – the question boils down to:

‘What’s in it for Me?’

Of course I might not say it in those words – I might ask:

• ‘does this interest me?’ or….
• ‘will this help me become a better person?’ or….
• ‘is this fun/entertaining/relaxing?’ etc

but ultimately I’m asking ‘what’s in it for me?‘

I have a theory that this little question is one that most of us ask throughout our days as we decide what to invest time into.

That’s not to say we don’t do things that are not ‘selfish’ – but it’s definitely a filtering question that many of your blog’s readers will be asking in one form or another.

Take Home Advice

So knowing this information, and knowing that people make up their minds very quickly whether to stay on a website or not (most seem to stay on blogs for just seconds), it’s important to give your potential reader a reason to stay and explore your blog.

Tell them ‘what’s in it for them’ – and tell them loudly, quickly and clearly.

Don’t hide the answer to that question away on an about page, or at the bottom of an in depth article on the benefits of your blog.

One of the best ways to do this is to work hard and nailing down the key benefit of reading your blog into a single sentence or phrase so that you can incorporate it into your page title and header – you might even like to reinforce this with a picture or some other visual element (like a logo) that communicates simply and clearly what the blog is about.

Make it clear how readers will benefit from interacting with your blog but whatever you do – deliver upon your claim. It’s all very well to tell them what they’ll get by sticking around – but if they don’t see the benefits you claim they’ll be gone before you know it.

Also take this same principle and put it into the micro nature of blogging – the writing of individual posts. Your title and first sentences are essential in the writing and reading of a post so keep your potential’s ‘selfishness’ in mind as you form them also.

Breaking News!!! Your blog’s readers are people.

Have you ever lost sight of that fact?

If you have – you’re not alone. I suspect that most of us as bloggers forget it from time to time.

In the busyness of life, in pressure we put on ourselves to post regularly, in the desire to make a blog profitable or to build it’s traffic – it’s easy to forget that while we enter our thoughts and ideas into a plastic box of wires and electrical currents that those who interact with our words are flesh and blood – just like us.

It’s worth reminding ourselves of the humanity on the other side of our blogs for a number of reasons.

1. People deserve respect

One of the side effects of allowing those who read your blog to become just another statistic is that there is a temptation to treat them as such – without respect, honor or dignity. It’s easy to do online where there is little chance of face to face interaction (it is easy to treat someone badly when you’ll never meet them), where there is no body language to give visual cues on how other people are feeling and where controversy and conflict tends to escalate quickly. However despite all this people have a right to be treated with respect regardless of race, religion or any other distinguishing factor (unless they support the Collingwood football club – sorry about the Melbourne ‘humor’).

2. People have needs

I believe that this is an aspect of our readers that is especially important to keep in mind as we blog. People (all of us) have a variety of different needs in our lives. Some of them are felt needs and some of them are unfelt ones. The people who come to read your blog will often do so with a felt need. They might be searching for information or an answer to a question, they might seek education, they could be looking for company or even entertainment. Keep the needs of your readers in mind and seek to fulfill them and you’ll not only help out another person – but the flow on effects will improve your own position as a blogger (as the reader becomes a regular and loyal reader, as they spread the world about your blog etc). Many bloggers seem to forget the needs of their readers and blog in a ‘know-it-all’ fashion that is likely to alienate rather than draw people in.

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Do you have a way for your blog readers to contact you?

I’ve just spent a frustrating 15 minutes looking for a way to contact a write on CNET’s Alpha Blog and am left quite frustrated by the distance that they seem to have put between their bloggers and readers.

Perhaps there is a way to contact their authors that I’m yet to find (it’s probably staring me in the face) but it’s actually an example of a problem that is increasingly common in the blogosphere – inaccessible bloggers.

Why would you want to be contacted by readers? Isn’t having comments enough?

I find that having a way to be contacted is beneficial on a number of fronts.

• Firstly it gives your readers a way to privately contact you – having comments is a very public way of communicating with a blogger and there are some things that are just not appropriate for public comment. Having an email address or contact form allows you to keep unnecessary communications out of comments.
• It gives readers a sense of power – having a direct line to a blogger might not seem like a lot but I’ve found it does mean quite a lot to some readers. For them to be able to quickly and easily let you know their thoughts, pitch you an idea, vent a little or just say hi is an empowering and personal thing that many readers enjoy. It helps create a sense of ownership and interactivity.
• It’s about accountability - giving readers a way to get in touch shows that you’re willing to be held accountable for your blog and that you’re not hiding from criticism. The most common type of blog that doesn’t have contact details is the spam blog who hides the identity of the blogger for obvious reasons. While I’m not accusing bloggers without contact details of being spam bloggers it does send a message to readers if you’re inaccessible.
• It identifies problems – while I don’t enjoy getting emails telling me what’s wrong with my blog it’s important to know it. Whether it is when features are not working, I have server issues that mean loading is slow, an image isn’t loading or when I have a spelling mistake (often) – it’s the emails from readers that help me improve my blog.
• It opens opportunities – everyday my inbox has opportunities in it from my contact form here at ProBlogger. It’s like a treasure trove some days with questions that lead to post, potential partnerships, pitches for stories, anonymous scoops etc. While it does take a little time to filter them all it’s well worth the effort.

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