Comments on: The Power of Real Life Interactions as a Blogger

By: CoolProducts

CoolProducts — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 21:25:24 +0000

If you show the readers that you really do care about them, their thoughts, ideas, etc. you’ll never know the possibilities and benefits that may fall into your lap. Your ideas are very good ways of achieving this.

By: DennisSC

DennisSC — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:23:13 +0000

That’s one thing about blogging. Your readers are also potentially your editors and/or proofreaders.

Social interactions might be impractical for those of us who don’t have enough readers concentrated in any given place, but it’s obviously invaluable in any field. That’s the point of book signings or politicians going door to door. It’s a cliche, but the truth is it really works.

By: Darren Rowse

Darren Rowse — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 23:11:49 +0000

thanks deborah – sloppiness on my part with those ones :-)

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 20:19:46 +0000

Would love to go to BlogWorld & Godblog….but since I’m not able to – look forward to your pics and would love to see video of the events….are you aware of any that will be posted?

By: Vintage Mommy

Vintage Mommy — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 19:52:04 +0000

I have set a goal to attend BlogHer next year; It sounds really fun, exciting and inspiring!

By: deborah cohen

deborah cohen — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:25:19 +0000

darren,

first I want to say, I love your blog, I love your newsletter, it is
the only blogging “blog” that I read each and every day…You have taught me almost everything that I have learned about blogging.

I am not a professional blogger at this time, but, I do write a blog..and may want to do a more professional blog at some point in the near future.

One of your subjects in the past week or so, was about grammar, punctuation, etc…being really important to your message. Today while reading your blog…I noticed this sentence fragment, which I believe is what is known in the grammar world as a DOUBLE NEGATIVE…”( none of the founders of b5media didn’t meet for a long time)”

and is the perfect example of how grammar affects a reader’s understanding of what you have written. My question is:

did the founders meet before establishing b5? or not? The double negative usuage makes that unclear….when the purpose of that fragment was to elucidate, by example.

and this is fairly essential for comprehending what you have written today…

and this post also contained this fragment…

“just ask my wife V who was completely freaked out by how much people knew met at a meet-up she came to in NYC last year)”

I am not sure if you meant: ” how much people [ I ] knew met at a meet up…” or ” how many people I knew at a meetup….
although we had never met in person”?

and this sentence had me stumble as well….but, it did not
effect my understanding of the point you were making in your post.

we all make these grammar mistakes, when we are rushed when posting, perhaps our hearts are not totally in what we have written. I certainly have done it…because, when we read over our own writing, WE KNOW WHAT WE MEAN…we wrote it….and even if we are careful editors, well grammar does happen.

But, when you are reading a blog of someone that has gained authority in a particular area….and you see how grammar does affect your understanding and lengthens the TIME it takes to read the post….it underscores the importance of YOUR earlier lesson….grammar, punctuation, etc… ARE vitally IMPORTANT to getting our messages across in the manner WE MEAN, than we may wish believe.

so I want to thank you, for making that mistake today ….because it underscored YOUR earlier lesson,
for me, not just as someone who blogs my own message, but someone who READS others messages to learn how to blog.

smiles to you and many thanks,
deborah

By: Steph Auteri

Steph Auteri — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:06:09 +0000

I love that you’ve mentioned this, Darren. I came to blogging via an interest in magazine writing, and my enthusiasm for it has far surpassed my enthusiasm for other forms of media. Mostly it’s because of the interaction involved…the ability to receive instant feedback and forge interest-based connections. It seems only natural to take those online relationships and bring them into the “real” world.

I have attended several NY Bloggers meetups, and it’s such a joy to spend an evening with others who are just as into blogging as I am. Just as my eyes glaze over a bit when my husband starts rattling on about web coding, I’m sure my friends’ eyes glaze over when I start talking blogging again. In addition, I never fail to find new readers for my blog through these events, or create some sort of online partnership.

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 12:25:20 +0000

I couldn’t agree more. I actually blog a little bit in reverse. I know many of the readers of my site as friends and networks first and blog readers second. I love writing a new post with particular people in mind, looking forward to their comment/opinion when I see them next.

I’m slowly begining to use my blog to reach out and connect with people face-to-face and I’m loving the new conversations which are taking place (including your good self, Darren!).Anyways, great stuff and thanks for the continued advice.

By: violet

violet — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 02:13:18 +0000

Isn’t it interesting that in a virtual world filled with blogs, social media, social networking sites etc that we still want (sometimes need) that face-to-face interaction to actually connect with one another?

I think its especially great that you want to meet your readers. To me that shows sincerity and interest in your readers. Lots of other people could learn from this.

Violet

By: jhay

jhay — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 02:12:16 +0000

It’s always nice to meet fellow bloggers in person. It gives you a deeper connection to the blog, its content and more importantly it’s blogger.

By: Ryan McLean

Ryan McLean — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 01:05:08 +0000

I like how you mentioned that it can be hard for your spouse. I am getting married in exactly 6 weeks and I find it hard sometimes to teach my fiance about what I do.
She is learning slowly but sometimes she gets frustrated that I work so hard on my blog because she doesn’t know what it is.

Real life meet ups sounds great. At the moment my blog is not big enough for this. But maybe in a year or two when it is (and when I am making enough money to travel) then I will do it.

By: Shwen

Shwen — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:03:24 +0000

Having had first hand experience of exactly what you talk about, I have to agree wholeheartedly with your post. In fact, I just returned from the 2008 New Media Expo recently and wrote a post with a very similar sentiment: http://tinyurl.com/6dk9rm

I’m looking forward to doing more of the same at Web 2.0 NYC next week. Thanks for your great post!

By: Vered - MomGrind

Vered - MomGrind — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:36:32 +0000

I went to the BlogHer conference in August. It IS weird at first, but it certainly deepens the connection. People still have a strong need for face-to-face interaction.

By: David Leggett

David Leggett — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:32:33 +0000

All good points. One that I’d personally add is the discussion that often leads to ideas for new posts. For me, I find that when I talk about topics I blog about with like-minded bloggers, I’m constantly learning, and taking on new views of my own subjects. Makes for great future posts :)

By: Kristi

Kristi — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:30:26 +0000

Meeting another blogger in real life gives a sense of trust, like now you know they are a real, caring person. It is hard to meet all your readers in person, in which case photos and videos of the author are better, more personable representations than avatars and graphics.

By: impNERD

impNERD — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:07:07 +0000

It should also be noted that real-life interactions are important at the very beginning phases of blogging. If you have a non-computer techie relative or friend, ask them what they think about your website. Can they easily navigate? Can they easily scan your articles?

By: Sid Savara

Sid Savara — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:45:20 +0000

“I guess it’s only important when you already have a popular blog or website.” (around comment 7 or 8)

I respectfully disagree with this sentiment. I think it is actually even MORE crucial to a less popular blog or website. Every day, people have millions of other blogs and articles to read – but I guarantee you that having real life interactions with a blogger will take you further in getting links and attention than anything else.

I very recently watched an interview with Tim Ferris by Derek Sivers of CD Baby. Tim specifically mentioned in person meetings with bloggers at South By Southwest as critical to promotion and success of the 4 Hour Work Week. It is towards the end of the interview, where Derek asks Tim why he did not outsource his promotion.

If there was ever anecdotal evidence that in person interaction is superior, I believe that interview provides it.

By: WD Favour

WD Favour — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:20:02 +0000

I couldn’t agree more with your second point…
I’ve not met any of the bloggers I’ve become acquainted with face to face, but we’ve corresponded via email and I know it has made me more interested in reading their blogs. In fact, I even particpated in a blog carnival just because a co blogger I met in the blogosphere was hosting it! And a relationship is beginning to build up.
Now I sure have inspiration to encourage a meet up of my blogger friends in the area that I live.
Thanks once again for your insightful observations.

By: IT Freak

IT Freak — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:07:43 +0000

Well, I’ve made quite a few friends online. Met just a handful of them. But I’ve got to admit that I haven’t met any of my online blogger friends. Partly because they are not in my country. Others are my only online friends. Never planed anything like to meet in real life though. Never thought of it.

By: Dash

Dash — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:52:45 +0000

Blogs have a branding disadvantage over magazines and newspapers. The high cost of paper is a barrier to entry that leads to higher credibility.

To counter this brand disadvantage, leading tech blogs like Techcrunch.com, Readwriteweb.com, and VentureBeat.com have started doing conferences that bring virtual fans into real life settings. Further, these conferences have become highly profitable. But they do require a lot of work to organize.

Innovation never rests. Good luck with your walk-a-thon.

-Dash
http://tEarn.com/ – tEarn Exitmercial Network