Comments on: Call Your Readers to ACTION [Day 23: 31DBBB]

By: ExcitedByLife

ExcitedByLife — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 07:24:54 +0000

I think a call to action (especially with a benefit) is even more important for us newer bloggers. People will naturally comment on the big name blogs and high PR blogs in the hope of getting traffic and attention. Lets face it we all suffer from information overload and we really can’t expect others to sit down to write a meaning full comment, digg or stumbleupon to our posts – even if it is a great post, unless of course there is a “what’s in it for me” type benefit in doing so.
Given that most of the people who comment or bookmark are newer people with blogs of their own, I think offering to reciprocate a comment on their blog would be a worthwhile benefit. With this in mind we went back and produced a little “we support blogging community” badge on some of our posts offering to comment back on peoples blogs if people also leave relevant comments on our posts.
Maggie

By: ed hardy

ed hardy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:17:52 +0000

wow.I like this idea. Kind of physically taking yourself out of the ‘box’ and so getting your thinking out of the box as well.

Great suggestion Darren, will definately plan time for this in the next few days

By: KDL

KDL — Fri, 29 May 2009 05:39:15 +0000

Whenever I end up posting on Saturdays (I post every three days no matter what day it is) I’ll be posting a call to action to be an advocate for special needs children. My most recent post in this category is: http://thesimplelifekdl.blogspot.com/2009/05/ride-for-autism.html
I think it’s going to be a lot of fun to find ideas for posts in this category.

By: Kimberley Payne

Kimberley Payne — Thu, 07 May 2009 00:57:03 +0000

My call to action is for readers to “ask a question”. Here’s what I wrote in my most recent post:

I’ve started a new series at my blog, Fit for Faith, called “Ask the Expert”. It’s a Q & A format that will address common questions fitness enthusiasts may have. Drop by and leave a comment. Better yet, ask a question!

http://fitforfaith.blogspot.com/2009/05/ask-expert.html

By: Lori

Lori — Mon, 04 May 2009 17:24:38 +0000

I like this idea. As I have a travel blog, I try to entice comments to up my website’s popularity. I also find the Amazon affiliate links helpful for a few extra bucks, as I like to recommend travel books.

By: Ecommerce Help - Tyrone Shum

Ecommerce Help - Tyrone Shum — Mon, 04 May 2009 12:55:07 +0000

The problem with most blogs today is that there is a lot of passive readers out there. Often, I would describe passsive readers as those who constantly skims through your blogs and loves every minute of it though he or she couldn’t care less with leaving a feedback or comment on your post. Although I really appreciate it if somebody cared to drop by my blog, I appreciate it more if he or she will leave a comment saying that he/she was pleased or some corrections if I was mistaken with something on my post.

In your post, I remember one blogsite owner. He would post this wonderful topics that are very helpful to his fellow bloggers as well and at the end of every post, there would be an icon of a beer mug and then a link saying: “Like this post? Do me a favor and buy me a drink” or something along those lines. I still find it funny but it is a good call to action.

By: Selboy

Selboy — Mon, 04 May 2009 08:19:03 +0000

there are times that I asked them to share me their idea on what I wrote. But it seems that my readers really don’t interact with me. Most of my blogpost got only 5 to 10 comments from readers.

By: Natasa

Natasa — Mon, 04 May 2009 00:16:53 +0000

I always ask questions at the end of my posts and hope my readers will answer. They sometimes do, which makes me really happy.

This time, I wrote a post about how the whole Susan Boyle phenomenon could be used as a lesson plan (I am an EFL teacher). I called my readers to share their lesson plans or, if they are not EFL teachers, to share their dream. We all have dreams.

Here is my post: http://lunas994.blogspot.com/2009/04/lets-have-susan-boyle-moment.html#links

By the way, has anyone else fallen behind? Or is it just me?

By: neon

neon — Sun, 03 May 2009 23:15:19 +0000

I gave a call to action for a book promotion project, and didn’t specifically ask for a reply on my blog. There is no way to know if anyone did it since there are still no comments on it.

By: Genesis

Genesis — Sun, 03 May 2009 04:03:46 +0000

I actually just did this on my personal blog, before even reading your post (I`m a little behind). I highlighted a local organization here in Guatemala that doesn`t just give the poor food, but they are running a special program to provide families with chickens that they can raise for food and profit. It`s a wonderful example of “teach a man to fish and he`ll eat for a lifetime” and I asked my readers to consider donating $3.50 to buy a chicken. The response was wonderful and so far 22 chickens have been donated . . . all from one little call to action.

You can see it here: http://www.expatmom.info/got-350-feed-a-family/

By: Blogger1781

Blogger1781 — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:18:00 +0000

My blog is very new and I do not have a lot of visitors yet. I am trying to learn all I can about blogging. I am reading all the advice and tips and I found a lot of information on your blog. I have found answers to so many questions I had in mind about blogging. Thanks!!

By: Maddie Grant

Maddie Grant — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:10:32 +0000

This one I am pretty good at, in different ways. In this post I reminded people to sign up for our School of SocialFish workshops before they fill up, and in this one I asked people to help my biz partner Lindy with association-industry burning questions she could bring to the Smart Brief Advisory Board on their behalf. These are only two examples, I bet I could come up with a whole ton more. I try and ask people to participate a lot. Often it just takes an ask.

By: Kim Cantrell

Kim Cantrell — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:57:39 +0000

I opted to use a poll – I’ve had good results with this before
Who Does She Look the Most Like?

By: Cliff

Cliff — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:54:22 +0000

Thanks for this great post. For the last couple of weeks I have placed a call to action on my site http://www.TheGospelBlog.com encouraging readers to share my posts on their favorite social networking site. I’m not sure if it has been effective or not.

By: Carrie

Carrie — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:18:24 +0000

here’s my call to action http://www.itsfrugalbeinggreen.com/2009/04/best-of-its-frugal-being-green-april.html hopefully i’ll get a good response

By: Nicolas Prudhon

Nicolas Prudhon — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:08:59 +0000

Thanks for your suggestions Darren, I have done this post a few days ago, with a pool asking my readers if they were interested by a forum on site:

http://www.nicolasprudhon.com/inside-news/would-you-like-to-see-a-seo-forum-here

The response has been positive and I went on with it. My forum opened yesterday.

By: Mrs Green

Mrs Green — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 07:14:44 +0000

This is a great idea and can help build a sense of community too – which is what I am after with my sites.

Something I have done for the past couple of months on one site is to have a ‘get off your arse Thursday’!

My one site focuses on reducing landfill waste, so Thursday’s are all about getting my readers to take one small action or cross something off their procrastination list that will help them reduce their waste.

It’s gathering momentum and I keep it light hearted and fun and give away a silly prize with it. You can view last week’s here:

http://myzerowaste.com/2009/04/get-off-your-arse-thursday-week-7/

I’m going to read your article now though, because, like you, only a tiny percentage of readers actually bother to comment and I’d love to be able to help change that!

Thanks for another fabby and inspiring day!

By: avalon

avalon — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 04:52:18 +0000

I asked my readers to sign up for SMS text alerts. About 5% of my readers followed through. Its a start ;)

By: ezFreeSamples.com

ezFreeSamples.com — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 02:11:16 +0000

This one has been bookmarked. I love the ideas. I am always looking for easy/free ways to market the crap out of my new site. Thanks!

Blake
@ezFreeSamples – Twitter

By: Leisa Watkins

Leisa Watkins — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:15:53 +0000

I end most of my posts by asking my readers a question and asking them to share their opinion.

I also set-up a static page that lists some of the questions I’ve asked on the various blog posts so they can find something they may be interested in contributing to, even if the post they are reading isn’t right for them the time. Here’s what it looks like: http://wealthwisdomandsuccess.com/success/join-the-conversation. This page is new so I don’t know yet what kind of effect it will have.

Also, every post has a section below the post that starts out “Dear Success Oriented Reader” which invites people to comment and subscribe.

So far, I’ve still had a difficult time getting people to comment, but my feed subscribers have risen since adding that.