We’ve written about Dave Kurlan on this blog before (”Put Me In Coach, I’m Ready to Sell“) – but the short version is that the guy knows a ton about selling. You can learn a lot about blogging from him – because he knows how to ask for the sale… I mean comment.
The email pictured above pretty much tells the story. For those of you who can’t read the screen shot – Dave sent me an email saying, “You might want to comment on this article” (”Salespeople as the Dreaded Virus“) from his blog.
He knows the topic is one that would get me going. He knows I will likely write a comment – because I’m interested.
And yet, it’s astonishing how many bloggers have ZERO comments on their blogs (even relatively big name and successful bloggers).
Optimizationists Will Never Read Your Blog
I think web gurus have convinced bloggers that optimization and keywords will bring readers. Nope. In fact, here’s the first article we ever wrote on our first blog – it’s called, “Do You Really Want to Blog?”
Every word of that now almost 2-year old blog article remains true. No one will read your blog – because no one has time!
Lots of people ask us for advice on how to blog. It’s not because we know a lot of about blogging. It’s because we have two blogs. Which makes us “experts.”
We’ll fess up right now, we don’t know much about blogging. But we do know a lot about Internet searching. When I tell you that Internet searching is the secret to doing a good job of blogging, you probably think I’m being pretty self-serving.
The First Step in Blogging is Almost Always Skipped
However, think about this first basic step in creating a good blog.
It would be nice to have some comments, wouldn’t it? But, readers won’t come to you. You have to ask for the comments, just as Dave did.
So, search your brain, rifle through your address book and walk up and down your neighborhood and look for people who might have an interest in the topic you just wrote about.
Who would benefit from reading what you just wrote? Who might like to get their two-cents worth in on it? Who might disagree with you? Now, there’s a concept!!
And then, call them, write to them or send out a smoke signal. Let them know that they might be interested – and that you’d really, really appreciate a comment.
It’s the first step. There are a ton more that will make your blog pay off for your business.
I’ll send you a note and ask you for a comment when we write about those other strategies.
2 comments ↓
Michael and Sheryl do great work. They keep me thinking, I learn from them, they make me more productive and they’re great writers.They make fantastic points here.
While all of us who blog have tools that track the amount of traffic and page views we get, the only statistic that is transparent to readers is the comment statistic. I don’t know about you, but 0 Comments is nearly as embarrassing as empty seats at a speaking engagement.
Sometimes, you can ask for comments directly in a post, like I did with “Best Sales Advice in a Single Sentence” which, as of tonight, had 57 comments. But the truth is, some posts don’t deserve comments. Sometimes I write just for me; my blog is a forum that holds me accountable for recording my thoughts. Other articles are written with specific people in mind, rather than lots of people.
But I digest – my dinner – it seems that when you GET people to comment, it encourages others to comment because people like participating in a discussion. The lesson from that is that if you want more people to comment, sometimes you need to ask questions rather than only provide opinions and information.
I’m only commenting because I was so tired of Michael’s incessant whining, “please comment on my blog, please, pretty please…” I’ll tell you, it got pretty ugly.
Truth be told, we should be commenting on blog’s like this. It’s well written, informative and worth the click and the time whenever a new post is available. Our leaving a comment and, in particular, a comment that extends the value of the post by adding new information, a fresh take or an opposing point of view, is a way to say thanks. Thanks for giving me something to think about or informing me of something that I can use to add value to my business, life or customers.
I’m going to say this now, don’t comment because Michael or Sheryl or any other blogger asks you to. Comment because you’re grateful that they’ve given something to you that’s of worth.
It’s the right thing to do.
[A tweeting fool @ http://www.twitter.com/tomjgray
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