This is Day 25 of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog, a group project 60+ of us bloggers are doing together in an effort to help each other become better bloggers.
When I write online, I am always talking to somebody, anybody who may be passing through looking for answers. That’s because when I’m surfing the ‘net, I’m usually searching for information. I am constantly convinced I’m in Stage Five something, and Dr. Internet has both the diagnosis and the cure. With my own habits as the driver, my blog answers the unasked question in every post.
As Darren Rowse says in the book we’re following during this series: questions increase your blog’s stickiness. If you make the questions simple yet interesting enough, readers will stay to answer them, then return to check for questions and answers from other readers. Not only will this increase your blog traffic, you will create a sustainable community for the exchange of ideas, encouragement and genuine support.
Those of you with smaller blogs will go unanswered for a while. Keep asking. My father’s church began in our living room when I was three years old. My fuzzy memory puts the attendance somewhere around five people. The best part of the service was the Welch’s communion wine and listening to my dad speak to those five people as though he were teaching 500 or 5,000. Treating those first parishioners as if they were filling a concert hall grew my dad’s church much faster than if he’d held back waiting for a larger audience. I can’t remember who played the piano, but I was rocking the head usher position from the entrance foyer.
Don’t let the Q & A process overwhelm you. Ask one question at a time. Write freely, write naturally, write what you know, then ask for your readers’ thoughts. There will be days you honestly won’t care what anybody thinks about what you just wrote. Ask anyway. Your readers will surprise you. They will tell you something new. They will lift your spirits. They will keep you going.
Do you know why? Because you made them feel needed and wanted and valuable. There are more than 50 million blogs on the Internet, and yours is the one that has their attention in the moment. How awesome is that?
A few tips to get you started:
- Ask for comments at the end of each post. Say something simple like: comments are open. Think of it as your post’s altar call.
- Ask a question for the universe. Something you’ve been wondering. Like how come Chase Utley and Mark Texeira were such hot properties until they landed on my fantasy baseball team? They are a combined 0-1000 on the season with exactly one stolen base. What is up with that?
- Got something you’ve been dying to share? Write it up as a question post. Example: if your daughter’s special needs baseball team were invited to play an exhibition game before the 2010 Little League World Series championship game in Williamsport because they are that awesome, would you visit the funnel cake museum or the rail car historium between ESPN interviews?
- Invite readers to ask you questions in the comments then answer them individually in subsequent posts. This was a fun blog exercise back in the blog heyday before microblogs like Facebook and Twitter took over. Formspring is now trying its hand at it. No need to pump the water by hand if there’s a drinking fountain nearby, I guess. Your call.
- Follow up, follow up, follow up. Never ask without answering.
Discussion, uh, questions:
- Can you share with the group your current methods for starting discussions on your blog?
- Do you participate (outside of this series) in discussions on other blogs? What makes you stick around?
- Do you feel this series so far has helped you build a better blog or become a better blogger?
The extra mile…
- Tweet, share, & bookmark this post.
- When other bloggers include a link to a new article they’ve posted today, click, read, and comment on it.
- Please review Larry Westfall’s blog and give him some feedback. (Edit 2 PM EST: Argh Sorry about the bad link to Larry’s blog review. It’s been fixed.)
Blogging daily about nothing in particular at freefringes.com and tweeting about even less as @hmx5, Erica Mullenix is a writer and special needs parent living in Texas with her three extraordinarily normal children and Lab mix pound puppy. Her previous 31DBBB guest post was creating a sneeze page for your blog.
41 Comments
sorry, I have been a bit absent 🙁
Not sure what question to ask, one that is not technical and scary but relevant and discussionable. cool I made up a word.
Instead I'll try answer the questions that you guys have asked 🙂
Sorry I missed everyone yesterday. Erica, you did a great job on today's post.
If you want to see the cowboy reason I missed yesterday, you can read today's post where I do pose a question at the end. http://campfirecowboyministries.com/2010/06/god-t…
Hope everyone has a great weekend.
Thanks, Kevin!
I've been trying to end every post with a question to invite comments and discussion. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. I'm still asking, and as I have small discussions on some posts, I'm learning what people want to talk about!
Today I asked about what everyone is reading this summer. http://wp.me/pG2Wu-hb
I do think this has helped me become a better blogger, and I think I'm going to come back to these tips and tutorials time and time again as I continue this journey.
I won't be able to comment on Monday and Tuesday but will try to catch up later next week. My younger daughter will be admitted to a leading Children's Hospital for tests on Monday. She will be discharged sometime Tuesday.
Have a great weekend!
~Jennifer
I hope the tests go well, Jennifer! I know how nerve-wracking that can be.
We'll pray that the tests produce good results. Glad she got well enough to go through with them.
Blessings,
Janis
Thanks for the prayers! Yes, she's better. We're praying for continued improved health to get all this done this month!
One tactic I use periodically is to make the title of the post a question. Then I restate the question again at the end of the post. Here are a few examples:
Are you OK with saying you’re not OK?
http://www.liveintentionally.org/2009/12/28/are-y…
Are You Stuck in the Future Quo?
http://www.liveintentionally.org/2010/04/13/are-y…
Can a Leader Be Great Without Being a Mentor?
http://www.liveintentionally.org/2009/11/25/can-a…
This is a really great post. I'm trying to be more purposeful about bringing my articles to a close with questions that will lead to conversation. There are some great pointers here. Thank you.
Unfortunatley, my post today didn't really end with a conversational type quesiton. I spent yesterday in court with my young son who had been hit by a car the year before. It has been a difficult experience with the defendant's church trying to manipulate the outcome of the trial. My blog often serves as a place for me to process my own thoughts and feelings and today's post is certainly one of those. Though there isn't necessarily a question, I think there is some very valid application.
Hit and Run Strategy- How a church tired to manipulate my son's court case http://bit.ly/aA22qE
Thanks, Chad. I commented on your post. Wow.
Erica,
Great post, once again. I liked the way you threw in something about a special needs parent and what would you visit first.
I have been posting questions at the end of my posts that are designed to instill inspiration. Which are most of them. I did forget the questions on the last couple of posts.
Just like Jennifer pointed out, though, the questions do not seem to make the people respond to the comments as much as what the subject matter is. Does the reader relate to the subject matter?
However, I will take the advice and try to go deeper with my questions, try to stir up more of a discussion with them, and incorporate more of a post/question idea. And, oh yes, be more vulnerable.
Paul, this has been a great workshop. I have learned so much about how to blog effectively, and I have connected with others through this workshop. We have built a significant community. Thank you. And I like the idea of having your headlines be questions!
In Him,
Janis
Janis, thanks for the compliments. Sometimes, my comments invitation has absolutely nothing to do with the post. I think yesterday I asked readers for help finding the packed box that could be hiding my iron. They had great tips. One day, I may actually unpack from moving just to see who was right.
Finally posted: I used Paul's suggestions to use a question in the headline.
I used a YOU TUBE VIDEO!!! Big time for me. Had to have my son do it. Not sure I credited it properly.
I also used several deep questions in the post?
Would love your comments.
Have a Blessed Weekend,
Janis
Would be nice if I gave you the link: http://openmyearslord.blogspot.com/2010/06/are-yo…
Janis
Janis, way to go experimenting with both a question post and embedding a YouTube video! I think booth are great ideas.
If you're trying to increase engagement and comments with your readers, I think there are two things working against you with this post. First, it was posted late Friday when a large percentage of your audience has probably gone offline. Second, the questions are very deep, which means it'll take a big step for your readers to open up and answer them. You might have more success getting passive readers to comment by starting with easier questions.
Hey everyone. I just got home from my mother-in-laws surprise 70th B-day party. I have been reading the comments as they have come in today on my BlackBerry but haven't had time to respond. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that stopped by and gave me some input. Hope everyone has a great weekend.
God Bless!
I loved the analogy of your dad imagining he was preaching to 500 or 5000 andnot the 5. It's something our church strives to do in trying to remember that it isn't about us and one day we may be far bigger than we are.
Likewise I'm not writing a blog that will overturn the workd but one day it just might and maybe I'll feel the Reddit or Digg effect and see if my hosters servers can cope with the influx! Until then though I have to remember to write as if I am writing the best blog in the world.