This is Day 26 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.
Today’s task is to improve someone else’s blog. We’ve already taken the time to review other blogs for the purpose of improving our own. Now we get utilize our growing expertise by paying it forward to another blogger.
As always, the article on 31dbbb has great suggestions on how you could be of help. Darren says, “The key is to ask yourself what their needs might be and attempt to fulfill those needs in some way.”
I’d like to add three key points to this assignment.
1) Consider the TALENTS you bring to blogging.
This project could be daunting if you try to give out of something you don’t have; instead, share the expertise that you do.
- If you are great at layout offer that type of advice.
- If you can offer some content ideas, provide those.
- If you have faithful readers, point them to a blog article that will benefit them and the blogs author.
- If you have good editing skills, offer them to someone who may need them.
- Bottom line, bring what you have!
Recently a friend of mine offered to do some illustrations for some upcoming articles I plan to write. He is a talented artist, but since he doesn’t write much himself, he doesn’t have an outlet for his creativity. His offer is fantastic for me, especially since even my stick figures are amateur.
2) Consider your MOTIVATION.
Darren mentions that the motivation to help another blogger achieve their goals is pretty obvious. He’s right. At the same time I’d like to suggest helping someone even when it might not be an investment for your own interests.
- A real gift doesn’t expect something in return.
- People can tell the difference between self-promotion and true goodwill.
- It is worth making investments in people and seeing them be successful.
3) Consider your FEEDBACK.
Compliments are great; they can let a blogger know what you like about his blog. This kind of feedback can be motivation to continue to produce more of the same. However, what many bloggers need is honest, constructive feedback about the things that could be holding their blog back. Doing this constructively is a little tricky so I’m going to add some suggested scenarios.
- Don’t tell bloggers what they already know, help them see what they may be missing.
Recently I shared with a blogger that I had a hard time finding the link to the comment section with his new WordPress style. He thanked me and was able to go into the settings and make it larger.
- Don’t let your criticism sound critical. Share the feedback a positive way.
Instead of saying, “Your blog is too angry.” Consider something like the following. “You always have such intriguing viewpoints, yet sometimes I think the very people you are hoping to be your audience are turned off by the tone. Can I offer a suggestion? Write the first draft of your post just like it is now, especially since it is how you are used to writing. But then before posting it try re-writing it with your desired audience in mind. I bet you will reap more conversations and your desired results this way.”
It is always more helpful to let someone know what their blind spot may be keeping them from; it keeps the criticism constructive, and gives them the motivation to change.
- Don’t give this sort of feedback without an established friendship.
The point here is not to be an unknown critic; you usually need relationship in order to speak the truth in love. At the same time, if you aren’t providing real, helpful feedback, what kind of a friend are you?
Discussion
- What have people done to help you with your blog?
- What ways have you been able to help others with their blog?
- How do you typically give feedback? What could you do to improve in this area?
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 Erica Mullenix’s blog, Free Fringes, and give her some feedback.
Chad Estes is… on a journey from fear to love, from rules to relationship, and from religion to freedom. He blogs at Captain’s Blog and you can follow him on Twitter at @chad_estes.
A couple of you have become followers on my blog. That has really encouraged me. Another blogger with whom I share feeds has three times in a year mentioned me, my comments on his topic, on his blog. Once he built a blog on my input.
That's about all I have done in the way of this blog though I do have a good deal of writing background and program development success that I've been allowed to share in a non-blog environment just for the joy of doing so. The same could be of use to other bloggers – for the same reason.
Today I plan to share some info from one of my blog followers as a special post on my site. To get the maximum benefit for us and my readers they really need to read his full post. I hope they do! It would be well worth their time and "merry" up their life.
Blogger is down right now so I can't create the post or put a link here.
Wayne, you got my attention. Be sure to post that link when you can! I look forward to reading it.
Finally! Here's that promised post. Support two fellow bloggers and check it out! http://guidedreflections.blogspot.com/2010/06/at-…
Thank you for the kind words about today's article. Learning to phrase feedback in a way that it is received is an art that is worth developing; so is caring enough to invest in others lives and their work. I've certainly been blessed to have people do that with me.
In relationship to my blog my cousin is helping me with design and layout, which is so helpful. I know just enough programming to mess things up. He actually makes things look nice. I think I'll transition from the current blogger theme over to the wordpress theme he developed for me later next week!
My blog article today is about a day spent in the Philippines while on a mission trip. I learned a life-long lesson that day: http://captainestes.blogspot.com/2010/06/surrende…
Yep . . . love the "pay it forward" concept. I'll bet most of you who have been in blogging long enough to know how to help have indeed helped and will continue to do so, simply because you are in Christ and He in you. You can't refrain from helping. It's who you are.
Thank you for the reminder once again, Chad, that anything we add to another's post should add value to the author as well as the reader. You also did a great job on handling constructive criticism.
Most of the input that I have had to other's posts has been through comments or reviewing other's blogsites by way of our 31 dbbb workshop. It has given us tremendous experience
and built the relationships for carrying out this assignment.
The one aspect that intrigued me about this assignment was guest-posting on another's blog. I have not done that yet and I am looking forward to testing the waters.
In Him,
Janis
Last post: http://openmyearslord.blogspot.com/2010/06/are-yo…
Ok.. first off I totally dropped out of this blogging experiment/exercise/community since day 10. There was alot of reflection going on in my life. The 1 year anniversary of my mom's death hit me much harder than I anticipated. But, through it I came to some major life decisions and I've been working on them…
As far as today's assignment, I try to help when I can. I don't read alot of blogs that need help. Most of the pastors I follow have very well made blogs. I have through this exercise given some tips on placement and fonts a few times. I also recently helped a friend set up a blog for a mission trip he's doing.
Go check out my blog about a sever case of Foot in Mouth disease.. http://guardraildamageahead.com/case-of-mistaken-…
Glad you're back.
I'm back! Like ScottWAyres, I had to drop out for a while (for a week) to knock out a ginormous project that was handed to me. It's been a tough couple of weeks (this project has been going for 6 weeks) because it's a project I don't believe in, and it's forced me to drop other things, finally 31DBBB. But I'm past my big deadline, so here I am. I've missed being here.
Chad – great post, and I especially appreciate your own personal content. Checking motivation is HUGE. The blogosphere really is full of a lot of selfishness disguised as selflessness, where people can care more about themselves being heard than about saying something meaningful.
1) My blog is pretty new, so I haven't had that much help offered.
2) Mostly, I just comment on what people are saying, though I try to add my own take, or another slant.
3) I could improve by perhaps sending emails to the bloggers with suggestions, or asking for other content. However, I think posting these kinds of suggestions or questions in the public space of comments can be good if other people see the comment and start saying "Yeah – ditto what he said." When more people agree with a suggestion or comment, it shows the blogger that there is a trend that his or her readers are wanting to see addressed.
Again, great job, Chad.
God loves a cheerful giver!
Once a lady emailed me and told me that my background image was not showing up on my blog making it hard to read. I appreciated her taking the time to do so. I didn't know it wasn't showing up. The last time I posted it was. I fixed the problem right away and emailed a thank you to her.
I love supplying my stories and poems to anyone who is looking for content. I don't expect anything in return for doing so. Of course it is customary to include a signature line. When ever I visit a blog and have trouble with any feature, I contact the author. I hope others would do the same for me. Most people write a thank you email.
I belong to an online Yahoo group and from time to time there are requests for web site reviews. I am honest and to the point and have found that at times I have offended when I really only meant to be helpful. I have learned to state at the very beginning that I am direct and to the point and any comments I make are made solely for the purpose of helping them to improve SEO, appearance, usability, etc. for more visitors and sales. That my comments are in no way meant to be hurtful criticism.
Finally getting a chance to check in after a day full of meetings.
Here's my attempt to help another blogger… Dave and Jon Ferguson who founded Community Christian Church in Naperville, IL have a new book out called Exponential. I think a lot of you would like it. I'm reviewing, discussing, and giving a way a copy on my blog…
http://www.liveintentionally.org/2010/06/07/get-a…
[…] If you are interested in reading the article you can do so here. Feel free to add your comments to the discussion on the site. It is a great group of bloggers to interact with! How to Improve Another’s Blog […]
Very appropriate post. Paying it forward, being generous with our gifting, serving others, caring, generosity and encouraging others. There are so many ways that blogging, done right, can make a difference in other people's lives. Thanks for the post Chad.