10 Ways To Be An Approachable Blogger

 

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10 Ways To Be An Approachable Blogger - Being approachable is all about being friendly, warm and welcoming. Do bloggers see you as approachable? 

Here are 10 ways to be an approachable blogger, as follow:

1. Talk on social media sites

On sites such as Twitter and Facebook, do you take the time to post questions and reply to others? Or do you just post links to your latest blog post with “Please RT” on the end? Talking is extremely important. If all you do is broadcast, a lot of people won’t listen.

2. Reply

If a reader sees that you’re replying to blog comments, I find it helps more people to jump into the discussion. Replying to tweets means that your followers won’t feel ignored. And replying to emails is definitely worth doing, as ignoring the email is just rude. (Spam is an exception in all of these cases.)

3. Follow back

If someone follows you on Twitter, go and check them out and follow them too, if they interest you. Don’t feel you have to follow everyone – in fact, it’s better not to blindly follow anyone and everyone, as you’ll struggle to keep up with their recent tweets.

4. Make your email public

Let’s face it – you’re probably going to receive spam no matter how hard you try to stop it. Instead of forcing legitimate requests through a contact form or a word verification image, publish a working email address on your blog. Do use a dedicated email specifically for your blog (a forwarder is fine). 

Don’t write it out as MYNAME [at] MYDOMAIN [dot] COM, don’t display the email in an image. Just give people a clickable link to email you.

It simply isn’t worth annoying people who actually want to email you. Making it hard to email you makes it look like you don’t want email. OK, if you don’t want email, don’t provide a way to contact you. I wouldn’t advise this, though.

5. Comment on blogs

Post comments on other blogs. Don’t focus all of your efforts on big blogs. Some smaller blogs may be more likely to see your comments and reply to them. Getting your name out there shows you want to have a say.

6. Put up a real photo

There’s nothing like a real photo of a real person. It’s harder to relate to a blogger who doesn’t show their face. Also, a cartoon character standing next to a car isn’t a good way to show your “face”. Thankfully, these images aren’t so common anymore, but at one time a load of blogs followed this approach.

7. Don’t keep talking about your income

When was the last time you talked to someone for the first time and told them how much you earn? Or asked them how much they earn? Have you ever worked in an office where people talk about their salaries? I used to – and it’s a minefield. 

The same applies to online earnings. I think it’s OK to share a little info, such as which products are selling well (maybe). But I feel uncomfortable sharing pretty much anything relating to my income except to my very closest friends, who I trust implicitly. I wouldn’t want to post an income report online! Would you?

8. Disagree with respect

We can’t all agree on everything. It’s fine to disagree – just have some respect when you do so. If you come off as blunt and rude whenever someone disagrees with you, or you simply tell people “I’m right and you’re wrong”, a lot of people won’t bother interacting with you.

9. Get your facts straight

That rumour you just read on Twitter? Don’t retweet it or post about it on your blog – go and find out if it’s true! I’ve seen so many scams and hoaxes – a simple Google search will reveal if they’re accurate or not. 

Unfortunately, all too many people share links without bothering to check if they’re real or fake. They also get quite angry if you tell them it’s a hoax. Don’t believe all that you read, do your own research, and don’t help rumours spread.

10. Write with personality

Are you simply churning out post after post of mindless drivel, with no personality in your writing whatsoever? Are your posts sending your readers to sleep? Inject some personality – talk to your readers – get them to talk back!

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