The old saying on the web was "Build it and they will come." It didn’t really work back then – and it definitely doesn’t work that way now.
If you want to get folks to talk about your stuff, you first need to go to them and talk about their stuff. Really engage about what they are saying. Don’t go to their place and talk about your stuff.
It’s like any other conversational culture. Listen, engage, listen some more. And share a lot. People will get curious about who you are and what you stand for — and they will do unto you what you did with them.
When MyBlogLog was hitting on all cylinders, folks like Dawud Miracle, Derrick Daye, and Jim Walton were all over the blogosphere – showing up and commenting on other folks’ stuff. Everyone knew them because they showed up, and they left comments, and we all got used to seeing them. They became part of the community – and we wanted to hear more about what they had to say. So we went to their site, we subscribed to their RSS feed. Great examples.
The blogosphere should be a generous place. Outbound (and relevant) links to other blog sites is another form of engagement. It’s also the core of our Blog Posting Mantra.
Seriously, if you were in a coffee shop and some stranger walked up and started talking loud and over everyone – would you listen?
Build it and they will come? Only in the movies.
Photo on Flickr by Philly Gryphons RFC using compfight
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Find Your Social Media ROI
I hear it from a lot of business owners: “Where is the ROI with all this Social Media?“ If this is a question you ask yourself, maybe we should work together a bit more. We can work together solo, or via a professional learning community. Find and increase your ROI. There is a “there” there.
