I think a lot of us struggle with what to write about and WHO we are writing for. I’m also glad that Gini touched on a similar topic today because it reminded me to write about it here. Here’s what Gini said:
“When this blog gained a little bit of popularity, we began to have internal conversations about the type of content we should be writing. You see, what I consider the “smart” posts are never the ones that get shared a lot. Sure, people read them, but not as many comment nor share on their social networks.
The ones that do get a lot of comments and shares? The top 10 this or the such and such is dead.
It kind of makes me nuts. I won’t pretend it doesn’t.”
I am in the same boat. A few years ago on The Viral Garden, I began to notice something. Every post I wrote would get 5-15 comments like clockwork, UNLESS I wrote about music marketing, those posts always got 1-2 comments at best. Most of them got none. This drove me insane, because I really thought there was so much that marketers could learn from how music artists connect with their fans, but my readers never wanted to talk about that, it seemed.
So the next time I wrote about music marketing, I ended the post by pointing out how passionate I am about this topic, but that I noted that the readers never responded to it. I asked if this was really a topic they cared nothing about? Several readers commented that they loved my music marketing posts, but had no idea what to add. Some felt the topic was ‘over their heads’, which is why there really wasn’t much discussion happening around the posts.
And back to Gini’s comment, those Top 10 Reasons Why….posts ALWAYS get shared and linked. I had a guy tell me once that writing list posts was ‘beneath’ me, and that he would never do it. Well, if your readers want that content, and you are writing for your readers, then what choice do you have? Sure, you can play the role of blogging hipster and look down your nose at list posts, but if your readers get value from that type of posts, why not write them?
But that also doesn’t mean that you should ONLY write for your readers, you as a blogger still have to have a passion for your blog, else you’ll lose interest. Personally, I think there needs to be a balance when you are writing your blog. If you decide that you are just writing for yourself, to hell with your readers, then you’d better have a voice that other people LOVE and seek out. Few bloggers are this popular with their readers, IMO. On the other side, if you only write for your readers, I think you’ll eventually lose interest because you won’t be addressing all of the core issues that are important to you.
I think there needs to be a balance, and like it or not, there probably needs to be room for an occasional ‘Top 5 Ways To’ post. What do you think?
Mack…this is one of my favorite topics to think through and explore. I actually explored this topic in my thesis about 10 years ago. It always takes me back to a piece of scholarship that was written in the early 80’s surrounding the topic: audience addressed and audience invoked. As I re-read the article this morning (after reading your post), I always find myself referring to one final point of Edes and Lusford’s conclusion…
“A fully elaborated view of audience, then, must balance the creativity of the writer with the different, but equally important, creativity of the reader.”
We write in tension but I think we have to find a balance between invoking the audience (creating a division in the writer and reader’s roles) and addressing the audiences’ needs (the reality the audience exist and that the written text is created in concert).
So my point is exactly your conclusion…we must find balance but know one way to communicate and create awareness is to invoke a new point of view…thus audience invoked. Or does awareness (new language) come when we write in concert with our audience?
But I do know that passionate business writers are always looking to find their place inside this tension.
BR
Well Bobby I think that’s an early candidate for comment of the year here 😉
I think too that many of the best bloggers view their content as something that’s co-created between themselves and the readers. In that, they value the readers’ opinion enough to try to work their voice and point of view into the content. Because this approach simply encourages more interaction and interest from the readers. Often, I will blog about a topic where I am not terribly interested in the discussion, but I know my readers are. Which means I *want* to explore the issue, because it’s important to my readers.
Which means, I think that over time if we are really in tune with our readers, our interests and point of view can shift a bit to be more in line with their’s. What do you think?
Mack…
You crack me up! I think you are right…the blogging world has reinforced the co-creation roles of the writer/reader. This relationship is such a dynamic role that we must find ways to co-exist in-order to push the life of the blog forward.
We are in a new age of discourse and content creation. We can cohesively write (blog) and find engagement whether it be through comments, sharing, or even instant responses. Writing used to be so asynchronous, creating true roles for the reader and the writer with little or no room to provide instant feedback. Now this tension is completely dependent…we want feedback when we write. We want people to share our posts, we want people to comment, we want people to share our thoughts online. We have moved into an age of writing with our readers instead of for our readers and content creation is a community agent.
So…those (like yourself) that have embraced the sense of community writing find wonderful business models behind content creation. What I will be interested to learn is how your find fuel for writing your book. What is the feedback loop and how do you know you are on the right path. The roles between reader and writer are different and the “editor” supposedly serves the role as the audiences’ conscience.
BTW…if my comment has been placed on the list as a contender for comment of the year…then the post should rank up there as well!
Good stuff here!!!
BR
Thanks Bobby, another great comment 😉 One of the interesting ‘challenges’ I am running into with writing the book is case studies. Whether it’s this blog, my presentations, or now the book, Think Like a Rockstar has always been very heavy on case studies. I’ve found that people can grasp an idea better if you can explain the idea, then show an example of it working in ‘the real world’, then recap the learnings. So Think Like a Rockstar is going to literally have dozens of case studies.
The issue I am running into is which case studies do I use? I have certain ones that are excellent that totally back up and illustrate the larger marketing and business points I am trying to make, but they are case studies that some of you are well aware of. Then again, many of the marketers that need this book the most, probably haven’t heard of these case studies. So I am trying to walk the line between giving the most valuable information to the readers that will need it the most, and making sure that everyone reads something new.
Not sure if that was even what you were asking, but it’s one of the issues I’m running into. I think my next post either tomorrow or Thurs will be on getting your book published.
What a great discussion. I’ve found the same to be true. I started a series a couple of years ago to test this theory. Everyone loved it and I had “some” fun writing it, but it wasn’t my passion. I’ve been feeling disconnected from my blog for sometime and this is part of it.
We are always balancing our passions with serving our readers. Both important elements, which needs to find a balance. I do think that when we write about things we’re passionate about, occasionally it impacts readers in different ways, and they have to go about their day thinking about it, before they can develop a “comment” and by then, they don’t go back to comment.
Keep fighting the good fight, Mack. I think you’re doing a great job on the balance.
Thank you Tara! I can’t remember which blogger it was, but I think I remember someone telling me that they give themselves one day a week to write about whatever they want. That’s their way of keeping their blog interesting to them. I think we need a day like that just for us as bloggers, to help us stay motivated and to keep blogging fun 😉
Hello Mark,
I read your post
exackly it seems to me as if you talk to me. So tha I make this comment.
As a matter of fact I have ever had an experience like you’re talking about but never stop writting a post because it become a hobby for me. Now I often post ads and banners of ads for my affiliate activities. I don’t care if it will benefit me or not. It’s just my new hobby. As if I make a safe room in the blog.
If I have time I read what I’ve posted in my online library.
I have three blogs, two at MWB and other one at Opera.
I know from visitor traffic many visitors come and go. Most of them abroad rather than my country visitors. I wonder there are daily visitors from USA and New Zealand. I don’t know who they are. That’s all I want to talk to you in my comment.
Thank’s
I heard some one say ” Find ways to get rid of the Tyranny of the “or” and believe in the magic of the “and””. The above article is an either / or scenario.
I believe that it take all kinds to make the world and today there are more than a billion people connected on the net. I am sure there would be an audience for whatever one has to say as long as we are authentic.
Authenticity is key. For our own fulfillment, for leading a fulfilling life, for a life fully expressed. Rest will take care of itself. In that I have faith.