Only if that's the tone you normally write in. Don't be overly informal and friendly, say hello not hey you, but no need to be formal if your blog isn't, I think.
ProBlogger 31 Days to Build a Better Blog » Daily Tasks
Day 5 - Email a Reader
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Posted 1 year ago #
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I e-mail a reader almost daily, since they send in tips on bands quite often- just sent one off! Regarding formality, I think it is important to maintain a tone similar to the style one uses on their own blog- in my case because mine (A Future in Noise) already has a conversational tone, so perhaps this is why it works for me, but I think it could be applied across a wide spectrum of blogs.
Posted 1 year ago # -
OK, this was relatively easy. I took a few minutes and did something I've been putting off -- started a simple spreadsheet, entered the name (if known) of those who've registered on my blog or submitted a comment, as well as their email address, their own site's URL if known, the date they first registered and/or commented, and whether they had posted a comment.
I visited one of my visitor's blogs and posted a comment, and emailed two others. I will try to do this on a daily basis. Will report back if anything results from it.
FutureExpat
http://futureexpats.comPosted 1 year ago # -
I don't get comments yet, so I did the commenting on other blogs exercise. (I'm actually thinking of closing comments until I start getting a few more hits a day. It's like the Mary Celeste at the moment. That or ask the people who IM me about it to comment on the blog.)
Anyway back on topic - I left comments on a couple of blogs. I've already had a hit from one of them. It's a shame he didn't wait an hour though - I've also given him a link in my most recent post but he was on the blog while I was writing it.
Becky
Posted 1 year ago # -
Emceefarm
MemberAs my blog is a new one and I don't have any comments yet, I posted a comments on other blogs.
Posted 1 year ago # -
teacherspirit
MemberAfter advertising a new blogpost on Twitter, I got a comment from a follower who was someone that I didn't follow. After sending a personal email and a welcome, I followed that person and hopefully word will spread.
Posted 1 year ago # -
- How did you find this task? I loved it. I try and respond to my readers whenever they comment on the blog and those have turned into personal e-mails after the fact. I have actually met with a few readers and we are working on creating some ways of implementing the ideas that are written on blog.
- Did it have any impact? It has and it continues to grow.
- How did you approach writing the email (what did you say)? I keep it to the point and will almost always end with a question (whether e-mail or comment) to keep the conversation going.
Helping local El Pasoans explore and improve their city through discussion, interviews, reviews & idea generation.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I discovered the second part of this tip when reading problogger some time ago. Darren gave an example of a blogger who responded to each commenter. I had been responding to my commenters but only on their blogs and not every time. Since then I have responded both on my blog and theirs making reference to the comment they made when appropriate. I've also done email correspondence with some of my readers. I agree that it helps with building community and loyalty.
Writing about my dream life in the Caribbean. Follow me on Twitter - twitter.com/fruitfulvine2
Posted 1 year ago # -
I was already responding to each commenter based on advice in Darren's book (it's not that difficult – I only have two comments so far) so I sent a "welcome" email to a new subscriber, inviting comments and suggestions.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I think of it as building a big web. If a commentor leaves a comment on my blog, I comment on their comment and often on their blog. Sometimes I'll email alter too. I might retweet something fromt heir blog and ask them to do the same on mine. I even found a guest poster this way. It is time intensive but does work.
I would be interested in finding out the workflow that some people use to accomplish this.
I had a great discussion going on my blog, but after 38 comments, I didn't know how to keep it going.
http://francetales.com/2008/11/23/i-received-my-new-carte-de-sejour/comment-page-1/#comment-8855
Posted 1 year ago # -
As my blog is a new one and I don't really haveany comments yet, I posted comments on other blogs.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Well, I found this task a lil difficult as it seems that no one is really reading the blog. Am a lil discouraged and am open to suggestions on how to attract more readers. Check it out: www.ebonyjohanna.blogspot.com
Check out my latest book release, Dancing on Hot Coals, on Amazon.com
Posted 1 year ago # -
I can see doing this periodically. I approached this a little differently. I didn't have any recent readers who were new to the site. I found a reader that hadn't commented in a while and emailed them. They responded and we have traded a few emails back and forth. I am going to keep an eye out and see if this particular reader ends up commenting more on my site.
Political Friends -- Political Debate without the name calling.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I completed the task, and I am behind the concept 100%. I had been practicing these tips already via Yaro Starak's newsletter tips. My blog is too young to have a ton of traffic, so monitoring at this point may not yield great knowledge of effectiveness, but I do see how doing this religiously over time will help build and sustain traffic.
Essentially, I treat everyone I come in contact with as a friend, assume they are kind and reasonable people until they prove otherwise. So my language is always friendly and thankful, and it doesn't hurt to compliment people along the way either. Sow that which you wish to reap.
cheers
Posted 1 year ago # -
Today I took the second option offered as there is only one reader who comments all the time and I respond by commenting on her blog...
I am hoping that the investment of commenting on other blogs will pay off, but will have to wait and see. Finding other Australian based blogs in my field was a challenge in itself!
Kirsty
My blogs: Hamperific and The Gift Assistant
Posted 1 year ago # -
All the people commenting on my site always have atleast a blog / website, so I visit their blogs, read their posts and comment back. It works. I'm building good connention with other bloggers. I like it :D
Isaac | Go Blogger (dot) net
Newest post: "How Bloggers Make Money from Blogs"
Go Blogger (dot) net - Tips to Help Blogs Go Profitable
Posted 1 year ago # -
This is a good tip to remember as your blog grows... For me it wasn't very relevant. I don't have many comments on my blog yet, and the ones I do are mostly responses from comments I've left on other people's blogs! It's good to know that I'm on the right track, at least!
Posted 1 year ago # -
I had to start with the latter part of this task as I don't have a real readership yet. But I did take the time to visit the other sites in my niche and make some meaningful comments on their sites. Honestly it's giving a few new ideas on what to write about myself as well!
Love comics with great story telling and art? Then check out DCComicsReview for all things related to DC Comics!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Have had a comment or two, but no one seems to have an email address listed. The best I could do was leave a comment on thier blogs.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I found this task useful. Because I think it encourages me to engage with your readers, a lot, if you focus on figuring out what they need or want when they look up at your blogs. That interaction helps me to decide whether or not the niche I'm striving towards to is worth the while having to cater my blog. So I did have a few responses from people online mentioning how interesting my blog was and they decided to subscribed to my blogs afterwards.
This helps me to engage my readers more and hope to connect with them as I get more and more knowledgeable about my nichel, once I find more opportunity.
Posted 11 months ago # -
I did email a new reader. However, I got a lot more out of leaving comments on other blogs. Most of those blog owners visited my site, left comments or emailed me. I've been doing this for a couple of weeks now. I like this as a tactic for building a 'tribe' but also building connections with other bloggers
Posted 11 months ago # -
@ Day 5
Most of my readers say "thank you" in my comment section. Some send direct message through Twitter. So I think I will compile a list of reader emails and start emailing them with some personal message.
谢谢。Posted 11 months ago # -
I never tried this before and when I did it had an incredible impact. I wrote about it in detail on my blog, Day 6 31DBBB Experience
Posted 10 months ago # -
I have a few comments and have replied to them. I have been leaving comments on blogs that I fesonate with. It's fun and rewarding. I've been doing this because I noticed how appreciative I felt when I got my first comment.
Posted 9 months ago # -
Thanks for this - simple but effective.
Posted 9 months ago # -
I just wrote to two people who commented on my blog, one of them is my only subscriber who also owns an animal website and one is a new reader from an unrelated niche. I always visit the site of my commentators and try and return the favour if appropriate so this exercise wasn't too difficult. Similarly I often follow people on twitter too.
Will be interesting to see what the response will be.
Posted 8 months ago # -
I had to wait a while to get a new person to leave a comment, but I did email them. So far, it hasn't had any effect (they have not responded to the email, nor posted any more comments in the blog). I do know, however, that I like getting the occasional email from a blogger. I tried to make mine not seem auto-generated (because it wasn't at all!) because those always seem lame. I'll keep trying when other new people post comments.
Posted 8 months ago # -
I find it takes a bit of effort to write thank you emails or notes, since I am not very personable. It takes a conscious effort.
This the email I sent out: "Joe Thank you for leaving a comment on TheShoppingNazi.com. If you ever have something that you would like to see do, as far as Recon or price comparison, feel free to email me. I am always open to suggestions and feedback."
Posted 7 months ago # -
I have been emailing anyone who leaves comments for the past week. Funny thing, about 90% of them come back as invalid email address.
Do any of you see this same thing?
Posted 7 months ago # -
I also emailed one of the people that commented on my blog, but didn't get any reply back. My blog is still very small, so I'll just have to keep trying. I tried to make the message quite personal by mentioning things she used in her comment and asking questions about her interests, etc. I still think this is a good approach... but you can't have them all, I guess.
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Posted 7 months ago #
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