I mentioned 901am in an earlier post. It’s a blog I’m fairly interested in as far as longevity goes and I’ve never once been asked what I’d do to right a ship I feel is showing signs of heading in the wrong direction. Some signs I’ve noticed that 901am is struggling to pull in new active links it’s links to posts ratio is down 60% and also I’ve noticed a 70% drop in the rate of posts to comments over the last 4 months. (Don’t ask how I know the ratios, it’s a long complicated story) One thing is probably not related to the other right?
Umm wrong. Let’s take a post I wrote on my birthday. I will note that I wrote this post under the influence of alcohol most likely as it was my birthday but since I love my readers I gave them a present.
The Post Was Entitled: Real Estate Blogging is catching on, big time !
The post title itself was something that gives people excitement. Before a reader jumps through their feed reader and into the lap of your blog they want to know what in the world they are getting involved in. People love to talk and be apart of a conversation but only if someone is passionate about something. This post title shows passion. And I remember writing this post. I was excited to share.
Secondarily, I wasn’t afraid to create a call for conversation. Blogging Systems had put out a press release and I found a way to engage a conversation around the boring old press release. This is exactly what TechCrunch does. They create excitement about a topic that normally would put us to sleep. We feel an invitation to sit around a fire and converse about stuff that normally we would fall asleep talking about.
I was the first to listen once the conversation got started. I didn’t have a lot to add to the conversation as I am not a realtor so I started the conversation and sat back and listened. In this case it’s A OK. I don’t have to know everything to start a conversation. Sometimes it’s ok to listen. But let them know you are there by being apart of the conversation in the beginning.
Let’s go back to today’s 901am. I see a lack of call to conversation. No offense to the bloggers there. I see way more research and knowledge than I ever put into the site but sometimes knowledge and newsiness isn’t everything. Usually it isn’t. On TechCrunch I notice grammatical errors a lot, and I see a lot of “Rush To The Fire” mentality. Meaning Mike and Team really just want to be the first to start talking about a new topic. Even if they aren’t right. Being the first to start a conversation means you lead a conversation.
If 901am wants to rekindle the fireside talks they have to be the first to light the fire, and the first to start talking about something. I was the first to make a post about BloggingSystems’ Press Release and I was the first to get the conversation started. I did it on my birthday not because I was bored and didn’t have better things to do but because I cared and knew that starting a conversation is the only value you have in a website.
How Does This Apply To Your Website?
Here are 3 Simple Steps To A Killer Blog Campfire
1. Create Curiousity With Strong Post Titles
2. Light The Fire With Strong Unique Content
3. Engage The Conversation By Monitoring Comments
