Recently, I contacted Yan from ThouShallBlog — a blog about blogging that both Alex and I have been closely following — and I asked him if we could guest post.
To my appreciation, Mr. Yan replied within 24 hours and asked me to send over a review of the guest-post article. After reviewing and a few amendments later, he decided to publish the article with much appraisal!
Alex and I are both pleased we could acheive such a feat, simply because of how strong Yan’s readership is. He has in excess of 700 Subscribers but the big positive is that most of them are actively involved with his blog.
It’s been less than 24 hours post-publishing but the article has already seen 22 useful comments! ThouShallBlog has a simple but a very, very effective method to engage the reader — the author must reply to each and every comment.
It really helps convincing more readers to comment, because they can be assured a reply. It’s not as easy as it sounds, but a method that has seen Yan much success over the years.
Here is a quick excerpt of the article “49 Tips to Become a Better Blogger”
Would you agree that Blogging is an art, which can only be mastered with experience?
Well I believe it is, because not everyone can blog. Then the ones that do conjure up the determination to do so usually give up in a few months.
As you go along, you pick up tips and learn new techniques which can’t be bought for money. Unless of course you go for “classes” but there is a lot of things that just can’t be taught through a 1 hour lecture. The only way you can expose yourself to these learning curves is by getting your hands dirty – in a metaphorical sense, of course.
29 Discussions
I started my conviction for blogging back in Aug 07 and stopped around October. I learn from experience that it is tough to blog and also time is valuable.
Initially I created a custom blog from scratch in PHP to learn PHP. Later, I learned about security holes and risks I had to patch in my custom blog. This custom blog then started to consume all my time!
Thus I switch to Wordpress because a community backs it up and “it saves time”. And I am now one happy blogger.
However, I value every experience and I am glad that I went to make a new blog app in PHP because maybe I wouldn’t have learn php if I were to listen to people comment on “saving time”.
I think just “doing” anything is a valuable experience.
Hats off to you sir, building your own blog with your own coding is a whole new level of personal touch. However, I can see how the security issues might have been easily exploited. Wordpress is undoubtedly the king of all CMS – especially with it’s constant updates and unlimited extensions!
Yet your past experiences will never leave you and those PHP Skills will come in handy no doubt, especially if you want to spice up Wordpress that bit more
Doh, I forgot to add that I also wanted to add to the 49 tips, and make a 50th!
“If you are going to take Blogging Seriously, take it if you are going to look at a full time job; It ain’t no 1 hour a day thing, it’s a Life.”
I agree on that one, Anraiki. Well, to tell the truth, I think that all the other 49 tips are correct.
Thank you for leaving a comment Emule Free,
I’m glad that you could relate to those tips yourself, perhaps you can also recommend a 50th tip?
Replying to each of the comments has been and will always remain as TSB’s way of engaging and retaining her readers. It goes beyond simple response. If the time permits, usually it leads to reciprocal visit and commenting.
This simple formula can be replicated easily by anyone who “puts her readers first”.
Anyway, welcome to TSB. Hope your guest post brings the desired result you want.
Yan
Thank you for dropping by yourself Yan,
Also for giving me the opportunity to share my views with your readers.
Undoubtedly, it’s helped us both and convincingly enough too – with your request for another guest post.
Alex and I have almost simultaneously made a decision that we will reply to each and every comment, and make it a priority.
It’s such a simple concept of reader engagement but one that is overlooked by so many!
I am one of the thoushallblog’s subscriber and I admit that his blog are worth to read over and over again. Some ideas were also pick up from his blogs, and it truely work well too.
Hey David,
I’m a dedicated follower on ThouShallBlog too ~ He really has done a remarkable job with his blog. It’s one of the few “true resources” for beginner bloggers.
I think he’s one of the first people I ever subscribed to too
Good post, hopefully think will bring traffic to blogussion.
Thanks Ryan – It did stir up a bit of a buzz! We had about 100-150 direct referrals from TSB
Glad to see your guest post spurred some results! It was a really good post with some interesting tips. Replying to comments is essential, and it’s really fun to take discussions to the comments and get into some deep stuff with your community.
Hey Corey,
I couldn’t agree with you more ~ like I’ve said before; Alex and I have taken comment-replying to the next level.
I’m getting used to this threaded/nested comments and it’s pretty cool!
Hi Janith – You asked. That is what many bloggers should do is – It does not hurt to ask.
I also subscribe to Yan’s blog and I admit that I enjoy reading it and find new knowledge.
Hey Laura,
That I did – I’m really glad you picked up on this minute detail.
Sometimes, just been enlightened by someone else will provide for you in so many ways. It’s just pays to listen
Kudos on your comment on TSB, one of the most truly valuable blogs on the blogosphere this very moment.
Woah, this is one of those things that we all have in the back of the mind but we don’t realize till someone points it out.
This takes me back to my Year 12 Math’s class with the probability theories
Nicely written out Janith!
I always try to reply to each comment posted on my Blog, it sometimes takes a while to do however I do always accomplish this.
Nothing beats it either,
I’ve only recently the importance of this.
All the credit goes to Yan for inspiring us and we just adapted his techniques.
You would think that writing useful content and sharing it with others is a “job well done” – that’s only one side of it.
Maintaining a good feedback going and forming an open discussion can be the difference between an article and a superb article.
I have just found your site from his post, you are right he is an inciteful blogger than really catches your attention.
“Insightful Blogger”
I don’t think any other two word combination would describe Yan any better!
Well said, Katie ~ really well said!
Thanks everyone for some of the nicest words for TSB. Certainly look forward to seeing more of you guys at the blog.
Ciao.
You shall indeed Yan.
Just want to make it public that early next week – we shall guest post once more on TSB.
I’m hoping to get together with Alex and Yan and produce an article between the three of us.
Something that hasn’t been explored before.. Stay Tuned
Hey Janith, I’m just dropping by to say that I read your guest post on Thou Shall Blog and though I don’t really agree with all the tips, I decided to check out your blog/
The theme you are using right now is awesome! Did you create it yourself?
Hey Andre,
I made the theme for Blogussion. It’s custom made. Glad you like it.
Hey guys – We’ve decided to enable “Threaded Comments” and it should help everyone to reply to specific comment.
Quite frankly – I think the “@User” is a bit rude, and it’s not that fun to reply to 10 comments in 10 different replies.
So, till we get than sorted out – I’m going to refrain from replying to comments that are fairly outdated – because it can get confusing or a bit messy.
Sorry for the inconvenience!
Great, you have given a massive tips on how to become a better blogger. Some people are really not aware of this tips they just read the heading of the article and start commenting. I’ll look forward to hear more from you on blog commenting.
I want to say thanks to all of you guy’s for sharing good knowledge here.
Great tips, anyone who follow these will surely get more readers and visitors.
Ying Hang
Awesome guest post, Janith. Was a really good read.
Regarding replying to every comment, I think as long as it’s useful it’s a great idea, but if you’re spending hours replying to one line comments, surely thats a complete waste of time?!
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