Blog Comments

[KristineS]

For those of you who blog, do you respond to comments right there on the blog, or do you respond by some other means? I usually try to respond to questions right on the blog as I figure there may be people other than the person who asked the question who would like to know the answer. I will also follow up via e-mail if the question is complicated.

What do the rest of you do?

[vangogh]

I always respond on the blog. Most of the time that means a reply to the comment itself, though sometimes if there's enough to say I'll turn my response into a full post answering the question. There are times when people ask me a coding question that needs more of a response than a comment, but doesn't warrant another post. It's usually helping someone with a specific problem on a specific site or page. In those cases I'll offer a quick reply to the comment about where the problem probably is and then invite the person to email me the code if they need more help. I generally won't email the person first.

[KristineS]

I've done the same thing with turning the answer to a comment into a new post. Sometimes a comment points out something you missed addressing or leads you in a new direction and that leads to a great post.

[vangogh]

I've done it with my blog and I've turned a comment I was going to leave for someone else into a post too. One of the nice things with turning a comment on your blog into a post is you can mention the person who left the comment (usually I link directly to their comment). It shows your readers you're paying attention to them and I think they appreciate being thanked for inspiring the post. I also think it leads to more people commenting and better comments as well.

[KristineS]

I definitely agree that acknowledgment is a good thing. The more you let readers know you're listening to what they say, the more they'll be likely to say something.

Plus, if you can build off a comment, it saves you from having to come up with a new idea for a post. That's always a good thing.

[vangogh]

Yeah I like when a comment leads to a post idea. I think most writers go through times where the ideas aren't flowing as readily as we'd like. It's nice when you have a mechanism to supply some. I try to have several systems in place to help feed me ideas or things I can turn into ideas for posts. It's one reason I'm subscribed to so many blogs. It's also why I read some of the books I read and why I continue to read certain magazines every month. They all help stimulate ideas.

I think acknowledging readers is one way to connect with them. Replying to their comments is an obvious way to connect. It turns me off to see blogs with lots of comments by readers and none in reply from the author. Turning a comment into a blog post and thanking the person who fed you the idea is just another step toward connecting.

[KristineS]

Strangely enough, or maybe not so strange, I've started using social media for inspiration. It's much the same thing as what you're doing, only I've found the blog posts as links on Twitter, or a comment on Facebook or something. You can find a lot of inspiration just by reading what questions people are asking and reading the items to which they are linking.

Connection is key. You have to acknowledge people who make a substantive comment. Maybe not all the time, but enough so people know you're listening and aware of what they're saying.

[vangogh]

Oh yeah. I haven't done it so much myself, but I see people doing it all the time. In some ways it's no different than me scanning my feedreader for ideas. Searching for questions is good. So is asking questions if you have enough followers who'll respond. I see people all the time asking a quick question and then compiling the answers they get into a post.

[KristineS]

Asking questions can be fun. Often I'll get a response that leads to a blog post.

My biggest issue is ideas right now. With three blogs to keep current, even if you're only writing one post a week for each, it's tough to keep the flow of ideas going. Plus, there's also the issue of deciding which posts go on which blog. That can get dicey when they're all in the same basic niche.

[vangogh]

I've always found that the flow of ideas runs fast at times and dries up at other times. I think the key to keeping it flowing as often as possible is to develop several sources of inspiration and get better at recognizing what makes for a good post. I find series can help. If you can approach a topic from several angles and tie them together or if you can take on something that requires a lot to cover fully so you can break it up into several posts it helps to keep you going for a few weeks.

Have something always at hand to collect ideas and thoughts. A small notebook, a smart phone, anything really, and record every idea no matter how silly they might seem at the moment. Many of those ideas will be better than you think or sometimes several seen together lead to new and better ideas.

I also think occasional period of actively brainstorming new ideas helps. Again most of the idea you'll never use, but it helps exercise your brain so it can more easily gather ideas all the time.

And why the flow starts to dry up don't let it stop you from writing. Just pick an idea from your collection and go with it, even if you aren't enthused about the idea.Pushing through will get the waters flowing again. You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go out and grab it. Inspiration comes when you're actively creating.