Thursday, February 21, 2013

Blank Profiles and Creating a Presence in Blog Land


by M. J. Joachim

Networking is the name of the game in Blog Land, so we need to make ourselves easy to find.

Leaving a comment on someone’s blog is a great way to start a conversation, spark an interest, make a new connection and perhaps even develop a friendship. Upon initiation, reciprocation is almost guaranteed to be automatic. 

Live a little and allow for the unexpected. Don’t worry. This is Blog Land. Most of us are pretty darn friendly here!

Blank Profiles

Please take the time to fiddle behind the scenes and make yourself visible. There’s nothing more frustrating for me than clicking on your name, only to see a blank screen. I can’t find your blog. I can’t find any blogs you follow. All I know is that you left me a comment, and I’d like to meet you out there in your part of cyberspace.

If you are on Google +, please, make some of your post public, so people can click on your links, thereby reaching your blog, thereby being able to comment on your blog – providing you make it easy enough to do so, by eliminating over-the-top security measures on them.

Follow Me Where???

Make yourself easy to follow…PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!! I ran into one blog this week – twice! I want to follow it in the worst way…there’s no email…there’s no followers list…it’s a blog, not a website, and the fortress is built mighty tall! I know the name of it and will type it in at random, whenever I have a mind to find out what they’re up to. (They are part of some limited blogging group I don’t want to join.) EASY – that’s the keyword here!

Perhaps you don’t want to be public. That’s okay. Send a note and leave a link privately. If you took the time to comment on someone’s blog, there’s no sense in having a one-way conversation. Whoever it is might truly appreciate your comment, have something to add to it or just want to say “Hi!”

Many of us are going to be running into each other in the A – Z Challenge this year. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could sort out some of these dreaded kinks beforehand? I mean, it’s only Thursday, and I’ve had the most frustrating time responding to a few comments this week.

I’m not some mad scientist, working behind the scenes, attempting to ruin anyone’s blogging experience. I’m a blogger just like you – a writer and crafter, sharing my work with the world, like most of the friendly folks you’ll meet here in Blog Land.
C’mon! Take a chance! You might be truly delighted when you discover what you’ve been missing all this time!

That’s all for now,
Thank you for visiting Writing Tips,

M. J.

Photo credit: M. J. Joachim
©2013 All Rights Reserved



14 comments:

  1. Yea, the link is working now! Shout out to A - Z Challenge!

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  2. Excellent tips, MJ! Yes, it's frustrating when I get a new follower and I click on his icon only to find... nothing. No blog listed and I can't even access the profile.

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  3. These are excellent tips! I too, get extremely frustrated when I can't follow or even comment on a blog.

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  4. Hear, hear! (I believe you're preaching to the choir, sister.)

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  5. Takes a bow and thanks Alex, Sherry and Susan for their generous support in my hour of blog reciprocation denial challenges! My hat is off, my glass is raised - to you and all the fine and wonderful people here in Blog Land!

    Have a great day, everyone! :)

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  6. I have a couple of people who comment occasionally, and I have no way of returning the visit. I feel bad, but I've done as much as I can.

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  7. You may speak for many of us who have encountered those same obstacles in finding someone. Good post!

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  8. More great A to Z tips! Help us help you by making it easy to follow you. Great post.

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  9. Love this post! Thank you! I need to check my profiles, but I know I tried to make sure they were accessible in the past. I get frustrated when I can't find people either - especially if someone follows my blog and I can't find theirs!

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  10. We can only do what we can do, Annalisa. Feeling bad - no, not gonna go there. If people want to be found, they usually make themselves known.

    Thank you, Al. From what I can tell, a lot of bloggers who post regularly and respond to comments feel this way - another reason this post needed to be published.

    Oh, the A - Z is ever on my mind these days, Stephen. My first guest post on the A - Z blog is tomorrow, in fact. I'm working oh, so diligently preparing my own blogs. It seems A - Z has given me an overload of things to write about this year!

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  11. Missing comments in the crosshairs...
    If this post helps make us all the more visible, Tyrean, then I couldn't be happier. We don't blog in a vacuum, after all, and it really is fun to receive and respond to comments on our posts!

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  12. I found you through Alex Cavanaugh. That is some good advice. I wouldn't even know if it is difficult to follow me. Can you do me a favor and try to follow me if you alrady aren't and email me if you can't @ reviewsyoucantuse@gmail.com

    I hope to visit your blog more for some good tips.

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    1. Clicked on your name, clicked on the link to your blog and became your newest follower...happy to be of service. You can be found easily enough:)

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  13. Great post, M.J.! Some people just want to be anonymous. That's okay for me, but to others, it won't work. I think it's called netiquette (short for 'network etiquette'). Commenting or having a conversation over the Internet is pretty much like talking to someone in person. Imagine, you're talking to this person for an hour and you still haven't introduced yourself. That's why I understand your concern about people leaving comments on your blog yet they don't leave any trace of their persona. It's kinda frustrating, especially if you want to follow that person back.

    Darryl Tay

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