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Build Community on Your Blog in Five Steps

February 6th, 2007 | blogging, blogtipping, publishing, readers, writing

Because that’s the purpose of a blog right? Just because we aren’t blogging for money, doesn’t mean the blogosphere doesn’t have its own economy with its own currency. Of course, it does.

You’re saying to yourself, “The economics of blogging? Yawn.”

But listen. This is really important. Economics is just the science of explaining how people get what they want.

(If that sounds really smart to you, it’s because Steven Levitt said it, not me.)

So what do your readers want from your blog?

And just as important: What do you want from your readers?

I don’t mean to sound crass, but these things are important. We all have our motives. And the more we recognize our motives, the more we can mediate them so they don’t control us. Everything we do builds upon the foundation of our own desires. And certain media give rise to certain desires. Like Marshall McLuhan said, “The medium is the message.”

Knowing what you want from your readers and what they want from you will help you be a better blogger. It may also help some people recognize that their blogs will never be able to give them what they want.

Here’s what I want: community.

Here are the ways I am looking to build community. Thanks to L.L. for helping me come up with these:

  1. Make a Splash. . . by the sheer quantity of what you throw out there. You’ve probably seen other bloggers do this. Blog like there’s no tomorrow. Everyday for three months. Do that and you’ll get some attention.
  2. Find People You Want To Talk To. For all of the problems Technorati has, it is still really good for searching blogs. Here’s what I do. Find a voice you like, then see who is linking to them. Find a page you like, and see who is linking to it. That’s when it is time to . . .
  3. Engage in the Conversation! This doesn’t mean every comment you make is designed to get a reader. It’s not like that. Remember the goal. For me, blogs are more about community than publication. I’m not looking for readers, I’m looking for conversation.
  4. Be a Good Model. Show others what you want them to do by doing it yourself. When someone comments on your blog, comment on theirs. When someone you like links to your blog, link to theirs. If you want people to talk to each other in your comments, show them how. Talk to them yourself.
  5. Don’t Blog Like a Snob. You’ve met snobby bloggers before. They are too good to comment on their own posts. Or they are too busy. They don’t think enough of your blog to give link love or drop a comment. And all of this is perfectly within their rights. But when I meet people like this at a party, I don’t quickly move on to someone less, um, absorbed.

(A big tip of the hat to L.L. for helping me come up with this list. All of the good ideas here are hers. I just put titles on them.)

 Are you trying to build community too? If so, how? If not, what are you trying to do?

Viewing 21 Comments

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    wow, I was first up on LL Barkat's recent post and now on yours. What an honor.

    Thanks for all your tips - I think they're great and to some extent I endeavor to practice 2, 3, 4 and 5. 5 is easy to practice because I'm pretty insignificant in the blogging world, so I'm no snob. I'm not registered as part of the TTLB but if I was, I'd probably be some form of plankton.

    # 1 isn't practically possible for me due to my day job which keeps me busy during the day and then some...

    I've little to contribute with regard to how to build community. However, I think you've done a really nice job in building the goodwordediting community and from what I've observed, it's in great part because you are generous in participating, referencing and linking to other blogs. Couldn't happen to nicer guy and probably a lesson for the rest of us.
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    Yes, so why do those number 5 bloggers blog anyway? (No names mentioned, but I can think of a few who should be left near the pretzel station.)
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    Maybe, since they're so absorbed in their own blogs, they just assume everyone else is, too, and therefore no cultivation is necessary.
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    Mark, I concur with you here. I love conversation. Not that good at it, but I'm trying to grow in it. I can tend to talk too much.

    And I see my own blog as a ministry. But it's an interactive ministry. In which the door is open for others to come in. And for us to "minister" to, or serve one another.

    Thanks. Thanks to L.L., too.
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    Andre, you are on a roll man. I'm rarely first up myself. (I really need to set up a blog reader...) Thanks for your kind words. Although you don't post daily (neither do I), you do something that many people don't Every post has real substance. And in the long run, that substance is going to build an audience every time.

    L.L., blog snobs really bother me, too. And I've found that they don't have to be "successful" bloggers to be snobs. I've seen some really, um, undertalented people with chips on their shoulders. Something like what happens with the delusional folks on American Idol.
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    Jenn, that's a good point. It's not necessarily a bad thing to be absorbed in your own blog. It just doesn't build community.

    So the term "blog snob" is a little bit unfair really.

    Mark Roberts is a good example. He devotes everything he has to his posts. And his blog is what you would expect from someone used to preaching to large audiences. His interaction is limited, but his content is solid. I love Mark's blog, but it doesn't build community in the same way. (I've not explored his forum area, but I know he has tried to build community there.)
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    Ted, blogging as ministry! I love it. Out of Ur did a series on whether blogs worked as ministry or not. A lot of commenters there thought blogging was specifically not good for ministry.

    I'm no theologian, but I think of ministry as being about service. (The NT word for minister gets translated as servant about as often as it gets translated as Deacon.) All that to say, I don't see ministry as something that has to fall under the auspices of the institutional church. Anything I do to serve others glorifies God.

    In the blogosphere or in my workplace or in my church or in my family.
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    Alright already. I am officially commenting at your blog.

    *grin*

    Seriously, good stuff!
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    Michael, you make me laugh. I wasn't trying to make anyone feel guilty! You are certainly not a blog snob; you just run in slightly different circles. Anyone as active on Jesus Creed as you are can't be expected to comment on other blogs too!

    I'm glad to hear from you on the blog though!

    (And I haven't forgotten about you, we're just totally swamped with our redesign and a few other background things that we are fixing to roll out.)
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    My computer is set up to notify me whenever someone says, “undertalented people with chips on their shoulders.” So here I am! ;-)

    The Don’t Blog Like a Snob rule is a good one. But it must be noted that this is a rule that only goes one way. That is to say, that we apply it to self, but at the same time, generously give grace, assuming that we cannot be absolutely certain of another blogger’s motives.

    A blogger’s unstated goals or limited time and computer savvy might affect how they administer “link love.”

    Inactivity from would-be commenters (I know that’s not a real word) is sometimes due to complicated reasons, or even the desire to avoid getting sucked-in to the time-hungry internet monster.

    Anyway, I’m glad you brought up #5. It should be helpful to know how it appears when one doesn’t link or comment.
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    Craver, you are anything but undertalented as a blogger. We all want to know your secrets! Good point about the tied-hands phenomenon and the discipline-against-the-Internet-monster phenomenon.

    The question still stands... why do these bloggers blog? What do they hope to gain? And can they gain it without playing the social blogogame? Honestly, I think that sitting on the sidelines could actually hurt a blogger's reputation, and this could be particularly bad for someone who wanted to blog for promo reasons. (Coming across as detached can prevent people from wanting their services.)

    Thoughts?
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    I read an article sometime back about noted economists who blog. I have a few in my Bloglines. These folks almost never comment.

    Why do people visit their blogs? Because they are at the pinnacle of expertise and others want to know how they are processing ideas. The economists and their institutions get visibility and prestige in return.
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    Michael... ah, yes... the X-pert Factor.
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    Mark, Well, certainly blogging is not where "ministry" or serving should end. But it is an outlet for me to share and hopefully get some give and take. Thanks.
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    Craver, good reminder as L.L. already pointed out. We should only check to make sure we aren't blogging like snobs. No good pointing the finger. On the other hand, I do think it is okay to read someone's blog and decide they aren't someone I want to spend any more time with.

    Michael, expert bloggers are a different category for me. Their blogs are more about information than community. That's what I was trying to say about preacher blogs. And many of those work well--though it's not what I think blogs do best.

    Ted, I agree completely that ministry should never end with blogging. In fact, ministry should never end period. If there is ever a time when I stop serving others to honor God, I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing. That's a high standard, I know. It's not something I can do by my own power. I pray that God will work through me--and that I will have the courage to give him the glory rather than taking it for myself.

    I keep coming back to that phrase "give God the glory." It makes me wonder what that means exactly. Hmm.
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    L.L., why do they blog? Sometimes I think they will mature in their blogging someday. I encountered a lot of student writers who just took themselves so seriously.

    Some of my creative writing students I just had to encourage to write more. I think it was Winston Churchhill who said every writer has at least 500 pages of crap in them. Once we get past those 500 pages, we start to find some thoughts and perspectives worth sharing--and a voice with which to share them.

    I think some of these bloggers, like my students, are somewhere around page 250. They just need to keep posting for another year before they find a rhythm. Then once they know who they are, they can begin to give themselves away.

    And just to be clear, I don't have any one of you in mind as "snobby" bloggers. : )
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    [sigh of relief]
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    I have loved the conversation here on blogging. It's such a mystery to me, even as I find myself kind of in the middle of it. I agree that there is great community to be had here; I also agree that it can take a lot of time to really be effective (I've more than tripled my blogging time just to feel like I'm using the medium effectively).

    What I really wanted to say, however, is that you and the people who have commented here do a great job of modeling "good blogging" as far as I can tell. And I've learned a great deal by tagging along.
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    I think you are the first non-family commentor on my blog. :) Thanks!

    Looks like you practice what you preach!

    Great tips, by the way, for novices. I noticed a few loooooong sentences or two in my writing. I need to rethink that.

    Thanks again!
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    Stacy, I'm honored. Thanks for the kind words. I try to practice what I preach, and I often fail.

    Also, long sentences aren't necessarily bad. They are tools. Sometimes they work great, and other times they are completely inappropriate. As an editor, I have noticed that writers often get enamored with their own elaborately constructed sentences. They love language and language tricks--and they forget that most people don't.

    For most readers, language is a means to an end. Language is for communicating ideas.

    That doesn't mean language play is bad, just that it often distracts readers.

    The only place I know where language play is still allowed? Poetry. And I love it.
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