Image Credit: Wind Energy by JanieHernandez

Green Marketing

A few days ago at a favorite deli there was a new sign. The sign said:

“We are now Powered 100% by Wind Energy,”

Unconsciously I gazed up. There aren’t any windmills around here! I thought. Yet the message stuck and it made me think: If a deli that specializes in large greasy meatball sandwiches on soft white bread is promoting Green, maybe more businesses need to start using Green marketing.

These days Green marketing thrives far beyond co-ops and solar energy companies. Other businesses need to think about adding Green to their brands. Most importantly small businesses and large companies alike can all use Green to enhance customer relations. It’s an easy way to connect to customers because the underlying message is, “We care about the same things you do,” rather than, “Buy our product or service.” Here are 6 ways to use Green marketing for a small business or a blog.

Incorporate a Green Spring Giveaway into a Mobile Smart Phone Promotion

Mobile marketing through smart phones is a fast growing online trend. According to Google, mobile searches with a local intent were up 400% between 2010 and 2011. Signing up for a location based service like Foursquare or WHERE and offering a free Green spring give away can draw customers into your store and improve your image at the same time. Make the promotion fun and tailor it your business. For example, a children’s clothing store could have a free plant your own tree promo for kids while a bakery could offer a class on decorating spring cupcakes naturally without using food coloring. Get creative!

Offer an Online Green Promotional Product on Your Website

Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream invented this idea with their Rainforest Crunch Ice Cream. A percentage of sales were set aside to help nut-shelling cooperatives in the Brazilian Rainforest. Unfortunately, the company was stretching the truth a bit and they were forced to pull the marketing from their packaging. Ben and Jerry’s is mentioned because Green claims need to be truthful with genuine intent or a promotional campaign can backfire.

Keeping Green product campaigns short is one way to get the message out, give properly and make money. In addition, time limited promotions encourage action. For example, “Buy from our website during the next two weeks and we will donate 25% of your order to Greenpeace.” A further advantage of a short Green campaign is that you can pre-advertise and post-advertise the campaign online through the press wires. Charity and giving pieces are almost always picked up quickly and spread widely. Press wires can drive online traffic for months.

Think about incorporating Green into your Business Brand

Make Green a real commitment. Then methodically publicize your Green stand online through every channel possible. There are separate marketing channels for Green Businesses like Green Tweets and Facebook Pages. Like the deli above, you don’t have to be a health food store to endorse Green and incorporate it into your brand image. Green makes people feel better about eating ice cream and 1000 calorie meatball sandwiches. Maybe it can work for your business too!

Use Green Promotional Gifts to Spread the Word

Traditional promotional gifts now come in a variety of Green alternatives. Green shopping bags and coffee carriers are an excellent way to get your brand out there while promoting a Green lifestyle.

Start a Green oriented blog, email newsletter and RSS feed to get your chosen Green message out.
The deli above chose wind energy so a blog about wind energy, clean energy and hiking (where you need to take sandwiches) would be fitting for them. Encourage customers to participate in the blog to lessen the writing work and gain fresh perspectives.

Turn Green Milestones into SMS events

Once the Green campaign is up and running use a quick messaging event to broadcast how well the campaign is doing or how well it went. This is a great soft-sell way to encourage further customer interaction and increase brand awareness and loyalty. For example, “Our store just surpassed our yearly giving goal to Greenpeace! A big Thank You to all our customer’s- we couldn’t have done it without you.”

Success often increases with giving. Green is a wonderful way to thrive and give back not only to your community but also to the world.

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Thank you, Jen. Great green ideas!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

So you’ve decided to use Twitter as one of your content marketing tools. You’ve built up a respectable following, you engage with people, send out a steady stream of diverse original content and RTs, and you occasionally attend a Twitter chat. Everything is good, until….Twitter block!

It’s similar to writers’ block, except in 140 characters. You see, if you aren’t contributing a reasonable number of Tweets throughout the day, you won’t be seen in your followers’ streams.

The average lifespan of a Tweet is supposedly only one hour, according to ReadWriteWeb. That means you need to space out your Tweets in order to keep your voice “in the stream.” I believe that the optimum number of Tweets per day is somewhere around 5-10 for the normal user.

Here are 10 solid tips on how to stay visible without driving yourself insane.

• It’s OK to tweet an important piece of content 2-3 times in one day, at different times; just change your Tweet wording up a bit to keep it fresh.
• It’s OK to use a scheduling app like Buffer or Crowdbooster to space out your Tweets, as long as you are actually available to reply to people who respond to your content.
• Look for 5 people who recently RTd you, and RT something of theirs that you think will resonate with your followers.
• Take a pretty picture and add a relevant comment to it.
• Find 5 people who follow you who you haven’t directly engaged with yet, read their bio and/or website, and mention them with a comment or compliment.
• Use the “OH” tag to tweet something interesting you heard someone else say IRL.
• Don’t resort to quotes all the time! But if you’re reading something interesting on your Kindle app, highlight a great phrase and Tweet it out using the integrated share tool.
• Ask a question. It could be something industry specific, or as minimal as “what should I watch on Netflix next?”
• What big project are you working on? Can you “leak” out a little tidbit of it as a teaser? People love to be on the inside, behind the scenes.
• Do a series of Tweets that are related…Christopher Penn does “#the5” which is the five things you need to know that day. Could you do 3 tips for starting your day happy? Perhaps a series of 10 great blog links?

Where do you find great stuff to share with your connections? Have you ever felt Twitter block?

_____

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Thank you, Rosemary!

You’re irresistible!

ME “Liz” Strauss

Sit down and simply ask yourself as a small business owner what tactics you are employing to make the experience every one of your customers has better each time.

Among the steps that you should be employing:

• Properly branding your product – While other companies scale back their marketing efforts when dollars get tight, others see the chance to take advantage of the tough times and gain an edge on the competition. When it comes to branding, it is more important than ever to make your product stand out;
• Determine value to your customers – At times when consumers are concerned about their financial security as many have been in the last few years, they are in need of reassurance. Consumers are not likely to make binge purchases; many want the sense of making sensible purchases, control, security and simplicity, leading them to be more frugal when it comes to their buying habits;
• Social media presence – Whether it is Twitter, Facebook or another venue, social media offers a great means to engage the customer and find out what they like and what they don’t. You may or may not want to employ someone in your business on a full-time basis to oversee this area, but at the least it should be attended to on a part-time basis;
• Customer experience - Another main area to focus in on is the customer experience. Customers have a lot of options with which to choose from, so how are you going to set yourself apart from your rivals? The key here is making the customer experience worthwhile enough where they want to keep coming back time and time again. Do your employees put your customers first or are they an after-thought? Do your employees who work the phones treat the customers like they’d want to be treated, or are they short and rude with them? Finally, do your employees provide the necessary answer/s when a customer has a question about a product? Know these things and don’t take them for granted;
• Customer rewards – Lastly, what are you doing to reward your customers for their loyalty to your business? A customer will continue to come back over and over again if they like the service and feel the prices are reasonable. It is important as a business owner to treat returning customers properly and reward them for their continued patronage, be it through special rewards programs like discounts and the like. There is a reason this particular customer came back to you for purchases, so never forget that.

Make customer relation management skills a top priority at your small business in order to better position you and your employees to reap the rewards.

Dave Thomas, who discusses subjects such as business plans templates and customer service call centers, writes extensively for San Diego-based Business.com.

Quality and Service

Some rookie business owners seem to think that they can swing open their doors and the world will step inside. Others recognize the importance of marketing, but put all their effort into selling their concept while allowing their product to suffer.

Smart entrepreneurs (and their employees) know that quality and service reign supreme. It’s rare that one exists without the other. I’m recalling the TV show Seinfeld’s ‘Soup Nazi,’ an episode where people stood in long lines for soup, despite horrible service, because the product was so good. That doesn’t often happen in real life.

Likewise, the most charming salesman might sell you a bad product once, but you’ll never buy another if it breaks as soon as you get it home.

The bottom line is this: Offer a consistent, excellent product with a smile, and customers will remember and return. Fortunately, in a competitive market place, there are plenty of ways to make your business stand out from the pack. Adopt a few of these ideas and you’ll have your own line halfway around the block — just be nice to them when they get to the counter.

Introduce Yourself

Down the street from my house, a new surf-themed restaurant and tavern opened last year. Eager to try something new, I gave them a shot their first week in business. Immediately upon entering, I was faced with a crowded bar of people enjoying happy hour drinks. I was scanning the room for a table when the bartender reached his hand across the bar and greeted me, “Hi, I’m Perry. Welcome to the Wave Bar. Grab a table wherever you like.”

Perry later walked over to my table and reintroduced himself as the owner. He asked me my name and learned that I lived down the street. A few weeks later, I returned, and Perry remembered my name.

Nowadays, it’s the first place I take relatives when they come to visit. They think I’m really something when everyone waves and greets me by my first name when I walk in the door. Had I not been immediately made to feel like a valued local customer, I’d have probably returned, but not nearly as often.

Seek Out Customer Opinions

There’s a difference between an anonymous comment box by the door and actively asking your clients for feedback. Don’t get me wrong — a comment box is still a great tool — but don’t be afraid to take criticism in person as well. If someone has spent their money with you, they’re already invested in your business.

The produce manager at my local grocery store once asked me if there was anything they didn’t carry that I wished they did. I told him that I often go to a competing store, farther away, because they carried tempeh, a tofu-like meat substitute that I often use in tacos and pasta (don’t laugh). He had it in stock the next week, and I’ve hardly returned to the other store at all.

Don’t be afraid to solicit your customers’ honest advice. You may be able to tailor the services or products you offer more to their needs, and they’ll then be far more likely to return and recommend you to friends.

Reach Out on Social Media

BigStock: The Boxer and the Rose

Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest give business owners an unprecedented ability to play a role in their customers’ lives. Design attractive, informative pages at each social media portal for your business, and then carve out time to visit the pages of people who ‘Like’ or subscribe to your page. Don’t be afraid to leave comments on their pages, giving them compliments and offering advice.

This shouldn’t be confused with direct marketing — although there is a place for advertising via social media, we’re talking right now about acting just as a friend would. Don’t spam your customers. Engage with them.

Say ‘Thank You’ In Every Possible Way

Your customers are far likely to return if they feel appreciated. Start with the most obvious method — give each person who makes a purchase the most genuine, thoughtful ‘Thank you!’ that you can muster. If your clients are online, a quick “We really appreciate you” email can work wonders.

If it seems appropriate, even sending handwritten notes to large clients and customers will ensure that you’re remembered. Keep a stack of stationary on hand to make this easy.

I was recently shopping at a local boutique clothing store, and after making a purchase, the proprietor handed me an invitation to a cocktail-hour and special product showing the following week. The timing was convenient for me, so I stopped in, enjoying champagne and finger food catered by the bakery next door. Guess what? I couldn’t help but buy something that day.

Let your customers know that you appreciate them, seek their input, and stay in touch. As long as your product is good, you’ll find that they’ll take pride in your business and help spread the word. What other ideas have you used for inspiring customer loyalty?

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Thank you, Ann. Loyalty is key to a strong business.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

As more tools and algorithms surface for the purpose of rating influence, across each measure and metric the hardest factor to isolate and measure is topical relevance. I may be influential to the SOBCon on the subject of strategy, small business, start ups, and entrepreneurship, because I’ve established expertise in the area of starting and growing a business. However, I wouldn’t have the same influential relevance on the topic of gourmet cooking or restaurant management.

Without relevance, there is no influence.

5 Ways to Check Whether Your Business Relevance Is Eroding

Eight to ten years ago, the social business Internet was centered in the blogosphere. Blogs were the most common vehicle by which online business people established their identities, connected, and conversed. Individuals picked up the tools and learned the culture from the people they met while using them. Now, this Insane Infographic-of-the-day: Social Media shows the complicated space the social business web has become. …

Click the image to view a larger format.

Blogging platforms have become one unit on a hugely varied landscape for sharing content.
Blogs were once a highly relevant main idea in a chart like that.
Now they are more of a secondary detail in relevance.

Keep up with the changing landscape or lose relevance. Keeping up requires participating and adding unique value to channel and enhance opportunities as the environment changes. Here are 5 ways to check whether your online business relevance is eroding.

1. You (your brand or your business) spend more time sharing content than reading it. Strategic sharing can enhance relevance. Through focus and filtering, a business can underscore brand identity, values, expertise, and a service ethic. All of which builds trust and attracts a self-sorting group of ideal customers or clients.

   Oversharing without filtering, such as retweeting without reading first, adds noise not value and erodes relevance. Promiscuous sharing destroys relevance.

2. You (your brand or your business) value social scores and metrics, such as Klout and follower counts, MORE than conversations with the people who help your business thrive. We can use metrics to fine tune our relevance. Metrics can reveal “who, what, how, when, and how many”.

   All metrics and algorithms carry the bias of assumptions about what is being measured. Beware of how metrics flatten data by removing individual particularities. To stay relevant, keep a continuous dialogue with individuals represented by the data. Balance in the people-data equation is foundational to relevance.

3. You (your brand or your business) make decisions and develop expertise based on 2nd-hand experiences. Research and reading focused on current cases, predictions, trends, cycles, and conditions can increase relevance. Understanding the breadth of an industry environment extends our ability to recognize and leverage opportunity. Still vicarious knowledge is shallow, fades quickly, and lacks insight.

   Turning acquired knowledge into experience by applying it, trying it, testing, and measuring our outcomes increases relevance exponentially. Through application we develop the intuitive detail of experience and the ability to recognize nuance. In that way it erodes relevance.

4. You (your brand or your business) have more answers than questions. Sharing answers and solutions is highly relevant. Doing so in the spaces where customers meet to talk — in their language — makes those answers even more relevant.

   More powerful than answers are the compelling questions that keep us connecting and searching. Working out and working on deep questions that are critical to our customers’ mission — how they will raise their families, how they can grow their business — offer the people we serve the most relevant connection to our business.

5. You (your brand or your business) develop social marketing plans around “online and offline channels” rather than using connect more deeply with the people who build your business. A well-designed outreach strategy can spark relevant human connections.

   Reframing social business as customer connections rather than channels, we can build true “other-centered” intimacy into the way we reach out, A view to why people meet in each space changes the way we talk and the topics we talk about. Relevance online and off starts with caring about people.


BigStock: Woman Paying Attention to Her Business Network

As information and technology change at the speed of the Internet, staying relevant is a constant and always current criteria of true influence. Focused attention to the new problems, new solutions, and new opportunities that surround them is essential. Without that focus and a clear intention to acquire new competencies, internalize current culture, and cultivate new thinking, that same speed of the Internet can erode, as we continue to do what once made us successful but is no longer needed.

How do you stay irresitibly relevant to the people who help you thrive?

Be irresistible.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Your dreams of starting your own business may be the result of one or more factors; a life –long desire to make a career out of something you’re good at or a need to supplement your current income are two very popular reasons. The jobs we have may not always be the jobs we want and starting your own business, be it small or medium sized, may provide you with the career enrichment or financial autonomy you’re hoping to achieve.

Your Input Determines Your Outcome!

But don’t be fooled…don’t think that starting your own business will be any easier than working for someone else. The only way to guarantee your own success is by hard work. Sometimes the input required is more arduous than jobs(http://www.jobs.ca) you’ve had or have. At any rate, it requires dedication, thoroughness and a follow-through attitude. Here a five key tips to give your business starting efforts the jump start they need to be rewarding and triumphant!

1. Give The People What They Want!

It is a regular occurrence that when starting their own business, many people center it around a product or service they think will be successful rather than on an already existing idea that has a proven and functional market. Think about it – it’s much better to grab a slice from a large, thriving market than from an industry with no market standing at all.

2. Keep Your Costs As Low As Possible

Stimulating a steady cash flow will be moot if you’re spending more than you’re making. Especially where starting a new business is concerned, you don’t want to spend the formative portion of its inception in debt. One simple standard to adhere to at any stage of your business’ development is – Don’t Pay Retail! Wherever possible try to source wholesale prices on your purchases and always try to negotiate a discount. Trust us, it adds up.

3. Too Much, Too Little…

This one’s pretty basic but is a useful maxim to apply when you’re starting your own business – overestimate your costs and underestimate your revenue. Being conservative in your incoming revenue expectations isn’t saying that this is what you’re hoping of aiming for; at the start of your own business it just gives you a greater wingspan with which to maneuver. Likewise, overestimation of your expenditure is just plain smart – how many times have you PLANNED on spending XXX amount of dollars on something and by the end you have to shell out three times that amount?

4. Testing Testing!

Whatever you spend your money on must directly and consistently prove and maintain value. Don’t let emotion or tradition be the rationale behind what you fund within your business. Test that what you’re paying for is actually commensurate with a real, functional value. For example, don’t spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on a marketing scheme that isn’t bringing customers to your door for the sake of it. Constantly evaluate the return statistics of every level of investment you make in your business.

5. When In Doubt, Ask!

If you’re worried about making a certain move or you just plumb don’t know what something will mean to your bottom line, seek professional help. There are a plethora of free SMB mentorship programs available that can pair you with seasoned professionals. These people provide valuable advice and perspective and can save tons of money and prevent you reinventing the wheel.

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Thank you for adding to the conversation!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

I’m proud of you. You inspire me.You’re a treasure.

Have you ever heard those words?

How nice it is to know that in some life you’ve been a treasure, a thing of beauty or inspiration. I never cease to wonder what prompts such a feeling, what someone saw in me. What does it mean to make another person proud?

Words like that influence me.
They change how I think, how I act, what I believe and what I do next.
They make me stop, think, and wonder what I did to earn them.
A powerful statement can change doubt into confidence.

When I get a response that says I’m valued, I’m influenced to do things that will earn that feeling again.

But …

Some folks think I’m brilliant and creative and other folks, well, think I’m … um … not.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

And on that idea, I figured out something when I was looking at the the stars.

Image credit: NASA/CXC/NCSU/S.Reynolds et al

When stars die they behind leave space debris. Space debris is gorgeous colors and shines with its own bright light. The wispy, windy patterns and reflections energize filmy fibers in the endless space night.

What (hu)man named it trash?
It’s a treasure for the heart and the eyes.

People and stars are made of the same stuff.
The carbon that makes cell in our bodies came from the same stuff that makes stars.

It’s true about stars.
It’s true about people too.

Stars shine no matter who is looking.
No one has to call them a treasure.
They shine because that’s what stars do.

This week …

Be a treasure.
Start a quest. Create and conspire.
Be a mentor, a leader, a teacher. Inspire.
Be a beginner, a learner, an adventurer. Aspire.
Shine at being you.
Shine because being brilliant is what you do.
Do it because YOU have decided you’re living up to being a treasure.

Influence yourself.

Be irresistible.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Today’s post is more “business-y” than most of the ones prior. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve recently attended SOBCon and my brain is still processing the technology side of what I do for many hours of my day, but my mind keeps ruminating on the mechanics/motivations we use when operating in the digital sphere. Increasingly, I am called to define who Women With Drive Foundation is through the lens of how we appear in the space. As we add more communities to those we serve, we must replicate ourselves across strata in a cohesive manner. The line between brand identity and personal identity gets blurrier every day. In addition, as a whole, brands are morphing into “people,” and individuals are becoming “brands.”

Knowledge of the tools and methods for spreading a message is central to reaching people in the current paradigm of social media. But more than the traditional “push” model of broadcast from an All Knowing and Monolithic Company, understanding the dynamism and reality of a response from The Consumers With Opposable Thumbs and An Opinion is a sticky wicket for most.

Second only to “how much is a social media campaign going to cost?” the question of how to control their brand ranks high on most companies’ list of priorities when it comes to the social space.

The short answer? You can’t.

Just ask McDonald’s. Or Nestlé. Or the unfortunately named BBQ joint, Boners (the last is an amazing deconstruction by Scott Stratten @unmarketing on twitter. NOTE: Some swearing in the screenshots from facebook).

Control also seems to be at the fore of my awareness lately. Perhaps it’s something I need to hear. Regardless, I find that when I write about something, I learn more about the topic at hand through the act of distilling my thoughts and committing them to words.

Control of a brand has increasingly occupied the collective consciousness of companies and businesses everywhere with the advent of social media. Paramount on the list of concerns from companies hesitant to enter the space: “What if someone says something negative about me on my facebook page/on twitter?”

Then they will.

The conversation is happening whether or not you are part of it. Better to understand what is being said and to engage based on where your public is than to remain on the dialogue sidelines. By addressing any comment in a transparent, honest manner, your brand is strengthened and your effectiveness is heightened as a result.

Control always comes back to one thing: we cannot control that which goes on around us. We, as individuals or as brands, can only control that which is within. A common response from me in regards to controlling your brand? “The best defense is a good offense.”

More than just flooding the space with positive information about your brand, the “best offense” in this case is to be crystal clear about who you are as a brand. …Listen to what’s going on before you enter the fray. Are you relevant? Can you add to the discussion? Would you listen to you?

Further, from the janitor to the CEO, your brand has to be saturated with “you-ness.” What do you stand for? If you were a person, who would you be? Can your brand identity be communicated clearly, concisely and with emotion?

The answers to these questions form the foundation of why people buy what you have to sell. They identify with you. They transfer their emotions to your product or service. Your essence is a representative component of who they are as an individual, to a certain extent.

If you, as a business, are secure about your brand, then detractors won’t have any power against it. Anything that shows up in the space that conflicts with what you’ve established your brand to be will fall on deaf ears. The power of social media is about the network. Your public/fans will act as brand advocates against any naysayer.

The control of your brand is within your hands. Tend your own garden. Know thyself. Be secure enough to relinquish control and the power of that confidence transcends detractors. That’s how you control your brand.

What has been successful for you? What have you learned in the social space?

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Molly Cantrell-Kraig is a woman with drive. Possessing an innate sense of purpose and a pragmatic, solution-based approach to empowering people, she fused these two traits in order to establish Women With Drive Foundation. Based upon its founder’s personal history, Women With Drive Foundation is a means through which Cantrell-Kraig may effect change on both a micro and macro level. By providing women with something as essential as personal transportation in order to transition them from poverty to prosperity, she, through Women With Drive Foundation, seeks to empower women to help them help themselves. Through this action, the individual applicant benefits, as does society as a whole. Follow Molly on twitter as @mckra1g or @WWDr1ve (Women With Drive Foundation) or “Like” them on facebook.

and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. Thie award carries a “Liz said so” guarantee, is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and is backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

Want to become an SOB?

If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame– A-Z Directory . Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

You’ve created a blog, made a few posts, maybe even installed some ads for the extra income. You’re locked and loaded to take the Internet by storm. But where are all the comments? Where is the dedicated audience breathlessly hanging on your every word?

Don’t worry, you don’t have to succumb to the tumbleweeds just yet. If you’re eager for more fans, here are five steps to increasing your blog comments.

1. Comment On Other Blogs

Before anything else, you need to establish your presence in your field. This is most easily achieved by commenting on other blogs and making a name for yourself as someone worth listening to. By making smart, funny and helpful comments on other blogs, readers will be interested enough to follow you back to your own.

2: Respond To Comments

No one likes to be ignored, and if your commenters feel like they’re shouting into an empty void, they become much less likely to comment in the future. To gain (and keep) an active community of followers, you’ll need to make a habit of responding to their comments. Answer their questions. Suggest new tech. Outsource their problems if you have to. Regardless of the content, just make sure their comments don’t go unnoticed. They’ve taken time out of their lives to comment on your blog; the least you can do is offer them the same courtesy.

3. Create A Community

It’s basic psychology: people like to belong. Take advantage of this by turning your commenting pool into a community – a place with its own language and lingo, a place where people can build friendships and swap stories without feeling out of place. If something happens to one of your followers, spotlight it. If you think two people would really get along, mention it. Make introductions among your followers. Create memes. Reference inside jokes in your updates. When new visitors feel the urge to “fit in,” you’ll know you’re doing it right.

4. Ask For Opinions

The best thing that can happen to any blog is a lively debate, so inspire some passion by soliciting the opinions of your followers. Make polls, ask leading questions (“what do you guys think?”) and encourage the most vocal of your readers. Don’t be afraid to touch on scandalous topics, because those often create the most heated (and long-running) exchanges.

5. Be Interesting

What makes you comment on a blog? What pushes you from a mere reader to an active participant in an exchange of ideas? It wouldn’t have happened if the blog wasn’t interesting or engaging enough to merit your response.

To this extent, if you want comments, you just have to be a good blogger. You need to be active, interesting, and well-informed in your field. Your post should be entertaining and relevant. Your comments should be smart and useful.

Simply put, if you want more comments on your blog, make your blog worth commenting on.
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Thank you, Virginia! Engagement is always a noble quest.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!