Photo by tetradtx (click pic for link)Yesterday, I did a post on the 3 Core Components of a Blockbuster Blogs and talked about how one of the key things great blogs do is connect people. That connection may be between blog author and blog reader, but it also can be between readers via conversation in the comments.

But one of the things I mentioned was how I've noticed that over my last three years of blogging, commenting has declined even though hits and numbers of visitors have gone up. I used to get more comments when I had 2k hits a month than when I had 12k. Strange, right?

So of course, this made me wonder if a) I was doing something wrong or b) something broader was happening. In the comments on my post yesterday, a few people mentioned that they've noticed a similar drop in comments despite traffic being good on their blogs as well.

So what's the deal? Is anyone out there? *taps screen*

Here are some of my theories:

Keep in mind, this is just conjecture. I'd love to hear from you (IN THE COMMENTS, lol) on what you think could be the reason.

1. Commenting is cumbersome and with our social media time stretched between so many platforms now--blogs, twitter, facebook, tumblr, pinterest, google +, etc., we just don't have the time.

This is one of the reasons I barely comment on blogs anymore. I'm much more likely to retweet a post I like or put it in my Fill-Me-In Friday round up to show my appreciation instead of commenting. A post has to really stir me or be about something I have a strong opinion on to get me to comment. It's not for lack of wanting to comment, it's simply just a lack of time.

2. When reciprocation slows down, commenting goes with it.

When you first start blogging, you're gung ho. (And often you're not yet a paid writer, so don't have deadline pressures and such starting at you.) So, you make bloggy friends. You go comment on all your friends' blogs every day. They in turn comment on yours. It's a happy thriving little community. But it takes a LOT of time to keep up. (See my post on The Life Cycle of a Blogger if you want to see what happens when you hit your limit.) So, when you start slacking off on being the ultimate bloggy friend, people stop reciprocating.

3. Blog Oversaturation

SO many people are blogging these days. And writers are no exception. Links to posts fly by on Twitter at the speed of a CNN ticker. It's hard to stand out. Do I really need to read ANOTHER post about sagging middles? That post may be perfect for someone brand new to the writing blogosphere, but after you've been online a while, you start to see the rerun of topics. Hell, I've found myself blogging about those things more than once too. So it's hard to come up with a comment about something that you're tired of hearing about. And even if you come up with some fun new stuff to blog about, unless the post provides something for the reader, it's going to be hard to compel people to stop by. "Come talk about your favorite movie" is not going to inspire me to click. As much fun as that conversation could be, it doesn't provide me with anything and sounds like something that will just waste more time.

4. When a blog seems like a BIG DEAL or the person appears uber important, followers can feel distant from the blogger.

Sometimes I find myself reluctant to leave a comment because the person seems like a BIG DEAL. Whether it's because they have a super successful blog or they are an established authors. They have that celebrity vibe, and it becomes a bit intimidating to leave a comment OR you feel like they don't "need" the comment or won't really be reading it anyway, so why bother.

5. It always could be that the posts are lame, uninspiring, unrelatable, navel gazing, or boring as hell. Always a possibility :)

I'm hoping this isn't the case for most of us, but it's always something to keep in mind. Sometimes we may have simply veered off our path and let the quality of our posts suffer. There are obviously still blogs out there getting 50-100 comments a day, so it is possible we are doing something wrong. >.<

I don't know the answers. It could be any of these, none of them, or some combination, but those are my thoughts. I'd love to hear yours.

What do you think? Have you noticed a trend in your own comments--either on your blog or your own commenting behavior? Do you have any of your own theories?

3 Core Components of a Blockbuster Blog

February 15, 2012 Roni Loren

Photo by Katie Killary (click photo for link)Since I recently left my well-established Blogger writing blog to come over here and try to build something more well-rounded on my website, I've been doing a lot of thinking about what my goals are over here. (Okay, actually kidlet woke up at 3am last night and I was up for 2 hours lying in the dark, which led me to thinking about such things.) And this led me to look at some of the most successful blogs out there to determine what makes them so awesome.

Now I could sit here and list at least a hundred things about having a clean web design, about a consistent schedule, about promotion, etc. But I really wanted to look the core components of those blockbuster blogs. And what I discovered was that it had everything to do with what the blog provided to the reader. Duh, right? But here's what I mean...

People Read Blogs for Three Main Reasons

1. To be informed or inspired

We want information and can't seem to get enough of it. If a blog can teach us how to do something, help us fix a problem, or enlighten us on a topic, we will be there.

2. To be entertained

All that information can be exhausting, so another reason we seek out blogs is because we want to enjoy ourselves and be entertained. If a blog can make us laugh or make us forget about work for a while, it's going to keep us coming back.

3. To connect

All this social networking we do is, at its root, about connecting. And blogs can often provide that as well. This can either be someone trying to connect with the author of the blog (readers wanting to connect with a favorite author, writers wanting to connect with a blogging literary agent, etc.) or it can be readers of the blog connecting with each other in the comments.

Now some blogs focus only on one of these. For instance, there are thousands of blogs giving writing how-to information. Ones that do it in a strict teaching style are focused primarily on INFORMING. Other sites may only be there to get a laugh.

And if a site does that one thing REALLY well, they don't need to focus on the other two. You can be a big deal with just one done well. Think Copyblogger for informing and things like Damn You, Autocorrect for entertaining.

But for most of us, building that kind of site and following are a little unrealistic. We're writers. Our goal is to write and publish books, not to be professional bloggers. We can build a nice, healthy following. I managed to do it with Fiction Groupie even though I was an unpublished writer with no platform to speak of when I started it.

(Though, one can argue that if my goal was to reach beyond my peer group of writers, then I probably was unsuccessful. It was a writing blog for writers. I don't regret that. The people I've met and the network I'm now a part of are the best rewards. However, I am making an effort to expand my range of topics these days so that non-writing readers can also find something worthwhile here.)

But if you're trying to build a blog that will have an active and engaged following, then perhaps look at ways that you can tap into all three components above. Think of the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books site. She INFORMS by providing honest book reviews, she ENTERTAINS because she's damn funny, and she helps readers CONNECT with each other via the comments and their shared interests of romance novels. It's a winning recipe.

So I'm taking a hard look at this new bloggy home and wondering where I can improve in these three areas. I'm always most comfortable with the informing thing. That's my comfort zone. And I hopefully manage to be entertaining at times, though I can always improve on that.

And connecting...well, that has dropped off a bit, unfortunately. I used to have a thriving comments section at Fiction Groupie, but when things got busier and I wasn't able to respond to all comments every day and wasn't able to visit other blogs and comment regularly, that community aspect dropped off a bit. Now I find myself doing the community thing more on Twitter. I'm not sure how to fix that here as I think commenting is a dying art across the blogosphere. But we'll see.

I have no notions of becoming a blockbuster blogger, but a healthy blog is a happy blog. : )

So think of the blogs that you return to consistently--what are things that keep you coming back? Which of the three areas are those blogs focusing on? And what do you think you do best on your own blog? What do you think you can improve?

Made of Win Monday: Local Dive Restaurants

February 13, 2012 Roni Loren

It's time for Made of Win Monday, where I feature simple things that rock.

I love to eat and consider myself a bit of a foodie, so one of my favorite things to do is go out to eat at a restaurant. But much of the time, the most obvious choices are the big name corporate restaurants that are ubiquitous in every decent sized city in America. And sure, the food at many of those places can be good--in that generic, this-taste-the-same-at-all-300-of-our-locations kind of way. But it also is usually kind of...soulless.

I grew up in New Orleans, arguably one of the best food cities in the country. And I can tell you that the tastiest eats in town are always at the dives. You walk in and the place looks like it hasn't been updated in three decades. On the tables, rolls of paper towels and two kinds of hot sauce (Crystal and Tabasco) and not much else. The people? They'll call you baby or cher (pronounced "sha" for you non-Cajuns) and treat you like you're long lost family. Then they'll serve you food so good, it'll knock you right off that picnic bench they're using for chairs. It's amazing.

Want the best shrimp po-boy in New Orleans? You can find it at Danny and Clyde's which is...a gas station. Yep. Get your tank and belly filled at the same time. Oh, and the shrimp are fresh from the Gulf and that French bread is fresh baked. Cost? 4.99 I still dream of those sandwiches. Texas, I love you for your Mexican food, but damn you don't know what to do with shrimp.

And though New Orleans is always doing its own thing, every city around the world has its own gems. Those little hole in the wall restaurants that serve real food made from recipes handed down through generations. No pretensions. No apologies. Just damn good food.

Hubs and I found one this weekend in our neck of the woods. This place looked like even its better days had seen better days, but oh my did they have a Chicago-style Italian beef sandwich that made me want to weep. I'm hungry just thinking about it. But it's totally a place you would pass a thousand times and never think to go in. It's in a questionable area (what real estate agents would call a "transitional neighborhood") and is tucked away in the corner where you barely can see a sign. But the people were super nice and the food was awesome.

So next time you want to go out and eat, try looking past the bright neon signs of the big restaurants and look for the places that have been around a while. If they've been there long enough to look that dive-y, there's probably a reason.

So how about you? Do you have any dives in your town that serve five-star food? What's the best thing you ever ate at at dive?

**Also, just FYI, I'm giving away a copy of CRASH INTO YOU today over at the Bandit Creek blog. I'm also talking about my big secret. ;) Would love if you stopped by.**

Fill Me In Friday - Best Writing Links of the Week

February 10, 2012 Roni Loren

Photo by Son of Groucho

Had a busy week? Need to catch up on all the great bloggy stuff you missed? Well, that's what I do here every Friday. : ) Best links served up fresh!

(Sorry, sometimes I have the unfortunate need to sound like a midnight infomercial.)

On Writing and Publishing:

25 Reasons That Writers Are Bug-F**k Nuts - Chuck Wendig (who always manages to make me actually LOL)

7 Free E-Books for Writers | Jane Friedman

Susan Kaye Quinn, Young Adult Author: How Many Book Sales Equals "Success"?

The self-epublishing bubble | Ewan Morrison | Books | guardian.co.uk

Doubt Demons | GENREALITY

How to Return to Writing After a Long Break | Nathan Bransford, Author

Scrivener: 3 Reasons You Should Use It For Your Book | The Creative Penn

Reader Shaming | Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Why I Stopped Looking At The Numbers | SHELLI JOHNSON

Let's Talk About Rejection - Elana Johnson

R-E-S-P-E-C-T isn’t FREE!!! « Kristen Lamb's Blog

On Social Media and Platform Building:

The art of being an introvert creative (forced to cope with social media) | Justine Musk

Maria Zannini: Who's Reading Your Blog?

The Mysterious Facebook Author Page | Katie Ganshert

My Name Is Not Bob: 25 Ways to Increase Blog Traffic

AuthorCulture: Is Your Author Photo Sending the Right Message?

10 Ways to Improve Your “Likability Quotient” « Kristen Lamb's Blog

13 Steps to Being the Worst Blogger on the Planet : @ProBlogger

Why Your Google+ Profile Matters - GalleyCat

Anne R. Allen's Blog: How to Blog Part III: What Should You Blog About?

The Bookshelf Muse: Creating An Author Platform That Sticks

Write Tip: How Not To Use The 9 Free Ways To Market Your Book | Bryan Thomas Sch...

For Gits and Shiggles:

Lady Boner Killer - Autocorrects and Texting Fails: AutoCoWrecks.com

“Where’s Your Mother?” … and 13 Other Things I Think When My Kid’s Having a Tantrum

Social Media Explained – Possibly by a Dog [Infographic] - SocialTimes.com

Want A More Intense, Intimate & Fulfilling Sex Life? [EXPERT] | Ande Lyons <--Proof that reading erotic romance is good for your health. :)

What You May Have Missed Here:

Made of Win Monday: Shows That Bring You Back

Boyfriend of the Week: Jude Law

5 Muse Abusers: How To Protect Your Creative Flow

The Hubs:

So I made the joke that I was answering no more interview questions this month and hubs was taking over the duties. Well, two lovely bloggers took me up on that. So check out my hubby's first interview at Amy Beth's Blog where somehow air guitars, 600 dollar phone calls, yoga, and Katy Perry are mentioned. Oh, and it's hubs' birthday too, so go give him some comment love. ;)

All right, that's what I've got from the last two weeks. What are some of your favorite links recently?

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