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Joel Auchenbach Is an SOB of the Very Best Kind

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Joel Achenbach from WashingtonPost.com


Today at WashingtonPost.com, Joel Auchenbach responded on his Auchenblog in to our discussion of Sabine’s article on his commenting community in our post Great Find: Commenting on CTBIZBlogs. Mr. Auchenbach began by saying:

The Boodle is the buzz of blogworld. At CTBizBlogs, Sabine writes about “the amazing community that’s sprung up in the comments” of the A-blog. (She heard about it from Stephen Baker in his Blogspotting column for Business Week; Baker took note of the large number of comments about the dog-pee item written by Tom Shroder.) She writes, “When readers leave comments on most blogs, the comments are usually about that particular post — people weighing in with additional information, questions, corrections, opinions. But the comments on some posts here read almost like they’re from discussion forums, with regular readers referring to comments made by other readers in past posts. The conversation weaves in and out of the posts and comments, and swirls around the various personalities who now know each other, online at least.” . . .

Thank you, Joel, for taking the conversation further and for caring about community as much as we do. Your Successful and Outstanding Blogger (SOB) button will be on it’s way to you via email immediately.

Joel Auchenbach’s Button

SOB Button

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Great Find: Lifehacker on Comments and More

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Before you close the drawer on that comments file, there’s more you need to complete the set.

Lifehacker eform image

Apparentely the fact that lifehacker ran this piece wasn’t enough for one publisher that picked it up. If you access the document from EServer TC Library, the document comes with a lovely cover sheet like this which asks you to rate the quality of the work for the purpose of helping future readers. Gee, I thought lifehacker already did that before they ran it.

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Great Find: Lifehacker’s guide to weblog comments by Gina Trapani
Type of Article: How-to and Informational
Permalink: Lifehacker’s guide to weblog comments

Content: A popular document that describes the basic points of commenting on a blog.

  • Stay on topic.
  • Contribute new information to the discussion.
  • Don’t comment for the sake of commenting.
  • Know when to comment and when to e-mail.
  • Remember that nobody likes a know-it-all.
  • Make the tone of your message clear.
  • Own your own comment.
  • Be succinct.
  • Cite your sources.
  • Be courteous.
  • Don’t post when you’re angry, upset, drunk, or emotional.
  • Don’t feed the comment trolls.

Gina Trapani’s explanations are well-written and clear. Worth the time it takes to read them. I call the post popular because both Darren Rowse at Problogger and Steve Rubel at MicroPersuasion both basically picked-up Gina’s list, each adding only one sentence to it. They were among almost 200 others who did much the same thing.

Congratulations Gina for outstanding work.

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Another document you might find useful is Gizmodo’s Comments FAQ. This one is a great model that addresses Cas’s questions yesterday as to how you might handle a comment policy without feeling like you are insulting your readers’ better nature.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Blog Basics 1: Comments and Comment Policies
Great Find: Commenting on CTBIZBlogs

Collaboration Link 3: An Event

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Collaboration Link 4: An Event
One blog sponsors an event in which many blogs contribute

This kind of collaboration occurs in many forms around the Internet. Here are two of my favorites–one that occurs often and a second that is ongoing. This may seem similar to Darren’s Bloggy Crush Collaboration Idea, but the topics here are usually more centered within a certain niche and often chosen to establish participation within a young community or to suss out a large chunk of information on a business topic. Two exapmles jump to mind immediately.

1. A Carnival Carnivals are popular because each blogger can showcase hie or her own interests and strengths to the benefit of the group. Martin, a Successful and Outstanding Blogger, is part of a Marketing Carnival at the moment that has participant writing posts. One host collects seven and compiles them together into a link list as a group publication, pointing to the articles on each individual blog.

2. Let the Comments Be the Posts David at Glittering Muse thought a friend of his had a great idea when the friend pulled a well–written comment out into the light of day. So David started an ongoing readership appreciation event called Glittering Commentari. He has advertised and invited blogs all over the Internet to look through their comments to find particularly moving, insightful, or funny comments that can stand on their own and deserve credit for the great comments they are. You can find information on how to participate at Glittering Commentari.

These collaborations are just two more ways that bloggers have found to link their efforts, ideas, and quality content to make their blogs more relevant and their communities stronger. Learning from each other and sharing what we know . . . where have I heard that before?

Didn’t think I’d find another way to get comments into a post this week, did you? he he.

Wait until you see what’s next . . . 🙂

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Collaboration Link 1: Image and Text
Collaboration Link 2: Topical
Collaboration Link 4: Movable Posts
Collaboration Link 5: An Interview
Collaboration Link 5: Begs the Question
Collaboration Link 6: Media Events

Great Find: Commenting on CTBizBlogs

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www.ctbizblog.com logo

Great Find: Commenting on CTBizBlogs by Sabine
Type of Article: How-to and Informational
Permalink: Commenting on CTBizBlogs by Sabine
Target Audience: Pros who want a model; Beginners who want information

Content: Successful and Outstanding Blogger, Sabine at CTBizBlogs, has written a top-notch document on how the comment feature serves in community building, pointing to Joel Achenbach’s Achenblog and Successful Blog as examples. She explains how Shirley Frazier’s comments led her to discover another great find Shirley’s Solo Business Marketing Blog. She also provides a straight-forward statement of her blog’s comment policy (a great model) and a how-to comment section that any new blogger could follow. Sabine does this so well, I wish she were writing software manuals, because then I might actually read them.

While you’re at CTBizBlogs, check out all you can. Everything that Sabine writes is quality, well-thought business advice.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Blog Basics 1: Comments and Comment Policies

Comments and Comment Policies

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I always remind myself that not everyone knows what I know, and how to post on a blog may be something the reader truly does not know. —Shirley George Frazier, Successful and Outstanding Blogger

Reading blogs is only one part of being part of a community. If you stop at that point, you are missing out of half the experience and half of the fun. Blogs are really intended to be part information sharing, part conversation between the writer and readers. As HART, a reader at Successful Blog said, “” . . .half the show is in the comments!”

Visiting a blog is much like stopping by a neighbor’s house. It’s cordial way to let the owner know that you stopped by. If you’ve stayed long enough to read something, leaving a comment is a nice gesture and a relationship-building act. It’s like leaving your calling card on a business call or leaving a note at the house of a friend.

How to Comment

  • Does the writer want comments? Rare is the writer who doesn’t. There are a few. They are easy to spot. They have removed the comment box from their blogs.
    OR
    A writer may have chosen a design that makes the comment box hard to find. If you don’t see it, look up near the title of the post. Some template designers think that’s a good place to put it. The designer was thinking of the design not the reader. Take the time to find the box and comment despite that, for the sake of the writer.
  • What do I write?

    • If the post inspired you, or made you think of something–a memory, a question, an argument, or a reason you agree–say so. If it didn’t, try “thank you.” That always works. You’d be surprised how nice just leaving a 😛 can be.

  • Can I leave a link? The biggest mistake I see is that occasionally visitors don’t understand that they are on another person’s blog, a space that someone has spent time and effort putting together, a place where a community has formed. This leads them to act in ways that don’t work in their favor. Whether it’s leaving a link or words that don’t sound right. Look around and see what others are doing. It’s a when in Rome kind of thing.
  • Are Trackbacks okay? Trackbacks are often good, particularly on business-type blogs where they are used to connect articles of relevant content. Be careful not to use them as your only form of communication, though, especially with blogs you’ve never visited. It can make you appear as if you are “too busy to be bothered” with actually visiting to comment in person.

A Comment Policy

Each blog owner can control whether a comment is posted to the blog’s comment page. That decision is made based on the blog’s comment policy. Have and state the comment policy for your blog.

The policy at Successful-Blog is simple–no spam, no profanity, and no disrespect for people who use this blog. Links that serve readers are welcome–though more than three, might be excessive. Harmless fun is always welcome.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Links from Outstanding and Successful Bloggers
Commenting on CTBizBlogs
The Comment Policy at Home Office Voice

Blogging Life Question 4: Blog Names

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For those who come looking for a short, thoughtful read, a blogging life discussion, or a way to gradually ease back into the week, I offer this Blogging Hypothetical Question.

Here you go. . . .

A friend is rethinking his brand-new blog, now that he knows a little bit about them.
He comes to you with two questions:

1. Is it a good thing or a bad thing to have “blog” in my name–such as Blogopedia? You’ve been around longer. Does that make it easier, harder, or just the same for the reader?

2. Suppose I choose a domain name now and want change my blog name later. I know people do it. I’ve seen it often enough. Does it cause any problems that you know about?
Is it okay if my domain name www.joescarideas.com doesn’t match with the new blog name Joe’s Rocket Lounge?

As a blog reader, not an SEO person, do these things make any difference to you?

–ME “Liz” Strauss