Bath England
Did you know that some of your readers lurk in the cyber shadows?
I call them blogging lurkers.
People who never reveal themselves publicly read your blog posts. Some buy your premium products. Others never do anything but visit your blog for every update. Yet others lurk around a few updates here and there.
Factoring blogging lurkers into your strategy may be a life or death deal. At least in the cyber world; I’m not kidding.
You may succeed but consider quitting because readers rarely if ever engage you, privately or publicly.
That’s a huge mistake.
It Is NOT Working….or Is It?
Bloggers often quit because no human appears to read their blogs.
Numbers seem to register. Metrics manifest. Statistics appear. But not one human being drops a comment. Nobody says anything on social media. No one sends you emails. It is like your blog doesn’t exist. Humans do not offer proof of cyber life. All you want is someone to acknowledge you but it does not happen.
I have certainly been there.
I experienced vast stretches of human-free activity on my blogs over the years. Lurkers hid in the cyber shadows. People read my blogs. But nobody said anything about reading my blogs.
I felt frustrated. Disgusted, I pondered quitting because I assumed that my posts did not impact folks enough for anyone to speak up and show me some love. Hell; nobody spoke up to show me hate or to offer any type of feedback.
I erred.
I did make a difference.
Blogging From Paradise metrics proved that people were out there following my blog closely.
Lurkers follow your blog for a reason.
People want your content. Followers need your content. You are hitting the mark. You made a difference.
But some loyal community members consume content, benefit themselves and change their lives in silence.
Quitting based on the “lurker factor” is a mistake.
Who cares if organic traffic shares their thoughts in either a private or public setting?
A decent percentage of humanity appreciates content, products or services but never links themselves to each in expressive fashion.
We’ve all been lurkers.
Consider Your Lurking Habits
I am writing these words on a Chromebook.
I never publicly endorsed Google Chromebooks even though this is my second go around.
Consider my current baby Chromebook; the smaller version. I used a bigger sucker as well.
Until this point, I did not express any opinion about my Chromebook usage on Blogging From Paradise Dot Com, as far as I remember. That makes me a Chromebook lurker.
Gazing into the fridge here in Bath, England reveals food from Sainsbury’s grocery store. I never publicly endorsed the chain, nor did I share any opinion of the store in the cyber world on my blog, prior to these utterances.
Do you see what I am getting at?
You and I lurk most of the time.
People typically consume without talking about it.
Billion dollar companies boast millions of customers who never engage in referral marketing. Does this suggest that the billion dollar company is not making a difference? Did the billion dollar company miss the mark during its early days when loyal lurkers showed up at the outset?
Most humans are lurkers, if you really think about it.
You never know who may be following your blog.
You Never Know Who Is Out There Following Your Blog
I recall one of my dear childhood buddies recounting a tale of blogging lurking while on holiday with his wife in Jamaica.
After settling in he met a couple of fellow travelers on the tropical island.
He mentioned his traveling blogger buddy – me – to the surprise of his newly found friends. Turns out, they knew exactly who Ryan Biddulph, the Blogging From Paradise guy, was. The other couple on vacation in Jamaica followed my blog.
Perhaps we had one cyber encounter years ago but I did not clearly remember the couple.
For all intents and purposes, two more Blogging From Paradise cyber lurkers proved that you never know who follows your blog.
People who deeply appreciate your content may never reach out to you. Never forget this most fundamental of blogging ideas; most readers who rely on your helpful content do not actually express their gratitude with an email, X update or blog comment.
Never quit blogging because you do not receive personal validation from people who never offer personal validation.
Keep blogging.
Keep going.
Keep Blogging
Blogging’s great tragedy is the ratio who quit because of discounting lurkers.
Why would you quit? Why throw in the towel while you succeed? Stop yourself. Think.
Address that nonsense now.
You are making a difference. Readers value your content. Organic traffic is on the cumulative rise. Things are coming together. You are not missing anything but ego validation; this is a can of worms, anyway.
During one Blogging From Paradise stretch of heavy lurking, one reader noted that my blog generated 30,000 visits monthly. For the 1000 visits my blog generated daily back then, readers barely offered a thought about my blog on some days. Blogging From Paradise lurkers dominated that 30,000 number back. My loyal community deeply valued my content. Who cares if they said anything about my posts? I had hit the mark. Hitting the blogging mark is the end goal.
Conclusion
Be truly helpful consistently to go pro.
Some people offer feedback on your helpfulness.
Other people do not engage you but deeply value your practical blog posts.
Keep blogging.
You are making a genuine difference.
Success is yours.
