River Pines California USA
Look at the featured image for this post.
Sweet digs, eh?
Spending one month in a gorgeous spot feels good.
But the homeowners had to invite us here before we arrived.
Duh, of course.
The homeowners opened the fence – we have the code – to let us in.
The duo places barriers (a big ass fence on 20 acres in the Sierra Nevada mountain range) to prevent entry to:
- burglars
- mountain lions
- coyotes
but lets in sugary sweet friends like my wife and I, along with the general public.
Really?
Why yes, of course.
UPS guys. Fed Ex guys. Amazon guys.
The homeowners cannot repel everyone because people rely on others in this world of duality.
Living in a cave is one option, I guess.
But for the rest of us worldly folks, being accessible is a non-negotiable. You and I cannot reject everyone because we need at least some humans for help, be it money, food, shelter and the survival basics (depending on your definition).
Blogging is funny.
Gaining organic traffic and income involves inviting people to find your blog. Targeted readers need to find it to see it. Seeing content goads some to trust content. Trusting readers return. Some buy your stuff. Others drive referral traffic. Others drive referral business.
Cool.
But beware one glaring blogging problem.
Every one of you repels readers in some way, shape or form. We erect fences. We set up barriers. Gotta keep the scammers and spammers out, you see.
Worry not; I repel readers too.
The secret to repelling readers is minimization.
Repel people as little as possible. Open up the flood gates, by and large. Let humanity in minus the few riff raff types.
For example, I prevent people from littering spam comments on Blogging From Paradise Dot Com. Is it a good idea to send spammers heading for the cyber hills? Yes.
The Problem
But a problem arises here.
Preventing spam can stop genuine folks from dropping authentic comments.
In a world of duality, placing barriers keeps legit people out.
I currently require readers to supply an email address to drop a comment; this reduces spam. But what if some fear dropping their email addy for privacy concerns? Imagine a genuine human being hellbent on sharing their real thoughts via a detailed comment. Someone who adds massive value here. Someone who would become a loyal reader. Someone who would become a loyal customer.
But this reader fears sharing their email address. Perhaps he or she was burned by spammers in the past. We have all been there.
So at the end of the day, this person stops reading Blogging From Paradise Dot Com; dropping genuine comments to bond with me was that important to the individual.
This is the blogging problem.Â
Repelling blogging vampires also rejects people who want your help.
How Do You Solve this Problem?
Minimize repelling.
Remove rejection as much as humanly possible.
Open the floodgates even if it feels super duper scary.
Let a decent chunk of humanity in even though problems arrive with these masses.
Why?
Organic traffic and blogging income arrive with the targeted masses as well.
In duality, the sweet comes with the sour. The money comes with the infrequent but persistent headaches. The organic traffic comes with a few biting critics. Heavy traffic brings spammers. Blogging business brings people who want to place a backlink for $5 USD.
Comes with the territory, folks.
No way around it.
Let ’em in.
Open the floodgates.
Make it easy to:
- find your blog
- read your blog
- drop comments on your blog
Develop a sense of community.
Build a thriving blogging business.
Reduce barriers to entry.
Let ’em in.
Open ’em up.
Examples of Repelling Readers
Check these out:
- closing comments
- setting up stringent spam filters
- using pop-ups
- providing no email address or contact form
- sharing no social media icons for communication
Embedding pop ups scares off readers. For every email sub, a hefty volume leaves your blog forever. Others find that their patience wears thin after seeing a pop-up greet their peepers on every visit. Others tire of seeing the pop-up daily. People want content. Why ask them to give you something before offering content? Why point a cyber gun at their head?
Pop-ups do “work” but at what cost?
You get one email sub then piss off 30 potential readers who never return.
Does that really work?
Is it perhaps trading immense long term success for 1 email subscriber now?
Food for thought, my Young Blogging Padawans.
