I just finished reading a post on a blog I have started following recently - The Things We Find Inside made a post entitled How to Get More Followers to your Blog, which raised some questions about following blogs and then keeping up with everything...
My comment back to her post was:
I have to say that commenting back and engaging my readers by commenting intelligently on their posts helps as much as blog hopping and 'getting out there' I try to visit anyone new, and comment on posts that are relevant to me and that I can intelligently make a remark on or add to... I've also stopped doing 'blog hop posts' but will include the places I'm hopping at the bottom of a regular post to share the respect that i have for those hosting hops... I tend to unfollow blogs whose sole purpose is to hop and gain more followers ... I'm not blogging for a popularity contest, but to actually have people read and share my life, my interests and the reviews that I do... I also don't track the whole follower thing too hard - if you want to un-follow me because you're not getting what you want from me, then hey... that's your right... I actually keep a list of new blogs I follow and how often I can comment or add to the discussion... or even find relevant posts... then I use it to help me make decisions on my time...
Then I got to thinking more about things - I have followers who read my blog for the content, some who follow because it gets them extra entries in my give aways, some follow only in the hopes that I will follow them back, some follow because they are my friends online or in real life and some follow for reasons completely unknown to me...
If you follow me and have a blog, chances are I follow you back and try hard to comment on posts that you make... because I love knowing more about you, keeping up with recipes, your kids, the family drama, the pets etc... and I also try to enter your giveaways and contests when it's a product or service that I could really use... I also am one of those people who actually read product and book reviews regularly - because I know that honest, well thought out opinions will help me be a better consumer and a better shopper.
I currently have over 350 blogs that I'm following and I really do try to at least skim each post that comes through... and I try to comment on as many as I can...
But I've come to the conclusion - follow me or follow me not, if I like what you're saying and what you're blogging, I'll be a good follower for you... whether you follow me or not :)
What's your opinion on this? Are you, as my followers, annoyed when I add blog hops to the bottom of my posts? How do you attract, maintain and keep your followers happy? Is there something you'd like me to do for you as followers that I'm not doing?
Please share your thoughts ...
H.
