No Blog Stands Alone: Powering Up Relationships Through Blogging

Okay so now you've got your blog and you're slowly developing a following among a few faithful readers. I bet it has crossed your mind - thinking how to get more readers or followers and fortifying relationships that you're starting to create.

Blogging is one of the internet's greatest creations because it "shrinks the world". People from half-way across the globe and those you never imagined meeting can come face to face with you with just a computer and a good internet connection. Different cultures and races are brought together in a sense of camaraderie through common and shared interests, and it's a great way of making new friends and meeting potential associates. Conversations can develop from a single comment, and friendships are formed. And if you're blogging for business and pleasure, hooking up with other people is a fantastic way to bring in more traffic, interactivity, and an exchange of different views or opinions. You learn so many new things from others, and more importantly, blogging opens up doorways to forging new relationships with other bloggers.

Blogging brings rewards and success regardless of your purpose of getting into it. So whether you're blogging for personal reasons or marketing purposes, powering up your relationships with your audience and readers is essential to achieving success in all fronts.

So how do you power up relationships through blogging? Here are a few experiences I can share which I have observed to work quite well from my end.

LET YOUR BLOG BE YOUR VOICE

Be personal – your blog represents YOU. Let your fingertips do the talking as you pound on the keyboard when you write your blog entries. A blog needs a voice, not just words. You have to put your persona into it, therefore you need to be transparent and sincere. It's the best way to win the trust of others, so listen intently to their voice, too. You may have an ultimate purpose for blogging as most marketers do, but developing relationships will bring you to your goal, not hard selling.

PROMOTE THOUGHT EXCHANGE AND ALWAYS BE INTERACTIVE

Blogging is supposed to encourage personal exchanges as it is intrinsically a form of interaction. The great thing about blogging is that it is never academic – it's a non-prejudicial medium of thought exchange and everyone has the liberty to interact with the other in a healthy manner. A lot of learning happens through blogging. People share experiences and an exchange of opinions and ideas levels up interactivity from anywhere in the world. Interaction in blogging is crucial to building vital relationships.

 ENCOURAGE FEEDBACK

What's the Comment Box for in the first place? Sometimes, readers are hesitant to leave their comments especially when there's an existing thread by a few people who seem to be familiar with each other.  Motivate everyone and encourage them to leave comments to your posts whether they agree to it or not. Let them know their feedbacks are important to the development of your blog and in leading you to provide good content to your readers. When the atmosphere in your blog is welcoming and receptive, people will feel comfortable interacting and presenting their personal views and opinions. There's immense power in getting feedbacks.

FOSTER MUTUAL RESPECT

Respect is built through connecting with others. Borrowing from a common saying "No man stands alone", I think you'll agree with me that "No blog stands alone". In blogging, it is important to build strong relationships and establish connections that will roll out the carpet for the future of your blog. Link up with material from other bloggers that you find valuable. That definitely powers up relationships. It's a great measure of respect for them, and when you share their content or material, others will benefit from these, too. That's the whole point of blogging in the first place and definitely, such good deed will come back to you someday.

MAKE YOURSELF KNOWN TO THE BLOGGING COMMUNITY

Ever wondered what "feeds" are for?  It's a great way to let other bloggers know about you so you can hook up with each other. When others spot a nice post you just made, they will want to hear more about your passions and your experiences. Most likely they will subscribe to your feed, so always get back to the basics of blogging, the most important of which is to provide value to your content.

DWELL ON YOUR POSITIVE EXPERIENCES

Yes, there are numerous struggles to building a good blog, but no one will want to read about your problems. Rather, people will want to read about how you conquered your difficulties. So focus and enhance your positive experiences as you widen the pathways to blogging. When you remain positive, people will want to hook up with you. Relationships built on positive experiences become precious. It may take some time but it will definitely prosper. As a result, your blog's visibility will go nowhere but up.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGY

I'm in my golden years so I can definitely stand in awe at where technology has brought us. I've lived much of my life in the age of snail mail, ticker-tape and telegrams. Now I can chat with someone from a different time zone real-time! I can do a few clicks on Skype and talk to someone in tropical Asia from "The Frozen North" - Canada. Amazing! So apart from blogging, make full use of technology and make yourself available to your readers on a more personal level. Nothing beats real-time conversation when powering up your online relationships.

BE THANKFUL

In closing, I am just too thankful that I've come to experience this wonderful world of the internet and blogging. Distance, time and cultures may physically separate us, but blogging draws us closer to each other and allows us to build cordial or even deeper relationships with just about anyone worldwide.