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Why the Real Value of a Blog Does Not Lie in the Comments Alone

From time to time I read a post that causes me to step back for a moment and wonder.  Mainly I wonder if I am getting it.  Am I wrong in my beliefs or my position when it comes to blogging.  So what I do is keep the post open in one of my browser tabs and read it again and again over a week or so.

This very thing happened again 10 days ago when I read a post over at For Bloggers by Bloggers.  The post was “Why the Real Value of a Blog Lies in the Comments.”

Over the last 10 days or so, I have read this post at least 8 or 9 times.  I have thought about it, stewed about it and even visited with some of my most trusted friends who are not afraid to tell me I am full of crap.  I have expressed my concerns about the topic and the fact I don’t agree with the post.  I also expressed my feelings on the fact I thought the post was simply wrong.

While I am never afraid of a good discussion, argument or disagreement. I do try to not publicly express them as much as I would like.

However, for me blogging to promote and market a business is a passion. And it has been for almost 6 years now.  And I felt this topic was too important to remain quiet about.

Caveat:  Remember I am talking about blogging to promote and market a business.  Whether that be a home based business, brick and mortar business, downtown business, professional service firm or the mom & pop coffee shop around the corner. I am not talking about a blog about blogging, marketing blog or a PR blog.

I started blogging to promote and market a business almost 6 years ago.  While there were not many of us blogging in that fashion back then, all of us knew we were on to something.  We were provided a tool, blogging, which we could use to connect with our target market in ways that really had not been done before.  Blogging back then and still is an interactive marketing tool. It is a communication tool.  Best of all, it is a two way conversation we can have between us and our audience.

All of that I agree with and I do agree comments are a huge part of this too.

What I do take issue with were a few of the statements in the post I mention above.  Let me quote the statements which I do take exception with.

Blogging is not just about the comments

[I]t?s not the blog that offers the most bang for your buck, but the comments that follow once published.

And…

…if you?re opening up a conversation to connect to your audience, then there?s only one place that happens ? the comments section. And that part of your blog is where the digital gold is melted into shape. (Emphasis added).

While I do agree those statements are true to a point. I do take issue with the position that the comments of a blog post is the only place this happens.  Saying the comments is the only place is a bit of a narrow or naïve point of view.

For a business blog, comments can be a luxury.  In other words, business blogs sometimes get very few if any comments. And if you are blogging to promote and market a professional service firm, you may not get any comments at all.  It is not because your content does not warrant comments. This is just a general fact when it comes to blogging and a business blog.

From my own experience, it is not that people find your content unappealing. Nor they found it boring or anything else.  It is simply because people who read business blogs are mostly looking for information.  They are looking for a reason to contact you for more information.  Or they are looking for answers to their questions and solutions to their problems.

Readers of business blogs are not the same readers who read this blog or Problogger, CopyBlogger, Remarkablogger, Jim’s Marketing Blog, Chris Garrett or any of the other blogs out there about marketing or PR.

Readers of business blogs are our consumers, our customers, our clients and our potential customers and potential clients.

The conversation may take place in other places

So, if the conversation is not taking place just on the business blog, where is it taking place?  A blog is not the only place this happens, period!

Yes, I agree “a blog starts the conversation.”  What I don’t agree with is, the comments are the end of it.  I don’t agree that if a blog doesn’t get a huge number of comments, the blog is not a good blog and doesn’t serve a valuable service to its readers and the business using it as a marketing tool.  What I also take exception to is the narrow point of view that the comments are it.  The goose that laid the golden egg.

The conversation for a business blogger had better not stop in the comments too.  As a business  who is blogging, you want your visitors to become readers and you want your readers to become regular readers. And in the end, as a business who uses a blog to market and promote that business, you want those readers to become either customers or clients. You want them to buy from you.

You post on your blog to get traffic to your site and in turn traffic to your business.  You are educating your customers and/or clients to make them better consumers of your products or service.  You are positioning yourself as the go to place for information.  And if you are providing that information on your blog, your readers come to trust you as a good, up-to-date, relevant source of this information.  Finally, when your reader realize they need to buy your product or service, where are they going to turn, hopefully to you.

Simply put, they are not going to buy from you just because of the comments on your blog.  They are going to buy from you because you answered their questions. They are going to buy from you because you told your story.  You explained how your product or service can provide for their need or solve their problem.

The conversation from your blog post will move right off of your blog and to your store. It will move to your office. The conversation will happen on the phone when they call you because you educated them and provide them with your number on your blog.  They will email you because you used a form on your site they could fill out and ask for help or ask questions.  Or they simply clicked on the link you put in your contact page and emailed you directly.

Consumers are not going to do this as freely in the comments.  Why, because they may not want anyone else to know about their problem or issue. They may not want anyone to know they are looking at buying that new washer and dryer or that new car.  They would rather talk to a person.  And your blog started the conversation, it did not end it in the comments.

And let’s not forget about social media

The conversation also is mobile now. It wonders from our blogs to social media. We see our blog posts discussed on twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for example.  And those conversations even bring new readers back to the post so they can read what everyone is talking about.

The conversation simple does not happen in one place.  It happens everywhere.  Our job is to start that conversation on our blogs by providing content that gets the conversation going.

Final thoughts

I know this post is going to cause some anger and perhaps even tick some people off.  Good!  Leave a comment and we can discuss it.  I have never not published a comment from someone who disagrees with me.  What I don’t tolerate is flaming of my readers or me.  I do welcome a good discussion.

 

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Published by: Grant Griffiths

Related posts:

1. 7 ways to get comments on your blog
2. How do I get more comments on my blog?
3. 10 Ways To Get More Comments On Your Blog Posts

Full post as published by Blawg for Profit on November 23, 2010 (boomark / email).