Thought: On treating all your blog readers equally
I am seeing a continuing trend online where many bloggers, who say publicly that they cannot reply to all the e-mails and comments they get, do respond to all comments and e-mails they get by famous bloggers. Before gaining any significant traffic, these bloggers spent their early blogging days appreciating every comment they got as if it was gold. Later, as traffic increased and they got more blog readers, these bloggers started focusing on responding to comments made only by bloggers who talked about making a lot of money on their own blogs. It is as if the concept of appreciating the gold in every comment was overcome by the idea of worshiping those who had gold.
Today, many people seem to treat others who make a lot of money online with extra respect, while not paying much attention to the people who have been reading and commenting on their sites for a while. I have noticed bloggers going to other sites a lot when they start blogging, and then after a while, they start commenting only on blogs that are famous, forgetting most of the other people that commented on their site before.
Treat all your blog readers equally
Appreciate your readers the way you want to be appreciated. Yes, it may seem amazing responding only to a comment by a famous blogger on your site, but it also shows others in the long run what kind of a selfish person you are. Treat everyone equally; otherwise, you are telling people that unless they make money through their blogs, you will stop respecting them in the long run.
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( March 1st, 2007 at 9:00 pm )
I agree Bes. Some small-time bloggers get star struck.
I liken it to a guy talking to a fairly attractive girl. All of a sudden a more attractive girl comes walking by and the guy’s attention sways towards this new girl. As the new girl walks off, the other girl is disgusted and walks away. At the end of the day, the guy doesn’t end up with either.
Perhaps this analogy can be applied towards bloggers. It’s easy to get seduced (err, distracted) by more prominent bloggers visiting your site, but you can’t forget who the core readership is. I highly doubt the core readership of the blog is one prominent blogger who may visit again.
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( March 1st, 2007 at 11:10 pm )
Yeah, that’s some high school politics right there
I actually comment most on the people who I’ve known longer. I have one e-friend who started commenting in 2004 when I first opened my blog and even though she left the blog-scene and only posts on Livejournal, I still drop by to read it. With me, it’s not a popularity contest, but you and I seem to be in different circles so maybe it would be another story if I blogged about Google or web standards or something…
The bloggers who do this now are the kids who, in high school, followed the cheerleaders/jocks around, waiting for someone to throw them a bone. So even if their strategy works, they’re still a bunch of lamers.
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( March 2nd, 2007 at 7:31 am )
Hey bes, a good point you brought here.
This point not only applies for blogs but also in real life. Never forget old friends…
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( March 2nd, 2007 at 9:39 am )
Ronalfy, you are right: “star struck” explains it well.
I really like your example. Many bloggers are like that: they focus on anything that shines more than what they have, and they run after it, ignoring what they already have. That can be fine, but when other people are involved, it becomes strange.
Yes, it is easy to get seduced [lol] by other bloggers that show how much bling-bling can be made. You are right; these bloggers have to realize that majority of the people who read their writing are the ones who are being ignored most of the time. Thanks again for such a good example.
Ashley, heh, high school politics. That’s a nice way to put it
Thanks for the comment, I really appreciate it. 
I also comment more for people who have known me for longer amounts of time. Also, I comment regardless of the topic, and I try to comment for anyone who comes to my site. Sometimes it takes a while like a few days or even a week because of so many sites and people, but I focus on commenting because I know those people exist and they made an effort to come to my site, so I try to go to their site whenever I can regardless of them showing me how to make money or telling me how their car broke down.
You are probably right about bloggers who follow the typical trend; lol @ your example of such people following others around.
Sawai, thanks.
This same concept applies for offline situations also, probably even more.
Many people simply move on while forgetting about the people that helped them. Whether it’s immaturity or selfishness or simply the desire to use other people, people do forget about the elements that made their life better and happier.
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( March 2nd, 2007 at 11:05 am )
yes, yes. but you love me best right?
(kidding
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( March 2nd, 2007 at 3:16 pm )
Thank you for visiting my MyBlogLog community. Haha! Just joking!
I agree with what you’ve said here. One thing that really impresses me about Problogger is that if you ask a decent question or request of him (“link to me” is not) , you’re pretty much guaranteed a response. On top of that, he’d probably link to a site with only one post if that post was interesting and worthwhile.
Given the amount of sites, at any level, you’ve got to work hard for….every…single…reader!
Kumiko
xo
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( March 2nd, 2007 at 4:44 pm )
Stacee, ssshhhh, of course!
I am thinking of changing the title of this post in such a way that only you can see what I really meant to say:
“Thought: On treating all your blog readers equally except Stacee, who is above them all
Kumiko – Haha! You are funny!
Thanks for leaving the comment Kumiko and for stopping by! I really appreciate it.
I have seen Darren (ProBlogger) link to sites which have just been born (I love that expression), meaning he is not limiting himself to link only to sites that are already famous. You are right; every reader requires a lot of hard work, like in real life where one has to work hard to make good friends and good connections with other people.
Thanks again.
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( March 2nd, 2007 at 5:38 pm )
Hey! I thought you love me the best?! =P I’m JUST KIDDING! LOL.
Anyways, yep, you brought up, yet, another good point!! I’ve actually noticed that with some past visitors of mine’s… I had people who used to comment on my site and such, and then after they “made it big”, they’ve stopped commenting on my site, yet, I still see them commenting on other’s…
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( March 2nd, 2007 at 8:46 pm )
Hi there,
This article is really interesting. Besides people respect people who make money online more, blogs teaching you how to make money are also more popular than the others.
This might be because most of us think MONEY IS EVERYTHING. Sounds sad, but it’s true.
Iris.
http://iristwo.blogspot.com/
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( March 3rd, 2007 at 10:49 am )
Chau, ssshhh, of course! hide hide, you are the secret lover!
About some people not visiting, I am guilt of not visiting everyday. For some blogs that write detailed stuff [
] that are true, I sometimes wait a bit to see how others react before reacting. Also, I like chatting with instant messengers if possible also.
I am glad you are big and getting bigger [not you, but your site,
] and I hope you will always keep coming here! 
Iris, thanks for coming and commenting! Welcome, and so nice to hear your opinion on this.
I am glad that you like this article. You are right; “people respect people who make money online more” or show how to make money. It’s as if blogging was done solely to make money, while acting and pretending along the way that we care about commentors or posts or other people online. Many people simply care and show respect to their readers simply to get more traffic without giving much back to the people that made them famous or money in the first place.
Thanks for sharing! I hope to see you around the site more.
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( March 5th, 2007 at 9:22 am )
Trusting the readers is the most important thing.I was on hoax when i lost some of the subscriber on firefox then i some mails came telling they liked Google better.
But the most tricky part is to check the mood of the readers, one of the eays is to change the topic once isn a while and give them something else to read.
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( March 5th, 2007 at 9:38 am )
Thanks for the comment Ashish, I really appreciate it.
Checking the mood of the readers; that’s an important point, thanks for bringing it up. Giving users something else to read can help a lot.
Thanks again Ashish; I hope to see more of your comments.
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( May 27th, 2009 at 7:09 am )
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
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