My Blog is not working. I write from the heart. I share opinions and offer tips for learning, but it is not enough. My posts do not generate discussions, they do not provoke comments. To be perfectly honest, I don’t even think they are being read by more than a select few. Why?
An internet marketer may criticise my lack of key words and tagging. They may point to the subject material and claim it is not interesting enough and does not solve a problem. Other bloggers may reach into the content and drag out a lack of personal voice or familiar appeal. Perhaps my posts are not sensational enough?
So what next? Write different content, solicit more links, search social networks for places to Pin, Digg and Stumble? How do I encourage discourse? How do I promote debate and how do I inspire shared dialogue.
This is my dilemma. I write to fulfil a need and, first and foremost, that need is within. I like to take random thoughts from scattered imaginings and arrange them in orderly patterns. I write to make sense of my world. However I also write to free trapped frustrations. I write to scream out against ideas that make no sense (… at least not to me). I write to support and I write to reveal alternative paths. I write so that readers may question.
But, as I said in the beginning, they don’t.
Do I need to change my reasons for writing? Is it even possible – if I don’t write from the heart, wouldn’t my writing become rote?
I need to find a workable solution. I would like to hear from you.
This post may seem like a self-indulgent, ego fed rant, but that is not my intention. Rather, I write to search for an answer and, I write in an attempt to follow my own advice. When teaching, I suggest the best way to improve writing is to write -write frequently and write regularly. When the writing is reflective, it also serves as a catalyst for fresh ideas. At the very least, writing about a problem helps an author identify the issues.
So, I have concluded I need to do more to find an audience. I am open to suggestions, but I accept the actions will be mine to take. I need to take responsibility for the connections I make and foster relationships from the embers of association. But I will still write from my own story and I will hope my story encourages readers to share theirs.
Oh, and if you do happen to read this, perhaps you could leave a comment below. What would you like to read about, or why do you write, 0r how do you bring people together?
Welcome to a World of Expression
Hey Mrs Feledy 🙂
I read your blog posts all the time. I especially like the reference to my class that you taught in Mr Stranges classroom with typewriters! I’ve found that with my Photography website aswell, that im struggling to find an audience, and i’ve realized that no matter how good the content is on your website, or how amazing your writing style is nor how provocative your questions are in your blogs, if people arent clicking or typing in your website and seeing the content, it may aswell not be there at all 🙁 What i have found is that the old fashioned letter box drops with hard copy flyers seem the be the only medium that works anymore, to get people “through the turnstiles”
Hope this helps,
Ryan 🙂
Thanks Ryan, the letter box idea is intriguing! It is funny how all the various internet marketing advice sites seem to suggest gathering a following is about great content and regular posts yet it doesn’t seem to generate the traffic. Sometimes a return to the street is the best way to actually meet people. Still the creation of content is fun, regardless of how many see it. Keep taking those amazing photos – perhaps they will end up on Strange walls 🙂