I attended Chicks Who Chat on last Tuesday night at MOM TV (I think it was Tuesday, don’t quote me on the day) and the discussion was blogging, what made you want to start blogging and did you take a break and then come back, etc.  There were a few comments talking about the number of visitors not reflecting the number of comments, like there will be way more visitors than people who actually leave comments.

So let’s look at the obvious reasons why this might be:

1. Your post is not interesting, relevant or useful enough, and when I say this, I mean to your specific niche/audience, everyone has their own version of interesting.
2. They were directed to your site through a keyword, but your content was not what they were looking for. For this you can get an idea of what percentage to eliminate by looking at your bounce rate – those who are on and then off. I have heard that you do not want your bounce rate above 30%, but I am not in SEO, so not sure?
3. The title of the post was not interesting/captivating enough for them to click on the post to read it.

On the note of tips that can help your blog get shared see Chris Brogan’s post, it’s a really helpful post.

So, what if none of these fit you and you are still having people come to your blog and not leave comments, well I have good news for you! It’s most likely nothing you are doing wrong. I am not saying that there is not a strategic process that goes into place to figure out who your buyer persona is and how to reach them, how to engage with them, i.e. which technology to use, etc.  I am just addressing my observation of seeing bloggers who are good, they have good content for their niche and they will get anywhere from 7 to upwards in comments per post, but they still are focusing on the number of visitors and the percentage that is not commenting.

Some people just do not comment, or they do not comment unless they are extremely passionate about the particular topic.

I attended an Awareness/Forrester webinar not too long ago and I learned some interesting statistics:

• 18%  – publish a blog, write articles or stories and post them, upload video and music they created.
• 25% -  post ratings reviews, comment’s on blogs, contributes to online forums
• 12% -  uses RSS feeds (Really, I was shocked at this one), adds tags to web pages or photos, votes for websites online.
• 25% – maintain a profile on a social networking site.
• 48% – read blogs, watch video from other users, listen to podcasts, read online forums.
• 44% – do none of the above.

So there you have it, more than half of people in the online community are just reading, listening absorbing. After they do one of these, they are either coming back or they are not?  Comments, interaction is important, you want to engage with your readers, but engaging does not always mean your audience leaving comments.  If you are engaging them they will come back, and as far as looking at numbers – that is the one I would focus on, are my readers coming back? How many want to see more?

Although the ‘spectators‘ are not the ones that are commenting, this does not mean that they are not spreading the word some how, this does not mean that they are not creating buzz for you.

It’s also great practice to track your short URL to see how many clicks you are getting; it might give you an idea of how many are sharing your information.   Bit.ly is one you can use, there are also some other ranking/tracking tools you can gather from this Mashable article by Ben Parr.

Also to give you a little demographics on the spectators so you can see how they fit into who your audience: (Via Forrester)

• 70% – Under 25
• 67% – 25-34 (Single, no kids)
• 62% - 25 -34 (Married, no kids)
• 66% – 25-34 (with kids)

As long as you are blogging about what is relevant to your audience and they are coming back for more and passing on your posts, creating buzz, etc. then to me the comment part is not on the top of the priority list.  Everyone loves getting comments, it is what helps us grow and lets us know that what we are writing is something of use.  I just wouldn’t want some of the people that I have heard have concerns try to fix something that is not broken.

What do you think is more important, comments, others creating buzz, or readers that cannot get enough and come back again and again?

Want to now how Uncle Ben’s is my LifeSaver? Read on….

This may not be the norm for a productivity/organizational tip, but it has been a lifesaver for me. My husband was laid off for a while so as a mother that works from home I forgot how hard it can be to balance taking care of my son and working. Not to mention before my husband got laid off my son could not crawl or walk, so it was much easier. Now my husband has been back to work for a month, and although I am getting back in the grove when it comes to work and chasing my son around, I am still missing that necessity – FOOD.

About two months ago I won three bags of ‘Uncle Bens Ready Rice’ and well – lets say I do not enter the kitchen much, so my husband made the other two bags, and although they tasted yummy, back then I never experienced the best part of ‘Uncle Bens Ready Rice’ and that is making it.

This past Monday I was in the kitchen making Jackson lunch, he is fussing at me because I am not moving fast enough and I am scouring the cabinets for something quick to make, and there is nothing.  Some days I can just go without eating lunch, well today was not one of those days. Thankfully I came across the bag of ‘Uncle Bens Ready Rice’ I can’t tell you how good the words ‘ 90 seconds’ looked.

Of course I added some butter, because I am incapable of being healthy it seems.

As odd as it is, this is my productivity tip ‘Uncle Bens Ready Rice’ I know it bought me a number of things, bought me 30 more minutes in the day, bought me less of a headache from my 16 month old screaming for his mom to come feed him, bought me a happier day as I was not grumpy due to lack of nutrition.

What is your Productivity Tip? What helps you get through the day?

“Social Media and What Gives” was the topic of this past Spin Cycle with @ExtraordMommy

Two days later I find myself still thinking about this topic.  I know what gives for me, my kids, my husband, my me time, well wait a minute – I guess social media has become my ‘me’ time. I really hate admitting that I spend less time with my kids because I am on the internet, because reading my own words make me cringe, but it’s the truth.

When I first found twitter and used it for a few weeks, my mind was strictly on work, another way to network.  In the first month I was addicted to twitter, there were so many great minds to pick, so many great articles being posted.  Then I am not even sure how it happened, but twitter switched from only being a tool I could use while at work to becoming part of my social life.  People share their lives, their goals, their tragedies online and you grow to develop friendships with them, you feel a connection that you never thought would be possible just from communicating online.  I have learnt so much on a professional level and on a personal level from being on twitter, but it is amazing how time consuming social media in general can be.  There are tweets, and then the tweets link to an article or blog posts, then posts lead to engagement and so on it goes.

I have tried to pull myself away from the computer time and time again, and there are weekends where I succeed, there are weekends when I spend time with my family and barely touch the computer and there are times where it is the opposite.  However, I think I might have found a way to help me get more ‘me time’ and more time with my kids…

There are two things I am addicted to – Work and the Internet. I have an obsessive personality; it is one of those things I try to balance or curve often.  So I thought what if I take what I know I am already obsessed with and try to translate that into a way to spend more time with my family.  I know that probably sounds backwards huh. But I think it will work.  About 6 months ago I came across a forum/networking site called Baltimore Mommies:

I signed up, and like I have done with quite a few memberships or networking sites, I never went back.  So after taking a second look I thought that this may be a good way to network with other moms in the area, which will lead to more activities I can do with my kids and also for play dates where they can play with other kids.  They also have GNO, and although I love the #GNO that I join on Tuesday nights, I do feel at times that I need a GNO where I actually see other people.  My close friends although I love them much, for the most part are far away or single. They have bowling, scavenger hunts, library trips, orioles games and all kinds of fun stuff I can do with the kids that will not cost me tons of money.

I am not one of those creative moms that can think of neat, crafty ideas to do with my kids, so to have others make plans where I and my kids can go and interact is perfect.  Also, my kids are 16 months, 6 years’ old, and 10 years old.  They are never on the same page with what they want to do and what they consider to be a good time.

I am super excited that I have now just become active in this group.  I am supposed to go meet a group of mothers tonight, which should be interesting.  This is new to me, as I have never just gone and met a group of women that I did not know. I will tell you how it goes!

What gives for you for you?  Have you joined a network like Baltimore Mommies before?  What was your experience?  I am a tad nervous so any tips, stories would help.

I attended #GNO on Tuesday night hosted by MomitForward. They always have great twitter parties, but this past Tuesday’s discussion was even more so of a interest to me, as it applies to a transition I am making shortly.  I am starting my first hosted blog, actually two blogs, one being a non-profit and one being a place where I will give PR tips/tools/software comparisons, and work at home tips as well.  With the non-profit I really did not plan on doing giveaways or reviews, although that may change if they are applicable to my non-profit.  However I have used some great tools/products that have been a god sent to me as a mom of a 16 month old that works from home.  So now with so much of the focus being on the transparency of blogs, and what is or is not allowed, I am really not sure as a fairly new blogger that I should be touching something that seems to have so much drama and controversy around it.  Not that I have any problem with disclosure because that makes sense to me, I am just not sure how in depth the rules and regulations are going to be and that would be another added facet, something else I would have to learn when it comes to the blogging world.  With that said I think I will wind up doing giveaways anyway.

I learned a lot from Tuesday nights #GNO and then was able to learn even more on Spin Cycle which also covered blogger transparency hosted by @extraordmommy. I do recommend that you check out the Spin Cycle on Wednesday nights at 9 PM EST.  I feel it is much more interactive then a twitter party, although I love the twitter parties, by the time I leave them, my head is spinning and I wake up with a headache even when there is no wine involved. I have their button and a screen shot below so you can get a feel for how the interaction is done.

What you will see when you join Spin Cycle

Click on this Button to Check out Spin Cycle

What is this FTC stuff all about anyway: I am sure everyone knows what the issue is by now, but to my surprise upon doing some digging I found that this has been in the works since 2006.  Maybe it is the pessimist in me or the realist as I prefer to say, but I thought it was journalist’s that were threatened that bloggers were becoming so popular and that they had complained, but I am not sure about that anymore as I connected the feeling threatened with the economy and I do not think things were even starting to get bad back in 2006. The grasp I have on this is that the FTC is questioning the ethics of receiving payments (what is a payment? That is not known yet) without disclosure that in some cases this can violate consumer-protection laws on deception. This is per Ron Coleman from his 2006 Article “Blogger Transparency Mandated by FTC” Another issue I just learned about is that ‘Google’ has already began tightening restrictions on blogs that link to the sponsor’s site and that bloggers are suppose to insert some type of a software code to negate the value of those links. I do not know all the details on this, but this does not seem right.  I do not think I understand fully either, is negating those sponsor links going to take your blog down further in Google; I get the disclosure piece, this part not so much.

What is the Consensus: As far as I can see the consensus from most bloggers is that they do not mind disclosing if they were given money or a free product, but that their personal blog and giveaways should be on one blog and not separate.  I am all for disclosure, I think being upfront and honest is a must, do I think that it is a little unjust that some outside of the blogger category can get away with this, but yet we are being put in the spotlight, yes I do!  With that said if you want me to review your product, and I do not already own it, well then the only way I am reviewing it, is if you send it to me for free.  To me it is a given that you would be sent a product for free to try it out and give your review or to hold a giveaway. I think the odds of this statement being true are very low “The FTC says it wants to protect consumers, who may take a blogger’s opinion at face value without knowing it was influenced by an advertiser.” From Douglas MacMillan at Business Week in New York on his recent article “Blogola: The FTC Takes On Paid Posts” This is why – when I go onto a post that talks about a giveaway or a review there are usually hundreds of comments, and usually always through those comments or through others on twitter I hear about others who have personally used the product, I am sure this does not apply to every product, but there are quite a few were I saw a second personal encounter right in front of my eyes, so it is not like this is one person and they are the only ones that are allowed to speak on this product with no outside interaction, does that make sense? Or no?

I said this at #GNO and at Spin Cycle, someone should do an eBook on everything blogging, on the ethics, on how you should do your press kit, to how to provide good content.  I believe there is a huge audience for this, unfortunately I just do not know enough about it to write an eBook on the subject.  However through GNO and Spin Cycle I have learned some great tips that I have below

This is a post that I recommend reading, although if I was an advertiser I would honestly be interested in seeing stats, as I want to see the whole picture and I would feel stats is a part of that, but you can almost always bet where there is good content their will be visitors, where you are being true to you and giving your audience useful or entertaining information your audience will come back again and again. I am going to aim for the useful part, as I can admit on an entertaining level my writing pails in comparison to others.

From @AlliWorthington blog post at Mrs. Fussypants

“It’s not your traffic, it’s your VOICE

I took a clip from her post that I found to be very dead on.

I am a believer in being persistent and proactive and to go after what you want. I have sought out work with a company that was not hiring before and they made a position for me, I have moved up at my last company 5 times within 4 years. I am not a bold person, well not if you do not know me anyway.  So if I did not stick my neck out there I would still be working at Glamour Shots as a Customer Service Rep. I think at first companies may not come to you, so if this is something you are serious and passionate about then you need to go to them.

There were some different opinions at this past Tuesday’s GNO on this exact topic.  Please keep in mind these are in 140 characters and one piece of hours of conversation so there could be more or the comment could be what it is, for instant @jessicaknows was talking about consulting and blogging, not sure which one she was referring to in her comment below.

If you do not feel comfortable approaching companies you could always write reviews on products you already have thereby allowing you to get noticed. As @classymommy noted as well, after you review a product you already have, let the company know you did a review on them.

A good Question that I invite anyone that may know to answer. I did taxes for a little but for not too long, but I believe gifts of a certain value have to be disclosed, but I am not sure if this is correct or what the value is, if you receive money I am pretty sure you do have to disclose that.

Some other excellent tips

Info on how to build a killer press kit sent by @gwenbell -

The last bit of link love I am giving for this post is: Gwen Bell Interviews Stephanie Precourt About Blogging for Money

My last thoughts:

Where I stand at this moment is:

• Disclosure is a must

• Do not say Yes to every opportunity that comes along, make sure it goes with your brand, think if your readers would be interested.

• Do not focus on traffic, focus on your voice.

• Support other bloggers, the blogger community is huge and we could be so powerful if we only all supported each other, I have seen us do it time and time again.  Since this has come to light, I see bloggers get snippy with other bloggers and attack each other.  With that said, someone told me a while back, you can not read emotions in writing, and when you condense it down to 140 characters it makes it even harder, so I am sure the things I could have seen could just be mis-communications.

• If I do get to the point of doing reviews or giveaways I will give my feedback on a product whether it is good or bad, I would never trash a company or be rude, but I would give my honest feedback.  Although I am new at this, I feel we have a obligation to our readers to give them the full picture, the things we don’t care for and the reasons why and the things we love.

• What would have been different for me if I did not attend GNO and Spin Cycle: Before last week I would have not really had a hold on what was going on or how to go about addressing it when I move over to my new home, and also I very much think I would have been a YES woman and go against everything I know, and would have chosen to say YES vs. just focusing on providing good content.

So what do you think on blogger transparency, should you have to disclose if you get a product for free, does it make a difference, or does it really boil down to how much you trust the blogs you follow, what do you think?

When bloggers first start out what should be our rule of thumb, should we reach out to companies, or just keep writing good content and entice them that way to come to us, would love to here everyone’s opinion.