Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Making the Most of Campaigns and Blogfests

This is the last day you can sign up for Rachael Harrie's AWESOME platform-building campaign so I suggest you get over there NOW!

If you are planning on participating in this campaign or really in any blogfest, there are just a few points to consider before signing up:
  • Be available.  If you are going through the most hectic time in your life, don't sign up. Campaigns and blogfests are meant to help build relationships. You will not build very meaningful relationships if you aren't going to be available to participate. And it isn't fair to others who are trying to connect with you.
  • Fit the guidelines.  Read what the blogfest or campaign is looking for. If you write picture books only, don't sign up for a YA blogfest that is intended to build YA relationships. Again, they won't be meaningful relationships if you aren't who they're looking for.
  • Write meaningful posts.  It's like when you're planning to have guests over at your house.  Not your best friends, but new people you've never met before.  You clean up and bring out your best dishes, don't you? Same thing on your blog. New people are going to be stopping by at all hours of the day and night. Make sure you've got your best posts up, no filler fluff or off-topic randomness (unless that's who you are all the time). Broken record alert - you are building relationships. Let your visitors know what they're getting into, what they can expect from you so they'll want to return.
  • Give back. Don't just wait for people to come to you. Go visit them, leave a comment, say hi. No one wants to be the only one putting out in a relationship so make sure you do your fair share.
A big howdy hello and thank you to all my newest visitors, particularly the ones from the campaign! (WAVE!) These are just a few tips, do you have others about making the most of campaigns? Please share or just say hello in the comments.

23 comments:

Michelle Fayard said...

These are great and very wise tips, Laura; thank you, and I hope you and all the other campaigners have a wonderful time!

McKenzie McCann said...

Well, by your advice, I really shouldn't sign up. School starts on September 6th. I hope you make some great new connections. Have fun.

TL Conway said...

Hi! I'm a new follower through the campaign! I agree with your suggestions, but I won't lie--the 3rd one I find intimidating. As an unpublished author who feels like my writing isn't that good, I was really on the fence about joining the campaign. What if my posts aren't good enough? But it's only through trying that I can improve! :)

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

Giving back I think is the most difficult challenge. Building relationships is a two-way street. Only celebrities get to sit back and expect people to just visit their stuff because they are pretty and have nice teeth. Us regular folk have to reciprocate the love. I'm social by nature so I love getting to know people and what's on their mind (hence why I visit blogs).

Susanna Leonard Hill said...

Very helpful, Laura. Glad to see you on the campaign trail :)

Stephsco said...

Hey TL > I think what can help is to write about what interests you, not necessarily what you think you should. I felt stuck for awhile on my blog until I started writing up book reviews. It kept me writing and posting regularly, and the more I read the more connections I make with other readers and authors.

Laura Barnes said...

@TL - Of course we all feel that way! And I don't mean to say you need to have nobel prize winning material, I just mean don't choose this time to post pictures of your cat playing in the sun. Unless that's what your blog is about all the time. In other words, be yourself at your best and I'm sure we're all going to love you :)


@Stephsco - Great advice!

Anonymous said...

Happy Campaigning! I'm pottering around following many of you... xx

Patricia T. said...

Hello Laura. Just another campaigner stopping by to say hello. Look forward to connecting.

elizabethanne said...

Excellent advice, Laura. Thank you! And I so appreciate the way you responded to TL -- "be yourself at your best." I am working hard to get my blog to be more than just filler. It's certainly more rewarding to me, and I hope it will be to others.

Looking forward to reading more of your thoughts throughout the campaign and onward.

Kimberly Krey said...

Yea for the campaign! Happy to be a part of it too. :)

TL Conway said...

@Steph and Laura, thank you for your thoughts. "Be yourself at your best" is brilliant advice. I also like the idea of book reviews. Now if I can only get through Game of Thrones so I can move on to the rest of my TBR pile... ;)

Debbie said...

Hi Laura. Some good advice here. As this is the first time in taking part in the campaign I think I might have got a bit carried away with my over-enthusiasm. I'm in six different groups, making it a bit time consuming, so maybe if I do it again I'll knock that back to about half. Having said that though, I am enjoying it and meeting a great bunch of people.

Thanks for visiting my blog as well and I look forward to seeing more of you during the campaign.

Anonymous said...

Good day! Would you mind if I share your blog with my facebook group?

There's a lot of folks that I think would really appreciate your content. Please let me know. Many thanks

my blog vertical leap workouts

Anonymous said...

With havin so much content do you ever run into any issues of
plagorism or copyright infringement? My website has a lot
of exclusive content I've either created myself or outsourced but it seems a lot of it is popping it up all over the web without my agreement. Do you know any methods to help protect against content from being ripped off? I'd
really appreciate it.

my web site vertical leap workouts

Anonymous said...

Woah! I'm really digging the template/theme of this website. It's simple, yet effective.
A lot of times it's tough to get that "perfect balance" between user friendliness and visual appeal. I must say you've done a very good job
with this. In addition, the blog loads super quick for me on Internet explorer.
Outstanding Blog!

Also visit my weblog; harlequin ichthyosis

Anonymous said...

My spouse and I stumbled over here from a different web address and thought I should check things
out. I like what I see so now i'm following you. Look forward to finding out about your web page again.

Also visit my weblog: exercises to jump higher exercises to improve vertical exercises to improve vertical jump exercises to improve vertical leap exercises to increase vertical exercises to increase vertical jump exercises to increase vertical leap exercises for vertical exercises for vertical jump exercises for vertical leap workouts to jump higher workouts to improve vertical workouts to improve vertical jump workouts to improve vertical leap workouts to increase vertical workouts to increase vertical jump workouts to increase vertical leap workouts for vertical workouts for vertical jump workouts for vertical leap vertical jump exercises vertical leap exercises vertical jump workouts vertical leap workouts

Anonymous said...

Greetings from Carolina! I'm bored to tears at work so I decided to check out your blog on my iphone during lunch break. I love the knowledge you provide here and can't wait to take a look when I get home.
I'm surprised at how fast your blog loaded on my mobile .. I'm not even
using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow, excellent site!


my web page; ryland

Anonymous said...

I am sure this article has touched all the internet viewers,
its really really nice piece of writing on building up new blog.


Look at my webpage - vertical leap exercises

Anonymous said...

Howdy! Quick question that's totally off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My weblog looks weird when browsing from my iphone4. I'm trying to find a theme or plugin that might be able to resolve
this issue. If you have any recommendations, please share.
Many thanks!

Stop by my web page - exercises for vertical leap

Anonymous said...

Howdy! This blog post couldn't be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of my previous roommate! He always kept preaching about this. I am going to forward this post to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read. Many thanks for sharing!

My web page exercises to increase vertical jump

Anonymous said...

Every weekend i used to pay a quick visit this web page, for the reason that
i wish for enjoyment, since this this web site conations
actually nice funny stuff too.

Feel free to surf to my web page - how to dunk a basketball

Anonymous said...

Howdy, i read your blog occasionally and i own a similar one and i was just curious if you get a lot of spam responses?

If so how do you prevent it, any plugin or anything you can advise?

I get so much lately it's driving me crazy so any support is very much appreciated.

my blog: exercises to increase vertical leap

Post a Comment

I love hearing from you! You can choose to comment as a guest or use any of the other login options available after you hit "Post As". Thanks for contributing to the conversation :)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...