So this morning I read a plea for help from a business owner. She asked for guidance or resources to help her decide to have or NOT to have comments allowed on her blog?
She explained she would have no time to moderate comments.
the lack of time seems to be the common theme for small business owners.
To sum of the replies to her plea- 80% said YES you should allow your readers to comment on your blog for building a community and to prove socially that your website is credible.
The other 20% said NO you should not allow readers to comment as to moderate blog comments is too time consuming and to allow your readers to email you with questions.
Naturally this discussion on facebook intrigued me for two reasons:
First, most online marketers tell you to comment on other blogs in order to get the attention of the popular blog owners.
Second, I rarely read comments on other peoples blogs because it’s too time consuming.
So that left me thinking- should I turn off blog comments? Are people really reading blog comments- (especially on the popular blogs)?
Can I really get in front of my target market by commenting on other blogs when the intent the of most commenters are to get the attention of the blog owners?
If you’re using a blog to market your business, is moderating blog comments getting you the result you want?
I walked to the local coffee shop to write this post. I thought to myself, “What is my life’s work?” How do I want to spend my time?
A productivity rule I learned 15 years ago working for a management consulting firm is a principle that continues to guide me today. It’s the 80/20 Rule from the Pareto Principle.
In business, 80% of your profits come from 20% of the time you spend.
So how do you decide what to spend your time on? Have you ever took note on what you’re doing in 24 hrs?
The simplest way I’ve found to determine what to spend my time on is to first, go back to the basics.
What are the values and beliefs that guide your business and your life?
My entire life I can remember always being curious about life and wanting to help other people. It saddens me to see other people struggle. Especially, If I’ve overcame that same struggle. I naturally want to share my knowledge and experiences with you to ease any frustrations you’re going through.
My Guiding principles in business and life are:
- Be helpful
- Become your life’s work
- Build Relationships
I use these principles to determine how I spend my time.
As an information marketer and teacher in a very specific niche of Accounting, I have decided to turn off the blog comments and focus on creating valuable content that matters to people who truly care about what I have to say. Also to teach Accounting concepts and principles online to help small business owners thrive and make smart business decisions. Finally, to support others blog owners in sharing their life’s work.
I’ve studied others way to build credibility and social proof through testimonials, social shares and social media profiles.
That’s my 20% of work to get 80% of the results to create a business and life that matters.
You matter. Your life’s work matters. Does that include moderating blog comments?