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June 19, 2007

8 Brick and Mortar Ideas that Make Great Blogs

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 2:34 pm

Brick and Mortar As a Model

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Ever think of your blog as a brick and mortar business? Blogs and 3-D stores have more in common than you might think. Fine bloggers have figured that out and use it to their advantage.

Think of your favorite bloggers. Great bloggers run a place where readers come to visit. They come because a blog meets a need to — be informed, be entertained, make friends, find work, learn, or interact with like-minded people.

8 Brick and Mortar Ideas that Make Great Blogs

  1. Have a vision. Know what your blog will do and who will want to be part of it. If you’re not clear why folks come to your blog, why guess when you can ask them? Write a post, a poll, or a few select emails to regular readers. If you know your readers’ needs and desires, you can find ways that you can serve them in a unique and personal way.

  2. Put out the Welcome Mat. Look around your blog. Imagine that you’ve arrived for the first time. Is it welcoming? How’s the curb appeal? Has the paint in your sidebar started chipping? Are your popular posts where folks can explore and share them with their readers?

  3. Open the doors as wide as you can. Talk in a human voice that takes folks as they are. Allow for their choices — screen resolution, browsers, and connection speed. Make their lives easier. Listen to them. Let them know you’re there.

  4. Hold your steady customers dear. Pay attention to readers who love what you do — the kind that you want more of — the intelligent, loyal, enthusiastic influencers. who will tell the world about you. Never forget the folks who gave you what you’ve got.

  5. Be a generous host with everyone. Be happy to see them. Do what you do in service. Take care that no one misbehaves in a way that hurts someone else. Be gracious and help the way you might in your a guest in your home.

  6. Don’t stay in the backroom Answer comments with thoughtful responses that reflect that you know a visitor has invested time to say something. Enjoy their responses to your ideas. Tell stories, but mostly listen to theirs. Be there in case someone takes the conversation astray and folks look to you to deal with it.

  7. Be personally invested, but don’t take things perssonally. Have a strong sense of empathy. Know that quality beats quantity. Keep your head and heart together in every part of your interaction from the blog post to the last comment. Understand that ideas and words are not who are as a person. Separate your self-respect from things that don’t require defending.

  8. Value everyone who visits. Make every visit remarkable by letting the reader feel as if he or she is a unique individual, the only one on the planet. Call people by name. Put a smile in between the words you write.

We don’t need old house bricks. Mortar is unnecessary and bad SEO. What we need is the spirit of a time and space. We can build a blog is as content strong as a brick, with the mortar of a blogger who gives every reader a can’t-wait-to-get-back experience.

Think about that fabulous store you went to once. You know it. It was the one where you felt like you belonged, things were just what you needed, and the people who worked there smiled when they saw you walk in the door.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

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22 Comments to “8 Brick and Mortar Ideas that Make Great Blogs”

  1. June 19th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
    Joanna Young said

    Hi Liz, this is great advice and sooo how you approach your own blog. The way you value your visitors, engage with them, encourage them, help them out is just amazing.

    Funnily enough I was thinking about your blog just before I read this. I thought of it more likely an amazing cafe than a store, with a coffee pot always on the go, the smell of home baking, newspapers to browse through, people to chat to or just a place you could sit for a while and feel at home.

    And yes I’d know there was always going to be a smile for me when I walked through the door :)

    Joanna

  2. June 19th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Joanna!
    Thank you!
    I guess it would make sense that my advice on how to make a blog improvement would be to do what I do. We all think what we do is smart, don’t we. :)

    I like to smile and be here when people come by Yeah! Whenever I can . . . :)

  3. June 19th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
    Laura said

    This is so true! I’ve always viewed myself as playing a hostess role on my blog.

    I always feel sad when I visit a blog and there are no comments. Even worse is when there are tons of comments, but the blogger never makes an appearance. A blog without comments is like visiting when no one is at home.

  4. June 19th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Laura!
    It’s really sad when people leave their comments and a blogger never shows to say hello. That makes it a lopsided conversation. I think if Tom Peters can stop by his blog and leave a comment every so often to show that he reads it, even when he’s traveling, then other folks could probably find a few minutes.

    I guess they don’t understand the comments are meant to be more than notecards left at the gate.

  5. June 19th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
    Roberta said

    What a great post! I totally agree with the idea of talking in a personable voice that people can relate to or understand. That’s what I do. Kind of like writing how you talk, so to speak.

  6. June 20th, 2007 at 3:53 am
    Lior said

    Liz,

    This is great talk and as someone who’s new to your fabulous store I can say that you walk the walk. You do provide a warm welcome and personal touch, which I think any community site should try and provide.

    Lior

  7. June 20th, 2007 at 5:27 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Roberta!
    That’s it exactly! Be yourself when you comment so that folks can form a relationship. :)

  8. June 20th, 2007 at 5:31 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Lior!
    Thanks and welcome again! It’s great to have people around who like to talk! :)

  9. June 20th, 2007 at 8:19 am
    Yoav said

    I would add a couple of things:

    1. Sell quality goods - people will happily pay a premium for better quality and will eagerly read your content if it’s good.

    2. Give excellent consistent support - if you are into building relationships, than make those relationships consistently good in terms of benefits to your readers.

    3. Be better than the competition - If they make good content make excellent content, if they answer comments on their blog, leave your phone number so you can be directly contacted.

    4. Over deliver - promise a and give a*2. that always works.

  10. June 20th, 2007 at 8:24 am
    ME Strauss said

    Oh Yoav,
    Great to see you!
    Those points are beautiful. Thank you for adding them. Every one is so important. :)

  11. June 20th, 2007 at 11:32 am
    Yoav said

    Hey Liz,

    Great to be here. The beer is even tastier today.

  12. June 20th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Yoav!
    You say the sweetest things. Here have another! :)

  13. June 21st, 2007 at 11:51 am
    The Links iFFECT - 22/6/07 : iFFECT.NET said

    […] 8 Brick And Mortar Ideas That Make Great Blogs - If you’re mechanical in your approach to blogging, then you’ll either i) ignore this advice and go on to experience ‘blog-rot’, or ii) you’ll take heed to the master of the personal touch, and take steps towards achieving some level of blogging success. […]

  14. June 21st, 2007 at 5:24 pm
    Loosely Speaking—A Virtual Assistant’s Blog » Creating Sense of Place in Your Blog said

    […] favorite blogs this afternoon, this apropos post by Liz Strauss at Successful Blog caught my eye: 8 Brick and Mortar Ideas that Make Great Blogs. Liz recommends that you put out the welcome mat, throw your doors wide open, and show every […]

  15. June 21st, 2007 at 5:36 pm
    Katie Baird said

    Liz, I’d been pondering this very topic for about a week and was working on writing about it earlier today when I found your post. All the commenters are right; you completely exemplify the old-fashioned, gracious hostess in the way you operate your blog. It’s like one of those soirées where a collective of creative minds come together, all bound together by you in a behind the scenes. And by old-fashioned I mean that as a great compliment.

    I learned the most in life a about making people feel welcome from my grandma who was incredible at it. So are you.

  16. June 21st, 2007 at 7:06 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Wow Katie!
    That is some compliment. I understand what you are saying. It’s elegant and quietly stated, but the message is clear of the honor you have sent my way.

    I owe it to my father. Your grandma must have been a loving lady, as he was a quiet, loving-filled man.

  17. June 21st, 2007 at 8:36 pm
    MyBestInvest said

    Great post.

    It’s always pretty apparent when you visit a blog that doesn’t “get it.”

    I struggle with providing timely responses to comments. It’s a growth area for me.

    I just found your blog a few days ago and have enjoyed checking the place out. This is a great resource.

  18. June 21st, 2007 at 11:37 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi MyBestInvest!
    Welcome to Successful-Blog. I’m delighted that you’re finding it comfortable here. Has anyone told you that there are free snacks and beverages in the sidebar?

  19. June 22nd, 2007 at 12:10 pm
    Colleen said

    This is great advice! There’s nothing like visiting a blog and seeing that the blogger really cares about those who take the time to visit. I try to respond to each comment individually, which takes time, but the way I look at it, if someone put forth the effort to leave a comment, I can at least respond :-)

    I just found your blog, and it’s amazing! I’ll definitely be back.

  20. June 22nd, 2007 at 2:53 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Colleen!
    Welcome to the conversation. I’m delighted that you like the atmosphere! You’ll find free snacks and beverages in the sidebar.:)

    It takes an incredible amount time to respond to the comments on my blog, but it’s what I do whenever I can. . . .

    I look forward to knowing you better.
    You’re not a stranger anymore. :)

  21. July 5th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
    Daniel said

    Hi,
    I’m not sure if you or one of your readers would be interested in a new site we’ve just launched for writers. If you would like to take a look, the site address is http://www.feelswrite.com
    Thanks.

  22. July 5th, 2007 at 7:29 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Daniel,
    Your link looks interesting. I hope your site lives up to what you promise. Good luck with it!

    Liz

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