This post is written by Malaysian grad-student Pelf, who blogs about charity, the environment and volunteerism at The Giving Hands.
Some people blog because they like to write. Some others blog because they need a place to vent their frustrations. Similarly, some others blog because they want to document the ups and downs of their lives. But of course, there are people who blog because of the attention it brings, and some who blog to earn a living. Not forgetting also, some people blog to share their knowledge and stories, and finally, some others blog just for the fun of it.
Whatever is your reason for blogging, one thing is for sure: you are constantly trying to influence your readers. You may or may not realize it, but every word you form in your head and publish on your blog, you are actually trying to tell your readers what you think, and you will, in one way or another, try to get them to agree with you.
Say, you bought an expensive but very nice bag from Guess. Then you take a picture of it and post it on your blog. You describe the bag in great detail and you ask your readers what they think about it.
Or, you have just published a blog post entitled “How to increase your RSS subscribers” and in the blog post, you explained what bloggers should do if they wanted to increase the number of RSS subscribers that they have.
Or, you may have just written a wonderful and user-friendly plugin and you offer it for download on your blog.
The examples above ALL show that we blog to influence people. Whether it is to influence your readers to indulge and spend an arm (and probably a foot) on the limited edition Guess bag, or to influence your readers to believe that your suggestions would help them increase their RSS subscribers, or to influence them to use a plugin that you have written.
So how are you using your power to influence your readers?
4 Comments
Horror upon horrors, I am actually trying to manipulate people!
Sorry for the weak joke, it’s just that I wrote a couple of articles around manipulation (in a negative sense), but this post does make a good point about trying to influence people.
Can I use the excuse that most of my manipulation or influencing isn’t conscious?
I think that we live to influence people. I often have the feeling that people I get in touch with exist only to influence me. I can’t complain, because I know I just do the same. So, the best influencer takes it all.
I make them believe that SEO 2.0 is the new religion and I am the guru of it.
Pelf is right on - we are trying to influence with our writings - thanks for a great article - I can always count on your site for great “insights”! - Cyndee Haydon
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[...] the highlight of the week is the guest post on Michael Martine’s Remarkablogger entitled Are you using your power to influence your readers? That was actually Part 1, so there should be a Part 2 sometime this week (or next week) because I [...]
[...] of course, I hope to influence my visitors and readers with my other two blogs. The Giving Hands is hoped to instill a sense of responsibility in [...]