One thing I really like about blogging is the interaction with other bloggers. True, you don’t need to run your own blog to enter the blogosphere, but I have to say that I never really understood the power of the blogosphere until I started this one.
I had of course come across all different sites with information that I was looking for and nice articles to read, but it wasn’t until I started this particular blog that I found out how important it is to start interacting with other bloggers. I do understand that some bloggers really don’t feel that much for interacting with their readers, seeing their main concern is not building up some sort of relation with them. This especially being the case if all you are really after is having them click through your ads in order to generate money on advertisements.
But when it comes to the bloggers on all different sorts of A-lists out there, the Big Guys (and some Gals) so to speak, where would they actually be without that firm base of readers backing them up and spreading their words through their own blogs? To what extend can they start to almost completely ignore their own readers in order to get ahead making more money every day?
I myself do read some of the blogs on lists like 45n5.com (one of the top list of blogs in the money making niche) but can’t stop wondering how come some blogs that according to their own posts make a huge amount of money and are having that many readers while the actually postings they send out into blogoshpere are a lot of crap and then some, while other blogs have a lot less readers eventhough their content and dedication is of a much higher level.
Going back to the interaction with other bloggers, it seems that the bigger the blog becomes, the less interaction comes from the blogowner itself but more from the readers of those blogs. And of course there are blogs that seem to drive on autopilot, being updated through mostly guest posters and maybe occasionally a few lines from the blogowner.
One can argue of course that A-listers have less time to comment and maybe are focussed more on converting the comments they receive into other informative posts. One can even go out their way and say these Gurus have already shown their knowledge enough to get a lot in return.
But to what extend can a blogger justify the lack of feedback and interaction on their part, or even the crappy content offered regularly (influenced by paid reviews more than anything), when the thriving force behind generating their (huge) paycheck is the base of loyal readers?
I smell a min rant coming. You were warned.
There is no excuse for crappy content. Crappy content and a butt load of ads present oneself as a douche bag. Douche bag bloggers can be identified as those who have run of the mill content with no soul. Sure it looks pretty but the is no depth. No real person behind the blog. They have almost no interaction with their readers except to pat themselves on the back and occasionally rip the reader that a comment that they took exception with. In my eyes successful does not mean an autopiloted blog that generates cash. That is a douche bags blogs. In my eyes a successful blog is one that makes money but still is just as good as it was when it was small. Maybe I can’t respond to all the comments but I make an effort to take ten minutes of my day to read over the comments and writes a few responses. Part of the wonderful challenge of writing a blog should be to come up with new content.
OK I am done now. Yes that hit a nerve. Which shows great writing skills. I read and became involved. I connected with the post on a personal level. I felt compelled to participate ion whatever discussion that may result from this post. Overall another great post.
Jim – Just a Guy’s last blog post..Strange things are afoot at the Circle K
Personally, successful blog != money. Although a successful blog can make money, that doesn’t make it an equal.
You are building blog because you want to show people something you know.
Personally, there is no A-list blogger. There is only A-list blog. When your blog grow as big as problogger, I think you will be the same. You need to run you blog like a business.
Many people failed making money off their blog, because they just want to make some “EXTRA” money. They give themselves an excuse to fail.
Terence Chang’s last blog post..Weekend Confession – We are families
I couldn’t agree more. I think that the A-Listers completely neglect what the blogging world is doing. They typically are very inactive, and really only work on their own websites. This is a good article, heck, maybe one of them will read this and have an “aha” moment of their own
Jim’s last blog post..John Chow Hacked My Website… Again
hahaha Jim, I hadn´t expected anything but a rant
I wish I could do the commenting and responding in only 10 minutes a day, it normally does take me quite a bit more than that.
As far as the being as good as when a blog was small, I can understand it can get to the point were it is virtually impossible to actually keep commenting the way one did when the blog was only very little, I mean, if you reach the amount of well over 100 comments a day, nobody can keep up plus still keep focussed on improving the content of the blog.
I do find it interesting to see though that a good interaction with readers will shift over time when a blog grows to become huge, wondering whether that is a graduate change or an actual decision a blogger conciously makes…
Glad that I hit your nerve
As always, thanks for the rant 
Hi Terence, good to see you around here
I guess it all depends on what reasons people have individually with their blog, and what their definition of success is.
I doubt there will be an “aha” moment, I bet they are very well aware of how they are running their business. Neglecting what the blogging world is doing, *thinking here* …. they are many times innovating it themselves and very well aware (or should be) of what the competition around them is doing, although I don´t think climbing down the ladder to read this post is one of the things on the list of to-do´s hahaha
Hey Mirjam – FYI it was commentluv from a comment you left on our blog and your catchy title that pulled me into the post. It was your blog content that pulled me to leave a comment.
I think the photo you used captures how I feel at times towards the A-list blogs. At other times, I’m inspired along the if-they-can-do-it, so can I lines. Some times, I just get depressed when I realize how big of the task it can be to get there.
I think the challenges of growing to the quality of service you can provide is part of any business, and certainly blogging at the elite level is a business. I suppose it’s like anything – try not to step on too many people as you climb to the top, and don’t forget the little guy.
No one can respond to 100 comments per day plus focus on content and other research and development projects. But, isn’t the point of our blogs to create community? And until we hit the critical mass of readership, aren’t we sort of talking to ourselves and hoping people join in the conversation?
I wonder what percent of blogs actually make it to the a-level…
I tend to ignore the so called status of blogs, and read for what interests me or I enjoy reading about. I have tried some of them for a while but generally find they don’t hold my interest for long. Can’t see the point in reading A list just because its A list!
Ian’s last blog post..Problogging makes news
Hey “WebDiggin”
thanks for the feedback, always good to know where people are coming from and what it was that made them stop and have a second or even third look
In order to find out what percentage makes it to the A-list I guess first you should find out what makes a blog an A-lister *grin* but the percentage is going to be very very low, considering most blogs won´t last for a year (or even half a year).
The hard part is to keep motivation going to improve, even when you are talking to walls, and there is hardly any movement going on. But even with low stats, I don´t really think there are a lot of bloggers who start a blog thinking nobody is ever going to read them although I must say I was shocked in the beginning, that somebody was actually reading my blog hahaha
I agree there with you Ian, no point in continueing to read stuff that really does not interest you, it is just that the lists (any lists) do make it easier to find information that just might rock your boat
I agree. I have a hard time when I take the time to read a post and comment and nearly 90% of the time do not get a response.
Cassie’s last blog post..Sometimes, The Reason I Home School Is Abundantly Clear
Blogging clarifies your thoughts and separates the wheat from the chaff.
By the way, I like the image caption. It looks like David and Goliath.
Best Web Host’s last blog post..How Wikipedia Lost its Credibility
Cassie – do you get comments from other people or not at all? I ‘don’t ever expect a response from a John Chow or a ShoeMoney, but it’s nice to get feedback from the other bloggers who visit those sites.
If A-list blogs attract a lot of traffic, then doesn’t it make sense to leave comments on those blogs to peak the interest of the passer-by?
Mind you, I’ve mostly focused on other blogs because they’re more likely to come back and leave a comment… John chow did pass through WebDiggin once, but didn’t leave a comment
. That would be something.
Has anyone had a comment left by an A-list blog owner?
WebDiggin’s last blog post..Integrity with Sponsored Posts
I hear you! I hate that people are doing paid posts. You can tell when they are just posting to get paid for promoting something. I was going to try smorty but decided against it. I decided that I wouldn’t do payperpost or smorty or anything because it can kill your rank with Google. Not worth it in my opinion.
I just wanted to stop by and say hi and thanks for the comment. Nice blog!
MrsMoney’s last blog post..Does Money Have an Effect on your Decision to have Children?
Yeah. I’m torn about the sponsored post thing. You can definitely spot the sponsored posts… (Actually, can you? Can regular websurfers spot them if they aren’t self-identified?) I think you can inject a little humour in the sponsored posts. (I’m surprised our piss off post was accepted.)
But as for payperpost / smorty killing your page rank… MrsMoney, I popped over to your site. Aren’t you still PR0? (We’re PR0 too! High-five!) When I google search your site, you’re still indexed: I got 129 pages from your site in google.
But, are you making a lot of money with your google ads? We weren’t making any money with our contextual ads, but last month we made around $80 from sponsored posts.
So … Still torn about sponsored posts. But so far, they’re a means to an end for us. We’re using the money from the sponsored posts to fuel contests. Maybe we can build to a point where we wont need to do sponsored posts anymore.
WebDiggin’s last blog post..SEO Plugin for FireFox to help you with your Article Marketing
whoops, sorry Mirjam. I must have forgot to close that link tag. Sorry.
That reminds me. Maybe I’ll look into finding that plugin that allows you to preview your comments before you submit. I think there’s even a plugin that lets you edit your comments. We’ll see…
WebDiggin’s last blog post..SEO Plugin for FireFox to help you with your Article Marketing
Hi Cassie, I do try to reply to all comments I receive over here, although at times it does take up quite some time, and sometimes a comment is left I really don´t have anything to reply with
Again… it is all about priorities and the reason behind running the blog in the first place
as far as A-listers commenting here …. it depends on who you think of … there are a few people commenting here that are in the 45n5 top100 if that is what you mean
:P
it certainly does have that effect on me!
I don´t think there is anything wrong with monetizing your blog, but if you do it the wrong way, it will come and bite you in the ass sooner or later
I have looked into the possibility of doing some, but haven´t read received that many offers I would be comfortable with publishing 
you are right, there are plugins that will give you some time to edit your comment after having posted it, thanks for the reminder, it was somewhere on my “to-do-list” *grin*
Mirjam:
I was wondering why your comment is blocked by my Thunderbird email client. I realized that you were using the word “ASS” in your comment.
Never mind!
I just want to clarify my personal point of views. Many bloggers treat A-list blogger equally to make money online bloggers. Yes. Many A-list bloggers made good money off their blog, but that doesn’t mean they are blogging for money. Making good money is the result of their hard working.
I don’t think people will care to be an A-List blogger, if they can make a million dollar a year off their online store, web site, home project or just their career.
Would John Chow or Darren visit your blog make you feel better? I won’t.
I do, however, get so exciting, when someone in the MM class (Multi-millionaire) contact me about my statement in my post.
Personally, you blog for fun and you blog for people what want to read your blog. You are not blogging for A-List blogger. After all, A-list blogger is just a human being, who try to make something meaningful for themselves and enjoy their life.
We are all the same!
Terence Chang’s last blog post..Look at the bright side – you are not alone on your entrepreneur journey