In my pre-email, pre-Internet days, this is the time of year when I’d go a little nuts sending for “free” issues of magazines I had little or no intention of subscribing to. This accomplished several things. 1) It gave me a reason to get out of the house and walk down the driveway, the driveway being the only thing shoveled and thus easily traversed. 2) It justified putting the flag up on the mailbox, thereby giving me a way to know when the mail was delivered. 3) It pretty much guaranteed that sometime in the future I’d get something good in the mail. I had gotten this technique perfected to the point where I managed to get the March issue of Martha Stewart Living, which focused on gardening, as my free issue, by judicious timing.
Nowadays I check my email and Bloglines far in excess of my usual routine, once again hoping for something good. I suspect many of you are doing the same, as I’m seeing less blog entries and more blog comments as I make my rounds. Everyone is waiting for someone else to post something good.
I’m going to issue a challenge: be that something good to someone else. Think of any blog you read on a regular basis. If you’ve never posted a comment on that blog, or written an email to its author, that author doesn’t know you’re there. He (or she or they) may have access to the web stats, but all’s that tells them is what ISP you use or what link you clicked on to get there. You’re a statistic, not a person. So be a person and do something personal in what, for us cold climate gardeners, at least, is a very isolating time of year.
Don’t know what to say? Here are some ideas and examples:
Duration: “I’ve been reading your blog for . . .”
Frequency: “I check for something new every . . .”
General Compliment: “I really like your . . . [sense of humor, perceptive analysis, etc]”
Specific Compliment: “My favorite post of all time was . . . ”
Referral: I found out about your blog from . . . ”
And of course, you don’t have to say all of that, or any of that. Just say something nice that you really mean, just like Dan Eskelon did when he commented on this post of mine. Thanks, Dan, I needed that!
About Kathy Purdy
Kathy Purdy discovered the joys of writing in fourth grade, when she started corresponding with a former classmate. She's been writing letters ever since, first on looseleaf, then electronically, and now as weblog entries. That makes you, the blog reader, her pen pal. Her first independent (though frustrating) attempts at gardening were made in high school, though the gardening bug didn't bite hard until her mid-thirties, when she found herself mistress of a rural home on 15 acres. • USDA Hardiness Zone:4 • AHS Heat Zone: 3 • Location: rural; Southern Tier of NY • Geographic type: foothills of Appalachian Mountains • Soil Type: acid clay • Experience level: intermediate • Particular interests: colchicums, narcissus, cottage gardening, NY native plants, gardening with/for children
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I really enjoy your blog and haven’t visited in awhile but I continue to brag about you.Send me more cards and I will hand them out
Glad to meet you, Lanie!
I was interviewed by phone for that article and since I don’t subscribe (shame on me, I know) I have yet to read it myself–I couldn’t find it on the magazine rack in all of January, and finally stopped looking. But I guess I’ll have to look again. Please let me know of any good books or links related to cold climate gardening that you see I don’t have.–Kathy
Kathy,
Finally got to read my PPP magazine and read your sucess story article. Am bookmarking your site and look forward to spending some time gathering your info. I live zone 4 in Maine
Thanks,
lanie
be that something good to someone else
Kathy….thanks for being that something good…I am always glad to see that bold lettering on Bloglines when you have a new post.
Sally
I rediscovered your link in my “To Read When I Get a Chance” folder and moved it to the “To Read Frequently” folder.
I garden in the Finger Lakes. The sun’s shining and it’s snowing and I’m procrastinating about working on my garden plan under the pretense of “research.”
Good writing. Good links. Thanks.
Hi Suzette,
It is true that sometimes a comment might break the spell, but an email would let the author know you appreciated that spell-binding entry. I know comments don’t reflect site traffic at all, believe me, I know–but the point is not to increase someone’s site traffic. The point is to make a personal expression of appreciation that acknowledges their existence, alerts them to your existence as a person (not a blip in their web stats) and in general brightens their day. It also builds a sense of community. A “virtual” random act of kindness, if you will.
Sometimes people make posts that are so exquisite that the act of making a comment would break the spell.
On the other hand, comments themselves are a funny thing – they don’t reflect site traffic at all. You can get 20 visits a day and have only one comment and then when the visits increase to 80 a day, you are lucky if you still get one comment at all.