One of the few perks about having a blog (and believe me they are few, as I primarily get yelled at on this blog) is meeting people. Yes, through Mental Mayhem I’ve gotten the chance to meet — offline — a number of fascinating and interesting individuals.
The most recent encounter was meeting reader "Scooby," who has been following this humble blog for over a year now. Scooby, a Jordanian living in the US, happened to be in our neck of the woods during this Memorial Day weekend so he contacted me hoping that we could meet up. Scooby was kind enough to invite us to a family BBQ and we gladly accepted. We had a great time in every sense of the word.
Not only did we get to meet a number of Jordanians, Palestinians and other nationals who live in the area, but we ate wonderful food and had fascinating discussions. We also got the chance to meet the Mrs. Scooby and some of Scooby’s friends. There was never a lull in then conversation or an awkward moment. We talked and interacted as if we’d known each other forever. We will definitely keep in touch and work to build this into a long-lasting relationship. Ah, the wonders of blogging!
Now wait a minute. You don’t just pop up and say ‘come see my blog,’ or ‘you’ve gotta see this.’ That is spam. You go and participate in the discussion on the blog — many blogs. People then become interested in who you are by what you have to say on that particular blog and then they find your site by clicking on your name, which is connected to your blog because you’ve put your blog in the URL portion of your entry. The more blogs you visit and the more times you provide interesting insight that is relevant to the topic, the more people are going to be curious about you and come to your blog. Then you just have to have a blog that will keep them there.
You’re right it is the best way… But isn’t it bad manners… or bad blogsmanship (root:sporstsmanship) to litter a lot of blogs with your comments just to get your blog seen?
Like I’m thinking of copy-pasting this comment blindly on every blog:
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LOL that’s funny! Speaking of funny, check out this blog: http://teeshirtat.com/blog.html !!!
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I’d probably be treated as spam and become blacklisted or something.
still i’m gonna do it… for the sake of the blog.
well Imad, the best way to market your blog is to comment on other people’s blogs.
my fiance lives just outside Bethesda. You probably have friends in common… both of you being arab-american and stuff (I’m assuming your “neck of the woods” is Maryland.)
Anyway I’ve only started reading your blog 2 weeks ago… or any blog for that matter! I am computer savy yet I never got into blogs until recently. You’re right though about meeting people… blogging makes for interesting connections that otherwise would never have hapenned. I started a blog yesterday for the Amman-based teeshirt company I co-founded: teeshirtat.com/blog.html … How do you get people to notice your blog at first?! Maybe this post will help lol.
Natasha,
We all enjoyed meeting you and the hubby as well. Everyone were glad that you were able to join us.
I have to agree…meeting people who have expanded my horizons has been a highlight for me, too.
Natasha,
Speaking of blogging and friendship, Tololy & I are co-writing an article on internet friendships. We hope to submit it to JO magazine. Any thoughts from you on the subject (as a journalist and blog veteran) would be welome.
And, if you ever make it down to central/south Florida, let me know!