Power of Blogging Personality

I have thought about what attracts me to certain blogs; and I may have even commented on this before - but certainly the bloggers that give me an insight and connection to their personality - tend to get more authority and respect, allowing readers to feel like they 'know' the blogger and make them more likely to subscribe.

Regardless of what blog topic, or blog niche you are into; I think you need to be able to give readers an idea of who you are - allowing them to connect with you and build rapport before really launching your blog into a multitude of posts about a specific topic.

The other thing to remember, is that new readers are coming on board all the time - or at least they are checking out your blog for the first time. That's why I like to add in a video or at least some photos every now and then to give readers the feel of a 'real person' and a snapshop of my personality. Whether they 'like' you or find you 'weird' doesn't really matter - it just allows the person to see you in the flesh, and even if you're not too their liking, the curiosity factor alot of the time may keep them coming back.

I firmly believe in this. A lot of industry bloggers will tell you 'content is king' and sure, content is important - but their are two problems with this. The first problem is, that if people don't see your content, it can never be king. The second problem is, your content might be good - but do the readers know, believe or respect the author? This is why they regularly need to 'know' who you are before you churn out your masterpieces!

I want to give a quick example here. (Sorry to pick on you Bob!) But, I found Bob Buskirk and his blog a few months ago through some John Chow advertisements. Bob's blog had a real personal touch and as a reader I could instantly get a glimpse into his life, businesses and goals. There was a touch of comedy, heaps of pics and some interesting and insightful stories.

Bob looks after a few blogs and does a fair few IT reviews; so he gets fairly busy at times - i've noticed on his personal blog, that not only have his posts slowed, but he has taken away that personal touch, picture or insight that broke up his posts each week. His posts are still insightful and giving good information, but as a reader - you lose touch with the author if there's not a connection to the article I feel.

On the flipside, a good example is over at the Shoemoney blog. The shoe man runs a free t-shirt friday post; quite simply this photo each week of the shoe man allows the readers to see the guy in the flesh and keep the link to the author in their mind - something I feel is very important.