Well, as promised from 52WoC#22: Hold a Conest/Blog Raffle, I’m holding a quick fire comment contest here at the S Studio. Just a little community experiment.
You see, as I was reading some comments between bloggers one time about free things people receive as a result of their blogging, some of them said that they’d be happy if they just receive comments on their blogs. That’s when the idea for this contest occurred to me: Give comments as a free gift!
So, yes for this contest, the details are -
The Prize:
- First Place - I will read and leave a comment on ALL of the winner’s blog posts for TWO WEEKS. And, I will Stumble/Tweet/Plurk/Share at least one post a week for the winner.
- Second Place - I will read and leave a comment on ALL of the winner’s blog posts for ONE WEEK. And, I will Stumble/Tweet/Plurk/Share at least one post for the winner that week.
How to Win: Just leave a comment in this post answering the question: “Do you respond to all comments that you receive on your blog? Why or why not?”
Deadline: A week from now, 26th July 2008. Winner will be announced shortly after. There will be two winners drawn randomly from all the responses to this contest.
Let’s see how this works out!
SIDE NOTE: If you’re running a contest (or ran one in the last 2 weeks), don’t forget to share your contest URL in the 52WoC #22 task. Will be doing the round-up in the next couple of days.
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{ 17 comments }
Pierre-Philippe Mart 07.19.08 at 8:04 pm
In general, I respond to comments on my blog only if they contain a question, or if they highlight the need for me to clarify a point. But “rules” are made to be broken … sometimes
Nicola 07.19.08 at 9:17 pm
I try to always reply to all my comments, I don’t get that many, so it’s not that big of a chore, but sometimes the emails drop below the screen on my inbox and I forget! I’m never sure how people want to be responded to, is a personal email best? Or should I just reply on the comment itself? Lately I’ve been doing both, that way I can be sure they see my response via email, and also others can see what I’ve said on my blog. I like an email personally, because I don’t always go back and check posts for any comment responses, unless I know the comment recipient is 100% consistent in responding.
Heather 07.20.08 at 1:01 am
Hi Shai,
I will definitely respond to any comment left on my blog. Sometimes I can even get one or several blog entries out of them, so it’s really worthwhile to me.
Kari 07.20.08 at 2:07 am
Any comments left that I can respond to I generally do so via email. I use to do it within the comment, but realized not many people go back to the post later to see if they received a response to their comment.
I’m going to be posting my contest either today or tomorrow, just on time for the deadline and will be sure to leave a comment in the appropriate post when it’s ready
Lynn Stevens 07.20.08 at 6:59 am
On my relatively new blog, so far I’ve had just a few folks commenting, and they have tended to comment in bunches, so no, I don’t respond to all. Like Heather, I’ve responded via a couple of blog posts as well.
Like Kari used to, I’ve so far been responding within the comment, but wonder too if they’re checking back. I’ve avoided responding via an additional comment from me because then my comments dominate my “Recent comments” list. Also, my Wordpress version does not support folks tracking comments via email.
I guess my sense (hope?) is that once folks are aware of responses within the comments, they’ll check back, but I had thought about the emailing approach as well–haven’t gone that route yet. I have also tried to include new information and links in a response, so folks who follow (the rainbow, so to speak) will find the (pot of), well gold is a stretch! LOL!
jen 07.20.08 at 3:08 pm
I respond to most comments left on my blog. I don’t respond to all of them all the time because quite often I have nothing to add to what they’ve said that I haven’t already said in the post or the other comments. However, if I routinely comment on someone else’s blog I like to get a reply every now and again.
Melissa W 07.20.08 at 7:23 pm
For about a year I didn’t realise my blog comment alerts were getting stuck in my spam filter, so for that time I didn’t realise people were commenting. I felt pretty awful about it actually. Now I either private email or post on their current blog post, depending on the content of the reply. I’m almost ready to post my blog raffle - I just have to take photos of the prizes so I can show what people will actually win.
Jami 07.20.08 at 9:56 pm
I respond to all comments either on the blog or by email depending on the subject matter- sometimes both. I also email each new commenter with a Welcome message and some light background on me & the blog.
It’s my hope that this sort of interaction helps foster a sense of community and that I’m not a “corporate” sort of blog, but an actual person that’s here to help, be a friend, and communicate with.
Thanks for the super-grand contest, Shai!
Lynn Stevens reply on July 20th, 2008:
I like the Welcome message idea.
blue rose 07.21.08 at 11:27 am
just blog hopping here!
i want to join in your contest please.
i just got few comments on my blog so i always try to respond to their comments as my way of saying “thank you” for dropping by and spending some time to read my blog.
heystephanie 07.21.08 at 12:41 pm
I usually respond to all comments that are left on my blog because I like to build a relationship with my readers and get their opinions. There are times however when I don’t respond to a comment because the comment wasn’t relevant to the post and just a drive by comment.
Toni 07.21.08 at 5:00 pm
Do you respond to all comments that you receive on your blog? Why or why not?
Yes I do, except for my Weekend Soirees. I answer the comments within the comments section as well. I don’t do it as quickly as I want to, but I still do.
I answer comments as a way of interacting with my co-bloggers and readers. And also, they made time to leave a comment. I would like to acknowledge this by responding.
Muhammad Siyab 07.21.08 at 8:19 pm
I ALWAYS respond to comments on my blog, no matter how small or big the deal is. Few things will make readers more happy than the fact the the blogger has read and valued their thoughts.
I most often also go as far as thanking the commenter for doing so.
Cassie 07.22.08 at 11:34 am
I always to try respond to any comments on my blog (whether they require a response or not), not only because it helps build a relationship with my readers, but also because it helps the commentators and future readers/commentators feel more welcome and they’ll know that their own comment will be replied to.
I’ve also been inspired through the comments to write more blog posts or to add to the existing blog post that was commented on. Sometimes the comments I receive remind me that I may have left something out that deserved a mention.
I also like to see my comments on other bloggers’ blogs being replied to so I like to make my own readers feel the same way. I’m writing for them, so it’s only a small token of my appreciation that I can respond to their comments.
I have a notification checkbox under the comment box so that people have the option to subscribe to the followup comments. I almost always subscribe when I comment on other blogs so I’m hoping that most of my readers do as well. I normally won’t email the commenter since I’ve read that a lot of people don’t like that, but if I do, I always make sure it’s an individual email to that particular person, not a copy and paste response.
I’ve received those copy and paste responses myself (some are very transparent, some are sneaky but still can be spotted) and it kind of turns me off. I’d much rather receive a personal response therefor I’d rather send a personal response.
I’ve built up some really great contacts and friendships through my blog comments and the comments I’ve left on other blogs, so I definitely think that it’s well worth the time invested in replying to most, if not all blog comments.
Em Dy 07.23.08 at 2:12 pm
I respond to comments but not right away. I have this practice of pooling them before I do so my comment is only counted as one. i wish Blogger will have something similar to Wordpress where one can reply to each comment individually.
Problem though is if I don’t respond to comments right away, I end up forgetting answering them at all.
Jobefamilybybrandy 07.23.08 at 7:24 pm
So, I have just started my blog and wondered are you expected to return comments? I just received my first none friend or family comments and I did return those but I thought wow if I got a whole bunch of these how on earth could I ever responde to each?????
Torie Michelle 07.25.08 at 2:04 pm
Found your site today in my search to find new blogs to read. Yay for new reading material!
I’ve just recently restarted my blog so I don’t get as many viewers as I did a couple years back. Because of this, responding to comments is really easy right now. (I need to work seriously on my content so I have more things of interest for readers!)
If a commenter asks a specific question, I’ll respond via personal email. If the person is just commenting on what I’ve written, I’ll add a reply in my own comments.
There’s just one thing that I almost always do (say 98% of the time): I go to that person’s site and read through three or four of their most recent posts and their earliest listed archived posts. I usually find something interesting that just begs me to give my proverbial two cents.
ppmartin reply on July 25th, 2008:
Good reflex, Torie, to read a few posts of your commenters. I tend to do it as well, but should probably be a little more systematic about it.
Shai Coggins 07.27.08 at 1:24 am
Thanks to all of you who entered. I’m closing this contest now - and will announce the winner in the next couple of days.
Comments on this entry are closed.