Brief Case Study: Liz Strauss appreciating readers on Successful Blog through comments and through encouragement awards
By Bes on Aug 8, 2007.
Today I would like to talk about Liz Strauss, and the way she handles her readers on her blog called Successful Blog. I know a few people who keep telling me to review Liz Strauss because of the way she interacts with her readers. This should hopefully be one of the first case studies here on Liz Strauss.
Who is Liz Strauss?
Liz Strauss calls herself the most influential relational blogger online, and from what I have observed so what, I agree with her claim. I myself am advocate of relationships of many different kinds, and thus it is very refreshing to see and come across a blogger who is promoting the idea of relationships in both business and non-business world more than what I am able to achieve, due to the size of the reader base, with my current blog. It is an encouragement for me to continue doing what I have been doing.
Does Liz Strauss intend to make money through her blog? Yes! Is that bad? No!
Make no mistake about it: Liz Strauss does offer services and affiliate links through her blog, and thus intends to make some money with the help of her blog. One thing that sets her model different than many other blogs, like many other blogs, is the fact that not only does she say that she appreciate the concept of relational interaction, she actually does it on all levels, even if she does not make money: an example could be interacting with a random reader on a post that not many people read anymore. So far, I have not noticed Liz Strauss coming to a point where what can be beneficial to her readers will affect her sponsors. That means in my view, Liz Strauss can write things without feeling obligated to write in a manner to please the sponsors. I prefer bloggers who are open about things on every channel instead of bloggers who create an illusion of appreciation while playing down the part that they want to make money; those manipulative bloggers of the latter kind tend to tell their readers that readers come before everything, which is usually not the case.
That also means that Liz’s site is one of the few sites out there that tend to earn money with the help of their blogs, while actually appreciating readers and helping them along the way. This is different than majority of the bloggers out there who say that their readers come before them, but there is almost no real action or proof to support their supposed claim.
One way Liz Strauss appreciates readers: through comment responses
One of the things Liz Strauss does that I have been doing for almost a decade and what I really like is to interact with each commentor of mine, not to fulfill the obligation and create an illusion of reader appreciation, but to actually interact with readers and build good relationships of both the business and non-business kind. I just went through several pages of posts on Liz’s site, and so far, it seems that Liz has been treating her readers with the same care, regardless of them being A-listers or not. This is good, and different than many other bloggers who only try to appreciate A-listers, or who start appreciating everyone equally in public because they feel the need to jump on the appreciation bandwagon. By the way, you should also remember by now that responding to comments is different than acknowledging comments.
2nd way Liz Strauss appreciates others: encouraging them to do more things
Similarly, another thing Liz Strauss does to appreciate other readers and bloggers is to give them awards for their achievements. Ronald told me a few months ago that RA Project had been awarded the SOB award. I was like “o_o…ok….” Upon further investigation, the SOB award turned out to be the Successful and Outstanding bloggers award that told bloggers what Liz thought of their achievements. It was a huge encouragement, specially when RA Project talked and talks about things that upset many successful bloggers because it exposes their manipulation tactics in different ways. To be awarded an SOB award, you do not even need to comment on Liz’s site, nor do you need to link back to her.
All you need to do is to do something nice on your blog and let Liz know. She will then see if you should get an SOB award from her or not. I consider that a fine way to promote things, without forcing people into adding comments to one’s site, and I prefer that methods over the methods of those bloggers who claim to be providing service to readers but in reality want readers to submit some content or some content in order to benefit.
Liz also has a B.A.D Blogger feature, where she would like to talk to a blogger daily and feature them on her site. Liz then posts summaries of her conversations online: I am simply amazed by the nice feeling I get seeing how Liz and the featured bloggers interact with one another in order to feel more respectful and closer in the online world of blogging. What better way to promote relationships than to actually start them and have them, and show them to the world so that others can benefit too by the feeling of real appreciation and communication that is done not to make money, but to promote the idea of relational blogging.
At this moment, Liz Strauss is a good example of how to appreciate readers in specific ways
So there you have it. As of today, Liz Strauss is a good example of how a blogger can be famous and also appreciate readers not only through theoretical claims but by actual actions. If you want to appreciate readers, or your customers, and still make money through your blog, you can be honest about it and without playing any games, and you can observe Liz Strauss as she is doing all of that correctly and honestly as of this moment.
Some of the future bloggers who I am thinking of reviewing in the near future are Inspiration Bit and JEFFRO 2pt0. If you would like your own or your favorite blog analyzed a bit for a case study, please let me know. Please beware that if I notice something bad or manipulative, I might use it as an example of a case example of bad reader appreciation.
Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. Thank you.
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Wow! I’m stunned and thrilled. Your blog is a favorite because of its quest. Thank you for noticing. Much of what I do means that I live at my computer more hours a day than most folks have the luxury of time to invest in that way. I’m grateful for being able to do that.
Please do keep an eye on me. I’d hate to fall off the track.
You also just made me realize I should have cited that sentence about “relational blogger.” I came across it on Eaton Web in a description of my blog. I’m going back to my blog now to do that.
Comment by Liz Strauss — August 9, 2007 @ 1:48 am
Sounds to me like Liz has found a winning strategy for her blog while at the same time, able to be honest and perhaps make a few bucks along the way. It’s really refreshing to see bloggers show appreciation to their readers in ways that Liz has. Good job Liz, keep up the good work.
By the way Bes, the LET ME KNOW link points to my site. Is LET ME KNOW supposed to be a different blog than you intended? Mine is Jeffro2pt0, not LET ME KNOW lol. Just wondering.
Comment by Jeffro2pt0 — August 9, 2007 @ 1:56 am
[...] or omens, but I do enjoy delicious irony and blogger synchronicity. When I awoke I found these. Brief Case Study: Liz Strauss appreciating readers on Successful Blog through comments and through e… and Now, Make me feel important! who pointed me to The W (and M) List – Promoting Quality [...]
Pingback by Personal Integrity: Sometimes a List Is Just a List - Liz Strauss at Successful Blog - Thinking, writing, business ideas . . . You’re only a stranger once. — August 9, 2007 @ 5:33 am
I’ve been subscribed to Liz’s blog for over a year now. Yes, I’m a lurker Liz (in case you are reading this). I find her posts very insightful, and the one time I did comment on a post, she responded right away in a very welcoming way. Her motto of “You’re only a stranger once” is definitely true.
Thanks Bes for doing this post. It’s nice to see some positive examples of reader appreciation in the blogosphere.
Comment by Ronald Huereca — August 10, 2007 @ 12:28 am
I like Liz very much. I was impressed by her story and I love to come back every now and then to read her articles. I don’t comment much, but I definitely like what I see on Successful Blog.
Comment by Simonne — August 10, 2007 @ 3:14 am
Thank you, Jeff, Ronald, and Simonne. You are heard even when you don’t talk. I listen for you there.
Comment by Liz Strauss — August 10, 2007 @ 6:10 pm
Liz Strauss, thank you for coming and commenting. I really appreciate it.
I am glad you found this article interesting. Don’t worry; I think you are doing a good job so far. I am not sure why some people may have had some issues about you promoting Woman bloggers, but I guess when anyone is singled out, even those who are not given enough attention, someone can find it objectionable. Of course, maybe unfortunately in some cases, one has to give attention to both sides, even when trying to prove a point of how one element is being overlooked in favor of the other.
Thanks for explaining about that citation. I had assumed a bit that someone else wrote it, but I was not sure.
Thanks for being a great example and for supporting our quest and each of us individually. 
Jeffro2pto, thanks for the comment.
Yes, Liz has done what many, if not majority, of the popular bloggers either cannot do or do not want to do: combine personal interest with other people’s interest and give both of them equal [or other people more] attention.
Also, regarding the “LET ME KNOW” link, I fixed it and e-mailed you about it. Thanks for letting me know, and sorry for the type.
Ronald, thanks for commenting. It seems Liz indeed is very friendly, both in theory and realistically [practically], which is nice. Again, this is a quality that more people need. More and more people are claiming to appreciate their readers, and that is it. They just “claim” to appreciate their readers without any actual appreciation. Maybe people need to be taught since childhood that appreciation means more than simply telling people that you thank them for their comments.
Also, thank you so much; I am glad you like this article and that you encouraged this. I guess more positive examples of reader appreciation are on the way.
Simonne, thanks for the comment.
I am also a little bit similar; I always tell myself I will comment soon, but I don’t think I have commented on her site in a while [Bad Bes, Bad - bbb :p]. It is very good to have an example of showing reader appreciation on a site that actually sits [meaning popularity wise] along with those famous sites that avoid appreciating their readers. Maybe Liz’s site and more good examples will put a lot of those unappreciative bloggers to shame, or at least force them to appreciate more even if they do it only to jump on the band wagon, since for some people it can be really easy to see who is appreciating and who is giving an illusion of appreciation.
Thanks again everyone.
I am really happy that you all commented; it gives me more ideas and push to write more examples of good appreciation.
Comment by Bes — August 13, 2007 @ 12:20 am