The Reader Appreciation Project

The concept of appreciating your blog readers has been covered in the past in the form of “5 Ways to Appreciate Readers.” There are many things you can do to thank your clients and blog readers. There are also several mistakes you can make daily, unknowingly, that may throw your clients and blog readers off the hook and land you in trouble.

Because of the popularity of social networking sites like Facebook, more people than ever before are now accustomed to the idea of comments and how they can be related to. By knowing some things that tend to result in your blog readers and commentors being disrespected by you, you can focus on making your blog and your communication methods better in ways that result in your readers being appreciated more, or at least not disrespected.

How can you figure out whether or not your clients and readers feel disrespected? What may you be doing that can disrespect clients and readers? RA Project will introduce you to the 5 ways you can disrespect your blog readers unconsciously. By realizing the trends in the list in order to avoid them, you can take steps to ensure your clients and readers love your blogging brand in the long run.

5 Ways to Disrespect Blog Readers and Clients

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Several weeks ago I wrote about my thoughts on a team environment for multi-author blogs.

I argued that individuality (in the context of service) harms the customer, and the better approach is a team-based environment where customers (or readers in the case of blogging) are everyone’s responsibility.

I discussed this concept with a friend who is not familiar with blogging. He is, however, very familiar with customer service as he is a waiter at a local Mexican restaurant.

My friend is very popular among his customers, and his customers often ask for him by name. The other waiters do not like this, since waiters at his restaurant are assigned to tables on a turn-based basis. And since my friend’s customers tip rather well, the other waiters are green with envy.

This past week was a very popular holiday in America called Cinco de Mayo. It’s a nice excuse to grab some Mexican food and drink a few margaritas. My friend asked me to stop in, but warned me, “It’s going to be very busy.”

Indeed it was very busy. I was lucky to have found a parking spot, and I had to sit at the bar instead of my favorite table.

The waiters, whom often fought for customers, were scurrying around from table to table making sure everything was alright. That night, there was no set waiter per table.

I asked my friend about it a few nights later. He said, “That morning I came up with the idea. I told my manager that if we don’t work like a team, our customers are going to get slaughtered.”

When asked about the tip situation, he responded, “Even though I get the most tips, I felt it was better to share the tip revenue evenly that day. Everyone was pulling their own weight, and it worked out pretty good.”

In the end, Cinco de Mayo for my friend and his restaurant was a huge success. Many first-time customers came in to celebrate, and many returning customers came in to say hello. And, according to my friend, the day would’ve been a disaster had it not been for a team working environment.

Conclusion – How does this compare to blogging?

My friend’s Cinco de Mayo story is just a neat example of a person placing his customers’ interests first.

How do you think this example of a busy day at a restaurant compares to that of blogging?

I was in a local restaurant this week when I made a small observation. My Diet Coke was going on empty, and a person who wasn’t my waiter came up and asked, “What are you having, Sir?”

“A Diet Coke, please.”

“Sure. I’ll be right back.”

The guy brought a new Diet Coke back, and my waiter also returned and exclaimed, “Oh, you already got your Diet Coke. Wow.”

Working Individually Harms the Customer

The waiter that I had at the restaurant was relatively new. And unfortunately my drink went past the empty mark, and a fellow team-member came to assist.

However, what if nobody came to help? I, as a customer, would have been dissatisfied with the service.

What if the staff was okay with my dissatisfaction? After all, I wouldn’t be leaving the other waiter the tip.

The individual mentality only works in the short-term. Long-term, I’m a customer of that particular establishment. If I receive one bad experience, it doesn’t reflect badly upon that particular waiter — it reflects badly upon the establishment as a whole.

So if a waiter interjects and helps out another waiter, the customer will be satisfied. The customer’s chances of returning are high (long-term). And quite possibly, that first waiter could have the returning customer, who can now leave that valuable tip.

The Team Environment in the Blogosphere

Multi-author blogs are not so different when it comes to the restaurant mentality. Authors are in charge of their own section, and in charge of their own readers (customers).

If readers want to leave a tip, it’s through comments, ad-clicks, and links.

With a team environment, however, an author sees the entire blog’s readers as their readers. A reader who comments on one post might as well be commenting on their post. A reader who is dissatisfied with one author might as well be dissatisfied with all authors. And a reader who expresses love for the site, also expresses love for the individual authors.

I’ve been apart of multi-author blogs where each author worked in his or her own sandbox. I didn’t like it.

Now I’m apart of a few blogs were the authors are in constant contact. We make decisions together. We coordinate posts and schedules. And we answer the reader questions, even when they aren’t on our own post.

We work as a team. And I’m grateful to be apart of something like that.

Conclusion

With multi-author blogs, it’s easy for each author to work in his or her sandbox. However, a team environment is much more beneficial for both the authors and the readers.

An author’s article and comments represent the site as a whole. And if other authors jump in to assist, the reader and the site are the beneficiaries.