Before I posted the Follower Project yesterday, I had 755 followers. I now have 774. That's an increase of 19.
Now that may not sound like much, but in my experience, 19 is astronomically high for a single day, especially considering the fact that I have not had time yet to visit all the blogs suggested (I'll get to that after writing this post) and some of the blogs I did visit probably have not had time to follow me back yet.
So, in short, as far as I'm concerned, my idea worked. Hopefully it will continue to work. I may also talk Alex into doing some kind of blog-fest which is an extension of the idea. As writers, published, agented, aspiring, or otherwise, there's no reason not for us to all know each other. As far as I'm concerned, we're all in this together.
Now, I want to talk a little bit more about following, Google Friend Connect, and the follower widget. As Adam pointed out yesterday, and I'm sure many of you know, there are many ways to follow blogs. Personally, I don't subscribe via email, RSS (real simple syndication), or atom (whatever that is, I don't even know), because my inbox is already choked, and I happen to care a lot about being very responsive to email. But I know I have readers who follow me that way, and while I would prefer people use the GFC widget, because it let's me see your face (or Yoda avatar), and gives me an opportunity to follow you back, I don't mind if a reader prefers another method.
There is also another way to follow blogs without using GFC, and without showing up in the follower widget, that will still cause the blog's new posts to show up in your blogspot dashboard and your Google reader. Have you noticed this toolbar:
It will show up as different colors on different blogs (it's clear on mine), but as long as you're reading a blogspot blog, it should always be there. Using this toolbar to follow gives you the option to follow privately. I'm not really sure why you would want to do that, but the option is there.
Come back tomorrow for more talk about Following, and to learn how to add the Google Friend Connect Widget to your Wordpress Blog, if you would like people to be able to follow you that way.
In the meantime, you should really read Rachael Harrie's first post about the topic of Followers and Following, she really breaks down the whole subject a lot better than I do.
Now I'm off to introduce myself to the rest of the blogs you guys suggested yesterday.
51 comments:
Glad your experiment was a success! :)
Actually, I don't have it. Most blogs don't if the blogger is user a design from a third party. It's annoying. For me to sign in, I have to go to someone's blog that does have it.
Great post! Nineteen new followers in one day is awesome!!!!
This is an awesome topic Matt. Whether you hit 1000 right away or not, you know you're doing a lot right because you've also been invited to the group blogs. How awesome!
That's great you are spending time getting to know new bloggers. I need to reach out more too to new people.
Love this topic Matt.
And 19 new followers in a day? Well done!
Make that 775 :-)
But how does all this fit in with my vast need for laziness?
Gosh you're really out to round up some followers!! Good for you! Good luck!!!! Take care
x
Great 'catch'! LOL And thanks for the links!
It's amazing to me how many writers are really out there. I love finding new blogs to stalk... er follow. Congrats on the followers!
Very interesting. 19 in a day, that's great.
ooooh! yay! a friend of mine from high school runs a blog on wordpress and it's a pain in the bottom to try to follow him via email, so yay! i could forward him your post for tomorrow, and then if he adds google friend connect thingy, then i could send you his blog link- he does posts about comic book stuff.
19 in one day is amazing. When I joined Rachael Harrie's campaign a couple of weeks ago, I had a huge surge, like 25, and a whole ocean of new comments. It was very overwelming, sort of the downside I guess of reaching more people.
Way to go, Matthew!
Yay for followers! And I did not know that about the top bar follow option.
Also: what are your thoughts on using GFC for sending newsletters? I didn't even know it was an option till I followed a Book Blogger who used it to announce a contest. I can't decide if it's spammy or cool to notify all your followers at once about something big (like a contest, book release, etc). Thoughts?
Hmmm . . . I missed yesterday's post. I better go check it out. 19 is epic! Very cool, and well-deserved. Great blog here. :)
That follow link at the top bar though has a limit of 300 :o) I learned that the hard way! Great turnout Matt. 19 more followers is AWESOME!
19 in a day? Wow. That's a ton. Congrats!
Great topic this week, Matt--I'm still sort of bobbing in the sea of blogging. So much to learn! Thanks for the follower/following info, and congrats on your new followers! They won't be disappointed. :-)
Yeah, my blog has stagnated something in the follower count myself. And while it may appear that I have nowhere near the same amount of comments as other writers, which I'm okay with, the truth remains that I'm still holding conversations with other writers on various social media outlets, like FB and Twitter.
I'll keep gaining followers over the course of time, but what I'm really looking for in this networking thing is friendship. That's what's going to help me in the long run.
19 new followers in one day is huge, dude! That's awesome! Well done!
That is a great addition, awesome job.
19 sounds like a major number to me! I have gained 19 followers in the last 6 mos. In fact, I've been losing followers lately. I stopped thinking of it as an exodus a few weeks ago, so I don't feel as bad about it.
I'd participate in this funness, but I can't discipline myself enough.
It's a great experiment. I wish I had all the time to visit all the blogs I want but often, it's so difficult I just return to the ones that comment on mine.
19 in one day is huge. Your online charisma is like a superpower of the X-men. I could be Stan Lee introducing you, "EVERYONE Meet Follower Guy!"
I use the Follow in the graphic you included only when bloggers don't provide the follower gadget. My only problem is that it's hard for me know who I"m following as I rely so much on my gadget. And when I'm doing a book giveaway and require someone to follow me, I can't find them when they use the one at the top of the page.
"As far as I'm concerned, we're all in this together."
I love this sentiment, Matt. That's what I love so much about this community.
Nineteen is great! I think my biggest increase came when we announced the second A to Z Challenge - I gained a hundred and fifty in one week. Talk about panic!
We'll keep planning for a joint fest soon.
Yay! 19 is huge for one day!
Okay, I have fallen victime to your dastardly scheme.
I do poach followers. Sort of. If someone I follow has a commenter that I find interesting, I will often go check that blog. Not necessarily in the interest of gaining a new follower, but because I like what the blogger says. I should go on, but I'm in the middle of moving and shouldn't be on any blogs, right now. But, you know, here I am, anyway. heh
i use the top toolbar when i either can't find the follow widget, or if i'm on my work PC and it's blocking the follwer wideget.
OT - i'm posting about you and your goal tomorrow.
19 followers in one day is epic. I fully expect you to take over the world. Can I be in your Cabinet, as Minister of Fun?
Excellent analysis. I'm sure you know this, but I don't do blogfests. I *might* be able to do something like a challenge though. You know, like a follower challenge. We should chat.
Hmmm....19 followers since a day ago, eh? I think Yoda has been using the force.
But seriously, if you ever want to work on a follower challenge, just reach out.
tomewriter(at)gmail(dot)com
Experiments are great, especially when they are successful! My blog partner is better than I am at blog hopping lately. Life got in the way for me. I'm remedying that this week and hoping to make up for lost time. I think having lots of followers is great, but only if I'm also seeing that many more comments. I'd like to know that our content is pleasing/intriguing/inspiring/informational and that's what will not only get us a follower, but a frequent visitor! That said, I'd love to reach 500 followers. Guess I'd better hop around now. And make a plan to stay committed to everyone! christy
Great post. I need to go and read the other from yesterday, too (sorry I missed that one). But 19 followers in one day is awesome!
19! That's suh-weet.
People with no follow button makes me grrrrrrrr
I bow to your awesomeness. Good luck in your quest for 1000!
Way to go Matthew! I agree, we all should be connecting & encouraging one another. Smart way to get an agent/publisher to notice you. ; )
Gawd...I hate to be a statistic :) Of course there are different reasons for blogging. I have no need of networking and such. I live for the conversation after the post. We can't have an "intimate" conversation after 80 comments! More so, I feel like anything insteresting I might have said has been said five different ways already. I follow too many blogs. I cut out the ones that don't communicate, I don't care how good they are. It's why I'm in it. I can read good literature from my library if it was only about that. But I still read way too many and have far too much guilt over the time I don't have to properly follow them all. Ack ack ack. I feel like I'm on a soap box. Okay...gonna check out your other blog and as a reward for all that effort, up your number by one more :)
What a great, informative post! I wish you the best of luck with your goal of 1000 followers. You're one step (follower) closer! :)
Alex, Good to meet you. I'm curious to see how your experiment works in the weeks to come. Also, it's nice to meet a fellow writer from my neck of the woods.
I'm often browsing on the work computer and it blocks the googlefriendconnect thing, so I usually hit the top bar. Any others, I try to email the link to myself and follow once I'm at home or on my phone.
An insignificant FYI: the search bar at the top can be removed.
A blogger might do that if, for example, they wanted their blog to look as little like a blogspot blog (and as much like a professional site they paid Cash Money for) as possible.
That said, this same blogger might also be too cheap to pay for a customized template, and too lazy to program one themselves, even though both are possible as well.
I think Blogfest is the most effective. Thanks for finding your way to my blog.
Every Savage Can Reproduce
I'm not sure how anyone has the ability to be everywhere the way you are, and Alex. I can honestly only visit around 15 to 20 blogs a week. Of those, I often miss a post or two (*ahem* or three). Before I can get back. I think you should post about how you can follow so many, and comment on so many... I've always been a quality over quantity kind of guy anyway, but the sheer number some people visit is hard to believe... seriously. I just can't do it.
Hi Matt! Great post. I hope you reach 1000 followers very soon. I've followed you back so that's one more to help you on your way :-)
Matthew, I'm thrilled with and for your new followers, and I had a lot of fun visiting the blogs you suggested, all of which were well worth the time.
You charge your karma battery a lot, and it's nice to see the Universe respond.
The methods of following a blogspot blog are weird, and it makes it hard to keep track of how many people actually follow your blog. Good luck getting to that magical 1000!
Is there a way to find out how many followers you have outside of Friends Connect?
I've never subscribed to the RSS feed. I already get 300 emails a day!
what are you doing over here? I haven't read yesterday's post, but yes, Virginia. Nineteen in one day sans blogfest is pretty good! Nice work.
And you're not wishing you were someone else today? Hmm? :D
Hi there,
Came to your blog by way of a post Falen made (and am glad I did :)). Great looking blog, and I look forward to following!
Ninja Girl
Congrats on your experiment's success! I see that you have almost 800 followers now, so things are really working for you!
I know what you mean about following privately. I have two people who follow my blog privately, and it's a real mystery to me. I call them my super-secret blog-stalkers. I'm hoping that they're agents or editors or super-shy writers, but that's mostly because I can't face the idea that they're creepy stalker-ish types.
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