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This is part of the the book BLOGTASTIC! Growing and Making a Difference Through Blogging. You can read the table of contents and follow the book on this page:
See the table of contents for the book here: BLOGTASTIC project
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BLOGTASTIC!: Don’t impose your rules on other bloggers
Imagine this situation. There is a shop where they give away great stuff for free. There are no queues. When people walk in, they can get whatever they want for free. Would it be reasonable for visitors to complain about what they get at the shop? After all, everything the shop provides is free!
Some visitors try to push their expectations on other bloggers and their blog’s rules. Bloggers give away their stuff (usually their knowledge and expertise). They have the right to set their own rules for their site.
A blog is a person’s electronic space. When you visit a blog, you are a guest and a visitor—much like you would be if you visited the blogger’s home. When you visit someone’s home, you should follow their rules for the house.
Some of these blogging house-rules can be:
(a) Allow/disallow comments;
(b) Respond/not respond to comments;
(c) When to post;
(d) How many times to post;
(e) What to post about; and
(d) The length of each post.
You can set these rules for your own blog, but don’t place expectations on other bloggers. Remember, many of your blog’s quality readers are also bloggers themselves. Why waste your energy by trying to impose your rules on someone else?
Blogging Tip: Everyone has rules of their own. Not all rules help.
You can make up your own blog’s rules. Your rules can help you, or they can hurt you. Make sure that your rules help you gain more power. Don’t drive readers away with your blog’s rules.
Rajesh Setty is an entrepreneur, author and speaker based in Silicon Valley. He maintains another blog called Life Beyond Code and tweets as @UpbeatNow