WTD presents a conversation between Liz Strauss and Chief Editor Mary Jaksch. Liz is one of the heavy-weights of the blogosphere. Her Successful Blog is a magnet for a host of readers.
Mary: Liz, you’ve been called “The most influential relational blogger on the Internet”. Your articles and your Ebook The Secret of Writing a Successful and Outstanding Blog (which I started reading at 1am and couldn’t put down) plonk building relationship with readers right into the centre of a blogger’s work.
What’s your sense of how we grow as writers by fostering relationship with our readers?
Liz: I have a blog post I wrote once called, I Thought I Was a Writer, Then an Audience Came It’s an amazing difference to receive immediate feedback from people who actually read our words for what we’re saying. How can we NOT grow when we realize that what we’ve said is as clear as we could make it, but inside our words sincere people have found their own message. It’s humbling and invirgorating to realize that we can learn from our thinking by sharing it with others. Readers give our words new meaning.
Mary: Audience. Yes. On your blog you’ve certainly collected a huge and lively audience. Exploring your blog is a unique and slightly crazy experience. It’s like visiting an op-shop which sells flowing Ascot hats, an elephant or two, some doormice imported directly from Alice in Wonderland, as well as skateboards, diving bells, and treasure chests spilling their riches with total abandon.
