This is the final part of the Social Media Triage series. For the first, second, and third posts, please start here: Social Media What is IT?

How leaving comments on posts can be effective

When my first book came out, I was fortunate enough to be connected to a woman who ran a blog tour company. She was a God-send and gave me several tours for free. I was hosting some of her authors on my podcast, so it worked out for us both. But mostly for me – it was free and those things cost money.

I went to every site hosting my tour each day for like a month. I would try to monitor comments and reply. But seriously? I missed a ton, I think. It wasn’t because I didn’t show up during the tour. I did. It was because I didn’t go back.

Comments on posts that fans and followers make are the lifeblood of this writing life. How do you know someone is even out there reading if they don’t comment? How do they know you are a real person if you don’t respond? And be timely about it, folks. It won’t serve anyone if you go back five days after the post
and then reply to that question. We live in a busy world. People move on. They forget you.

Here are five ways to make sure your comments/commenters are effective:

1. Be timely. See paragraph above.
2. Answer the question. Posters really ask to find out. It’s not hogwash.
3. If you do not feel comfortable answering the question, don’t just leave it hanging. Give them an honest reply even if it is just “I don’t know”.
4. Follow through. If a poster says they want to read your work, find out how you can get it to them.
5. Don’t make promises you won’t keep. If you tell a commenter you will get them the answer, do it.

Our blogs and social media sites are where we interact and develop relationships with our readers. It is a relationship. A two-way street. Don’t refuse to maintain your part of it. Answer those comments!

(ps) CONFESSION:-of all the SMT series that I feel like attacks me personally, this one is it–I am terrible about answering comments-but I will do better! I promise. I hope you will come back to this blog and check out other informative articles, blog posts, and podcasts.