the blogger bone's connected to the ... internet!

happy friday! this week's questions from katy come with the help of linda - it's all part of staying connected! these are good questions for this blog, because honestly - heather and i created it as a way to stay connected with each other. we love that other people read it, we're tickled pink (and glitter) and we get a kick out of the comments. we've got grand plans to make this an international blog .... we're both answering questions this week, with heather in green and amanda in red (trying to move past the bah humbugs >.<)

(via we heart it)

1. How important do you think reader connectedness is to the success of your blog?

it feels wonderful when people comment and interact with us, and sometimes we realize that we're a bit too off of the wall to relate to anyone other than each other.

Yeah! What Amanda said! I like to know that other people out there are having fun with something we've done.

2. What do you do to draw readers in and create that writer-reader bond?

ask questions, provide content that (we hope is at least occasionally) stimulates conversation, and then both respond to comments via this blog as often as possible, and interact with them on their blogs.

I like to write as if I were actually speaking to the reader. If someone were standing with me, I would make all the same silly noises and faces I add to my posts. I like to ask some questions too and I am truly interested in answers from readers.

3. What is one way you could improve this connection?

i don't think there's just one way. i think there are a lot of ways. having just finished the 30 for 30, a lot of the readers are fashion/outfit based. as is the theme of the group where these questions are generated. we're hoping to get into communities that relate to how ... multi-dimensional we are. other food bloggers, anime fans, other ears with feet - the like.

Amanda's got this one nailed too. If you can get into the right communities, find the right people who like what you like, it's so much easier to have that connection naturally. Sometimes the hardest part is just finding your niche.

4. Is there a blogger you think does a great job creating that writer-reader bond? Why?
oh holy smokes there are so many! i like anything that allows for a blogs readers to interact with each other. i've got a few buddies over at livejournal whose friends all know each other, and they'll hijack an entry and go off on tangents and it's so hilariously awesome.

I love JD over at I Do Things... She's absolutely hilarious. Sometimes all it takes is funny and there's a connection!

5. What do you do to cultivate new readers? How do you get them to your site in the first place?

we've actually paid for a tiny tiny bit of advertising on a site that heather found, and we both kinda bounce around and find new people we'd like to be internet friends with, and hope that they stop by. we've got our url on most (if not every single) profile that we have online. we've thought about making business cards!

Yeah, we tried a little advertising and I'd be willing to do it again, maybe after the holidays. I even have a signature in all my outgoing email that links to S&G. I'd love to do business cards too! Especially for the upcoming anime convention that Amanda and I will be attending in March. It would be a great way to bring in new readers. I'm especially interested in starting some giveaways of our own. I still think of us as being fairly new so we're just trying to figure out what works and what doesn't!
heather's got a good point with the giveaways - plus, i do painting on the side and am hoping to open an etsy store in january ... so maybe we'll bring some readers in that way, too