At First Your Commitment to Engagement Will Be Greater Than That Of Your Audience
Let’s face it, it is human nature to avoid disrupting the status quo. Very few people are willing to put themselves out on a limb, for the fear of being judged as being too great. It is this simple reason that studies show people fear public speaking more than death.
Now, let’s take the idea of putting yourself out on a limb, and add in the fact that through social media you’re now doing this in a VERY public forum where anyone and everyone can judge you.
If you consider this, it makes all the sense in the world why your blog posts aren’t being commented on, or your questions on Facebook aren’t being
answered.
People are afraid to be the first to speak up.
Because of this, it is normal that your commitment to engaging your fans be far greater than their commitment to engaging with you.
It is only once you establish yourself with the trustworthy reputation that any ideas, comments and responses will be heard, validated and valued, that your audience will start to match your commitment to engagement.
As an example; I didn’t receive my first comment on my blog until about 6 months into my blogging.
However, once I started engaging with people through OTHER forums (i.e. other blogs where I had guest posted that already had an existing, engaged reader base), by responding to all comments, joining conversations that were good or bad about my ideas, and simply letting others be heard, the reputation started to build. It was this that lead to the same level of engagement I was achieving elsewhere to happen on my own blog, ultimately helping me to establish and providing credibility to my brand.
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