Blog awareness is, as expected, highest among bloggers themselves. Members of the blogging community tend to not only write their own blogs, but read other blogs, as well as link to blog after blog. Bloggers read other blogs, quote other bloggers, and communicate with other blog owners both online and in person.
Of course that is obvious; at least to bloggers like you. That might also be the problem. As hard as it may be to believe, not everyone is a blogger. As a result, not everyone is as knowledgeable about the blogging phenomenon as we blog writers.
What is not so obvious is the level of blog awareness among the general mainstream population. In fact, many people are not aware of blogs, even though they might even read blogs themselves. They just might not know that what they are reading is a blog. While that might seem farfetched to many bloggers, it's not that outlandish to non-bloggers. After all, many people think bloggers are only self absorbed navel gazers anyway. If the mainstream media is a guide, them the only types of blogs that exist to them are political blogs, personal blogs, and the blog stylings of various celebrities.
Why not put the idea of blogging knowledge to the test? This week, when you're at work, visiting clients, socializing, or just talking to people on the street, why not ask them about blogs and blogging. Ask them if they read blogs. Perhaps they might not even have heard of the concept. Be sure to ascertain from those people who read blogs if they are aware of blogs beyond the political or personal types. If you are a business blogger, that's important information to acquire for the future. If a person is not aware of business blogs, for example, it's very difficult to initiate a blog based relationship.
Be sure to keep a record of the number of people who have heard of blogs, who have read blogs, and who might even read your own blog. At the same time, write down all of the people who have never heard of blogs, or who only possess limited knowledge of the medium. Armed with this information, you can formulate a plan to help increase awareness of blogging among the general population. Your ideas could become standard advice in the blogosphere, giving you even more traffic. Talk about benefits to gaining knowledge!
Along with your general questions, ask if the person has heard of or read your own blog or blogs. While they might not have read your powerful and informative posts, they are potential readers. Be sure to give them a business card that features your blog and URL. Along with increasing the level of blog awareness, you are gaining more visitor traffic for your own blog, and some potential long term customers and clients. Now that's putting research to work for you.
Right?
If people aren't aware of blogs, after providing answers to your informal questions, it's our job and responsibility as bloggers to spread the word. It won't happen by itself. Only in the movies can you build it and they will come. Real life doesn't work like that. People need you to share information about blogs, and the value of maintaining a blog. Unfortunately, that blogging know how doesn't just appear ready made right out of thin air.
Set up a few simple blogging questions and do some informal blogging research today. You might even convert a few more people to blog readers or writers. You might even learn more about blogging yourself as you examine aspects of blog writing you hadn't considered prior to your informal research. You may not only add some new readers and bloggers to the blogosphere, but you might strengthen your personal committment to writing great posts on your own blog as well.
Now that's some powerful blog evangelism in action.
