Are You Clark Kent or Superman?
In my last post I said I loved Seth Godins blog but hated that he doesn’t have comments enabled. He responded to my complaint with an email saying he reads and responds to his own email. I’m honoured. That’s great. It’s good to hear, but who would know?
The public perception is still, and please do correct me if I am wrong, that closed comments means comments of any kind are not welcome.
Seth writes about business theatre, how some things are done for show rather than being based in any practical reality. Where is the blog equivalent of the suggestion/feedback cards in restaurants. Where on Seths blog does it show that feedback is welcome?
If you hunt around you might find the email link. Not exactly a welcome mat.
Knowing this, what percentage of readers will ever email? Only the most determined and savvy. A smaller number than the total who have burning questions I would say.
OK, he allows Trackbacks. This is good. It is how he noticed my criticism probably. What about non-geeks though? Seths audience is people interested in marketing, right? I worked in marketing agencies for years, I guarantee 99.9% of my ex-colleagues couldn’t tell you what a Trackback even is. You need a blog to send a trackback, so this is like in the early days of fax machines removing your 800 number in favour of the fax line.
My recommendation would either to re-enable comments or to make a bigger show of welcoming communication.
You could be the most brilliant person at whatever it is you do, but if you do not show it hardly anyone will ever know. Nobody cares about Clark Kent, it is the guy in the tights and cape people notice.
Tags: seth godin, marketing, blogging, tips
Posted on March 23rd, 2007 by Chris Garrett in Marketing
I’m with you. I mostly like Seth’s stuff. But I, too, was turned off by him not accepting comments on his blog. Honestly, my first impression was, “Oh, I see, this guy just wants to take advantage of the blogosphere, but he’s not interested in giving anything back to his readers.” Really, that was my first impression. It turned me off. Only recently have I been willing to trackback to his blog.
There’s quite a few bloggers at or near Seth’s traffic levels who do have comments on. They manage it. Why can’t he? The blogosphere is about conversation. And I don’t see us being able to have a conversation on Seth’s blog. Though ironically, we’re having a conversation about Seth’s blog - so who has the advantage?
Yup clearly Seth has the benefit of being linked to. As I said, I love his stuff, it is very thought provoking and inspirational, but he is hardly leading by example with his blog in this regard.
The unfortunately thing for me is that many people to Seth for how to market. If they look to his blog, they may make the mistake of thinking they don’t need to comments either. And very few people have the name recognition that would afford them that privilege.
Yes although he can’t really say “you should have comments even though I don’t”
I personally don’t even take the time to read Godin’s blog simply because of the fact that he has comments disabled. When I am hopping around the blogosphere (or whatever buzz word is hot these days) I scout for interesting articles, and ultimately they are interesting enough for me to comment on.
Of course articles can be interesting even if I don’t comment on them, but for me the entire blogging experience is based around a two-way communication, as opposed to the old, static web where there was a clear distinction between the information provider and consumer. It’s infact one of the things that inspired me to get back to working online after a couple of years of hiatus.
Two way communication, exactly. Brad Pitt goes on chat shows and might well answer his own emails, do we think he is accessible?
Seth will continue being a success regardless of what bloggers think about him or his blog, and he will continue to thrill small groups, lecture halls and individuals.
You make a really good point Chris. In part at least, comments allow a blogger to learn from his/her readers. Not allowing comments strikes me as someone who doesn’t feel they personally have anything to gain or learn from their readers’ input. I guess it’s possible he feels that he just doesn’t have the time to manage the spam, etc., but in that case, he should make his e-mail more visible and explain the reason, as you said.
I’m sure he could get 1000 trustworthy volunteers who would love to help him with the mundane tasks?
I guess for Seth bad publicity is better than no publicity at all.
I would like to think I am a combo meal. Half superman so I can get the job done and half Clark Kent so I am humble enough not to show off.
This post cracked a smile, thanks.
But his readers/commenters don’t want to hear from interns. It’s like writing to Oprah and getting a canned reply from a recent college grad staff person.
Hey, I don’t read his blog either because I can’t comment. Although I’m honestly engaged in commenting because, to a large degree, it’s a self serving activity, but even if he had comments, I don’t think I would follow his blog since my comment would get lost in the long list. I feel this way about Copy Blogger. I read his blog because it’s useful but I never comment because by the time I get to the post, I’m the 40-something person in line to comment. Chris, maybe you would suggest it’s worth it anyway. Sometimes I need to think outside of my box.
I too read Seth’s blog from time-to-time and like what he has to say. The only reason I could see for not having comments enabled is if the blogger would never have time to answer or comment back. This may be the case with Seth?
So the question then becomes, is it better to not have comments enabled or to have comments enabled and yet never comment?
Seth seems to take the blogging equivalent of Joel Stein’s stance on email feedback from his newspaper column (LA Times), but with one key difference: Seth actually DOES care.
In other words, by disabling comments, he’s marketing himself as something between columnist and blogger–and
possibly less victim to the concerns of either animal.
A purple cow, indeed.
Is it working? Several comments on this post alone (in a blogosphere far, far away) says it is. Frustrating as it may be, Seth’s position allows him to be zen master while using email to harvest real-world relationships (or intellectual lead-generation, if you will).
Are reader comments always valuable? For ChrisG and GrokDotCom, they are. But the greatest marketing lie the devil ever told was that “best practices” apply to all.
@Colbs - I don’t think it is about bad publicity, I think he just doesn’t understand how important being able to converse with him is. And that is fine. Sometimes you have to say I am not going to give you what you want no matter how much you want it.
@Ashley - for self promotion you are right you will get fewer clicks, but I for one certainly read all the comments and have had a few ah-ha moments (not the 80s pop group) from the Nth comment
@Mark - The more contact methods you have the more open you appear, even if people don’t want to use them. I have never phoned an online retailer but I always feel better when they have a telephone number.
I think if you are going to have comments off A) have a VERY visible contact method and B) have a line or two that explains WHY comments are off.
@Robert - He does care AND he doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about. He says he is too busy. That’s fine. Still I would hope people would let me know when they think I am wrong. It’s my job as a fan to give him the same courtesy, but also to respect him when he disagrees.
It’s Seth’s prerogative, and his site clearly offers value to its readers, comments or not.
I’ll chime in with some of the commenters above: Seth somehow manages to answer his email, even with people he doesn’t know. That’s remarkable. I won’t name names, but I could easily trot out a dozen well-known bloggers who have neither responded to my online comments or returned an email.
You wouldn’t be on that list, Chris.
Yes he took time out to debate the issue via email with me, which is something I think a lot of his peers may not have done, but I still maintain the conversation would have been so much more valuable for everybody if it had been on his blog. C’est la vie as they say a few hundred miles west of here.
Your point of view is really valid here, Chris. But I think it boils down to what you (understandably) perceive as the implicit promise of the medium itself.
The question: Is a blog really a blog if it doesn’t allow comments?
Seth’s answer: (De facto ink blot test on us)
My answer: Maybe
His work is valuable. It is still a blog. But I believe he is missing an opportunity to not just serve but DELIGHT his customers. Possibly his most important customers; his sneezers.
I’m actually more like Lois Lane, but you’ve inspired me to alter mine. Of course, I’m not nearly as famous/wise/smart/rich/popular as Mr. Godin so it probably will have no affect on my cyberspace reputation since I don’t yet have one.
Robert raises one of my favorite over-coffee topics.
Can anyone define the difference between a blog and — oh, I dunno — the new version of USA Today?
Comments? Most sites have them these days. Opinion? Ditto. One author, versus many? Lots of group blogs these days. Writing about personal experience? Newspaper columnists have done that for decades. Ads? Lots of pro blogs now.
Hmmm.
Is my site, Lighter Footstep, a blog? I dunno. Maybe not. Is ChrisG.com? I think so, but I can’t put my finger on why.
Thoughts, anyone? This isn’t about the relative merits of blogs v. other sites, just definitions.
This sums up blogs for me, you can still be looking at a blog without all three dimensions but a true blog has all three IMO
Excellent article, Chris.
I’ll toss this out there, though, using my previous example: USA TODAY has constantly updated content, syndication (rather good syndication, in fact), and plenty of conversation. No way it’s a blog. But why?
I’ve got opinion or two, but will hold them to see if anyone else is interested in exploring this.
I agree that if Seth wants more communication, he has to show others that he wants interaction with his readers. The interesting thing is that he still gets a lot of readers, even though he does not have comments enabled. His site is a good example of how a site that lectures [the way you described in one of your previous post] can still attract people, and do it well at the same time. However, I also notice that he makes money off of people’s clicks and their views [Amazon ads], so in my view, a person who makes money from someone may want to do something for the “customer” also. A personal blog can do anything they wish, but when a personal blog starts making money, it is the same as a business, and thus customers need to be take care of in some ways also.
Also, the topic of allowing comments depends on whether or not a person or a site wants more communication or interaction from others. Not encouraging more communication is not a bad thing. Some blogs want more comments, while some blogs want no comments. It all boils down to what you want.
A bit off-topic: Can we also not argue that Superman would be nothing without the Clark Kent underneath those tights and cape? Homer Simpson sported better looking tights and cape and people laughed with him when he did nice things, and people laughed at him when he did stupid things. Without the inside, the outside will be shallow.
I was surprised myself when Seth returned an email I sent him
then again, i was surprised when you returned my emails as well
Good post. How about a future one about Trackback? A how to guide for those who are not in the know.
What if a “blog” only allows comments in certain posts? I’m thinking of the ever-popular dooce. She permits comments sometimes. Sometimes not. It’s still very much a blog though.
How consistent should “comments allowed” be for a site to be a full-fledged blog (whatever that means)?
“Knowing this, what percentage of readers will ever email? Only the most determined and savvy.”
Can someone tell me why it’s wrong for Seth to want to speak only to the most determined and savvy? Are there other types of people worth knowing?
@Chris - good point
@Bes - we are who we are but sometimes you have to show rather than just be
@Broc - my email is growing but I hope I will always be able to answer it
@Maryrose - hmm perhaps I should cover some of this stuff, you are right
@Leonard - There is a spectrum from vanilla website to full-on blog. All the options in between. I guess it comes down to what your goals are and where a blog fits in. It strikes me though that many people still use the same mindset of the 90’s - website + email list rather than conversation.
@David - That’s an interesting idea, make your website into an obstacle course - like business Darwinism, only the fittest customers get served? Getting loyal customers to jump through hoops for a chance at communicating does not seem that friendly a customer service approach, but you know, YMMV
I second the request for a primer on Trackbacks. I’ve been online for years, and have never much used them (in fact, they’re unsupported by Joomla, my preferred CMS). It would be interesting to know how people use this effectively.
Seth generally writes about mass-market brands, but HE isn’t one–and shouldn’t be judged by the rulebook he’s written. By mass market standards, Seth’s is a brand of exclusivity, so he perpetuates that image by being selective about the ways in which people interact with him.
Seth’s blog isn’t about customer service, it’s about providing value and, specifically, he aims to provide clear-headed business advice in a noisy world. Personally, I go there to hear his voice, not mine or anyone else’s. If I want communicate with him directly, I’ll send him an email, and if I want to talk about his views with others, I’ll come here, or the small handful of places like it.
@Chris - no problem, I will do a trackback post soon
@David - understood