The other day, whilst waiting, a thought crept up on me. Out of nowhere to be honest! In fact, it caught me entirely by surprise. This is not unusual to say the least, yet, the subject matter was a bit of a ‘hot potato’ for me.
The thought of which I speak was in relation to guest bloggers. For those of you who are religious disciples of my esoteric fodder, you will already be aware of my resistance to such ideas. Selfish to a degree, I tend to keep a tight control over what has quite completely become an incurable passion of mine.
It has been with impassioned zeal that I have drawn a line in the ‘blogger sands’ to keep The Esoteric Curiosa bearing nothing but my own imprint, my personal stamp!
My thought to be more specific; was why is it even that important to host guest bloggers? Granted, it’s a legitimate question, especially for writers who have their own views, limited time and perhaps no blog of their own upon which to imprint their thoughts. Such a venture sort of bugs me in a way. If you have not already guessed, at the very least you might sense that I like being in control!
Personally speaking, I blog to keep in touch with my readers by sharing all and sundry of my wide and varied interests. Let’s face it, blogging regularly allows my fellow esoteric to get a taste of my writing while they are hopefully being sustained by my chosen subjects, waiting for the next installment. For me it keeps me connected with the fellow esoteric reading and ideally enjoying The Esoteric Curiosa.
However to me, after some consideration I have come to realize that guest blogging is far different, even if beyond the obvious. When you are guest blogging you are attempting to connect with people who’ve perhaps never seen your name, or at least in theory. If you are already established as a dedicated blogger, guest blogging allows one to reach out beyond your regular fan base and into the audience of the blogger who is hosting you. It gives complete strangers a chance to get a good feel for who you are and for your style of writing. If they like what they ‘see’ they are more likely to search out your own blog, if they become acquainted with you via another blogging source.
I began to mull it over a little more and come to think about it, how often does one get the opportunity to really connect with new people in one’s day to day life? Most of us travel in the same circles day after day. If we do meet new people it’s unlikely we get the chance to really impact them in a meaningful way. Yet through our written words we can enrich and share our schooled thoughts on a myriad of subjects.
It has been suggested that most people need to see an ‘author’s name’ something like three times before they will recognize it! And most readers will need to recognize an author’s name before searching out the author’s blog. In some ways guest blogging is like the soft sell. Granted it gets your name in front of potential readers; it gives them a taste of your style. And as an added bonus blogging actually uses your skill set. It’s like writing a letter or an essay.
As an esoteric I look at my blog as my personal communication with a friend I haven’t met yet. I consider myself a biographer, historian, and novelist. In short, I am a ‘story teller’!
Turning a new ‘electronic page’ I’ve decided to share The Esoteric Curiosa with other like minded of the esoteric temperament.
If you have any further ideas with regard to sharing your thoughts, forward your ideas in epistle form to theesotericcuriosa@gmail.com
NR
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