Sue Waters

Connecting With Your Readers!

Sure it is nice when a blogger posts on the topics they normally write on but it is also enjoyable when they occasionally share what is happening in their life. Why? Because you can now connect with them as a real person; not just someone who always seems to be talking business. For me, these…

Sue Waters
3 minutes

Sure it is nice when a blogger posts on the topics they normally write on but it is also enjoyable when they occasionally share what is happening in their life. Why? Because you can now connect with them as a real person; not just someone who always seems to be talking business.

For me, these glimpses of their lives make their blogs stand out in the blogs I read. Let me give you some examples from edubloggers! I have been really worried about Cathy! Is her eye allergy getting better, will they have a solution so that she can work in her new library? I also feel for her with the long drives and a bit worried about Wes driving her car! Sarah, like me, loves her wireless laptop but has learnt using it outside sunbathing is not a good idea! Dean gave himself a book of his blog for Christmas sounded cool while his daughter’s dog eating his SD card was not so cool (poor dog)!

Funny aspect of these types of posts — readers remember them but don’t necessarily comment. Who cares! So let me finish off by sharing a bit of what is happening in my life lately!

What I have been up to!

Well it is summer in Australia which means I am my long summer break and don’t go back to work until February! This is when I go absolutely crazy and for some unknown reason start spring cleaning the house. Beginning to think the house is messier now than before I started! And I have gotten rid of soooo much stuff!

Also now with some down time, where I don’t feel tired all the time, I take the opportunity to do some renovations. So I ordered a new wardrobe system for our W.I.R which has now just been installed! Finally after 15 years in the house are clothes can now be neatly put away. A bonus was my hubby had to repaint my ensuite, bedroom and W.I.R (not sure if he enjoyed his short Christmas break 🙂 )! Off course this meant new curtains for my bedroom — which for some unknown is not a concept that a husband can understand! And while I was at it ordered new curtains for one of my kids bedrooms!

Meanwhile I have been remembering holidays prior to kids. I am thinking they were easier! Oldest son (Mr13) broke his foot 1 week before Christmas (diagram of how he broke it is here!)….was mending well until we decided that Go-karting was an activity outside the house which would be okay. News flash! Parents are not always right! He couldn’t walk on it for 2 days this week. Then there is youngest son (Mr9) who has been crying on/off for last two days because he has been missing his friends. Good news is I now know how to build a megablock Helicopter after yesterday afternoon playing with Mr9!

FINAL THOUGHTS

So are you like me? Do glimpses of their lives make their blogs stand out in the blogs you read?

Would love to hear what you have been doing! If time, please write a post and let me know so I can drop past your blog!

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13 responses to “Connecting With Your Readers!”

  1. Judy O'Connell Avatar
    Judy O’Connell

    Seems so many of us have been hit by the ‘clean it up and make it shine’ blight! But it is fun to do renos and changes in summer and to turn our minds away from work, work, work 🙂

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  2. technotuesday Avatar
    technotuesday

    Yes I am so glad to get that glimpse into your life, and I’m jealous of your wardrobe (I live out of clothes baskets on the weekend when visiting family) and also the fact that your husband is willing to paint! LOL!

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  3. Dean Shareski Avatar
    Dean Shareski

    Relationships are a key ingredient to learning. As so many of us deal with very abstract, challenging work, it’s important to build these relationships. The complexity of these things make it difficult at times to glean ideas without a context of who’s writing. I share personal things not simply to be foster voyeurism but to allow others to see who I am, understand the context of my thinking and strip down the masks of professionalism.

    I love learning with friends and the amount of time I spend with folks online makes me think of them as such.

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  4. Sarah Stewart Avatar
    Sarah Stewart

    I agree, Sue. It is good to get an insight into the blogger’s personal life and personality. Helps to put the blog into a context and gives it some balance.

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  5. Sarah Stewart Avatar
    Sarah Stewart

    Here’s my response to your post – Its official, I’m too fat!

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  6. Cammy Bean Avatar
    Cammy Bean

    I love the human element that personal posts provide.

    But as a blogger, I find it hard sometimes to figure out exactly how much information to share about my personal life. In this personal/professional space of edubloggers how much is too much? And how much info do I really want to be out there on the web about my family? When you know me face to face, I’m not one to leave much out and feel very comfortable sharing my life’s info with almost anyone.

    Safety and security and privacy concerns are different in this space….

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  7. Jess McCulloch Avatar
    Jess McCulloch

    Sue,

    You just wrote thoughts that were in my head. How did you know they were there?! 😉 I love reading personal anecdotes and learning more about a blogger’s personal life – you’re right, it makes them more human and in turn makes me feel more human. It definitely makes some blogs stand out to me as these easy to read and engage with / relate to posts are the ones I remember the best. I wasn’t doing this at all at my blog which is why I’ve started a new one (not in place of the old one!) where I feel I can actually write a bit more freely, not being restricted by the theme of the blog. I’ve called it The Rise of Reflection I’ve got a couple of posts there including thoughts on what iPod I’d be (Sorry if the hyperlinks don’t work – it’s the first time I’ve done them manually)

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  8. technotuesday Avatar
    technotuesday

    LOL SUE!! After my three hour ride home this weekend, I’m adding another driver–Bob Sprankle. His podcast was awesome. It was Tim Tyson, and yep, once again I thought I knew everything there was to know about Tim Tyson and Mabry Online. I feel a blog post coming! I am so happy to see that others welcome us giving our avatars and blogs life with personal details. It does help t know the context form which a post stems.

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  9. Claire Avatar
    Claire

    I do like to get glimpses of the lives of the bloggers I read–it helps to build a connection with that person. In the classroom with my students I make a point of telling them (within my comfort zone) what’s going on in my life (pet peeves, owls nesting in my trees, self mocking stories from my childhood…) so that they start to make a connection to me. I guess that’s what I need to do in my blog too!

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  10. Sue Waters Avatar
    Sue Waters

    Hi Everyone thanks for taking the time to comment and your comments as always have given me lots of food for thought!

    Judy my mind is so taken away from work that I am beginning to think it will be impossible to get me back to work. However I have spent so much money on new furniture and a new pergola that I think I may need to go back to work to stop my spending spree.

    Cathy (Technotuesday) – if you saw my new wardrobe you would definitely be jealous. However if my hubby ever mentions again that he needs new shirts as a present I may commit violence. Previously he couldn’t find them so would always say he needs more. When I put them away nicely, after chucking out the old ones, he had over 30 shirts! Luckily my husband is a painter by trade (although this is not his current occupation) so I am not allowed to paint. Oh dear what a shame! I am getting a bit worried about these people driving your car!

    Dean – what a lovely explanation of it all and you are such a wonderful example of it. You are absolutely the funniest person in Twitter!

    Hi Sarah – I agree and enjoy all the insights that you always share through your blog. As I mentioned we tend to comment on these types of posts less but we do remember them. Like the time you went to the conference and was unwell from all the walking. Thanks for following up on my post – will drop past later and write a comment.

    Good questions Cammy and ultimately we need to make decisions on how much we share plus the reasons why we share. I strongly recommend people listen to Kathryn Greenhill’s podcast on blogging as she has some really good explanations on what she will and won’t blog about and why. You will find the link on this post.

    Jess I think as we blog it becomes a question that we all start asking ourselves especially when we start reflecting on what we are trying to achieve with blogging. Finding that balance of what we post about, the aspects of our personality that we show are all issues that we start thinking about. I will definitely go past and check out your other blog.

    Definitely Claire it is exactly like in the classroom. I share a lot about my likes/dislikes and who I am with my students; yet it is sometimes easily to forget to share this with our readers. The key is doing it in a way that keeps our posts concise but enjoyable.

    Thanks again everyone for your comments.

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  11. Danielle Blogging for Balance Avatar
    Danielle Blogging for Balance

    What a fun post. I actually clicked on over to see that ‘book’. I have always printed off my posts and filed them away in a ‘notebook’. My first blog, The Whippoorwill Chronicles has since been deleted, but since I kept every post, I have been in the process of looking at the posts as a ‘rough draft’ for that finished ‘book’.

    My SIL just had her closet done like yours and she loves it!! Have fun with the organizing. That is what I did on my winter break 😉

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  12. Sue Waters Avatar
    Sue Waters

    I agree Danielle – it was a fun post and was important for me to remember that our readers do want to know about who we are. Dean’s blog book looks so cool but as he points out in his later post — it is a shame the links and comments aren’t included. The aspect I liked about it the most is it would make blogs more understandable for those that don’t quite get what blogs are about.

    Organising is still ongoing — am procrastinating about the last few areas. Fortunately everything is now back in the new wardrobe and it feels sooo good.

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  13. Is Your Photo Avatar Making You Look OLD? | Mobile Technology in TAFE

    […] people a glimpse of your human side, warts and all, is important — this makes you human as opposed to a machine. Show people that […]

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