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Posting articles is great! But, are you participating in the discussion afterwards?

Written by: John McEntyre

Article Overview: Everyone who posts articles on the Internet knows that regular posting is important to keep your name and information in front of the public. However, maintaining old posts is more important than you might think. You should make sure you respond to comments and suggestions to your articles that others have made.

Posting articles is great! But, are you participating in the discussion afterwards?

Everyone who posts articles on the Internet knows that regular posting is important to keep your name and information in front of the public. However, maintaining old posts is more important than you might think. You should make sure you respond to comments and suggestions to your articles that others have made.

The first thing you should do is thank people for reading your article and taking the time to leave comments--your readers do not owe you that, and you should consider it a favor. People involved in a full-blown discussion on your article are giving it a great deal of attention, and are likely bringing in other people to the discussion as well--an article with a lot of comments is very attractive for those just passing through.

The next thing you should do is read the posts thoroughly. Get an idea of where the trend in the comments is headed. If there is a change in direction, find out where it is and respond. This will show that you can understand and sympathize with opposing opinions, lending to your credibility as an authority and a writer.

Responding to posts is an art. There are some things to keep in mind when doing so.

• Keep a level head even if people’s comments anger you. Rather than blast them into next week, they will respect you for responding with calm and reason.

• Know what to ignore. Sometimes people will even take you to task for something that you did not say. If you choose to respond at all, again do so calmly and don’t make fun of them--everyone has stresses we know nothing about.

• Never use swear words. Sometimes it is tempting to hurl back language that someone has used on you, but you can maintain your authority and good reputation only if you remain professional.

• In responding to opposing viewpoints, try to begin with something like this: “I understand what you’re saying,” or “I respect your position,” then defend yourself or comment that you must do some more research before you comment fully--then do it.

• For those who agree with you, thank them and maybe add some more data they might find interesting as a reward. For instance, if you have written an article on microchips for pets, you might add a comment about GPS dog collars when you respond to a positive comment.

There are many variants on these guidelines, but one common thread weaves them together: you must remain professional and consistent. You would not want to write your article, leave it for a few weeks, then come back and post to comments. You will want to check it the next day, and the day after, and be nice to everyone.

In fact, you could set up a schedule for yourself. After writing an article, you could make sure you check it the next day, then again a couple days later. By then it may be time to post another article, and when you do so check all old articles for comments and respond. Leave old articles alone once you’re sure the discussion is over.

The best rule of thumb is to keep the discussion going as long as you can, and hold attention on your articles. Whatever you are trying to achieve with them, you have a much greater chance than if you post and abandon.

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Article Tags: anger, calm, change in direction, credibility, good reputation, opposing viewpoints, rsquo, stresses, taking the time



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