Even though I am still new to blogging there are a few little peeves that I've discovered I have. I realize now that when I started out I was doing the very things that have actually come to annoy me. Ya live ya learn, right? The two things I'm going to share with you today, I think, are REALLY important in the blogging world. By doing these things you'll find that you'll have much more interaction with fellow bloggers and it will be much easier to make connections with people and for them to make connections with you.
How to create an email signature
I've had a few people ask me lately how to create a signature at the end of your email in Gmail {if you use another mail account and don't know how to make a signature, just use a little Google magic to figure it out!}. I always giggle a bit when people ask me how to do technical stuff because I am in no way, shape or form a technical computer savvy person. But occasionally my brain cells do connect and I do have a spark of technical genius...lol ;)
When someone emails me, there is nothing more frustrating than not knowing where the heck they came from. Most of you I know and can easily track down, but if you are a new person and you leave no way for me to get back in contact with you it can be a real bummer. Why don't you just reply to their email, you ask? Well, there's this little thing called a no-reply commenter simply meaning that there is no valid email address connected to the comment, therefore I cannot reply back to you...we'll get to how to fix that in just a moment.
So by creating a signature at the end of your email I can stalk track you down more easily. It's also a great way to promote your blog, fb page or shop. Most of the time if someone new emails me with links to their other sites I'll definitely go check them out. I have found several great blogs and shops this way! Here is what my signature looks like:
Now every time I send an email people can get in touch with me either on my blog or fb or they can simply just go and check me out.
Its super simple, here's 3 easy steps to get it done:
1) On your mail screen click the little flower lookin' thing {yup that's a technical term} on the right hand side. Then click "settings" in the drop down menu.
2) You'll then be taken to another screen. Scroll down a bit until you see the signature section. This is where you can customize your signature. Make sure to add links to your blog, fb, shop, ect. so your peeps can find you and all your goodness.
3) Once you're done scroll down to the bottom of the page and click "save changes" and you're good to go!!
No-reply commenter
Now back to that no-reply comment issue. I cannot tell you how many times I have gotten the sweetest most heartfelt comment from someone, I type them a nice reply thanking them for their kindness, go to hit the little send button only to THEN realize that the email I just spent time typing out will go nowhere if I send it...GRRRR!!! I absolutely HATE not being able to reply back to you! I would never want any of my readers and thoughtful commenters to think that I was just being a brat and simply ignoring them because that is so NOT the case. Here are a few reasons why you should fix this problem {and even if you don't think you are a no-reply commenter, please just check to be sure!! You may be surprised!!}:
1) Email convos are a great way to build relationships with fellow bloggers. But if one is not able to respond, then the convo will always be one-sided and talking to yourself is just not as fun as talking to a friend...well most of the time ;)
2) It makes the person who cannot respond feel really bad!! Especially when you leave a comment asking for advice or info and they cannot respond back to you. And we don't always have time to try and track you down. Plus, if you've left a comment on a blog but the blogger is not able to respond to you, it's just weird to leave a response to that comment on fb or on a random blog post on the commenter's blog...it feels very impersonal.
3) It will make you, the commenter, feel sad and unloved when you don't receive a reply to the lovely message you've written, and trust me we DO NOT want you to feel that way!
So now onto how to fix this problem-o. My super awesome friends over at J&M's Eye Candy wrote a fantastic post on how to do this in TWO easy steps that will literally take you like 30 seconds! So PLEASE if you do one thing today, check out THIS post and make sure your
"reply function" is turned on! Then just sit back and watch your inbox flood with so much love!
I have a few other blogging peeves that I will share with you another time, but these two are by far the biggest and most important in my opinion.
Do you have any blogging pet peeves?
Have you blogged about them?
Have you blogged about them?
If so, leave me a comment and be sure to leave a link to the post if you've blogged about it. I would love to read and possibly share them with others!
xoxo,
Lacee
