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Celebrate National DeLurking Week – leave a comment

January 12, 2009 by John Dilbeck
Filed under: Aweber Autoresponders, Blogging, Marketing 

I have my Macintosh set up with multiple accounts that are optimized for particular tasks. When I sign into one account, it opens with a predetermined set of applications waiting for me to get right to work. My browser’s home page on one account will be different than it is on another account. As I can identify something that I’ll be doing often enough, I’ll set up a new account and optimize it for that task.

Now, I said all of that to give you a bit of background on how I operate. This morning, I signed into my main marketing account and it loaded a text editor with a couple dozen documents open and my iCal calendar application. In this version of my calendar, I’m subscribed to a marketing calendar maintained by Aweber.com. Someone at Aweber regularly updates this calendar with interesting holidays, events, and observances, and some have some good marketing ideas associated with them.

This morning, I saw a band across the entire week, celebrating National DeLurking Week.

Here’s what the calendar says:

It’s time to get active online. You’ve got 51 weeks a year to read webpages without making your presence known, but this week, be sure to comment wherever possible! DeLurk and come out of the shadows!

National DeLurking Week is celebrated the second full week of January, running from Monday through Sunday.

One of the goals of most bloggers is to start a conversation on their blog. Otherwise, it feels like we’re just standing on a mountain and shouting into a fog bank.

I’ve been lucky and have developed some friendships with other bloggers around the world. I am positive this would not have happened if we didn’t comment on each others’ blogs. Sometimes we agree, sometimes we disagree, but we always learn from each other.

In fact, making it easy for someone to comment about what I write about was the major determining factor that finally motivated me to leave my previous primary blog and develop this one. It is set up to encourage your comments and, in return, you get links to your latest blog posts and/or websites. I think that’s only fair.

So, are you planning to celebrate National DeLurking Week?

Leave a comment somewhere. Make a new friend. Learn something or share what you’ve already learned.

Now, don’t just leave a “good post” comment. Leave something substantive, something that will enhance the conversation.

Lurkers, this is the week to come out of the shadows!

Act on your dream!

JD

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27 Comments on Celebrate National DeLurking Week – leave a comment

  1. Joan Adams on Mon, 12th Jan 2009 6:54 am

    2. Let me be the first to wish you a Happy Delurking Week, John! For sure, I will put forth every effort to comment more and get to know a few more people this week!

  2. John Dilbeck on Mon, 12th Jan 2009 7:12 am

    3. Good morning, Joan!

    That’s the spirit. ;)

    You know, when I saw your comment, it reminded me that I neglected to mention other conversations besides blogs.

    Most of us who build Squidoo lenses add the Reader Feedback module at the bottom of our lenses so people can leave comments.

    In the past, I’ve mostly chosen to let only logged-in lensmasters leave comments, but I’m starting to question that now.

    If you’re a lensmaster, do you allow only other lensmasters to leave comments, or do you open it up to anyone who visits the lens?

    Do you moderate your visitors’ comments, or just delete the off-topic and spam comments?

    And, of course, there are other places where we can delurk, including forums and social communities.

    Act on your dream!

    JD

    PS. And Twitter, too.

  3. Joan Adams on Mon, 12th Jan 2009 7:26 am

    4. Oh, yes! I always leave my Squidoo guest book open to all visitors! Friends, relatives and other folk who happen to find my lens will comment, and it’s fun to see what they say. I have “met” some nice folks on line that way. I also “approve immediately” and “notify me” of comments. That way, I can delete any comment that is offensive. I have only had to delete one truly offensive comment so far. I also delete any “spammy” comments. But all in all, my guest books continue to be a super addition to my lenses.
    hmmmmmm how many lensmasters can I possibly visit during Delurking Week?

  4. John Dilbeck on Mon, 12th Jan 2009 8:06 am

    5. Good morning, Joan.

    I think I’ll be changing how the guest books are set up on my lenses. I think you have it right, especially for lenses related to family and friends and our local communities, where the visitors are less likely to be lensmasters. Thanks.

    Act on your dream!

    JD

  5. Justin Premick, AWeber on Mon, 12th Jan 2009 10:51 am

    6. Hi John,

    Thanks for pointing out the calendar!

    We try to keep it full of not only the “major” holidays, but fun ones like DeLurking Week too :)

    My $.02: one of the best ways to DeLurk is to leave a quality comment on a blog that’s putting out great information, but not getting a lot of comments. You’ll make the author’s day, and you just might develop a new business contact or partner from there. Plus it’s a great personal branding move.

    Here’s to getting off the sidelines and into the conversations not just this week, but all throughout 2009!

    Justin Premick, AWeber´s last blog post..Press Release: 50,000 AWeber Customers!

  6. Mitch on Mon, 12th Jan 2009 12:04 pm

    7. Obviously I’m not a lurker, but I wanted to come over to help encourage lurkers everywhere to come out and say something, just this one time at least, and find out that it’s not such a bad thing. The stuff you find, John! :-)

    Mitch´s last blog post..My Big RSS Subscriber Contest!

  7. Brian D. Hawkins on Mon, 12th Jan 2009 5:15 pm

    8. Hi John, I don’t sit in the shadows, I’m not even sure where we keep the shadows ;) I didn’t know AWeber ran a calender but it gets even worse. I didn’t know I had one on my computer either. I clicked your calender link then clicked the ICAL link below the calender and before I know it Windows Calender pops up. I never knew it was there. Thanks for the new tool, at least new to me.

    Brian D. Hawkins´s last blog post..100 Dollar Domains – Special Offer

  8. Dennis Edell on Mon, 12th Jan 2009 6:50 pm

    9. Would this e the week I hibernate?

    Dennis Edell´s last blog post..*Best Blog Review Contest* EXTENDED To Months End – $100 First Prize

  9. John Dilbeck on Tue, 13th Jan 2009 5:19 am

    10. Good morning, Justin.

    Welcome to our discussion. I’ve enjoyed reading many of your posts on AWeber’s blog.

    I enjoy the calendar and find it to be useful. As you said, you have some fun days listed in addition to major holidays and observances.

    I like your idea of finding a blog with quality content and few comments and joining the discussion, there.

    Act on your dream!

    JD

  10. John Dilbeck on Tue, 13th Jan 2009 5:25 am

    11. Good morning, Mitch.

    Nope. You’re definitely not a lurker, but you are one of the people responsible for helping me make the decision to move my primary blog to here so that it would be easier to have conversations.

    I agree with your thoughts about lurkers making their presence known. It’s not hard to do and you may make a new friend or business associate in the process.

    Act on your dream!

    JD

  11. John Dilbeck on Tue, 13th Jan 2009 5:40 am

    12. Good morning, Brian.

    I hope you have fun with the new tool.

    I use iCal to manage my work, handle some of my more-important to-do items, schedule appointments, and keep up with birthdays.

    When I read on the AWeber blog about the holiday calendar they maintain, it was a no-brainer to subscribe to their feed.

    Even if I don’t write about a special day, I frequently wake up to a chuckle when I learn about a holiday I never knew about.

    Act on your dream!

    JD

  12. John Dilbeck on Tue, 13th Jan 2009 5:50 am

    13. Good morning, Dennis.

    I don’t know about hibernating; I’ve never managed to sleep that long.

    At least you don’t have to worry about delurking!

    ;)

    Act on your dream!

    JD

  13. Ash on Tue, 13th Jan 2009 9:36 am

    14. This is serendipitously perfect! One of my goals for 2009 was to start leaving more comments and to raise my blog from the dead. How appropriate to see that there is a national holiday just for this! ;) Thank you for posting this!

    Ash´s last blog post..Fools Rush In

  14. John Dilbeck on Tue, 13th Jan 2009 1:23 pm

    15. Good afternoon, Ash.

    Welcome to our discussions. I’m happy you chose to delurk here.

    I think that you’ll find commenting on other blogs to be an excellent way to get more readers to your blog.

    I enjoyed your “Fools Rush In” post.

    Act on your dream!

    JD

  15. Sheryl Loch on Sat, 17th Jan 2009 7:23 pm

    16. Hi John,
    I am a little late getting here to celebrate. I was over making comments at another blog and saw your post title so, I had to come check it out.

    No, I was not just lurking! I am not much for just sitting in the bleachers and not playing in the game.

    I am always telling people to get out and say something. Without action there is no reaction.

    I see you even got Dennis, Brian, and Mitch to post. They are normally so shy. Ha, Ha!

    Ok, I must go lurk around and see what else is going on in Blogville!

    Sheryl Loch´s last blog post..Could a Monkey Post Your Blog?

  16. John Dilbeck on Sun, 18th Jan 2009 11:10 am

    17. Good morning, Sheryl.

    Welcome to our discussions. It’s always nice to “see” a new face here.

    You’re exactly right, “without action there is no reaction.”

    Thanks for delurking here.

    Act on your dream!

    JD

  17. Evyta on Fri, 23rd Jan 2009 9:47 am

    18. Happy Delurking Week, John! Maybe I’m too late, but I hope you’re happy too :)

  18. John Dilbeck on Sun, 25th Jan 2009 7:43 am

    19. Good morning, Evyta.

    Thanks for delurking! It’s never too late to join our discussions. I’m a happy guy!

    ;)

    Act on your dream!

    JD

  19. Baby Showers on Sat, 31st Jan 2009 4:54 pm

    20. It’s a smidge past delurker week, but it’s good for me to come out of my shell everyone once in awhile. It’s helpul to know you’re interacting with people not just your computer.

  20. diana on Mon, 2nd Feb 2009 5:53 am

    21. hi..I wish you happy delurking day to all the blogger s.and good to see that we got a reason to get to know each other this way. and i think now we all would more friend than ever and at the same time i even thank you for wishing me oo and reminding me of it.
    diana

  21. John Dilbeck on Wed, 4th Feb 2009 4:58 pm

    22. Good afternoon, Baby Showers and Diana.

    Even though Delurker Week is over, it’s always nice to meet new people who choose to join our discussions. Welcome to both of you.

    It really is nice to interact with real people.

    Act on your dream!

    JD

  22. Christine on Wed, 4th Feb 2009 7:02 pm

    23. Well this is my first visit here so I thought I would not lurk

    Christine´s last blog post..My Space Bankers

  23. John Dilbeck on Fri, 6th Feb 2009 1:33 pm

    24. Good afternoon, Christine.

    Welcome, and I always like to meet non-lurkers.

    ;)

    Act on your dream!

    JD

  24. Adwords on Thu, 2nd Apr 2009 12:54 am

    25. iCalendar is a very cool APP. but does anyone know if there is a compatible application for PC users?

    Adwords´s last blog post..Writing: a profitable skill?

  25. John Dilbeck on Thu, 2nd Apr 2009 3:19 am

    26. Good morning, Perry.

    Welcome to our discussions.

    I use only Macs and have no experience with PCs for several years.

    However, Vista has a calendar app that is compatible with parts of iCal, and Mozilla has a calendar project in the works.

    I have no experience with either of them.

    Here’s a couple of links with more info:

    iCal vs. Windows Calendar

    Mozilla Calendar project

    Act on your dream!

    JD

  26. Discount codes on Sun, 3rd May 2009 10:35 am

    27. I think you are quite right, John, in saying that bloggers have to to start a conversation on their blog, Even if there is no readership yet, one shouldjust write in a way as if he is talking to somebody.

    If the posts are interesting and entertaining – people will eventually follow, provided the blogger is active enough commenting on other blogs, social networks etc.

    Regards,
    Andy

  27. John Dilbeck on Wed, 20th May 2009 5:38 pm

    28. Good afternoon, Andy.

    I agree. If someone doesn’t want to have a conversation with his readers, then perhaps other forms of websites would be better than a blog.

    It takes a lot of time and energy to be active on multiple blogs and social networks, but I find it to be worthwhile and I enjoy doing it.

    I appreciate your comments. Welcome to the discussion.

    Act on your dream!

    JD

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