One of the strangest things I’ve learned from producing Canine Nation over the past 4 years is just how difficult it can be to understand how people are responding to my work. When I studied journalism many years ago and even when I did technical writing in my career as a networking consultant, there was always some form of relatively immediate feedback. It could be from a supervisor or editor. It might be from a client or “letters to the editor” coming in to the publication. But this online business is a whole new animal.
When I began writing for Life As A Human, they were very kind in assigning me an editor to help me with my writing. They were pleased with the calibre of work I was doing. So much so that they decided to let me edit and produce my own work. While I do have a few people that help me with proof-reading and minor tweaks, I generally write, edit, and publish Canine Nation with only input as to the grammar and cosmetics. Now that I no longer have an editor, I don’t really have a sense of how well or poorly this stuff goes over with readers who aren’t familiar with the material.
I have very few ways to get feedback from my readers. There are some raw numbers from both Life As A Human and my podcast site to tell me how many people have actually read or downloaded my work. But that tells me nothing about how an individual piece fared with readers/listeners. The only information I can pull from numbers like that would be general trends. I could know over time that articles on puppies are more interesting than ones on canine physiology, for example. And it might take me months to work that out.
So having things like Facebook and the Canine Nation Forum groups on Facebook and Google+ are important to me because it gives my readers and listeners a way to tell me what they are thinking about what I write. But sadly, it seems like the online world is mostly about consuming content and not really about dialogue. Now, that isn’t to say that I haven’t had some very lively exchanges in online forums regarding my writing. I have. But generally it has been when I have touched on a topic that is either controversial or one that resonates with a current “hot topic” out on the Internet.
Most of the time my articles go out into the world, pick up a few hundred reads (or a thousand on a good month) and I will get a handful of “likes” on Facebook or a couple of re-tweets on Twitter. Now, I am the first to admit that I am a TERRIBLE self-promoter. I just seem to have an aversion to blowing my own horn, as it were. So I have to depend on the work itself and the interest or generosity of others to spread the word on the Internet that my stuff is out there. It’s not the best system, I admit, but it seems to be what I have.
I know what you’re thinking, “What can I do to help, Eric?” Ok, maybe you weren’t thinking that exactly. Or at all. But hear me out anyway. Heck, you’ve come this far, why not? Here are a few things you can do to help me understand what effect Canine Nation is having out there:
- Share your thoughts by leaving a comment either at Life As A Human at the end of my articles or below my podcast posts at Caninenation.ca. Even a simple “I liked this one.” helps me get an understanding of how I’m doing.
- Join or start a discussion on the Canine Nation Forum group on Facebook or Google+. Maybe something I wrote reminded you of a story or a training tip that you could share. Maybe even just tell a funny story about your dog. And we love pictures too.
- Why not share my articles or podcasts on your Facebook timeline or in groups where you are a member. Then you can let me know what others think of my writing.
- You can always email me at eric@caninenation.ca if you don’t want to share your comments publicly. I’m always interested in feedback whether it’s good, bad, or indifferent. But I suppose you wouldn’t email me if you were indifferent.
- Send me a suggestion about how you think I could be doing a better job getting the word out about Canine Nation. I’m good at the writing part but not so much the marketing and promotion. If you have ideas, I’m all ears!
So, I’m happy to keep writing and assuming you all are still listening. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if I was just churning these things out and no one was actually reading/listening to them? But I have faith (and some numbers) that you are all still with me out there. Thanks for that. It can be a lonely business just doing the writing and podcasting but the comments from you guys make it all worth while.
Thanks for reading, thanks for listening!
Eric
March 6, 2014
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