by Skellie
One idea I’ve been kicking around these last few days is to introduce a once a week (if I have enough material) ‘Ask the readers’ post.
My inspiration in this is the ‘Ask the readers‘ section at Get Rich Slowly, where a reader’s problem is outlined, or a thought-provoking question is asked, and other readers provide advice and discussion in the comments section of the post.
I often get requests for advice and feedback on the blogs and websites of readers, in addition to meaningful, general questions that are difficult to answer quickly.
While I’ve always responded to the best of my abilities I’m finding that, as this blog grows, I’m receiving more requests and have less time to complete them.
Rather than letting these requests go unanswered — which to me, is unacceptable, as I’ve made a promise with myself to help everyone who asks — I’m starting to think that a collaborative approach would be effective in a number of ways.
- It would allow me help one reader while helping many.
- It provides an outlet for the wisdom and knowledge of Skelliewag.org readers.
- It could generate interesting discussion around thought-provoking questions.
- It has the potential to turn comments into group discussions.
So — if you have a problem, a general question or a quandry you’d like to be addressed in an ‘Ask the readers’ column, send me an email with the title: ‘Solve this problem!’. I’ll add yours to the pool of material I’ll be drawing on for these posts.
In the mean-time, what do you think of this idea? Do you have any suggestions for how you’d like to see it work?
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9 Comments, Comment or Ping
Michael
Sounds like a brilliant idea, look forward to seeing what questions you get and the advice you give.
Nov 3rd, 2007
Randy Peterman
This is a great thing on Get Rich Slowly, and its a great idea here as well. I am thoroughly enjoying this site and its content and who knows? I may have a question that others can help answer, too.
Nov 3rd, 2007
daniel
that sounds wonderful, maybe it is a brilliant idea,and i waiting for the advice of some questions
Nov 3rd, 2007
Elliott
Great idea SKellie!
I guess now you won’t ever run out of things to write about. Can’t wait to see what you have!
Nov 3rd, 2007
skellie
@ Elliott: Hehe, I worry that I might be trying my luck asking for reader input on two separate occasions so close together ;).
Nov 3rd, 2007
Alex Kay
I think that this idea could work out to be really valuable! Go for it
Nov 3rd, 2007
Lynnae @ Being Frugal
I love that feature on GRS, I’ve used it a few times on my site, and I think it would do really well here!
Nov 4th, 2007
Joel Falconer
Skellie, sounds like a great way for you to repurpose time you’d spend answering emails for greater benefit to the blog, as well as greater benefit to a range of readers who may have the same question. I think you should go with it!
Nov 5th, 2007
Tejvan Pettinger
It is a good idea.
I do a similar concept on a blog called http://www.economicshelp.org/blog
It makes writing posts quite easy because you don’t have to think of titles. It also gives you obvious things to write about which you wouldn’t otherwise have thought about. I get 5-6 a day which I answer. But, if you have that kind of posting frequency it is very difficult to keep any rss readers.
Nov 28th, 2007
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