Anime Blog Shop Talk

Blog Shop Talk: How “Other Posts to Crow About” Helps Ani-Bloggers — Yes, You!

A Feature for Bloggers and Readers

As an ani-blogger, I think it’s important to support the community whenever I can. One of the ways I do that is that every week, I compile a list of the posts that caught my attention and that I think deserve a wider audience. I call that compiled list “Other Posts to Crow About.”

It’s pretty obvious the posts are designed to link readers to posts they may have missed. Did you know, though, that Other Posts to Crow About have been scientifically crafted to give featured bloggers and their blogs the maximum exposure possible? I’d like to introduce you to those features, as well as open the floor to suggestions to make Other Posts to Crow About even more useful.

Even Before the Post

I review the Nest of Sites (my listing of all the anime blogs I check out, and yes, I do think I’m pushing the corvine theme a little bit too hard at times) on Friday night and sometimes into Saturday afternoon. When I find a post I intend to include in Other Posts to Crow About, I’ll use that site’s Tweet share button to write what I hope is an enticement to visit the site.

Marketing isn’t my strong point, but I try to emphasize how interesting the post is. This usually happens Friday night into Saturday.

I used to post to my Facebook page, too, but at the time, the metrics weren’t showing much success. Then I talked to some Facebook experts, and they said that posting too often to a page can confuse Facebook’s mechanism to present the posts, so I stopped posting there.

I might consider using Pinterest in the future. I’m getting solid traction there with my other posts. I’m not sure what form that’ll take, but it’s something I’m actively working on.

The Headlines

When I write the actual post, the craftsmanship (and yes, I know the shtick will wear out its welcome — I’ll stop soon) starts with the two headlines for each article I’m highlighting. Let’s take a look at this example from Other Posts to Crow About 2019 Week 43 Edition:

The process starts by presenting two paths to the highlighted post’s site.

Here, I’m calling attention to a delightful post from Anime ga Suki. The goal is to give the reader maximum opportunity to get to the site, so I start with the site’s title. It’s clickable (though not, of course, in the image above). The first opportunity is the site’s name. Clicking on it will take the reader to the site’s home page. The second opportunity is the article’s title. Clicking on it, of course, takes the reader to the highlighted article. Not only does it maximize the potential for clicks, but it gives the site’s name some clear exposure.

The Body

I try to match the tone and tenor of the highlighted post as I describe it. The goal is not to shoot for an airy and light tone to draw attention to a post about a weighty issue, for example.

Beyond that, I find that I try to channel Guy Fieri from Food Network as he hosts Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. If you think about it, it’s the perfect model for Other Posts to Crow About. He tries to find amazing restaurants that may have flown under the viewers’ radars, then entice those viewers to visit. I try to do the same thing for anime blog posts.

If the post is about a series, I’ll try to increase interest in the post by linking to Anime Planet’s page for that series. In this case, the series was My Hero Academia Season 4.

I try to relate the posts to Crow’s World of Anime’s vision, or to a post I just wrote, or to a series I’ve enjoyed. Since it’s my post, I still want to connect to my readers and give them something of myself; but the ultimate goal is to get them to click away from my site, so I don’t keep the focus there.

If the post is about a particular series, I’ll try to increase interest in the post by linking to Anime Planet’s page about the series. I used to post to the same page on My Anime List, but they started to annoy me for various reasons.

You may have noticed that generally speaking, I’ll try to mention the post’s author by name, then mention their site again. Sounds simple, right? Well, the site name is simple. I just repeat the main headline! But the author? Not so easy.

Some writers have a Twitter presence. Some have a byline that links back to their blog. Some have both; rarely, they have neither. My goal is to give the site (and author!) maximum coverage, so since I’m already giving the blog coverage in the headline, if the writer has a Twitter handle, I’ll reference it.

If the writer has a Twitter account, I’ll try to link their name to it.

If the writer doesn’t have a Twitter account, I’ll link to the author page in the blog. For some sites that have many writers, like Anime Feminist, that makes the most sense, because the Twitter account is for the site itself, and each author has their own page. I have a sense this part of my process is a bit messy and unscientific, and I’m always looking for ways to improve it.

I end the section with “Check out the Post Here!” It’s the same link as the highlighted post’s title in the headline, and it’s just another opportunity for the reader to click.

Social Media

This is where I tried to put the most thought, because marketing is important, but I suck at it. However, I think what I’ve come up with is actually reasonable.

On average, I find about five posts to crow about every week. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but it’s usually five. My goal is to to give these posts as much exposure as possible, so I don’t list every site in the Tweets I send out to announce my post. The reason? The blog titles tend to get lost in a long list. So I rotate through them. In the case of Other Posts to Crow About 2019 Week 43 Edition, I highlighted posts from 5 sites:

  1. Anime Evo
  2. Anime ga Suki
  3. Anime Sunday
  4. Believe in Geek
  5. SAE with a K

The first Tweet looked like this:

I didn’t want the blog’s names to get lost, so I limit the number in each Tweet. With one exception…

I also try (where possible) to include the blog or author’s Twitter handle. Some bloggers like to retweet the Tweet as evidence their sites are attracting more attention, and some don’t. I like to give them the option.

For the next three Tweets (about 3 hours apart), I’ll remove the first blog name (and Twitter account) and add the next in line. In this case, here’s what the next Tweet looked like:

I’m trying to increase the blog’s exposure by rotating through the names in successive Tweets.

If I have six or seven posts to highlight, I’ll add more Tweets. I should also mention that I also post to Facebook and Pinterest. I only post once to those two social media networks, because I use the “final” Tweet format (see below). Plus, Facebook seems to better reward a single post per day, while I get really good traffic from Pinterest with only the single post.

After I cycle through all the names, I issue one more Tweet. This one shows the sites in a bulleted list:

This is a the last Tweet in the series supporting the Other Posts to Crow About post.

This last format is what I use also for the first and only Facebook and Pinterest posts.

It’s a Great Community

The ani-blogging community is packed with talented bloggers who take their craft seriously. They deserve to have their work read and enjoyed. I know it’s a thrill when people read and comment on my posts, and I want Other Posts to Crow About to spread the love.

This is one of those situations that I find all too rarely: Other Posts to Crow About helps readers by drawing their attention to posts they might have missed. It helps bloggers by driving at least a little traffic to their site. It’s literally a win-win!

Do you think I have the bases covered in how I’ve approached Other Posts to Crow About? Do you have ideas for improvement? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!

tcrow
Copyright 2022 Terrance A. Crow. All rights reserved.
https://www.crowsworldofanime.com

29 thoughts on “Blog Shop Talk: How “Other Posts to Crow About” Helps Ani-Bloggers — Yes, You!

  1. And this is one of the things you do that makes your blog so admirable – all that effort just to help others out. It’s been almost a year since I was first mentioned in one of those posts… And yes i have a certain file where i keep track of these kinds of things or to be more accurate, milestones

    1. “And this is one of the things you do that makes your blog so admirable – all that effort just to help others out. ”

      Admirable? Wow. I have no idea how to react to that!

      “And yes i have a certain file where i keep track of these kinds of things or to be more accurate, milestones”

      I have a folder in my mail program to do the same thing. I think it’s important to celebrate when good stuff happens. I’m really glad I was able to share some of your posts!

      1. You were the first person to share my posts, link to my posts and comment on my posts! Needless to say the support helped a lot and im really grateful! ♥️

  2. Many thanks! Your recommendation brought a lot of folks to my review of Goblin Slayer.

    1. “Many thanks! ”

      You’re welcome!

      “Your recommendation brought a lot of folks to my review of Goblin Slayer.”

      Awesome! That was a great review you wrote!

    1. “This is amazing and so kind of you.”

      You are way too kind!

      I appreciate it! But you’re way too kind.

      It’s such a great community…

    1. “It’s really nice of you to put in so much effort to expose other bloggers.”

      Thanks! But there is a selfish element here. Kind of the “a rising tide raises all ships” kind of thing! In all seriousness, I do see this as a win/win game.

      “You’re a great person”

      Now I’m embarrassed! And I feel like I should send you some money or something…

      1. Hahaha, humble and funny!

        It is a win/win, but you’re on the tougher end of the bargain by having to put in that extra work, which is why you deserve the praises 🙂

    1. “You have a fantastic segment here !!!”

      Thanks much!

      “you know it crow hehe”

      I’ll just say I strongly hoped that was the case! I’m really blown away, though, by the response to this post! Makes me want to double the budget for Crow Labs to develop even better Other Posts to Crow About!

  3. On behalf of everyone you’ve included in these posts, and ever will include, thank you! They’re always great and so are you. I felt so proud when one of my posts made it onto one of these, it was like my child had come in first place at something.

    1. “On behalf of everyone you’ve included in these posts, and ever will include, thank you! ”

      You’re welcome!

      And “will ever include?” I feel like I just shouldered a huge responsibility!

      But challenge accepted.

      “I felt so proud when one of my posts made it onto one of these, it was like my child had come in first place at something.”

      That’s so cool. And you know what? As old as I am, it feels the same way when I see my post on 100 Word Anime or any of the others.

  4. I’m always grateful when I get a shout-out in one of them, and the posts have led me to some interesting posts that I’ve missed to0. I can’t think of anything off the top of my head to improve the way you do it, so I’d say jsut keep it up! It’s a great way for people to get some mroe recognition.

    1. “and the posts have led me to some interesting posts that I’ve missed to0.”

      Very cool! Really glad my sinister plot to expose anime blogs to the world is working!

      Saying that out loud, it really doesn’t seem very sinister…

      “I can’t think of anything off the top of my head to improve the way you do it”

      Thanks for thinking about it. The offer’s open — if anything comes to mind, please do let me know.

      “It’s a great way for people to get some mroe recognition.”

      At the end of the day, that’s fully 1/2 the goal (with readers being the other half). Hope I can continue this for the foreseeable future!

  5. Your work means a lot to anime bloggers out there who wishfully hope to have readers read their thoughts. Please keep up the good work! I can probably speak for the anime community that we’re very thankful for your efforts to keep the community very connected 🙂 Have wonderful day Crow!

    1. “I can probably speak for the anime community that we’re very thankful for your efforts to keep the community very connected ”

      Thanks! I’m trying. It’s also nice to see other sites like 100 Word Anime, Lesley’s Anime and Manga Corner, and others do something similar. Sometimes, there’s overlap, but just as often, the lists different — and that means even more exposure!

      “Have wonderful day Crow!”

      You, too!

  6. I think it’s great that you take the time to try and help promote other blogs. I always enjoy your “Other Posts to Crow About” posts and I’ve found some really great blogs through them. Keep up the great work!

    1. “I think it’s great that you take the time to try and help promote other blogs.”

      Thanks!

      “I’ve found some really great blogs through them.”

      That’s good to hear. I feel like mission accomplished!

  7. It was great to get mentioned on there. It’s just nice when someone appreciates something that I wrote.

    That said, that is a lot of work you put into them. I only do the one post with my Otakusphere posts.

    1. “It’s just nice when someone appreciates something that I wrote.”

      It’s great, isn’t it? That’s one benefit to blogging compared to some other forms of writing.

      “That said, that is a lot of work you put into them.”

      It’s an investment of time, but it’s also life-affirming in a way. I work in computer security, so immersing myself in the ani-blogging sphere is like a mini-vacation!

    1. I’m glad they’ve helped you find other bloggers to follow! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: there’s a ton of talent in this community!

Please let me know what you think!

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