I’m writing to you live from sunny Florida. The sun, the pool and the sangria might have made me more sensitive than usual. While going through my RSS feeds I noticed a trend in the blogosphere at the moment. Bloggers are getting rant-y and yelling at their readers.
I would like you to quit it. That’s not customerlove-y. Once upon a time it set you apart, made you different and trendy. Now, its annoying. Yelling regularly is now on my list of reasons to stop looking at your website. Right below pop-ups demanding my email address.
Some big names can be a little harsh and yell-y. I once told Naomi Dunford from ittybiz.com that she terrified me, like the mean girls in 8th grade who smoked cigarettes in the 2nd floor bathroom. She sent me a link to a tear-jerker love note to her kid. Lesson: if you are going to yell at your readers, balance it out with more sensitive pieces.
If you yell at your readers without a break, I beg you to stop. Owning a business is enough of a roller coaster without getting yelled at. Your audience counts on you to give them information or make them feel differently. Give them what they want.
photo credit: Richard Riley
