Yesterday I wrote a post about the silliness of some bloggers and how they treat their RSS feeds. On the whole the post was very well received with 17 comments being left on the blog itself, while over on FriendFeed there were some 26 comments left about the post.

In the conversation on FriendFeed though, one of the commenters asked me what was the difference between a blogger pumping out an RSS feed with just a headline and what happens on FriendFeed where only the title of a post is listed.

While I tried to answer Bill’s comment in the limited space on FriendFeed I realized that this was just really a part of a larger question that bloggers need to deal with. Even though FriendFeed was among the first to offer what is called a lifestreaming aggregation service it has been followed by others. In the process many bloggers are worried that they are losing their blog traffic to this type of aggregation service.

Excuse me while I gnash my teeth

As with most things in blogging you can find two different opinions about the service. For the plus team you will find bloggers who think that services like FriendFeed are a great addition to the social media field. It is pretty safe to say that the large majority of proponents of the service are bloggers that don’t rely on their blogs for their income. Sure there are some who do and who think FriendFeed is a service that they can participate in in order to keep their brand in front of the eyeballs.

Then you have the nay group who think that services like FriendFeed are taking food from their table. For this group anything that takes away pageviews is looked upon with suspicion and sometime outright hostility. Needless to the majority of bloggers in this group are the ones who get a direct revenue stream from their blogs because of advertising.and for them page views are everything.

So anything that endangers that page view traffic is in that groups mind something to be avoided at all costs.

Except we all know that is a dead argument

The important thing to remember is that FriendFeed only displays the headline of your posts after you have joined and if you have imported the RSS feed address to your account on FriendFeed. Now granted I have seen many cases where people have commented on just the headline, but come on – that will happen no matter where your post might show up so you can’t blame FriendFeed for that.

Fact is that the majority of time people will click through to read your post more readily than they would if they just saw that same headline in their feed reader. This is the big difference between what FriendFeed does and making the mistake of having a headline only RSS feed does. When you send out only a headline in your RSS feed the typical reaction of people is to skip on to the next post waiting in their queue. Not so with FriendFeed.

The thing that makes FriendFeed different and can actually increase your readership is the community. As you add new people to your follower list and others do the same to you the community around your brand increases. These followers; members of your brand community, look forward to seeing what you have written and as the Like’s and Comments accumulate around your post headline it encourages more people to actually click on the headline and read the post on your blog. You get your pageviews but you also are getting them from a more loyal readership.

So what is the real problem?

The fact is that FriendFeed can actually increase your readership and for those looking for the page views FriendFeed is a hellva partner. Yes it will take some more involvement on your part which can be difficult on your already hectic schedule. However the bonuses that can come from looking at FriendFeed as an extension of your growing brand community I think is worth the time.

The real problem isn’t so much about the loss of page views from people reading the posts; which I think we can agree is bullshit, it is the loss when the conversation isn’t happening on the blog. It is this loss of the secondary page view traffic that has bloggers earning a living from their blogs worried.

This concern is warranted to a certain extent but I also think the argument and blaming services like FriendFeed for a loss in conversation is also slightly suspect. I have lost count of the number of blogs that I have read posts on where the author never partakes in the the conversations that start on a post. Even bloggers who complain vehemently about services like FriendFeed stealing the conversation are among those that seem to ignore their own blog’s conversations around posts.

In most case the author response has been hit and miss so why should people feel inclined to leave a comment if they feel it is just ending up in the archives. Whereas they can be on FriendFeed and actually have participatory conversations about that self-same post. In the post I wrote that sparked this; and many others, I have made a point of replying to comments as soon as I can because I want those people to come back and the chances of them doing so are a lot greater if they feel they are being listened to.

Selling your post to the readers isn’t a bad thing.

The important thing to remember is that blogging isn’t just about slapping together a post and publishing it – especially if you are trying to earn a living. You need to be involved. You need to make your readers believe that you care about their opinions. You don’t do that by stifling or ignoring the conversations around your posts – regardless of where they happen. A while ago I wrote a post titled Selling that post where I pointed this fact out – you need to always be out there in the forefront promoting what you have written.

FriendFeed makes that so much easier as you are already dealing with an already loyal community. That doesn’t mean you have to lose any of the conversation on the blog. It does mean thought that you have to treat your post as something more than just a vehicle to earn you some money.

Your posts – no matter where they appear – or how they appear – are your calling card. They are a way for you to talk with your loyal community. FriendFeed is just another place where you can leave your calling card; but as with any business you have to make sure you keep in touch.

As well, in business you are always making partnerships to help promote your business. FriendFeed is just another partnership but as with all partnerships you can’t expect the partner to be doing all the heavy lifting while you make the money. FriendFeed allows bloggers to create a richer deeper community by giving you; its partner, the tools to promote and build your brand community.

FriendFeed isn’t your enemy

Conversations are fluid. Like rivers they will meander where ever they want and it is up to you to make use of the places they take you. As with all rivers though there is always a starting point and for your community’s conversations FriendFeed is just one of those starting points – just as your blog is. It is up to you to dive in and interact with the conversations in order for them to be of any value.

With involvement FriendFeed can be one of your best tools next to your blog to build your community. FriendFeed isn’t your enemy – your lack of involvement is your only enemy.