follow me glitch and blogging approach

This post is adapted from an email I sent to some of my followers after I accidentally lost my Blogger followers list. It's a fair representation of my blogging approach so I'm posting it here as it may interest my random visitors.
 

Hello my blog friends!

I'm sending you this email because you used to follow my blog. I say "used to" because I seem to have lost my Blogger followers list after fiddling around with my settings while migrating to Google Friend Connect. Oops! I've probably disappeared from your "blogs I'm following" list, meaning liberal sprinkles is no longer appearing in your reader. hrrrmpp. If you'd like to follow me again, please click over to my blog liberal sprinkles and hit the button on the top right of my sidebar that
looks like this:

Don't click on this photo coz it's only going to get you back to my home page.
I couldn't figure out the proper link for the GFC JOIN THIS SITE button.

It will take only a few seconds! If you decide to read the rest of this email, it would take you a bit longer than that, but you may get to know me a little bit better (good luck with that!). Incidentally, if you happen to see a Blogger "follow me" button or link anywhere in this blog that leads you to the BLOGGER following page (screenshot at the bottom of the post) - it doesn't work, you won't show up as a follower and my blog will not be on your "Blogs I follow" list. or appear in your reader.

If you decide my blog is rubbish and don't want to follow me, just ignore this email! Of course I hope you won't, so here are some...

Reasons to follow me

1. You remember me and recognize the words "liberal sprinkles".

2. You like my blog ... ??

3. I'm quite nice, really. HEY, I SAID I WAS NICE!!

4. Yup, I'm also easily excitable. And easily excited by exciting things I find and then I find I have to share them and ...

5. I end up writing long posts about all these great things I discover.

6. I love facts and I'm very curious and it shows in my posts. I often spend a lot of time doing research to satisfy my curiosity and hopefully I manage to provide you with lots of interesting information and facts that you may not already know.

7. I always try to include lots of links to fantastic sites and blogs, and wonderful resources and data so my posts are also useful if you ever need the info. Just look at my Japan disaster facts posts; they get Googled a lot!
* Facts: Japan earthquake, tsunami, nuclear crisis March 2011
* Japan disaster posts, links page

8. I'm very good at crediting sources; that includes you!

9. I have exclusive interviews on my blog and I hope to do more. Here are some in case you haven't read them (ok don't blame me for doing some post-specific PR. I'm shameless):
* Illustrated recipes @ They Draw and Cook
* 2:46 #Quakebook, interview and Operation Yashima
* Interview with photographer Luis Beltran

10. I write about everything! Last 15 posts, topics including food, books, facts, taxes, art, photography, free stuff (you can click on the links to read...I'm shameless!):

* illustrated recipes;
* how the government spends tax dollars;
* #Quakebook;
* record art prices and the economy;
* praying mantis visits;
* blog feed hiccups (this was probably another issue caused by my naughty fingers fooling around with blog settings);
* Book Blurb Friday;
* #Quakebook interview;
* violinist Joshua Bell and beauty/inspiration;
* interview with photographer Luis Beltran;
* pretty food photos x 2 (here and here);
* Joanna Rose's 651-quilt collection (actually it's over 1,300);
* links to free Easter printables (still time to get some!);
* biggest art fraud of the 20th century

11. My posts are quite interesting! Did I say that already??

12. I've enjoyed meeting you in blogland and/or we've connected in some way through my/your blog/s (I also have a postcard blog in case you didn't know..heheh more shameless self-promo here)

13. I value my followers and subscribers (I don't think I've lost this list.. yet).

14. I almost always reply to blog comments and visit you back. You'll see me in your inbox quite often unless you're a no-reply blogger, in which case you're likely to see a reply in the comment section of my posts. I also frequently comment on other blogger's posts, that's you too!

15. I don't hold grudges ... usually ...

16. You're interested to see if my blog may just disappear into the Blogging Black Hole one day because I can't stop messing around with html, blog settings, templates and other things tech-clueless-me has no business messing with. Yup, in addition to be a curious busybody, I'm a smartass. Curiosity may just kill my blog/s.

17. I'm a bit embarrassed that the Friend Connect widget shows only 2 followers (I'm one of them!).

18. You feel sorry for me and for the fact that I'll probably spend half the day going through my 91 posts to delete the Blogger "follow me" links I put in them, and that's after I already spent more than half a day trying to get my followers list back.

19. I snapped at my boss 15 minutes before I would have logged off at work because I was so frustrated with this followers problem. I still have my job though, and a raise at the end of the year ... I hope ;)

20. You can't believe you've read all this and haven't deleted this email yet.

To be fair (I'm a libra so that's usually a big deal to me) ...
Reasons not to follow me :(

1. You're still trying to figure out who the heck I am and think only of sugar and spices when you see the words "liberal sprinkles". (I don't know why you're still reading this then)

2. You hate my blog and think good riddance! Finally! (buhbye then, nice to have bumped into you!)

3. You find me annoying and/or I've pissed you off ... more than once! (ouch, this happens - I'm very direct!)

4. You hate long posts and longwinded bloggers. (I can't help it!)

5. You hate facts. (oh dear...)

6. You hate posts with lots of links and resources. (oh, well)

7. You don't care about interviews by blogger wannabes when you can already get everything at the Huffington Post.

8. You can't stand bloggers who write about everything and nothing in particular.

9. You think I'm pathetic. (heheh, we all have to crawl sometimes! #9 is an edited addition: I did think of it when I first thought of writing this email but so many things were running through my head as I was writing that I forgot - it's probably an instinctive desire to not appear pathetic! LOL)

10. I never replied to your comment/s! (are you a no-reply blogger? I don't write back sometimes when I'm busy or I may reply in a post on your blog if you're a no-reply blogger)

11. I didn't follow you back!!

I need to explain this. I don't follow everyone who follows me. I follow and/or subscribe to more than 300 blogs and websites because I have so many interests, and I eagerly run down my Google Reader  throughout the day every single day (unless I'm on holiday or can't access the Internet for a few days and I see "500 new posts" then I give up immediately).

I also visit A LOT of other sites I don't follow, that's how I found you!

I don't follow everyone back because I can't handle more than 200-300 posts a day (I don't read them all of course but I do try to glance at the first few sentences and photos to see if it's something I want to read more about). If you're a regular visitor to my blog and we've chatted by email or through comments, I most probably have followed you back or am likely to do so. I have (oops, used to have) followers who followed only in hopes of increasing their own follower numbers. Honestly, I don't see the point of following people who don't really care about what I write, say or think. Of course this works both ways.

12. You disagree with me on #11. OK. No hard feelings, everyone's entitled to their opinions.


If you've read all this, thank you! I appreciate the time you've spent, I hope you don't feel it was wasted. If you've decided not to follow me, no worries! Happy blogging, we may still meet one day :)

If you'd like to reply to this email, please comment at my post. I've posted this in my blog as well since it looks like a good summary of my approach to blogging, plus I don't have everybody's email address and I don't remember who all my followers are and I would love to have you back as one, especially if you found your way back here even though I don't appear in your reader anymore or list of blogs you're following! Yeah I know I'm rambling now. LOL. If you'd prefer your feedback to remain private, please email me and let me know what you think.

Thanks again and I hope to see you back at liberal sprinkles.

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If the image BELOW pops up when you click a "follow me" link at my blog, STOP. You will be able to click through but my blog will not show up in your reader or on your "Blogs I'm following" list and I won't be able to see you as a follower anywhere on my blog. Please click on that Google Friend Connect button at the top of my sidebar instead. Thanks!

<---  This Blogger "follow me" function
<---  DOES NOT WORK on my blog!
<---  Please click on the Google Friend Connect
<---  "follow this blog" button instead.
<---  It is on top of the sidebar on the
<---  right side of my blog. Thanks!