After an awesome weekend (in which of course the 5 Obstructions blogathon kicked off) and in which I also saw Fast & Furious 6 (which will probably is my favorite action movie of the year) it’s Monday again and you know what time that is: Question Time! This week I want to ask those who have joined the LAMB (the Large Association of Movie Blogs for those unfamiliar) a question (well, two in one sentence actually) about it:
Why did you initially sign up to join the LAMB and how useful has it been to you?
Personally I applied to the LAMB not long after I had set up My Filmviews. Starting out there was only one thing I was really chasing: increasing my stats. I hadn’t met any other bloggers yet and thought it would be an easy way to get more people to my blog. And even though it might have helped a bit, the truth is that it isn’t the right reason to join. Personally I think if that is the only reason you are joining it, it is better to not do it. As I’ve experienced you get out of it what you put into it. There are awesome people running it and if you are willing to participate you can come into contact with other bloggers easily, find help in solving issues you might be having or have the LAMB help you promote fun things you are doing. And then I have not even talked about the excitement of the LAMMYS. It is a very important reason to test yourself as a blogger against other (friendly competition of course).
So I ask you:
Why did you initially sign up to join the LAMB and how useful has it been to you?
I joined Lamb a while back, maybe a year or so. I like what they do, but it’s more of a give and take. One has to be active on their site and partake in the various events and that is how it is most beneficial. Unfortunately during the last Lammy I had an issue with the person running their twitter account and since then I have completely separated myself from Lamb not having interacted or visited the site since.
It really is all about what you put in. Shame you had an issue with someone who was running the Twitter feed. I’m not there all the time, but I do subscribe to their latest posts and participate in something if I find it interesting.
I joined LAMB for traffic, mostly. I needed people to read my stuff. But then I found this amazing network of people with the same flame for movies. I’ve been an active member since. 🙂
I was wondering if more people did that. I knew nothing of blogging and building a community yet, so it was an easy thing to do. Over the years though I learned a lot and now really enjoy what they are doing.
I’m surprised that anyone would join LAMB for traffic. It wasn’t on my mind at all. To me LAMB is a place where you can hang out and talk about blogging stuff with people who understand what you’re talking about with no explanations. You can talk about ethical issues, help each other out with issues you have with various blogging platforms and join up for blogathons and various themes.
As you say in your post: you don’t get anymore from LAMB than you put into it.
I put in a bit of myself into LAMB, but not as much as some other members do. It’s not my entire world so to say, just a corner of it. I’m also a member of other communties, such as the Filmspotting forum and a Swedish informal network of movie bloggers that meet IRL once a month.
I was really new to it and didn’t know much about blogging…just happened to start one without really having an idea of community and interacting with others. My thoughts obviously have changed 🙂
I wish that the forums would be a bit more active. I don’t visit them much because other places are busier. Think they might be a bit more active if people could read them without logging in, but understand the choice that was made.
The thing is that I think to most bloggers tending to your own blog takes priority over forum posting. We’d rather put our thoughts out there on our blog than anywhere else. That’s why we started to blog in the first place.
The kind of questions you toss out here could as well have been discussed in the LAMB forum. But you put them here instead. I understand why and don’t disapprove at all. But I think it’s one example of how we don’t prioritize the forum.
Yeah, I get what you are saying. In this case I think it is also a great way to let others know (who don’t know the LAMB) what you can expect from it. My initial idea about it was wrong, but I learned it can be awesome if you are willing to put in the time.
Hi Jessica. I always thought that blogging was about revenue (I first knew about blogging in a make-money-via-blogging open forum). So I was tempted when the instructor (some famous Tech blogger in the Philippines) showed how much money he makes and how much traffic his blog generates. So my mantra at that time was: “traffic = money.” But when I actually blogged and met a lot of great people, I knew it was something that I will really like. Money became less and less important. Hell, I even gave up on it (after earning very little).
I joined because I felt it would be great to meet more movie bloggers. The truth is that the people I met already followed me/I followed them. I don’t really seem to have benefitted much from it. No one to blame but myself, I made a bit of the effort on the forums at first, but gave up as not a lot seemed to be going on. If I put more effort into it on there, I guess I would meet more people. I find Twitter & WordPress easier really for meeting new people.
I think it has helped a bit for me and it did allow me to find a lot of other cool blogs I now read regularly. It also depends on how active another blogger is in replying to comments, visiting your blog too etc. I agree that Twitter especially is a great way to meet like minded people.
I had been doing my blog for a while before I had even heard of LAMB, so when I came across it I didn’t really know what to expect. It’s definitely boosted my traffic somewhat, but not to the extent I know it has for some. Most of those people are real social butterflies on the web, commenting on dozens of other blogs and boosting their SEO and people who are aware of them in the process. For me, I’ve only found a handful of other blogs I actually really admire, and I often don’t have the time to explore the whole network to try and comment and meet people. What it has given me is a dedicated outlet and regular readers as opposed to just slightly increased traffic numbers, and all the LAMBs are really committed to others in the group. There is a great sense of community in it.
I wish I had the time to be as socially active as others are, but with a family that just is not possible unfortunately.
If it helped you find a handful of other cool blogs I think the LAMB really has worked for you. I do like the sense of the community as well.
I joined the LAMB back in 2011 when my blog had been around for just a few months. At that point, I’d interacted with a few other bloggers but was just getting started. I’ll echo what others have said in that it’s not a place to join to get giant numbers of visitors. Instead, it’s a fun site where movie lovers can connect and interact. Thinking of it as a spot for hits isn’t really the way to go. While it’s had some drama here and there, the atmosphere is generally positive and a lot of fun.
My favorite part of the LAMB has been getting to know a lot of cool, interesting people and checking out their sites. It’s also been great to go on the LAMBcast and speak with them in person. I wouldn’t call myself one of the most involved participants on the LAMB, but I try to be active when I can. Like Jessica said, it’s one of several communities where I check in with other film lovers.
Yeah, I’m very content with the LAMB and I always look forward to the LAMMYS…quite exciting to follow them, especially if you manage to get nominated!
Wish I had time to do a podcast, I’d be interested, but I simply do not have the time.
Great question Nostra! Well, like Tyson, I joined LAMB for the community aspect to ‘meet’ fellow movie bloggers. I don’t think I’ve gotten any traffic from it at all though, maybe one or two clicks, but I got way more clicks from other social media like Twitter. I’ve tried to participate in its forums a few times but not getting much response so I’d rather hit Twitter or my own blog to start discussion/conversation. I’m not big into Podcasts either so I don’t really participate in the LAMBcast.
Thanks Ruth! The forums are just not active enough to check them out each day, have to agree with that, but an occasional visit every week is always enjoyable.
I think the best thing about the LAMB (I joined some time is 2012), is getting me introduced to a vast network of interesting movie bloggers. They’re a good jumping off point, but I rarely visit the actual site itself, preferring now to flit from one bookmarked blog to another, where I find most of the bloggers are also in the LAMB. So in a way, traffic to my site has increased because of the LAMB, but kind of indirectly.
I understand what you saying. I don’t use the listing either, mostly got to know other bloggers through comments and recommendations in overview lists they made. But I do keep up with what’s happening at the LAMB even though I’m not always actively participating.
I joined because Fogs suggested it was a great way to interact with the community. To be honest, I’ve seen little benefit to it. Most of the bloggers I regularly interact with I encountered through other means; while the LAMB boasts a lot of members, the actual active community on the site is minuscule. I tried to be a regular participant for a while, but it has never seemed like I got anything close to what I put in out of it. It’s more rewarding just to focus on my own blog and those of others I’ve found without focusing much on the “central hub”.
Yeah, the active number is low, but it can be awesome interacting with those though. I wish more people that are members would be active. I can understand your focus on your own blog…I do that mostly as well.
I actually did not “join” the LAMB, our site was on the LAMB when I started blogging on it. That being said I ended up doing the majority of the social networking on the site. I have found the LAMB a valuable resource in spreading the word about our film site and meeting other bloggers with similar interests.
I will say that initially I felt like a bit of an outsider when I started poking around and commenting in the forums. However, once I got my feet wet it became a lot easier and I have met a lot of cool folks on there. I think you will find that the same situation exists with most forums and organizations when you are the new guy/girl it takes awhile to see how things work and folks are already going to have established relationships when you hop on board.
Nice topic Nostra
Interesting read and it can be really useful if you know how to use it. Like I said, it’s all about what you put in yourself.
I joined a while back…god, has it been a year already?…and I really should utilize it more. I joined because I had like 4 followers and I was depressed about that. I have participated in a few blogathons, and some Actor’s Spotlights, but I need to have to be more active. I’m hoping to do that though…
Well, it is all up to you. Increasing your followers can be done through the LAMB, but just visiting other blogs and interacting is also a sure way to increase your readership.