Sorry I’m late to the party to comment on this post LOL!!

I think it’d be great to see video reviews, even if it’s just occasionally. Also, thanks for the link love!

This weekend I will address more that was said in these comments…

I agree with most everything on here. I read your sight nearly each day but rarely comment b/c I haven’t smoked most of the stick you review; I typically spend at most $7 and most often I’m in the $3-5 range. You can smoke what you don’t like to accommodate your readers, but understand that that may be limiting comments.

Also, I think the expansion of the About Me section is a wonderful idea; I’ve often wondered what your humi looks like, what your go to smokes are, how you got smoking, etc. I’d also like more info on your new business.

And, as far as comments, I think it really helps if you reply to all of your comments, so people have a reason to come back to the page. I like to know you are reading and are interested in my comments and the best way to do that is for you to reply (this of course also ups your comment count which catches people’s attention).

Wonderful sight though Barry, you seem to do more reviews than most sites which is what I love the most. Also, have you considered more pictures? Maybe taking some shots during the smoke to show the burn?

The readers love it when they feel like you’re talking directly to them personally. Video is certainly a good way of doing that. Let your true passion shine through and the viewers will soak it up.

That was another half cent.

- Zman

Comments don’t come easy. I know that sounds strange considering SR gets a lot of comments but it wasn’t always like that. There were times when we were excited to get 2-3 comments a week. It just takes time for folks to find you.

My advice…is show a little personality. Thats why I love videos. My personality shines more in a video than in typing. A great 1st video would be a 10-12 minute video about yourself. What you do? How you got into smoking? Take your About Me section to video.

Anyone can do a review…the hard part is making a connection. Once people feel like they are smoking WITH you and feel they have a relationship with you, the comments will come.

It’s something I’ve dedicated a lot of time to with my site, Planet Zman, and it really is paying off. It’s what I’m doing here on your site… reading the blog, posting honest responses, and getting involved with the site. I’m making new friends like yourself and your readers are hitting my site. You can’t be phony or people see right through that. You’ve got to sincerely contribute over time and it will start to pay back.

It’s all about making friends in other places, so their friends tell their friends and so on. It’s the exponential growth thing. There are other aspects to it as well: SEO, link sharing and a host of other stuff, and it is time consuming as all hell. But, the upside is that it works.

Like I said, research the term and you’ll find some great stuff as I did. I’m very serious about turning Planet Zman into a well known Men’s Lifestyle site, so it’s worth the dedication of time and effort. You are knowledgeable and enjoying to read and other people will see that right away, as I did.

I’d also mix things up with more personal stories, food and drink that goes with cigars, and humor.

Hey, that’s my two cents. You DO have a nice site and that’s why I’ve been coming back. More people will definitely feel the same.

My Two and a half cents.

- Tommy Z.

I agree that ending your posts with a question could be a good way to get people more involved.

Anywho, Keep it up!

First, I think your friends had pretty good advice. Often I agree with a review, but feel there’s no point in typing out “nice review, I agree” once again. On the other side, if I disagree, I sometimes won’t post a comment b/c it feels like I’d be slamming your review in “your house.” In a way, we readers are guests here. These dynamics work against commenting, so you need to give readers reminders that you want comments, that disagreement is expected, and also give them reasons to comment.

One way to do the latter is to end on an open ended question, related to the cigar, to solicit comments. That way, you’re asking people to participate and giving them license to disagree with you.

All that said, the best way to generate comments is to offer giveaways. Jerry over at SR always mentions how many more comments he gets when he’s running some sort of contest or giveaway. When I ran surveys, nothing generated response like big incentives.

Video reviews can be hit or miss, IMO. Sometimes I don’t have the time to watch 15-20 minutes of a cigar review. And if the reviewer is not at least a little bit charismatic or entertaining in some way, then it becomes tedious to watch. Maybe some shorter format video reviews to differentiate yours from other sites? Maybe bring in some guests on the reviews to add context and perspectives to the mix? Just some thoughts…

Lastly, I would suggest reviewing more lower and middle range cigars. I personally love the reviews of the high end stuff, but I’m guessing there’s a more limited audience for that than for basic cigars. People may not be commenting b/c they’ve never had that cigar, and don’t plan to. I know none of the guys I smoke with would spend more than $15 on a cigar unless they were on vacation and were buying a Cuban or something. It would be interesting to see a bang for the buck rating, some derivative of score/price. That could help control for price and allow you to review more basic stuff without them all ending up below the screen on the ratings list.

Anyway, thanks for all the work on this site and the helpful reviews. I hope these comments help!