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Originally Posted by shnu  Steve, I'm interested in what listening strategies you find work for you. You've hinted that email doesn't really work for you anymore, and that you've stopped using RSS. Are the forums your main source of feedback? |
Email, regular mail, the forums, writings on other blogs, conversations, and even traffic logs are all good sources of feedback.
The two main things I look for are:
- Which topics do people care about most? Which topics generate the most feedback, the most searches, the most discussion? Where are people struggling?
- Are my written ideas on those topics having an impact? What is the quality of the feedback and discussion? Is my work helping people grow and change, or am I missing the mark?
#1 helps me decide what topics to write about. #2 helps me figure out what to say about them and how to say it.
Sometimes I'll even pop down to the Las Vegas Strip (about 20 minutes away) and people-watch. You can get a lot of great ideas just by observing people for an hour or two. Do they seem happy or sad? Can you figure out why? What's their story?
IMO listening is conscious observation.