The Valentine's Day blog post that won our hearts

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Remember how I was talking about building lasting relationships with blog readers last week?

If not, I’ll give you a minute to go back and read the post, but then hurry back here. I’ve got something pretty special to show you.

You might think that the special something is this amazing plate of colorful cheesecake treats, and they’re pretty delightful, no doubt. However, what I really want to show you is how one food blogger has mastered meaningful relationship-building in one little bloggy bite.

She’s generous

There are hundreds of ways to show generosity, and at least one of them is Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Cheesecake Bites. Sure, you can’t auto-magically deliver delicious goodies to your readers, but providing detailed, easy-to-follow instructions and beautifully captured images works almost as well. Heather does a great job of that at her blog Sugar Dish Me.

She’s open

Heather also lets down her guard with readers, sharing moments from her daily life and stories from her childhood, like this passage:

I loved getting out my valentines as a kid. Writing all the names of my classmates in my best handwriting, carefully adding stickers, taping tiny wrapped chocolates to each one… it was like the coolest most fun thing evuuur. Don’t even get me started on picking them out. Shuffling from one foot to the other trying to decide between the Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, and My Little Pony (I think I just dated myself, like really). That was like the hardest decision of my 6-year-old life.

It’s these little details – and her friendly voice – that make Heather relatable to readers. Through her story, she transports us to our own childhood experiences of Valentine’s Day, which is pretty special. It’s like we’re sharing a moment, and that’s the stuff that healthy relationships are made of.

And you don’t have to take my word for it. Scroll down through the comments to see how she’s connected with readers like Chris:

She’s there

Speaking of comments, one of the tips for building lasting relationships that we mentioned last week included being there for readers, and Heather is. She takes time to thoughtfully answer questions and address concerns, letting readers know that she’s paying attention to them and that they can count on her when it gets too hot in the kitchen.