Has your
blog got a grand total of three subscribers? (You, your test account, and your
mum?)
Maybe you’ve
got a little bit further than that. You’ve got 10 or 20 or 50 readers signed up
to read your posts or your newsletter.
But you
don’t know where to go next.
I’m going
to assume that your blog is currently in reasonably good shape.
If there are any key things
that you need to do or fix, then get those sorted before proceeding. (For
instance, if your About page is currently a single line saying About
page under construction, don’t try to attract readers until it’s actually
finished.)
Before we
get underway, let’s quickly deal with a trap some bloggers fall into:
Stop waiting
for that big break to come. Even if you do have a particular
stroke of luck, you want to be in a great position to capitalize on it – not
sitting back and twiddling your thumbs.
A surge of
traffic may look great in your stats – but it won’t necessarily result in many
new long-term readers.
A great
first goal is to get 1000 subscribers to your blog, either through email or RSS
subscriptions. (Unless you’re writing about techy things, you’ll probably find most
readers prefer to subscribe through email.)
When you’re
just starting out, though, with just a handful of subscribers, or none at all, 1000
can look a long way off. Here’s how to get there, step by step.
1:
Tell Family and Friends About Your Blog
I know this
one sounds a bit obvious – but if you’ve not already told family and friends
about your blog, do so! Even if none of them are at all interested in
your topic, they’re interested in you … and they might well
know people who’d love to read your posts.
Send out
a single email to family, friends, former colleagues and anyone else who knows
you. (Make
sure you use BCC for their email addresses – most people don’t like their email
address to be shared with a group of strangers.) I’ve put suggested
text for this email below.
If you’ve
created a Facebook page for your blog, send out one invitation to your family / friends on
Facebook to ask them to “like” the page. Don’t pester them if they don’t do so,
though.
Here’s a
sample email you can use:
Hi
friends,
[link to
your blog’s homepage]
[your
name]
Has your
blog got a grand total of three subscribers? (You, your test account, and your
mum?)
Maybe you’ve
got a little bit further than that. You’ve got 10 or 20 or 50 readers signed up
to read your posts or your newsletter.
But you
don’t know where to go next.
I’m going
to assume that your blog is currently in reasonably good shape.
If there are any key things
that you need to do or fix, then get those sorted before proceeding. (For
instance, if your About page is currently a single line saying About
page under construction, don’t try to attract readers until it’s actually
finished.)
Looking
shipshape?
Before we
get underway, let’s quickly deal with a trap some bloggers fall into:
Forget
About Getting “One Big Break”
Maybe you
think that if a big-name influencer tweeted a link to one of your posts, you’d
get thousands of subscribers overnight. Or maybe you’re crossing your fingers,
hoping to get linked to by Buzzfeed or mentioned on The Huffington Post…
Stop waiting
for that big break to come. Even if you do have a particular
stroke of luck, you want to be in a great position to capitalize on it – not
sitting back and twiddling your thumbs.
A surge of
traffic may look great in your stats – but it won’t necessarily result in many
new long-term readers.
Instead of
thinking just about traffic, you want to focus on getting subscribers:
people who keep reading your posts day after day, week after week, and month
after month.
A great
first goal is to get 1000 subscribers to your blog, either through email or RSS
subscriptions. (Unless you’re writing about techy things, you’ll probably find most
readers prefer to subscribe through email.)
When you’re
just starting out, though, with just a handful of subscribers, or none at all, 1000
can look a long way off. Here’s how to get there, step by step.
1:
Tell Family and Friends About Your Blog
I know this
one sounds a bit obvious – but if you’ve not already told family and friends
about your blog, do so! Even if none of them are at all interested in
your topic, they’re interested in you … and they might well
know people who’d love to read your posts.
Obviously,
you don’t want to overwhelm people with a flurry of messages. I’d suggest:
Send out
a single email to family, friends, former colleagues and anyone else who knows
you. (Make
sure you use BCC for their email addresses – most people don’t like their email
address to be shared with a group of strangers.) I’ve put suggested
text for this email below.
If you’ve
created a Facebook page for your blog, send out one invitation to your family / friends on
Facebook to ask them to “like” the page. Don’t pester them if they don’t do so,
though.
Link to
your blog in your email signature’s footer (if appropriate – e.g. it probably won’t be in
your work emails). Giving the title, URL and tagline is fine here.
Here’s a
sample email you can use:
Hi
friends,
I’ve just
launched [my first blog / a new blog], called [name of blog]. It’s about [topic
/ tagline]. You can find it here:
[link to
your blog’s homepage]
I’d love
any feedback about it, and if you’ve got a friend who you think would enjoy it,
I’d be really grateful if you’d pass the link on to them. Thanks!
[your
name]
2:
Find Blogging Peers to Connect With
Chances are,
your pool of family and friends is not vast – and many of them won’t have a
particular interest in your topic.
Your next
step, then, is to find other bloggers to connect with, particularly those writing
about the same topic as you – or similar topics.
I’ll be
very clear here that you do not want to be targeting “big
name” or “A list” or “influencer” bloggers at this stage.
Of course
you’re no less worthy than those people – it’s just that they’re very likely to
be extremely busy, and they get a heck of a lot of emails and tweets from new
bloggers all the time. They’re unlikely to be able to give you much help or
attention.
(This
isn’t to say that they’re forever out of your reach, of course. Once you’re a
little further along with blogging, you may well be able to build up a great
relationship with them by sharing their content, linking to their posts,
or guest posting for them.)
Instead,
you want to look for the “little guys” of blogging. These are
bloggers who are at a
similar stage to you: working their way up to 1000 subscribers.
They might be a
bit further along (with several hundred subscribers) or not quite so far along
(just launching their blog) – but they’re essentially your blogging peers.
You can find
them by:
- Searching on Twitter for phrases
like “first blog post” or “launched my blog”.
- Looking in the comments section
on blogs that you read: click on people’s names to check out their blogs.
Some may have massive blogs, but many will have quite new or small blogs
like you.
- Looking in forums where bloggers
gather, or where people interested in your topic gather – you could start
a post asking if anyone else is blogging. Membership sites
like Platform University and Authority have private, moderated
forums where you can easily meet other ambitious bloggers; if you want a
free public forum, you could try google serch (be warned, it’s very
focused on internet marketing).
And, of
course, you can post in the comments below to tell me that you’re working on
getting your first 1000 subscribers and you’d love to meet other bloggers on
the same journey! Mention
your blog’s topic or tagline and make sure you fill in the “URL” field so that
your name is linked to your blog. (Your comment may get held in the moderation
queue if you include a URL within the comment itself.)
It can take
time to build up a network of blogging peers – but these people will be some of
your best supporters and connections over time.
Help them out by sharing or tweeting any of their posts that you really enjoyed
– and hopefully they’ll do the same for you.
3:
Leave Comments on Other Blogs
One very
simple way to start getting noticed not just by fellow bloggers but also by
blog readers to leave comments on blog posts.
Readers who
like what you wrote may well click on your name to look at your blog, and if
they enjoy the content there too, there’s a good chance they’ll subscribe.
In
general, the earliest comments on a post get shown at the top
of the list of comments, and these are most likely to get read. Don’t aim to always be first –
but do check out when posts normally go up on the blogs you follow and try to
read and comment promptly.
A thoughtful
comment that adds constructively to the discussion will also be appreciated
by the blogger (this is a much better way to get noticed than by
sending them emails asking “please help me” or “please tweet this link” or
“please check out my blog”).
Be careful
that you don’t end up looking like a spammer, though. That means:
That
probably means writing around 50+ words. “Great post, I loved it!” doesn’t
really add much. (If you really want to tell a blogger that you loved their
post, send them an email.)
Avoid
including links in your comment unless they’re super relevant. This often looks self-serving.
Also, comments often get held for moderation if they include a link, meaning
that yours may not appear for several days after the blog post goes live (by
which point, far fewer people will be reading it – and the comments).
2:
Find Blogging Peers to Connect With
Chances are,
your pool of family and friends is not vast – and many of them won’t have a
particular interest in your topic.
Your next
step, then, is to find other bloggers to connect with, particularly those writing
about the same topic as you – or similar topics.
I’ll be
very clear here that you do not want to be targeting “big
name” or “A list” or “influencer” bloggers at this stage.
Of course
you’re no less worthy than those people – it’s just that they’re very likely to
be extremely busy, and they get a heck of a lot of emails and tweets from new
bloggers all the time. They’re unlikely to be able to give you much help or
attention.
(This
isn’t to say that they’re forever out of your reach, of course. Once you’re a
little further along with blogging, you may well be able to build up a great
relationship with them by sharing their content, linking to their posts,
or guest posting for them.)
Instead,
you want to look for the “little guys” of blogging. These are
bloggers who are at a
similar stage to you: working their way up to 1000 subscribers.
They might be a
bit further along (with several hundred subscribers) or not quite so far along
(just launching their blog) – but they’re essentially your blogging peers.
You can find
them by:
- Searching on Twitter for phrases
like “first blog post” or “launched my blog”.
- Looking in the comments section
on blogs that you read: click on people’s names to check out their blogs.
Some may have massive blogs, but many will have quite new or small blogs
like you.
- Looking in forums where bloggers
gather, or where people interested in your topic gather – you could start
a post asking if anyone else is blogging. Membership sites
like Platform University and Authority have private, moderated
forums where you can easily meet other ambitious bloggers; if you want a
free public forum, you could try google serch (be warned, it’s very
focused on internet marketing).
And, of
course, you can post in the comments below to tell me that you’re working on
getting your first 1000 subscribers and you’d love to meet other bloggers on
the same journey! Mention
your blog’s topic or tagline and make sure you fill in the “URL” field so that
your name is linked to your blog. (Your comment may get held in the moderation
queue if you include a URL within the comment itself.)
It can take
time to build up a network of blogging peers – but these people will be some of
your best supporters and connections over time.
Help them out by sharing or tweeting any of their posts that you really enjoyed – and hopefully they’ll do the same for you.
For instance
if share this post i ll do same for you this one big secrete about blogging.
3:
Leave Comments on Other Blogs
One very
simple way to start getting noticed not just by fellow bloggers but also by
blog readers to leave comments on blog posts.
Readers who
like what you wrote may well click on your name to look at your blog, and if
they enjoy the content there too, there’s a good chance they’ll subscribe.
In
general, the earliest comments on a post get shown at the top
of the list of comments, and these are most likely to get read. Don’t aim to always be first –
but do check out when posts normally go up on the blogs you follow and try to
read and comment promptly.
A thoughtful
comment that adds constructively to the discussion will also be appreciated
by the blogger (this is a much better way to get noticed than by
sending them emails asking “please help me” or “please tweet this link” or
“please check out my blog”).
Be careful
that you don’t end up looking like a spammer, though. That means:
Use your
real name (or your blogging pseudonym) when commenting. Avoid adding the name of your
blog or any other tagline to the “name” field. Definitely don’t use a keyword
as your name. (E.g. “Ali Luke” is great; “Ali Luke – Writer and Blogger” is
best avoided; “Expert Writing Tips” is definitely out.)
That
probably means writing around 50+ words. “Great post, I loved it!” doesn’t
really add much. (If you really want to tell a blogger that you loved their
post, send them an email.)
Avoid
including links in your comment unless they’re super relevant. This often looks self-serving.
Also, comments often get held for moderation if they include a link, meaning
that yours may not appear for several days after the blog post goes live (by
which point, far fewer people will be reading it – and the comments).
4: Link to Other Bloggers’ Great Content
Hopefully, by this point, you’re starting to build up a loyal audience of
readers. If you’re not already doing so, now’s a great time to
begin linking to other bloggers’ posts, either on your blog or on social
media.
If you’re linking to someone’s post on social media, make sure you tag
them (e.g. include their @name on Twitter or tag their business or blog’s page
on Facebook) so that they can see your link. They may well retweet you, share
your Facebook post, or simply thank you.
Linking out isn’t just a great way to get noticed (and hopefully to get
some reciprocal shares). It also demonstrates to your audience that:
- You
read within your industry or niche area, and you’ve got lots of up-to-date
knowledge to share.
- You’re
a valuable place to go to for links to posts they might have missed.
- You’re
a generous person who wants to share great content that will be useful to
your readers – you’re not just linking to your own posts all the time.
5: Craft a Guest Post for a Blog You Follow
You might worry that you’re not ready to guest post yet – perhaps you
thought you’d need at least 1,000 subscribers.
The truth is that most blogs don’t care how big your own audience
is: they just care about how well
you can write for their audience.
Target established blogs with a larger readership than your own. I
tend to recommend going for blogs with ten times as many readers as you, or
more.
Check that the blog you have in mind currently accepts guest posts. (Just
because they did in the past doesn’t mean they do today!) Their “Contact” page
will often have details and many larger blogs have specific guest posting
guidelines.
When you guest post, you’ll almost always get a “bio” where you can write
a bit about yourself and/or your blog, and include one or more links.
writing at Aliventures …
6: Optimize Posts That
Are Getting Lots of Traffic
Once you’re getting traffic to your blog, whether that’s through search
engines or through the links in your guest post bios, you’ll want to make the
most of all those new readers.
If you’ve not already got Google Analytics set up, follow
this step to get that important thing done now.
Once your Analytics account is up and running, login and look at your
website’s stats at least once a week.
To find out what content’s most popular, Navigate to Behavior Flow
> Site Content > Landing Pages.
This should show you the top few pages on your site, by the number of
visitors.
You may well find, especially if you’ve been blogging for a while, that
just a small handful of posts are outperforming all the others.
Giving the posts a quick update to remove any broken links, out of date
references, etc. You might want to go further and give key posts a full
overhaul. like this one you are reading now was updated from that.
Linking forward to posts that you’ve published more recently (which,
obviously, you couldn’t link to when that post went out).like this one, that
gives total details on how to promote your blo
Adding a call to action to encourage readers to subscribe to your blog.
Including links to any relevant products or services that you now have.
If you follow this plan – and keep on commenting, writing guest posts,
and optimizing content that’s working well – you’ll be well on your way to 1000
subscribers.
Do drop a comment below to let us know where you’re at right now and what
your next steps are going to be. Don’t forget to include your blog’s URL (if
it’s already up and running) in the URL field, so i can click your name to
check it out.
If you feel that I have missed anything out then please let me know via
the comments below.
As with all my tech news collections here at solenzo bolg I work extremely
hard surfing the internet day and night updating them, and i am still
updating this post daily to ensure they are up to date and relevant; I
recommend bookmarking this page for future reference.
So there, you have it my
top recommendation of tools to help you become a successful blogger.
Please don't forget to leave a comment on this post like i said earlier.
Thanks and have a blissful day
Oh!! lest i forget, i said above Link to Other Bloggers’ Great Content like this pro that inspire me
4: Link to Other Bloggers’ Great Content
Hopefully, by this point, you’re starting to build up a loyal audience of
readers. If you’re not already doing so, now’s a great time to
begin linking to other bloggers’ posts, either on your blog or on social
media.
If you’re linking to someone’s post on social media, make sure you tag
them (e.g. include their @name on Twitter or tag their business or blog’s page
on Facebook) so that they can see your link. They may well retweet you, share
your Facebook post, or simply thank you.
Linking out isn’t just a great way to get noticed (and hopefully to get
some reciprocal shares). It also demonstrates to your audience that:
- You
read within your industry or niche area, and you’ve got lots of up-to-date
knowledge to share.
- You’re
a valuable place to go to for links to posts they might have missed.
- You’re
a generous person who wants to share great content that will be useful to
your readers – you’re not just linking to your own posts all the time.
5: Craft a Guest Post for a Blog You Follow
You might worry that you’re not ready to guest post yet – perhaps you
thought you’d need at least 1,000 subscribers.
The truth is that most blogs don’t care how big your own audience
is: they just care about how well
you can write for their audience.
When you’re looking for a blog to write for:
Target established blogs with a larger readership than your own. I
tend to recommend going for blogs with ten times as many readers as you, or
more.
Start with blogs that you already read regularly: you’ll likely be a good
fit for their audience, you know what sort of content they do (and don’t)
publish, and you may well already have connected to the blogger or editor
through comments, tweets and so on.
Check that the blog you have in mind currently accepts guest posts. (Just
because they did in the past doesn’t mean they do today!) Their “Contact” page
will often have details and many larger blogs have specific guest posting
guidelines.
When you guest post, you’ll almost always get a “bio” where you can write
a bit about yourself and/or your blog, and include one or more links.
I always recommend linking to a specific blog post
rather than to the home page of your blog – this is a much stronger call to
action, especially if the piece you’re linking to is closely related to the
topic of your guest post.
For instance, instead of: Ali Luke blogs about the art, craft and
business of
writing at Aliventures …
I’d use something like: If you enjoyed this post by Ali Luke,
check out her thoughts on Why You Should Be Blogging … and Why You Shouldn’t.
6: Optimize Posts That
Are Getting Lots of Traffic
Once you’re getting traffic to your blog, whether that’s through search
engines or through the links in your guest post bios, you’ll want to make the
most of all those new readers.
While I’m definitely no SEO expert (I
rely Auto share on social networks) and I’ve struggled to deliberately create
posts that rank well and get a lot of traffic …
… even I can login to Google Analytics once in a while to check which
posts are bringing in the most visitors.
If you’ve not already got Google Analytics set up, follow
this step to get that important thing done now.
Once your Analytics account is up and running, login and look at your
website’s stats at least once a week.
To find out what content’s most popular, Navigate to Behavior Flow
> Site Content > Landing Pages.
This should show you the top few pages on your site, by the number of
visitors.
You may well find, especially if you’ve been blogging for a while, that
just a small handful of posts are outperforming all the others.
Why not capitalize on posts that are already performing well? That could
mean doing one or more of the following:
Giving the posts a quick update to remove any broken links, out of date
references, etc. You might want to go further and give key posts a full
overhaul. like this one you are reading now was updated from that.
Linking forward to posts that you’ve published more recently (which,
obviously, you couldn’t link to when that post went out).like this one, that
gives total details on how to promote your blo
Adding a call to action to encourage readers to subscribe to your blog.
Creating a whole new piece of content (a “Content Upgrade”) on the same
topic as the post, but which goes further – you can use this as a highly
specific email-sign-up incentive.
Including links to any relevant products or services that you now have.
This doesn’t need to take a lot of time, but it could really pay off by
converting casual readers into long-term fans.
If you follow this plan – and keep on commenting, writing guest posts,
and optimizing content that’s working well – you’ll be well on your way to 1000
subscribers.
Do drop a comment below to let us know where you’re at right now and what
your next steps are going to be. Don’t forget to include your blog’s URL (if
it’s already up and running) in the URL field, so i can click your name to
check it out.
If you feel that I have missed anything out then please let me know via
the comments below.
As with all my tech news collections here at solenzo bolg I work extremely
hard surfing the internet day and night updating them, and i am still
updating this post daily to ensure they are up to date and relevant; I
recommend bookmarking this page for future reference.
So there, you have it my
top recommendation of tools to help you become a successful blogger.
Please don't forget to leave a comment on this post like i said earlier.
Thanks and have a blissful day
Oh!! lest i forget, i said above Link to Other Bloggers’ Great Content like this pro that inspire me
Follow Solenzo Blog on
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