Six Steps to Expand your Blog Readership – Timothy Burns
www.timothyburns.com - My Business is telling your story
“When is the best time to plant an oak tree?” the newly married couple asked the seasoned owner at the local greenhouse.
“20 years ago,” replied the man with a twinkle in his eye. “But the next best time is today.”
The same is true with your blog. The best time to begin building your readership is two or three years ago. If you had, today you would have hundreds of readers a day, and the kind of platform / audience that writers long for. Building a blog readership takes time, effort, and a consistent strategy, which are skills we often forget in our instant, “I want it now” digital world.
To grow your blog, you will need to be faithful, like the proverbial tortoise racing the hare. It doesn’t matter that other bloggers are way ahead, and have massive readerships. It doesn’t matter that other people are getting the attention you want. What matters is that you start today, and faithfully employ these few simple strategies. If you do, you will have more readers six months from now than you do today.
Pick a topic
The world is full of copies, and bland duplications. While the world tells us that we should strive to be like everyone else, God gave you specific gifts, passions and life experiences. Write from that God place, and talk about those topics. It doesn’t matter that no one is reading you yet; it matters that you find your voice, and write. If you are having a hard time picking a single idea, try this. Close your eyes, and answer the question. “If I could publish a book on any topic, know that it would be successful, and had the time and money to promote it the way I should, what would I write? If I were asked to be on a radio talk show, or appear on the 700 Club to talk about my book, what would I write about?”
Your answer is God’s voice from deep within your heart. Pursue it.
Pick a frequency
Quality trumps quantity, and content is king. If you can write faithfully twice a week, do it. If you can only write once per week, stick to your commitment. You will feel like you are casting words into the darkness for a while. Don’t quit. Plants that bear fruit grow slowly, while weeds pop up over night. God wants your writing to bear fruit, so be faithful, and patient.
Be genuine
Find your own voice, and write the message that is in your heart. You can get ideas from others, but don’t copy them. Try to stick to a single, clearly defined message or domain. In some cases, you might want to write across a diverse spectrum of ideas. Just remember, if I come to your blog and after reading a couple posts don’t know who you are and what you are about, I am less likely to come back.
Write well
I always tell my clients and writing friends to write offline, not in your blogging dashboard. Use the word processor, tools, and writing process as if you were writing an article to hand in to that eighth grade English teacher you hated. Anne Lamont calls the three stages of her process the down draft, the up draft and the dental draft. Get it down on paper, then clean it up, then polish it. You are writing for publication, your own publication. Use your blog to learn to write better. When you are ready, copy and paste your article into your blogging dashboard, and push “Publish.” This process will take much of the stress out of your writing process.
Read other Successful Bloggers
Blogging has a style and pattern of its own, like a newspaper or a magazine. Read other bloggers and take note of their format. With minor variations, you will find that blogs are generally:
350 to 500 words (this one is longer, I know)
Have a picture in the top third
Have subheadings, bullet points and solid take-away ideas
End with an invitation for readers to interact
Push your Content into the Social Media World
Every time you blog, post your blog onto your Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and any other social channel you use. Each of these online neighborhoods are filled with people who hang out like teens at the mall and guys in t-shirts at NASCAR races. They may not come to your blog unless you invite them. If it feels a bit self-absorbed to post your work and ask people to read it, well, get over it. You are a writer. God has given you a gift, message and a passion. Take the basket off the lamp, put it on a table in the middle of the room, and pray that God is glorified through your work and words.
What do you think? Have you used any strategies that have brought new readers to your online universe? What successes can you share?
(This is part one of two. In the second part, I will share some of the more advanced strategies to draw people to your blog.)
