Blogging 101: Build Your Empire (Or At Least Your Subscribers List)
If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound?
If a blogger writes and no one views the article, does it exist?
Whether you are starting a blog or have had one for years, at one point or another, you have felt like your voice isn’t being heard enough or your blog hasn’t been viewed by enough eyes. All of us have felt it. You are not alone!
There are two parts in growing your subscriber list. The first is to get readers and the second is to turn those readers into subscribers.
Let’s talk about getting readers’ eyes on the magnificent content you have created. Here are three tips to help you grow your blog:
Network, Network, Network
Go where other bloggers are and get to know them. Humanize yourself so you are not just another blank-faced keyboard warrior. Support their blogs by subscribing, encouraging in comments, and sharing their posts. In return, you should start seeing the same from your blogging cohorts. Want to know where to find like-minded souls? Check out Reddit (such as this subreddit), Facebook Group Pages, and other Online Forums.
Guest Blog
Here are some tips to successfully get that guest blog spot. You can use that opportunity to link to your website in your bio.
- Find blogs within your niche with larger audiences than your own and do a guest blog.
- Your approach is key. Get to know the blogger before you approach them.
- Focus on how you can help the blogger in your pitch and follow up with a friendly, professional email.
- If you get accepted to guest blog, give that blog post the same care and attention to detail you give your own.
- Be sure to share and repost the blog.
- Use the link to your website in your author’s bio to point to a landing page where you can capture emails and then redirect to your website or a similar blog post on your website that may be of interest to that audience.
Content is (Still) King
Capture the hearts of your readers and you will capture their emails as well. The content you create should resonate, entertain, and educate the reader. SEO friendly copy certainly helps. Readers can’t read what they cannot find (we will discuss this in a future blog). Share your content to the like-minded online communities, your social media accounts, and don’t forget to add share buttons to key channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc. And for something fun, add a Tweet box within your content, so your readers can easily share a snippet of your blog post. You can use Social Warfare, Monarch, and other social sharing plug-ins to add tweet boxes, count shares (only show counts if they are show-worthy)