Okay, you’ve started a blog. You’re writing posts, but you want more. You want more connection, comments, awareness, recognition. How can you go from having a tiny shop on a dirt road out on the far side of town to a trendy spot that becomes a hot stop for people looking for information, connectivity, and useful information? I’ve got a few ideas for you.
Break up text to make it readable
Use bold titles inside your blog posts to separate sections. Use bulleted and numbered lists when illustrating several points. Pull out quotes and surround them in the blockquote tag to make them stand out from the rest of your text. Use pictures.
Write for your audience
Consider what they might take from your posts and how they might use it. Think about being USEFUL. Then, make it as clever, as brief, and as streamlined as possible. (More words is not better).
Connect
Use tools like plugins for WordPress for comments to improve the two-way nature of your blog. Ask questions. RESPOND to comments on your blog. Give people other ways to reach you, like a Twitter account or, gasp, a phone number. Put a PICTURE OF YOURSELF on your blog, and make it known who you are. People want to connect with the person/brand, not just the product.
Comment
Get out and comment on other people’s blogs. Comment and track back to stories on the ‘big guys’ and make yourself useful to your community of interest. That will help others discover YOUR useful blog.
Post daily
Repetition breeds reputation. It’s an oldie, but a goodie. Post something useful every day. Don’t be afraid to go personal, or off-topic, but try and keep even those posts useful to your audience.
Lead with the best
Put the absolutely most important information of your post in the first few paragraphs. People skim. Make it easier.
Prominently display your RSS feed
And consider using Feedburner so you can add an email-subscription option, like this:
And ASK for ideas/opinions/suggestions
An easy one, but people forget to solicit their audience for ideas. Remember, if you’ve got someone doing you the favor of reading your blog, you should return the kindness by making it really useful to that reader. Ask often for ideas and advice.
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It’s up to you to develop your blog into something people want to read. I’m grateful to everyone who comes by and finds something useful here at [chrisbrogan.com], and I’m thankful for people who write about topics of interest to me, link back and forth with me, who have chosen to be listed on the Rockstars page.
Should you ever want improvements, have suggestions or requests, you know where to find me.
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