Six Powerful Ways to Build Your Blog Readership

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Jun 132011

Blogging is not rocket science, it’s writing about what you know best. Blogging is much like journaling. The big difference is that other people get to read what you’re writing about and can comment, which adds to the information. You‘ll have to work at building a blog readership. People won’t start coming by to read what you have to say just because your blog is on the web. You’ll have to invoke some marketing strategies to gain acceptance and readership in the web community.

  • Collect Subscribers – Invite people to reader your blog by putting a link at the bottom of your email signature. Highlight some of the more interesting subjects you’re blogging about on your website.  Never miss an opportunity to write about what people are talking about most. The news has to be relevant, timely, interesting and packed with useful information.
  • Syndicate Your Stuff – The web provides many avenues to syndicate your writings. Use social book marketing to let the larger communities such as Digg, Reddit, Technorati, StumbleUpon, or Mixx know what you’re talking about.
  • Create Cross Traffic – Create cross traffic between your social sites, blog and website by providing links between each platform. That way, the people listening to you on Twitter or Facebook will visit your blog. Tie all of your platforms together using text links or images and make it easy for people to click on interesting items or news stories and move between them.
  • Do Some Guest Appearances – See if you can trade posts with some influential bloggers in your business space. You write a few posts on her blog and she writes a few on yours. You’ll get exposed to a new audience and perhaps acquire some new readers.
  • Walk the Talk – Most blogs fail because people do not count the cost before launching the experiment. Blogs take time and resources. Make sure you have an ample supply of both and then add a good dose of consistency.
  • Be Interesting – This should go without saying, but unfortunately it has to be said: Your writing has to be interesting, motivating, appealing and cause people to want to take action or join in on the discussion.

The good bloggers are those who have stood the test of time and the stiff competition out there on the web: those that write with passion, conviction, creativity and sweat.

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Social Networking: Success or Failure?

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May 312011

Spending more time, money and resources tweeting, befriending, and connecting, but enjoying it less? Let’s face it. Not every company belongs in the social media stratosphere. The reality is there are 93 million 20 to 39 year olds on Facebook while only 9 million 40 to 59 year olds. People in their twenties seldom think about buying more life insurance while those 59 might well be contemplating that purchase. Here’s six ways to ensure your social media success:

  • Developing Meaningful Metrics – Each business will have to come up with their own set of meaningful metrics although many of the numbers will be the same. For instance, meaningful numbers might be: Monthly Recurring Revenue Added, Conversion Rate of New Followers or Connections, or Cost of Converting Leads. Spend some time really determining what numbers are the most important in moving the needle.
  • Analyzing Where You Are, Where You Want to Be and How You Intend to Get There – Perhaps your company is not in the social stratosphere at this time. Gathering followers and connections will be a first step, but not the most important one. How you motivate people to take action based on your participation is more critical. Develop a roadmap of all the likely social watering holes and rate them as to which ones you believe have the best potential. How you want to get to where you want to be will take nothing short of time, talent and tenacity. Put together the marketing strategies and tactics necessary to wage a good fight. Remember, it’s not all about you – it’s about them.
  • Prototype, prototype, prototype – Remember, not every one of your ideas is going to be good one. Not every idea, no matter how well funded or implemented, is going to produce the desired results. There’s a reason the Air Force still employs test pilots. Facebook may not be a prospect-rich community while Twitter may show more promise. Continue to tweak your social marketing campaigns until they produce the best possible results.
  • Are We There Yet? – Every set of objectives need milestones to make sure positive progress is being made. Milestones are not feelings, they’re hard numbers. Numbers attached to completion dates. People may be posting articles and tweeting throughout the day, but are the right objectives being achieved?

Allocate at least six months for your social media experiment. Relationships are not cultivated over night. Consistency is all important. Don’t be an on-again-off-again social networker.

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