1. Write about what you love, not what you think you should love
There have been far too many times than I’d like to admit where I wrote about something in hopes that it would grow my readership because it was the popular thing to do. Not only did it not grow my blog audience, but it also left me feeling like a bit of a failure. My blog, if even for that brief moment that a post was written and then published, was no longer truly my own and I felt as if it came through in my writing. Share what you love with people, whether it’s popular or not. People can sense true passion. Even through neatly planned out and well-written words that make it sound like you’re truly in love with something when you actually aren’t. Write about what you care about and you’re more likely to find yourself around like-minded people instead of just a group of people you have nothing in common with.
2. Forget about the numbers and what you think they should mean
Do you know how many people follow me on Twitter? 1626. How about Bloglovin? 521. Google Reader? 637. I can tell you all of these numbers because I use them for my advertising page and check them on a much more frequent basis than I should. But looking at those numbers, they don’t reflect anything for me. I don’t talk to 1626 people on Twitter. I hardly even talk to 1/8 of the people that follow me on Twitter. And do you see 500+ comments on any of my posts? How about 250? 125? Nope – not even close. These numbers mean SO little when it comes down to it. So don’t let that guide your methods when it comes to growing your blog. Blogs worthy of a large audience are not found within these numbers. They are found by looking at the author(s) of the blog, finding their passion in their writing, and seeing how they bring a similar passion out of their readers. Focus on content and creating a blog that ignites that fire in yourself and your readers, not the rise and fall of your following.
3. Be available to connect with
Don’t close yourself off behind your blog post borders. Connect with people through comments on your blog and network outside of your blog. I do my best to respond to all personal emails that I receive as long as long as it looks like someone actually personalized it to be directed solely at me and not some mass email sent out. I also dedicate time each week to commenting on blogs and network on social media. This has allowed me to get to know the people following me and continue to grow an audience of readers that I can truly relate to. It’s nice knowing that a bulk of my readers that I’ve spoken to in some form are people that have (usually) many things in common with me. This encourages me to write what I want to write and build my blog off of what I enjoy, which I’ve come to find tend to be things others enjoy as well.
4. Seek out your ideal readers
One of the easiest things to do is to seek out your ideal readers yourself. This can be done in a lot of ways, but I normally pick a few of my favorite bloggers a week and browse their blogs. I look at who advertises with them, who they spotlight in their posts, who they mention or converse with on a regular basis on their blog or even on social media networking sites. This allows me to find similar people to them, which generally means they are someone that else that I’d like to get to know. And then I connect with them. Commenting, emails, or social media networking – they all work. This gives them an opportunity to check out my blog and a chance for them to become a reader, or for us to become friends. It’s truly easy work – it just requires getting over any shyness or reservations you have about putting yourself out there.
5. Stay true to yourself in every aspect
This is somewhat talked about through all of these tips, but I cannot stress how important this is. Whether it’s how often you post, what you post about, where you connect with people, how you set up your blog design – whatever it is, make sure it’s 110% YOU. You are not going to find the right audience trying to build your success on a foundation of lies. Set your own rules and decide your own standards. Know that what you decide may not be the fast track to success like it is for others, but it’s the right road to success because in the end, it won’t be where you are that matters. It’ll be the journey that brought you there so make it a good one.
The How-To/5 Tips is a weekly series, dedicated to answering some of the most popular questions I’ve been asked through consulting and on my blog. Want tips on something similar in nature? Or maybe you want more personalized advice? Send me an email at afterninetofive@gmail.com.
Great advice! Bookmarking! :)
ashley i really love this series, every week without fail you have given wonderful advice :-) i'm currently doing a rejig in my blog to refocus to my strengths and passions.
x
Thanks for this. It sometimes feels like the blogging world is being back in your high school lunchroom, trying to find your table.
Thank you for the kick in the pants. I wrote a blog post last week, posted it and then deleted it because I didn't think other people would like it. I've been thinking about it ever since. It's what I wanted to write about so deleting it was not staying true to myself. Thanks for this, girl.
Ashley, I'm not sure I can express how much I needed this today. I went so far as to e-mail someone this morning to ask, "What is one way you think I can make my blog better?" I feel defeated this week. My blog is so new, and for some reason, I just had (obviously high) expectations of where it would be now. Thank you for taking the time to write these tips. I'll be putting them to good use as soon as I get home from work tonight!
Blogging sometimes puts pretty unnecessary pressure on us lol! It should just be about fun. I think so many people want to become some kind of cyber-celebrity now that they become a little obsessed with numbers. Great post!
I LOVE this — great advice!
agree with everything you said! I am in the midst of writing a "blogging tips" post and just about all of your points are in my post :).
Great post… one of the hardest things I find about blogging is how hard it can be to make time to network & read other blogs but it really is worth the effort!
Wonderful advice! especially about connecting with bloggers that you admire.
And being true to yourself; It's certainly hard to stand out in blogging at the moment, so it's best to just be yourself.
Fun to read this one! Thanks for the affirmations!
Great tips, especially the last one! Thanks for lending your expertise, my friend!
Damn, your blog got big! I remember a while ago when you were just starting out.
I love this! Especially the advice to be true to yourself. I like looking at all the pretty blogs, but I am not a fashion blogger, I don't have kids or love cats (at least not as much as some of my blogger friends) but no matter what, I have a blog so that I can write about the things I love, whether it's popular or not. <3 Thanks for posting this!
Really good advice! Thank you so much for all the great tips!
What a helpful post! I look forward to your series:)
This is very helpful to me right now. I started a blog about a year ago, and didn't really know what direction to take it in. I love to write, feel that I write well, but wasn't sure what I had (if anything) to offer. But, through some introspection, I realized that I DO have something to offer, and that is how I have been and will be building my blog.
Number three really spoke to me, because I am currently working on not being such a big sissy when it comes to commenting on blog posts that I read. I'm working on that now, and am finding that it's not that scary!
Thank you!!!!
I've seen many posts similar to this, but I like how honest you came off and hit many points close to home for me. Truly I find myself in a never ending cycle with your first point. It's nice to know that someone else out there feels the same. Thank you for this post.
So true. I think another important thing is to get to know others. Comment, respond to tweets, etc. I don't know why people think you can get SO MANY comments suddenly without interaction with other bloggers! It's nice to know there's actual readers that remember past blog posts and really try to put an effort into comments/conversation. I like responses with something personal in it instead of a few word posts.
Great advice, I think one of the most important aspects about blogging is communicating with your readers and making sure you take the time to reply and comment back on their blogs. Too many top bloggers never do this and it really bugs me, without their readers they would never have got there, so why not take the time and the effort just to reply and say thank you?!
http://twenty-something-sherbet.blogspot.com/
I blog because it’s an outlet for my creativity. I haven’t really thought about how many followers I have or numbers of visitors to my site. I find inspiration in everyday things and love photography. It started out as a hobby but now I have a couple of paying advertisers and my readership is growing, its still enjoyable though and I love the time I spend working on new posts. My blog is a big part of who I am and I love sharing it with others. I’m not desperate to make it the best or get noticed on a large scale and I think that helps because I stay true to who I am and what I love.
great tips! thanks :)
#4 is the hardest for me, because I am so shy and socially awkward. These are great tips though!
Great advice! I've tried starting several blogs in the past, but gave up because I wasn't getting the readership I wanted. Once I got past that way of thinking, I was able to create and actively maintain my current blog for almost 2 years now. I still have to work on networking with other bloggers, though.
This is a wonderful little list. Sometimes fear of not writing exactly the "right" thing stops me from writing anything at all, which is completely useless to me. So thank you for this!
Such a good and encouraging post!! I used to run a very popular streetstyle-blog that reached sucess very quickly! After a while it became so exhausting to try and fit into the blogging elite, feeling the pressure of having to make good money from it and such. I’m only just starting a new blog and it’s soo sooo frustrating that things go so slow in comparsion with the first one! Thank you for reminding me that numbers are not what’s important…it”s doing what you like and connecting with others!!
Thanks for this advice. I am a newbie at this. I started mine about two months ago, so this comes it handy.
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This is great. Thanks so much!
what a wonderful post! i love that you admit to learning through trial and error… something we should all be guilty of. thank you for taking the time to write this so authentically.
These are all great tips. It's a great reminder because it's so easy to lose yourself (or restrict yourself) in your blog. I am going to Pin this post so others can be inspired by it. Thanks.
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