4 Ways to Build an Audience for Your New Blog
How many times have you said to yourself that you have a great idea for a new blog but don’t know how to attract the readership to make it worth your time. When you check out some of your potential competition, you notice that they have battalions of subscribers, major advertisers, and get plenty of attention in chat rooms and comment pages. What is it they’re doing to get so much attention?
It’s more a matter of how long they’ve been doing what they’re doing. Every blogger started out pretty much the same way, with an idea, a decent amount of enthusiasm, and zero subscribers. The ones that survived went through a process to build up visitors, sometimes struggling for years before breaking through the competition and dominating their niches. Why no replicate their strategies with the following sure-fire methods for building up your new blog’s audience?
Write a Short Book
You don’t have to be a professional writer to create a useful eBook on a helpful topic. If you’re aiming to begin a successful blog, chances are that you have several ideas for books on your favorite topics. Do some research and flesh out the main ideas, organize everything into chapters, and create a PDF document that your site visitors can download. Make sure to offer the eBook for free but allow for an email address collection on the sign-up sheet. Be transparent with readers about the fact that you’ll not use their info for any purpose except to add them to your blog’s membership list. Consider doing a few freebie books like this each year to pull in additional members.
Offer Money-Saving Tips
No matter what subject you blog about, include a section of money-saving tips for your readers. Everyone wants to spend less and save more, so helping your readers to achieve that goal will make them value your blog all the more. The key is to offer universally appreciated and functional assistance, like an online calculator that lets working adults preview how much they can save by refinancing student loans. There’s a big demand for this kind of information because people in their mid to late twenties often don’t realize the significant benefits they stand to get when they refinance education debt. An online calculator can instantly show them how to reduce their monthly expenses.
Be a Guest Blogger on Other Sites
If you include a backlink to your own site and a short bio paragraph, it’s possible to bring in large numbers of visitors, and eventual subscribers, by posting guest content on other people’s websites. Search for a dozen or so sites that are similar but not identical to yours. Then, send the admins an email saying that you would like to post relevant content on one of their pages. Wait to hear back and follow the admin’s instructions carefully. Don’t forget to include your exact online address, full name, image, and a short bio.
Advertise
Be careful with paid advertising. Set a specific, small budget at first and consider using only PPC (pay per click) ads. If you’re not great at writing ad copy, hire someone to create the piece for you. Then, carefully track the ad’s success in terms of clicks, conversions into actual visits, and subscribers.