One of the toughest parts of blogging is reaching an audience. Beginner bloggers often times assume that if they hit publish then readers will come. Maybe a few will, but it takes some skill in self-promotion to develop and grow a loyal audience. This week we talk about tips to find your audience out in the giant universe of the Internet.
Ready? Great! Let’s get to work…
Set up and use a Facebook Page
A Facebook page is a public space that is different than a Facebook profile. On a page, a blogger can create a specific space to promote their blog posts as well as content that supports blog posts such as memes, vemes, video, and articles from fellow bloggers you network with. By building up a Facebook page audience you can drive social media traffic to your blog.
Create a share group
Find a small group of bloggers who write in the same genre as you and with a similar sized audience as you. Together you can share each other’s work on your social media accounts and guest post on each other blogs. This gives you an opportunity to introduce your writing to a new audience.
Join public share groups on Facebook
The opposite strategy of creating a micro share group is to join the massive groups on Facebook that include editors and writers posting links to their work on share threads. This is a fantastic way to meet other bloggers and gain writing opportunities to get more attention on your blog. Share groups will ask you to leave links to your most recent blog posts where fellow members can click on them and check our your work.
Syndicate your blog
Giant syndication sites such as Huffington Post invite bloggers to republish their personal blogs with them in order to boost your audience. This does two unique things for your blog; it opens you up to a larger readership and it gives your blog credibility in the world of blogging.
Write relevant articles that will get noticed
Is there something trending on Facebook or in the news that caught your eye? Write about THAT and tag your blog posts accordingly to draw the attention of folks searching for more information on whatever topic it is that you’ve posted about.
Here are a few Facebook groups that you should consider joining to improve your readership, network with other bloggers, and learn better blogging practices.
- Beyond Your Blog
- Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance
- Freelance Writer Networking Group
- Journey Feed Blogging Community
- Blogging to Success
Stephen King on writing
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwhOd65gGoY)
See you next week!