Breaking Through the Blogosphere
Moxie Reviews wanted me to write a post about how a person new to blogging can break through and start to get heard in the online world.
You’ll think I’m pulling your leg, but factually – I can’t really answer this question. It’s not that I don’t have ideas on how I can increase how I get heard. It’s not that I can’t remember how I got from my very first blog post to where I am now (wherever that is). But the truth is that this journey is different for everybody. Everyone has to figure it out based on their own objectives, their own goals, and all of that jazz.
Proof for my non-answer
How do I know it’s different for everybody? Well, I’ve started three different blogs over the last year, and each one was completely different.
Take this site here. I started out by blogging and tweeting at the same time. I didn’t really do any promotion on Facebook or LinkedIn, and I only tweeted once a day. That’s how I started the long journey of driving traffic to my site.
When I started my second blog, which focused on online safety, I figured that if I did an expanded version of what I did for this site, I’d be golden. So, I began the site and I also launched a Twitter chat. More engagement, more traffic, or so I thought. In fact, I never could get that blog site going.
Finally, there’s The Blog Library. It’s not your typical blog site so it may not be fair to compare it here, but in the case of that site, Facebook has been far more effective than Twitter in driving traffic, and a new factor, Google Plus, has also helped. I discovered all of that via trial and error.
So what advice can I give you?
I don’t want you to leave here empty-handed, so I’ll toss some ideas out that have worked for me in terms of starting to get my voice heard.
1. Do NOT approach other bloggers and relentlessly ask them to tweet out or promote your posts. People get tired of that super duper quick.
2. Participate in #blogchat. Sunday night, 9 PM EST. Not only will you learn a ton, you will also meet other bloggers who may be learning just like you are. That’s how I met Stanford Smith, aka PushingSocial
3. Get a feel for what your readers like and what they don’t. I know that you tend to come here for “how to” posts because those are the posts that tend to do best for me. The ones I like writing the best, my floatey, not really social media-related philosophical posts, tend not to do as well, so I don’t write them as much. I want you to be interested!
4. When your traffic is small, look at how many tweets, comments, likes, and other stuff you’re getting. You might only have 3 tweets and 2 comments on a post, but if you have 100 visitors, you’ve got a 5% response rate, which is nothing to sneeze at. Look on the bright side of the numbers.
5. Try to guest post on other peoples’ sites – off them the opportunity to post on yours as well. This doesn’t just mean trying to get posted on Copyblogger. It means finding people who are in a similar boat and helping each other out.
6. Establish a pace that works well for you and then stick to it. If you don’t want to write daily, that’s fine. If you do that’s fine. But try to be consistent so that you can establish expectations for your readers.
7. Add subscription options on your site. People may not read your posts when they go live, but they may go through their Reader and hit ya later.
8.Don’t try to be “the next.” Find your own voice and your own style. Nothing else will seem right or natural.
9. Promote across channels – but if you know you have a lot of the same followers, try not to post your update all at the same time. Otherwise people will be getting your promotional updates all at the same time, and that can be kind of annoying.
10. What is your number 10? What are you trying or what do you want to try? What has worked for you? Help Moxie out!
Image Credit: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/michaelaw
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The Blog Library is something I believe in. I’m more with John Dewey than John Galt. It’s about the democritization of information (and even google is using human minds to separate the good work from strong sources from the noise).
I’ve begun to think about one thing, Margie: I use my kindle increasingly. I just subscribed to your blog and will be able to access it through the 3G connection. I’ve created a website just for feedburns, so I can go, and read mindfully.
Jonathan Harris (who just had a seminal interview on design mind), talked about the need for listening. Traffic will follow “listening–if blogging is more conversational than journalistic–reading blogs will naturally activate the ability to listen to what the “digital interlocutor” is saying. This will inform a writer’s own practice: I never could communicate effectively and successfully (and for numbers), until I could listen, well, to a variety of voices.
Cheers!
M
Hey Mark! Great to see you over here 🙂
You make a great point – listening to as many voices as possible, and listening carefully, is an essential part of communicating, whether it’s online or offline. Too often now people try to talk over each other instead of talking, then listening to the response. We’re all in a hurry to get our voices heard, but there’s a lot of wisdom to be garnered from taking a back seat, at least every once in awhile 🙂
Excellent! Thank you. Just “finding” Margie Clayman has been a big answer, believe me!! xo
You’re sweet. Thanks, and glad you liked the post!
HI Margie,
This is a very good list. I am working more on guest posting on other sites. I just had a GP over at Bill Dorman’s site and that went pretty well.
I would add – have a note taking system of some kind. I just use a legal pad to jot down ideas. I get a good idea – it goes on the legal pad and I see if it can become a post. I also keep an eye on the news
Consistency is key. I post Monday through Friday. If you post on a very random schedule I will forget about your blog – that is a simple fact.
If you get comments, reply to then (unless they are spam) even if I am busy and have to wait until the end of the day to do it, I make sure I reply to my comments. I have commented on blogs, got no reply and never gone back. That is just how I am.
I really enjoyed this post Margie.
Pretty well? You did great…………..
Hi Nancy,
It’s great to see you expanding your reach. Very happy to see it!
Note taking is something I should do but don’t do. Sometimes I have a great idea (well, according to me) but it floats away as soon as I sit down. Bummer. Great advice there.
Also great advice about responding to comments. In this fast moving world, if someone takes the time to read your post AND comment on it, it’s really impolite not to respond, unless it’s just a “hey nice post” or something like that. Even then I try to say thank you if I have the time. I may not stop going to a site if the person doesn’t respond to comments, but I will likely not leave my comment of a footprint there. You lose a major way to measure your community if you don’t engage with your readers.
I totally agree with this post Margie. As what Ari Herzog had mentioned in his post which I have just read, We all — people and organizations — do what we do because of rationales specific to ourselves. That is, we do things based on our own potentials. What works for others may not work for us and the other way around. These tips may work well for others depending on how they do about it. We actually get better as we experience more things as we blog.
Well said John (and Ari!). The more I stick around the online world, the more I see that everyone’s experience is very different. There are some basic similarities, but for the most part, we’re charting new territory whenever we get started.
What did I say? Where? When?
(And why didn’t I get a Google Alert about my name here? I randomly clicked in.)
You are a very wise woman Margie Clayman…every one of your suggestions is golden. Thank you. I, too, am still trying to create visibility to my blogs. I have to work on #6…my consistency is just not there. I also need to start looking into #blogchat on Sunday evenings…to tell you the truth, the reason that I have not joined in in the past is I almost feel like I’m not up there with actual “real” bloggers. But, I will give it a try. Thank you, Margie….you know I love stopping by here~
Claudia
Hey Claudia (and Margie) I apologize in advance for plugging my new chat but if you are feeling a little intimidated by #blogchat feel free to visit my chat. It’s not blogging specifically, however it is Social Media related and because it’s so new the attendance is small but the level of interaction is very high and you will meet a few people who are experienced bloggers and will take the tome to give you individual attention, tips and pointers. The chat is #Fiercechat and it’s Wed.’s at 5 pm PT. Please stop by I think you will be glad you did.
The #blogchat community is very warm Claudia. Don’t feel intimidated. And if you want to, ping me when you want to try it out and I can introduce you to some good people 🙂
Glad you found the post helpful!
Love number 5! We’ll try! Thanks Margie! 😀
Cool, let me know how it works for you! 🙂
What worked for me was engaging and commenting at other sites; it just so happened I started hanging out and Gini and Marcus’s so I was getting ‘known’ early. Once I started my blog I started leaving my ‘address’ when I commented. Lo and behold people started showing up. I really had no idea they would show up like they have, but it seems to have worked if ‘traffic’ is your success measurement.
Am I heard? That might be a stretch because I haven’t really had a lot to say yet, but I do get read.
Do I want to be the ‘next big thing’; probably not, I will be very content in just being myself wherever that might take me.
You did great on the August series Margie, I’m impressed.
I think you have every reason to be content with yourself, Mr. Dorman. You rock!
Thanks for the kind words!
🙂
Hittin’ my stride: tweaking my site; learning every day. Thanks for contributing to that learning Margie:) Cheers! Kaarina
Margie,
This really hit home today. I have been repeatedly hit on by other bloggers to send out their blogs/tweets and I find it so offensive. If I want to promote your blog, I will. It has to be organic, not forced. Some folks hide their intentions by saying they just wanted you to read it, but when it comes to you complete with hashtags, you know the true intention is to have you promote it. Great advice and BTW, I did pass this on. I felt it needed to be shared with many folks. Cheers!
Thanks Jen.
Yeah, it’s tough. Sometimes people really do just want you to read it and offer advice, but unfortunately that seems to be increasingly rare. Glad you liked this post and that it resonated with you!
So given the opportunity to offer my opinion (an offer I rarely wait for) may I humbly add a #10:
Treat your commenters like found money. A response to each comment is assumed. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. If you’re small (more total posts than total comments is a good early metric) reciprocate the comment and go 2 for 1. Promote a new post or follow. Don’t do it blindly, do it for content you like but find a way to say thank you without using the words thank you.
That’s a fantastic point, Barry. It really is true that in the online world you tend to get back what you send out. If you generously promote others and support others, you will find that not only do you get heard but you also end up creating a smashingly awesome community that might just include awesome folks like you!
Thanks for voicing your opinion 🙂
My #10 would be to contribute to conversations on other blogs. I just started my blog at the end of June this year and post on Mondays and Wednesdays because I can absolutely commit to that (and I was spending most of my time and energy looking for a job) and because I wanted to spend time networking with other bloggers that write similar content or content that can dovetail into mine seamlessly. I dont exploit my blog or blog posts but I take every opportunity to comment and jump into discussions when I can and it makes sense. I would advise every new blogger to do the same.
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