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“Help me, my mom is my blog’s only reader!”-By Darren Rowse

April 24th, 2007
74 comments

Expert: Darren Rowse, Problogger.net

#24 of 30

  

About the Expert

Darren Rowse is author and owner of ProBlogger, a site dedicated to helping other bloggers learn skills, share their own experiences, add income streams and promote the blogging medium as well as Digital Photography Blog,a source of news, reviews and tips for digital cameras.

Darren started blogging as a hobby back in 2002 and quickly grew to love it. Today he has more than 15 sites and is a co-founder of b5 media. Today, Darren splits his time between his blogs, blog consulting, speaking engagements and running a teleclass for bloggers entitled Six Figure Blogging.

Chitika is thrilled to have Darren, one of today’s best and most renowned bloggers, write on increasing your blog audience.

How do I get my blog beyond the initial launch phase and actually find readers beyond my mum, girlfriend and work mates?

Launching a blog and getting a few regular readers (usually friends and family) isn’t the hard part of blogging (although it’s not ‘easy’) - the challenge comes in trying to find a way to take things up a notch and hit some sort of ‘tipping point’ where you hit a new level of readership.
In this post I’d like to explore some basic techniques on how to grow your readership beyond your circle of friends and family.

Before we begin - One little ’secret’ for you before I give some ideas on how to grow your readership - no matter how big your blog gets, there’s always another ‘next level’ that bloggers strive for. I spoke to a blogger this week who has 70,000 daily readers who asked me how to go to the ‘next level’. Blog readership is like money - no matter how much you’ve got, most people seem to always thirst for more.

So how do you get out of the plateau that your blog is in (whatever that level is)?

There are many answers that could be given to this (for example I wrote 19 tips for finding new readers previously) - but as I’ve pondered the question today two main ideas came to mind.

1. Learn to Leverage Big Traffic
When I first started blogging, I had romantic notions of an incoming rush of traffic hitting my blog. A couple of months in I began to realize that that wasn’t going to happen.
I remember the light going on in my mind one day - the rush of traffic just wasn’t going to ‘appear’. Of course there was a trickle of traffic that did just ‘appear’ - but if I wanted traffic in large numbers I was going to have to find some way of going and getting it.
I began to ask myself a question:

‘where is my potential traffic?’

At any given moment, millions of people are using the Internet - a certain percentage of them were interested in and even searching for the information that I had written - so where were they and how was I going to get them?

So where are your potential readers?

I can’t answer that question for each of you (because it varies, depending upon your blog’s topic) but here are a few suggestions of where your readers may already be gathering:

1. Forums - yep, they are Web 1.0 (or 1.3 maybe) in many ways - but the reality is that people are probably discussing your topic every day already on a forum somewhere in large numbers.
2. Social Sites - sites like Digg, Reddit, Flickr, YouTube and MySpace are generating massive traffic at the moment. Many of them won’t have the kind of traffic that will naturally relate to your site - but increasingly social networking and bookmarking sites are arranging themselves around specific topics and verticals.
3. Bigger Blogs - on most topics there is already a blog that is at least covering a related topic.
4. Bigger Sites - don’t just look at the blogosphere - doing so will limit yourself so much.

Ok - the above list is pretty general but it’s hard to be more specific without knowing the topic at hand.
The key is to find those places where your potential traffic is already gathering and then to think about how you can become a part of those sites/communities in a way that draws traffic to your blog.

In general I find that other site owners are more than willing to share a little link love around IF you provide them with some value too.

Notice I said IF you provide them with value. It doesn’t mean:

  • sending an email asking for a link or offering to trade links
  • spamming their site’s comments/forum
  • manipulating their site or readers into coming to your site

Find out a way of genuinely enhancing their site and becoming a valued part of their community.

  • Write them free content
  • Genuinely participate in comments in ways that add value to the conversation
  • Use a signature in your communications with people in the community (as long as it’s within the rules to do so)
  • Provide them with some link love (even if it’s not returned)
  • Get to know the authors - thank them for anything that they do do for you

Over time (and this isn’t usually an overnight process) you’ll find that the more you add to and participate in larger sites, the more you’ll personally get out of it.

2. Get discovered one reader at a time
The second piece of advice I’ll give is to not get caught up in finding the big incoming link that will bring a rush of traffic.
Yes you should be on the lookout for these opportunities - but don’t forget the readers you’ve currently got and don’t forget the small trickles of traffic that you already have from smaller sources.

Google and other Search Engines - millions of people start their search for information here every day - while it’s a long term thing to grow SE traffic it does add up over time. Learn some basic search engine optimization techniques and incorporate it into the way you blog. While search engines like Google will only ever send you one reader at a time - they can do so in very large numbers over time.

Reader Recommendations - one of the most powerful forces at your disposal as a blogger is your current reader. 10 readers who each find two new readers for your blog each month who each find two new readers for your blog each month will see you end up with a readership of over 40,000 within 12 months. While that might not be a reasonable expectation - the fact remains that blogging is by its nature a viral medium. Tap into this - concentrate on providing value to your current readers and you will find over time that you could be on the receiving end of some viral growth.

Smaller Blogs - Getting a link from a larger blog or website can be a huge rush (for example last week I got a link from the front page of Yahoo.com as a featured article and it was a fun thing to watch) but sometimes it’s the links from smaller blogs that have a more lasting impact upon your blog. Build relationships with other blogs in your niche (not just the powerful ones) and over time you’ll find that the traffic that they send will not only bring you new loyal readers but that the links will help your search engine ranking.

Bonus Tip - Live with an Attitude of Openness to Opportunity
A few years ago I had a business coach. The main thing I took home from the time I spent with him was that he was someone that was constantly on the lookout for synergy and opportunity with those that he met. He didn’t do it in a manipulative way - but he had this ability to connect with people and spot potential connecting points between what he did and what the other person did.

Almost as if every conversation he had led to a new mutually beneficial business partnership, customer or product idea. The result was that his business grew.

As bloggers, I think this is an attitude that all of us could learn from.

Don’t expect the large rush of traffic to land in your lap - it rarely comes.

DO look for opportunities and DO be willing to act quickly upon them and in time you’ll find the growth will come.

    This post was inspired by a question that one of my readers (thatedeguy) recently asked at ProBlogger.
About the Author: Karla Escolas is part of the CRM/Marketing team here at Chitika Inc. She also specializes in working one-on-one with publishers using simple optimization techniques to increase their revenue. Follow her on Twitter @KarlaChitika to find out more.
 
 
 

74 Responses to “ “Help me, my mom is my blog’s only reader!”-By Darren Rowse ”

  1. Speedlinking - 24 April 2007 Says:

    [...] Chitika’s month long Blog Bash continues with a post from me on the topic of - “Help me, my mom is my blog’s only reader!” - I hope you enjoy it [...]

  2. Uri Says:

    Thanks for the tips!

  3. markowe Says:

    Whaaat?! Your Mum reads your blog! Lucky you! Hey, if I could get her interested, maybe that would be the break I am looking for :)

  4. Brian K Says:

    @markowe - Very funny :)

    This was cool to read. Excellent ways to go about building a readership - and they’re not “shady”. I found the first part (about participating in other communities) particularly pertinent.

    While it certainly won’t get you an overnight traffic surge, it absolutely makes sense and should help build not only a larger audience, but a SOLID one as well.

  5. Alden DoRosario Says:

    What an excellent post. Thanks Darren.

    Here’s another tip: Lookout for the scoop (whatever that scoop is for your particular blog topic). When you do score that scoop story, you will see that massive onrush of traffic that Darren talks about.

    How do I know this ?
    1) I see this happening almost everyday with some of Chitika’s top publishers. I see a publisher score a scoop about the next digital camera or next Apple rumor and whoosh — there is a huge flood of traffic.
    2) My previous company used to own one of the top tech magazines/websites in the country. It was amazing to see 25 reporters sitting around a table scrambling to score a “scoop”.

  6. Brian Auer Says:

    Great stuff as always, Darren. I’m finding that social sites (especially StumbleUpon) are a great source of traffic — but only if you truly participate in the community. My blog is only 3 months old, but I’m also finding that my search engine traffic is increasing at a nice rate. It’s not as immediate as social media, but it’s more constant in growth.

  7. Uri Kalish Says:

    Can you please refer your mom to my blog too?
    http://urikalish.blogspot.com/

  8. Amigo4life Says:

    The title is just as perfect as the content! LOL!!! Your rock Darren!!

  9. Jaya Schillinger Says:

    Very catchy post title! You always set a good example. : )

  10. Steve Roach Says:

    Link to me please!

    I just found your blog, read it and found it very entertaining. Do you know how to link to my blog and vice versa?

    thanks,

    steve

  11. Ishaan Says:

    thanks for the tips, this is exactly the situation i’m in.

  12. Jamie MacDonald A.K.A. Sl33stak Says:

    How timely is this!? I have been trying to find tips for increasing my lowly following. Thank you for remembering all of us who aren’t uber bloggers.

  13. Richard Swelling Says:

    Thanks, this is good timely info, as i am in the process of trying to build blog traffic to a few different sites. One other thing is to learn more about RSS feeds, and how they can increase readership. Check out feedburner (i am in no way affiliated with them other than as a user). They have some good info about feeds, and how to optimize your feed. Seriously though, after you get this basic info above, it boils down to NETWORKING (make friends), hard work researching topics, good posts, and understanding how the search engines rank you…this is what i have discovered so far.

  14. TeamTutorials Says:

    The article was ok, I have heard most of the tips before.

  15. TommyMac Says:

    Seems like pretty basic stuff. I would have hoped that there would at least be a mention of submitting to search engines and sites like Technorati.

  16. blogspammer Says:

    Way to encourage people with nothing interesting to say to go spam all over good sites.

  17. Peter Says:

    You might also try Multiply. It combines blogging with a messaging system that automatically notifies not only your friends, but also friends-of-friends, whenever you post something. Creating a built-in audience based on relationship-based relevence is one of it’s core strengths.

  18. paulo Says:

    I have a small blog, but I’ve got a few readers. One thing I’ve learned is that if you write a lot, you get more readers, and you keep them. If you stop writing for any period of time, the readers start dropping off. I imagine this will be less of a problem as more readers start aggregating their internets via RSS feeds. Also, going through and tagging all of my posts turned out to be pretty useful in getting and keeping new readers.

  19. Lauren Says:

    Congrats on getting on the front page of digg! You just simply rock Darren. You love what you do and everything about your work shows your wonderful talent.:)

  20. Jean Says:

    Feel free to trickle yourself on over to my self-indulgent chunk of paradise I call “I Love Upstate” at iloveupstate.com and listen (or rather, read…) me ramble on about the challenges of straddling a job in NYC and trying to restore a house in Upstate, NY and not take it up the backdoor from contractors out to fleece me. Or, just ignore me. Either way, it’s still sunny outside.

  21. newspoo.com Says:

    I tried this for http://www.newspoo.com

    It is working!

  22. wagi Says:

    Nice tips, I’m going to try some of them out. Thanks.

  23. Thatedeguy: » Darren answers my question Says:

    [...] Ok, first I have to admit that I really don’t recall the exact question that I asked. Obviously, it was something along the lines of “how do I continue to grow my blog past a plateau?” In any case, Darren Rowse of Problogger.net has a very nicely thought out response on the latest entry into the Chitika Blog Bash and he just happens to mention me at the very, very end of it. It’s cool to get the mention even if it is just because of a question. That and it’s pretty cool to have gotten a link from the Chitika.com domain. [...]

  24. Kathie Thomas Says:

    Great tips, Darren always has something fantastic to share! Oh, and my mum reads one of my blogs!

  25. Dream Row Says:

    wow it is amazing that I was talking to one of my partners today about this topic. Thanks for the input. Ok now all you come read our blog! and your mom to….

  26. C Court Says:

    Very interesting. I have done a few of the things mentioned already, but there is always something to blog about.

  27. Doug Trudeau Says:

    You have reiterrated what I have been learning. Social sites have really helped to increase traffic for me. Good article.

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  29. Planet Malaysia Says:

    Today onward, your site will be more visitor :P

  30. Watch TV Live Says:

    small sites are good as well, just build it day by day and give out great content and care for your users.

  31. lokesh matsos Says:

    Fine darren,Are they paying you for this,or just guest blogging,I came here from your blog and we readers of problogger are never disappointed by you,thanks.

  32. subcorpus Says:

    sounds like a good idea …
    thanks for the tip …

  33. Anuj Seth Says:

    Darren,

    As usual, your articles are very informative and useful for all aspiring bloggers. This one too lives up to its expectations. Thanks for sharing such valuable information from time to time.

  34. Domester.NET Blog » “Help me, my mom is my blog’s only reader!”-By Darren Rowse Says:

    [...] Great inside track on blog readership buildingread more | digg story [...]

  35. Gabrielle Says:

    Responding to your blog community members’ comments is a good way to build a loyal readership, and it’s fun too.

  36. Deathseeker Says:

    This is a great text. Those tips are pretty well-justified and I believe I’ll follow a lot of them.

    Thank you for the post!

  37. Alden DoRosario Says:

    lokesh said> Fine darren,Are they paying you for this,or just guest blogging.

    Lokesh, the entire “30 Days of Expert Blogging” is guest blogging. We thought I’d be nice to get 30 expert bloggers together and have them blog about various topics. The core idea remains: Help out the blogger.

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  40. links for 2007-04-26 « Cui’s Weblog Says:

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  41. David Says:

    I like how you are brutally honest - a realist -

    It is clearly evident you did not wake up one morning and push a couple keys on your pad and within 1 week had an internet empire up and running.

    I think picking a topic of something you are passionate about is a good starting place for beginner (and probably advanced) bloggers. It is much easier - generally - to stick with it (blogging on your topic) till you hit the “tipping point” that you mention if you have a passion for the topic.

    keep it up! and thanks for the free resource

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  44. Dream Row Says:

    Aha, very good post. Thank you so much for that information. I’ll be using those tips to direct some traffic (hopefully) towards our blog. Keep up the great work!

  45. Xsantiya Says:

    The title could be changed to ‘Help. My co-worker is my blog’s only reader’ :)

  46. Chitika Blog Bash: A Month of Probloggers Offering Expert Tips « Lorelle on WordPress Says:

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  47. Remikz: Dear Blog Says:

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  48. starleads Says:

    Great tips to follow for anyone into blogging.

  49. Nash Trout Says:

    I enjoyed this article. Although I know most of the tips, it is enjoying to read. Nice reference, I had bookmarked it!

  50. Cool Links - 4-28-07 Says:

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  54. ytrewq Says:

    actually it’s my friend’s blog is starting to get intersting
    hyper curious

  55. BaroqueW Says:

    omg! how do you know only my mom is reading my blog? ;-)
    Great post, full of advices
    And to you people out there, don’t underestimate SEO!

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  64. Steve Says:

    Good tips there. Need to get started on the blogging soon. Does seem like work through, maybe just keeping to dev will be easier

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  67. don Says:

    It is a hard thing (this traffic) but if you watch what people say and cater to them You will receive more and more traffic. I have a comedy site that increases daily due to new content and fresh perspectives. Keep updating keep researching and keep your head up! I enjoy my site and enjoy people enjoying it more!!

    1lear

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  72. douglas Says:

    getting discovered one reader at a time is great advice

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