If you’ve bought into the whole blogging scene, we’re going to go out on a limb and assume that you started out with stars in your eyes, imagining making a living just writing whatever you please. Chances are, you’ve been a little disappointed.
Here are a few tips to reach out and gather some new readers:
Get Featured
Easier said than done, but if you can get your blog featured on another, more popular blog, you can win over a lot of subscribers by association. Let’s say you run a blog on car insurance quotes.
Well, by writing a very well-written post and submitting it to one of the bigger blogs concerning auto insurance companies, you may just get that feature spot that you’re after. You may also get featured in surprising places by simply creating great content and watching your readers run with it and submit it to other sites on their own.
Explore Multimedia
If you can come up with a great image, a great video or something of that nature to spread through the internet, you can lead a lot of people back to your blog. It can be difficult to know what will go viral, what will catch on, but if you check out other viral videos and images you like, you’ll notice certain patterns popping up.
In general, viral content tends to be surprising in some way, it has a “Wow” factor, and it tends to be quick, immediate and easy to understand. “Forced memes” can be tricky to pull off, but they’re possible. If you recognize the formulas, you can generally predict, with at least a marginal degree of accuracy, what will and won’t catch on virally.
Don’t Be Afraid of Controversy
The cartoonist Frank Miller recently posted a diatribe against the Occupy Wall Street movement. Within days, he had over a thousand comments on a blog that had previously been lucky to reach a hundred.
Wherever you stand on the issue, it’s hard to argue against the use of controversy as a real attention getter. When you come out for or against something, don’t be shy about it. If you say something incendiary, it may come across as controversial or offensive, even, but it will certainly get people talking.
If you’re saying something controversial just because it’s controversial, if you’re actively trying to offend, there’s a good chance that people will simply see right through it and they won’t fall for it, but don’t be afraid of stepping on toes.
The internet still allows freedom of speech, so say what you like.
Subscribe, Subscribe, Subscribe
One of the best ways to earn a lot of subscribers is to simply build a whole lot of goodwill among the blogging community. Whatever your subject, find a lot of blogs that cover similar or the same subject, and subscribe to them, comment on their posts and keep a friendly relationship going among the community.
Author: Angela C.
