This is a guest post by an awesome kid named Melvin Dichoso.
Do you ever wonder why big bloggers never lose their followers? Why it seems like they always get chased even though they’re not really doing anything special? Today I am very elated to share to you guys how you can keep your readers for the long haul.
Getting readers is easy. In fact, I can get 50 new people every day to read my blog. What is a bit tricky is how to make them stay for long. If you’re blogging you’d easily notice the trend of new readers following you, then after couple of months not following you anymore and stuffs. It happens for reasons like sometimes they started liking other blog content more than you or maybe you started adding those intrusive ads that they became annoyed and etc.
Fact is, it’s very possible to let your readers be readers for a long time. And here I’m going to list down three factors why very few bloggers manage to get their readers reading and following their blog for life.
Over Delivering
Over delivering is simply stuffing your readers with superb and timely content. You don’t need to do it every day (timely) but still can have a huge impact on your readers’ loyalty.
Try writing superb content every once in a while (superb content means an article with more than a thousand words). Or maybe get them to read a series posts of yours. You can also do well by providing walkthrough guides and articles. Either way as long as you are over delivering, you’re not gonna have any problems with keeping them staying.
The problem though is that not too many bloggers do well with over delivering. Are you one of them? Maybe it’s time to prove me wrong.
Transparency
Being a transparent person is one quality I admire a lot. One of my favorite blogger with the name of Shoemoney is probably the most hated person out there (along with Chow). He receives flak a lot of times, some claims he is fake, some thinks he is retarded but who cares? He just shows himself transparently, just writes his stuff as what his mind dictates.
I recently wrote a post entitled “It’s not about controversy, its just being me” which received a really good and warm response from different people. The truth about being transparent is that you are letting people realize that you stand for something. I mean surprisingly not a lot of people stand for things. Most of the times they follow the majority, they prefer to be like the many.
Being transparent is crucial as you cannot please everyone. There will be times that you’ll be hated but that are all part of the process. Be yourself and your readers will thank you soon.
Rewards
Most people mistakenly think that by saying reward, it’s about physical gadgets. It actually is not. Not a long time I ago I wrote about how to show appreciation to your readers and in that post I emphasized that small ways can mean a lot to them. A simple comment back to their blog, or a re-tweet on one of their posts can mean a lot to them. As a result, they are more likely to feel that you’re not just a blogger, but actually someone who’s a friend.
Try to become accommodating to them, be as nice as possible and they’ll feel their special. As a result, they’ll keep coming back for more.
Conclusion
These are three simple yet every effective means on how to make your blog like a sticky to them. Building a blogging relationship is no different from building a personal relationship. You are benefiting because they are benefiting too and they would start liking you and your blog because of simply what it is.
I don’t want to spoil this great post Melvin but I think this formula just doesn’t work for every blogger and their blogs. I mean there are so many blogs that provide superb articles, that are much more nice than other bloggers yet they fly under the radar. For me I think what is worth telling here is that bloggers must first work HARD on building loyal readerships, growing their traffic. Then when they start getting people, thats when these three things would work out well for them.
I don’t know I’d like to know your opinion on this.
.-= Breeme´s last blog ..Promotion is a Limitless Topic in Affiliate Marketing =-.
These are all good points, I reckon offering free stuff like reports and ebooks will also help. Especially when you announce the offerings well in advance, so that your readers are eager to read it once it arrives.
.-= Jorgen Sundberg´s last blog ..How to Get More LinkedIn Recommendations =-.
Thats always a great tactic but oftentimes people subscribe for the free stuff and then immediately unsubscribe after getting what they want..
.-= Melvin´s last blog ..How MelvinBlog Dot Com Really Makes Money =-.
Personally I’d say over-delivering has lot less to do with the length of the articles then it does with the actual content within the articles.
I’d much rather stick to s blog with quick to the point action posts, then the long drawn out articles that seem to go nowhere.
Aside from that, you’re pretty spot on, good job.
Now how about a lesson in “easily’ acquiring 50 readers per day. 😉
.-= Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..A TRUE Make Money Online blog – Part 2 – Choose My Domain Name =-.
that would probably come out in the next guest posts or a blog post of mine so stay tuned. heheh.. 😉
.-= Melvin´s last blog ..How MelvinBlog Dot Com Really Makes Money =-.
I agree. It’s hard to grab people’s attentions these days. needless to say that attention is the currency in the world of blogging. Making an entry too long might risk your blog in driving away possible “loyal followers”. I’d still go for concise yet substantial and informative articles.
by the way, melvin, are you a filipino?
Making a series of useful posts is very good idea. Or you can start a long chapter, with many articles, step by step. This will really involve your readers with your blog.
I’m strongly agree with your point that you mentioned “Reward”. I’ve actually tried this way for awhile and the result surprised me. You may leave a comment on their blog or retweet their blog post as you mentioned, or list one of their blog post in your sunday link love post would work well also.
Well said Melvin!
Regards,
Lee
.-= Lee Ka Hoong@Blogger Theme´s last blog ..400 High Quality Photoshop Grunge Brushes =-.
I have so many blogs that I frequent, it is difficult to get to each one of them every day. The ones I do get to every day are those that have a personal “feel” to the writing. Although the posts may not be what interests me every day, the writing style is enough to keep me interested.
Another good way to get widespread distribution is via mailing lists. Now I don’t mean the ones you pay for but instead the ones that are maintained as part of your professional society. For example, I am a computer science professor and belong to a professional group called the Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE). They have a moderated mailing list which you can post to if you are a member and if the post has something to do with teaching. Since my blog is directed at explaining to teachers how to travel professionally at no cost to themselves or their family (i.e., On The Other Guys Dime, the name of my blog) I asked the moderators if they would post it on the site, which they did. That day 1,100 people were notified about my blog, and I have managed to keep quite a few coming back.
If you belong to a professional society and if your blog might be of interest to the members, see if there is a mailing list to which you can post. Its a great way to reach a lot of individuals who will be very interested in what you have to say.
For me this tip is more applicable to middle type to popular blogs.Loyalty is achieved over time and if you’re not establish yet and you do those things above, there really isn’t any guarantee that it will make your blog a sticky. I think building good readership from scratch is first and foremost the initial step
yes very true. one must keep his/her blog updated on daily basis so that his/her reader dont get disappointed.
the blogger must also appreciate his followers. but i have a question that how can i drive traffic and build relations. i mean how will others know about my blog etc.
Well people tend to like unique content .Different from the commonly available stuff.If one has that element is his blog.Then his blog will have lots of loyal visitors.