From the Mailbag: Blogging 101 - Building Readership

Building awareness of your blog. A very interesting issue with both spiritual and technical elements. I know some who really couldn't care less how broadly their blog is read. I know others who want their blogs to be among the best read on the planet, and take steps to make this happen. And yet others, like me, fall somewhere in between. It is a very personal issue and one that requires a bit of discussion around the "why" before launching in to the "how." The question as posed by a recent IA reader is as follows:

"...may I ask you to consider posting on your own blog about how you built your readership, what worked and didn't work etc.  Of course quality content comes first, but how important, bluntly, was self marketing?"

As it relates to the "why," I write in a certain way that attracts a certain kind of reader. Not the kind who is going to live on my site watching what I post 5-10 times a day, but one who checks their RSS reader every day or two and says "Oh, Roger has written something new. Let me check it out because he usually has something interesting to say." They know it will take more than 30 seconds to read, is generally around a topical issue concerning Wall Street, finance or technology and will have some hard-hitting, unambiguous commentary from someone who (often?) knows what he's talking about. Almost by definition, mine isn't a blog that will be near the top of any kind of ranking. I came late to blogging (less than a year and a half), am not from the VC/tech/entrepreneur/online world and don't write for daily market watchers or trading types. I write about stuff I think is important and where I feel I can constructively add to the conversation taking place in both online and offline media. Period. And this works for me. My goal was to be well-read, well-respected and to be an important part of the discussions that intersect with my interests, abilities and experiences. And I think I have done that pretty well. Approximately 3500 subscribers, 30-40k uniques a month, a link roll that I am proud of. I'm making it happen my way.

As to the "how," the question my reader posed, I will share what I did to build my online presence, but of course it will only directly apply to those who share my goals. I can offer some suggestions for those who want to be near the top of Technorati/Alexa rankings, but since I really don't care about this my advice will be half-hearted and likely not the best. I will also take as a given what my reader said, that content quality needs to be high. This is the ticket to play the game (at least the way I play it).

#1: Tell your friends. I emailed a bunch of friends across the domains I planned to write about (namely, Wall Street and technology) to tell them of my blog. I also sent an email to my LinkedIn network announcing my new endeavor. This was a useful way to get the ball rolling.

#2: Track your traffic, subscribers and inbound links upfront. I use StatCounter, FeedBurner and Technorati to follow my traffic, feeds and links in order that I can understand my readership. I started this at the very beginning of my blogging. This has helped me discover people interested in my blog and to track those who link to my content. I will sometimes reach out to these people to establish a relationship.

#3: Reach out to those who share a similar perspective or world-view online. I quickly identified a group of bloggers who wrote about some of the same topics I did, and personally reached out to them. For me this included Paul Kedrosky, Trader Mike and Howard Lindzon, all of whom are now friends and colleagues. I found a group of intelligent, thoughtful, web-savvy people who really helped me build awareness and provide advice. I often became part of their blogrolls and this helped to build my early online footprint.

#4: Reach out to those who share a similar perspective or world-view offline. As I built credibility and a following online and I then sought to leverage this offline. This included writers from the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, the New York Times and Barron's. Some of this attention came to me and some I went out and got myself. I emailed top writers at publications I respected and got a dialog going. It is absolutely amazing how receptive these writers were to being contacted. It was then that I saw first-hand the blurring between traditional and new media. They were interested in getting the best ideas and insights wherever they be found, and are no longer bound by conventional offline sources.

#5: Write frequently enough to be relevant and keep people interested. Unless you already have a large following and have down-shifted to a less-frequent publishing cycle, you've got to write several times a week, at least. Those who want big followings will have to publish several times a day in areas that attract this kind of readership, e.g., the stock market and investing, but to simply build a core following you probably need to write at least four times a week. And this is a good routine to get into, anyway.

#6: Write about the occasional non-core topic that is "buzzy" and by all means be provocative. I like the business of gaming. Gaming happens to have a very wide, active and passionate following on the Internet. It is also a very different online following then, say, those interested in Wall Street and investing. When I started writing about gaming from a different perspective than most bloggers and took some very aggressive stances I got picked up. A lot. It also helped me make connections across the gaming community that has resulted in new friends, new perspectives and a new pocket of readers. This is key to building a growing readership base; identifying new groups that find your blog a "must read."

#7: Build relationships with bloggers who aggregate content and have a wide reach. Every domain has "nodes," people who run sites that publish top links in a specific area of interest. If you can show them that you write consistently good content they will sometimes link to you, which can expose you to an entirely new set of readers and cause a permanent increase in your traffic.

#8: Build relationships, all the time. This isn't really another "to do" but simply an amplification of what is obvious from above.

Success (as defined by awareness from those whom you care about) online, as in life, is all about relationships and making connections. If you are a good and worthwhile person and have something to say, and if this is reflected in your writing, you have the ability to be successful online. All it takes is passion, focus, finding your own voice and some of the basic steps outlined above. Do these steps constitute personal promotion or marketing? Sure. But this is no different than they way we develop relationships, establish networks and build reputation in life. But once you have been online for a while and established a good reputation, you can take it wherever you want it to go. The only limit is your imagination and effort.

Comments

[Yaser Anwar]

Sir,

May I request that you add feedblitz.com's service to your blog? It allows one to subscribe to posts by email.

thanks. y

[Mark]

I think you underestimate the applicability of your tips. They're very valid to any blogger who wishes to grow his readership for any reason and no matter his subject matter. I'm not one of "those" readers - I'm not a gamer - in fact, I'm not really sure how I found my way here, but I'm glad I did. The tips in this post alone were worth the journey.

[Yaser Anwar]

Excellent post!

A lot of the insights mentioned are very "portable" to brick-and-mortar businesses as well.

Another point I would like to mention is 'Engage Your Readership Through Q&A'. Since this blog's "major" is in all aspects of Alternative Investing (especially Hedge Funds) and "minor" in gaming, answering Qs put forth by readers is also an excellent way to build loyalty.

One thing you've done very well is acknowledging people who send you material to talk about. In the past you've highlighted me and several bloggers who sent you an article, a study or anything that piqued your interest enough to write about it.

Keep up the good work. Y

[Timothy Sykes]

Awesome post, what if you could care less about credibility and respect?

[WorldBeta]

Hittail is a great app for tracking where your readers are coming from. . .

[StockKevin]

Great tips. I definitely agree with you that relationship building is important both for blogging readerships and also business in general.

[Bill]

It’s good that Citigroup is taking bold action to reorganize itself. The NewsVisual article http://www.newsvisual.com/newsvisual/2007/11/robert-e-rubin.html on Citigroup gives one hope for a turnaround, since it shows that Robert Rubin, the interim leader, has experience in both the private and public sectors.

[Jack]

Hey, I'm one of those bloggers.

I found this blog through "interactive entertainment" channels (video game blogs), and now I'm a regular reader.

Keep it up!