You’ve probably noticed that I have a new eBook for you. It’s titled How to Get Your Next 10,000 Blog Readers and it’s an eBook plus “look over my shoulder” tutorial videos, and “Recipes” naughty little tactics that get big results.
I know that the 10,000 readers claim is a big one that needs to be backed up with some serious blog marketing strategies. The ebook delivers and I would love for you to get a copy.
The happy side-effect of writing the book is that I’ve been giving a lot of thought to unorthodox ways to solving some common blog marketing problems.
Here are 7 common issues along with some quick tactics for you to try:
1. My blog traffic is dead.
Getting 1 visitor would be a great day for me.
Try This
Start with the Search Engines. Most of your readers will start their online session typing a search term into Google. Ranking well on Google for specific terms your audience cares about is the best way to get traffic.
SEO can be complicated. It requires extra time and study. That’s a good thing because the harder techniques work the best while scaring off 99% of your competition.
My Favorite Technique
Setting up category pages designed to help my readers while spoon-feeding relevant content to Google.
2. People come once and never come back.
I’m fighting for new readers with every post.
Try This
Write a Blog Series, several posts focused on one theme. In the early days of Pushing Social I wrote a blog series every other month. One 7-post series focused on Sally Hogshead’s book “Fascinate”. This series attracted new readers and gave them a reason to come back for more.
My Favorite Technique
Using a Blog Series as a tool for getting blog update subscribers. Add the following -
“If you liked this series and want to get more posts on this topic use the form below to sign up for updates.”
as the final paragraph in each post.
3. Social media is a massive waste of time since no one ever visits my blog!
Try This
Aggressively grow your Twitter and Facebook audiences. Social media success is a numbers game and the most successful bloggers have large and engaged social media audiences. The best way to grow your audience is through frequent and relevant updates plus Favoriting and retweets.
My Favorite Technique
I’ve turned my Twitter account into an always on “Blog Marketing” channel and increased my tweeting from 10 a day to more than 60 per day. I use a tactic called the Twitter Machine to get this done. It uses Google Alerts + TwitterFeed + Buffer to keep my Twitter feed filled with relevant resources that people retweet.
Learn More About The Twitter Machine Recipe in my new eBook here.
4. No one is sharing my posts
I wish more people would share my posts so I could get some of that word-of-mouth everyone talks about.
Try This
Make it easy for your readers to share relevant content with a click. Also check to make sure that your shares on Facebook and Twitter look great. The WordPress for SEO plugin created by Yoast makes it easy to use Rich Snippets to create eye-catching Tweets and Facebook updates.
Also make your social share icons easy to find by placing them below your headline.
My Favorite Technique
ClickToTweet allows your readers to share “tweetable” snippets with a click. Its always better to give your readers a reason to share along with an easy way to do so. (Tweet This!)
5. I can’t get anyone to link to my posts.
I know that Google sees 3rd party links as a vote for my blog. In my. case, I couldn’t get elected to dog catcher.
Try This
Look for the “underserved” topics in your subject area. Your blog isn’t getting links because it isn’t unique or particularly valuable. Scan the archives of the top blogs in your niche and find the topics they aren’t discussing. Create a blog series around those topics to attract new and repeat readers.
My Favorite Technique
Find posts on popular blogs that are too vague and leave the reader wondering “How do I do that?” Write a follow-up post offering the deep detail that reader’s are looking for. Repurpose your content into audio/podcast, video, and slides that can be shared on iTunes, YouTube, and Slideshare. Go back to the post that inspired your follow-up and mention your new post in the comments while answering questions for readers.
I call this the Guerilla Commenting Recipe and I explain it in depth in my new eBook here.
Tip: This works when you create a one-of-a-kind resource with exceptional value and information. This technique is also a terrific way to get guest posting invitations too.
6. My niche is too small to attract a large audience.
Try This
You can compensate for a small audience by adding new platforms. Blogs with text posts appeal to readers. Unfortunately, fewer people like reading. Turning your posts into podcasts or simple slideshows can reach an untapped portion of your audience.
My Favorite Technique
Look for complementary subjects where there is an overlap with your audience. For example, a fountain pen blog (a micro audience) can publish content on the best fountain pens to use for ink drawing (a large audience). This tactic grows your audience and could inspire entirely new ways to write about your primary niche.
7. My niche is too large.
My message is getting drowned out.
Try This
Niche down. Look for the passionate few that are interested in a specific micro-subject. For example, a scrapbooking blog would get lost among the zillion other blogs on the subject…but…a genealogy, “family tree” scrapbooking blog would capture a smaller more passionate segment looking for specific information.
My Favorite Technique
Creating eBooks for specialized niches. eBooks and other portable content like whitepapers, infographics, and checklists can generate quick traffic to your blog. In my Niche SEO Recipe, I take a highly specialized ebook and turn it into an online book that visitors read online. Each page gets indexed by Google for search traffic and adding Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook buttons gets social traffic too.
Get Access to All of My Blog Marketing Recipes Here