Calling all bloggers!

@trahia-the-minstrel

Heya, girl!!! Okay, so I first wanna say I TOTALLY get where you’re coming from!!! When I first started my blog (teenwritersnook.com) I had literally NO ONE read any of my posts for like three-plus months but now (after a year and a half of blogging) my site gets a pretty steady following with 400 visitors a month and anywhere between 1,000-3,000 clicks monthly. I’m not saying that to brag (cuz the Good Lord knows I couldn’t have done that on my own) but more of a way to encourage you that even if you’re not getting a ton of visitors right now, it IS possible!!! So I’m gonna offer the best advice that I have and I hope it helps!!!!

How do I get guest posts on my blog? My best advice is that if you want a blogger to guest post, just ask him/her!!! I know a TON of bloggers LOVE guest posting but usually like to be approached first instead of asking to guest post.

How do I guest blog on others? Some blogs do have opportunities where you can request to guest post, but from what I’ve seen, usually, you just have to build connections, and maybe if you know of some bloggers you can see if they’d let you guest post!!! You could see if a blogger is interested in a swamp guest post. You post on his/her blog and that blogger posts on yours. (If you’re looking for guest posting opportunities, I’ve been wanting to have some bloggers on my personal author blog, and I’d LOVE to have you if you’re interested!!!!)

How do I get to know other bloggers? Okay, so just about every single blogging advice article or tip I’ve ever read/heard will say the complete opposite of what I’m about to tell you. But I’m basing this on personal experience and what’s worked for me!!! If you want to get to know other bloggers, go find them and just simply be active on their site. Read their posts, follow them, comment, etc. The blogging world is such an awesome and friendly one!! Usually, if you support a blog, the bloggers almost always want to do the same!!!! It’s hard to find blogs because there are SO many of them, so my advice is to find them first!!!

How does the whole blogger tag thing work? Okay, so basically someone starts up a tag, tags bloggers who then do the tag, and then they either leave open tags (where anyone who wants to do it can… or you can steal a tag #guilty) or tag other bloggers!!! Again, to get tagged, you just have to build connections and relationships with other bloggers first. But if you wanna do a tag, you’re TOTALLY allowed to just “steal” it. I’ve done it before. XD

How do I reach my audience to grow more subscribers? If you’re looking for a specific audience, again, my best advice is to find them. You want Christian American teen readers? Find blogs that have that audience, get to know those bloggers, and though it takes time, eventually, you’ll get people who’ll start coming over!!!

What would you guys like to see on my blog? What posts do you like best? Like least? Probably not the best to answer that since I’ve enjoyed reading all of your posts!!!! (Been meaning to go over there and comment but haven’t had the chance yet. #CollegeLife XD)

What’s the best way to encourage people to comment on your blogs? Commenting is something that’s hard to get bloggers to do. My best advice is to begin by commenting on other people’s blogs and when someone leaves a comment, let them know you appreciate it! I know of one blog in particular that I always HAVE to leave a comment on because the blogger is so sweet and always lets me know how much the comment means to her.

Okay, I hope that was helpful and I answered all your questions well. If you have any more questions, just let me know!!! I LOVE to help other bloggers out. <33333

[quote quote=109618]How do I get guest posts on my blog? How do I guest blog on others?[/quote]

Like Issabelle said, just ask! I recommend having some topics in mind that you could write about for them or that you’d like them to write about on your blog, since a lot of bloggers don’t know what other authors’ audiences would be interested in or aren’t sure what to write about for someone else vs. for their own blog. This was definitely a sticking point for me in wanting to guest post more, and it’s why I found the Dragon Slayers Contest so helpful! The specific themes and prompts gave me a place to start so I wasn’t coming up with something from scratch.

Of course… that might not be helpful if you’re also one of those people who struggles to come up with something! So if you need a place to start, look at the differences between you and the author you want to guest post with. What are they good at that you struggle with? You could ask them to write about that. Or what is an area of writing that the two of you approach differently? You could exchange posts about those different approaches. (I just did this with @rachel-l, actually! I wrote about indie publishing for her blog and she wrote about traditional publishing for my blog, since we’re passionate about different publishing paths!)

[quote quote=109618]How do I get to know other bloggers?[/quote]

Like Issabelle said, engage with their content! Comment on their posts, sign up to their email list and engage with their newsletters, follow them on social media and engage with them there… Pay attention, figure out what you have in common, start discussions… It’s much the same as making friends in-person, really! And a lot of bloggers and authors are happy to chat and make new friends.

Also, asking for help can be a great way to get to know people. People love talking about things they’re good at and helping fellow authors/bloggers grow, so reaching out to someone you’ve noticed has a strength in a particular area and asking how they do XYZ can be a great way to start a conversation.

[quote quote=109618]How do I reach my audience to grow more subscribers?[/quote]

To expand on what Issabelle said, go where your audience is (whether that means other blogs, or Facebook groups, or other places around the internet) and engage! Talk with your audience. Make friends. And share links to your posts when they’re relevant (and allowed)! Don’t try to force links in somewhere, and don’t share self-promo in places it’s prohibited unless you have explicit permission, but sharing posts where they’re relevant to the discussion can be a great way to get people onto your site and help them to see that your blog has value relating to the things they’re interested/invested in!

[quote quote=109618]What’s the best way to encourage people to comment on your blogs?[/quote]

I use the question method that Ava mentioned. People tend not to comment when they feel like they don’t have anything to say, so finding ways to tell your readers that you want to hear from them and then giving them a place to start should remove a lot of the resistance that readers can run into when thinking about commenting.

@trahia-the-minstrel

First off, definitely seconding everything she said. ^^^^

And secondly, to build off of that for a few of your questions. . .

How do I get guest posts on my blog? How do I guest blog on others? How do I get to know other bloggers?

Building community and reaching out to others would be some of the best things I can come up with. I’d say start with the circles you already have – KP friends, friends from church, other circles you’re already in. But then try to start branching out – search for blogs that are for your target audience and ask if they’d like a guest post, submit to bigger websites, etc., etc.

How do I reach my audience to grow more subscribers? (Christians American teens are my audience in general.😊)

^^ Getting exposure on other sites is one of the most helpful things you can do. A few sites that come to mind (heheh, an opportunity to ramble about how awesome my friends are):

Personal Blogs

Grace Changes Everything

https://www.elianathewriter.com/

Home

Home

Bigger/Team Websites

https://www.therebelution.com/blog/category/blog/articles/

http://thewiltingroseproject.com/

Youth leaders from your church would be a valuable asset, too! Ask them and see if they might be willing to mention your blog to a few people. <3

What’s the best way to encourage people to comment on your blogs?

Issabella’s very right – this is h a r d. The best two ways I’ve found are to a) ask a question at the end and b) respond to every comment. Still, try not to let comments rule how important or how good a post is.

How do I get more people to find my blog outside of all you awesome people here on KP?

A lot of the things I mentioned above are going to apply to this one. One other thing I’ll mention is SEO (search engine optimization) that focuses on letting search engines (like google) find your blog when people look certain things up.

Hope that helped a bit! <3