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Hey guys! I know that KP has lots of articles on this, but some of the options of building a reader base aren’t open to me. Like social media. I can’t do much of that.
Do you guys have any suggestions as to how I can promote my blog and writing to build a reader base?
@daeus @aratrea @kate-flournoy @hope @audrey-caylin @rolena-hatfield @anyone else☀ ☀ ☀ ENFP ☀ ☀ ☀
That’s a really good question! I think your blog will be a huge help with that. If you don’t have access to social media to help grow it, I’d suggest doing just what you’ve been doing — going around and commenting on blogs, leaving a link to yours in the comments. If you really engage with other bloggers, you’ll get more traffic.
Next, start an email list! This is a really good way to keep track of your readers. Blog readers come and go, but once you have your email subscribers, they’re in it for the long run. Maybe entice them to sign up by promising something free, like a chapter of your book, a short story, or a poem. Then keep them updated on your writing. MailChimp is a really good service for this.
Third, guest posting and getting published on other blogs and websites is good. Kingdom Pen here is obviously a great choice for fiction (I think there’s over a thousand subscribers?). I don’t know about any others, but the Rebelution is good for non-fiction and such.
Finally, joining writing communities is good. Even if the other people in the group are writers, most writers are often readers and fans! I don’t know if you’ve looked at it before, but the Young Writers Workshop is really good for this. You don’t have to be part of the Facebook community, as there’s a completely separate online one. Connecting with other writers there can grow your platform and “get your name out there.” (Registration opens again at the end of this month, too 🙂 )
*pauses for breath* I’ll let you know if I think of anything else 😀
@dragon-snapper Do you/will you soon have an email list? You can build your platform entirely on your blog, but it just makes sense to have an email list along with your blog and an email list is a better way to sell things. Most importantly, and email list is permanent unless your followers unsubscribe. A blog follower is more likely to stick around for an article or two and then leave.
So it’s more important to drive traffic to your email list than to drive traffic to your blog, but blogs are cool too because you can get found on google and readers might share your articles on social media if they’re really good.
Here are a couple ways to drive traffic to your site (or email list).
- guest blogging — submitting articles to popular blogs and hoping some readers will be interested in you and check out your blog/email list. (It definitely works, though of course results may vary.)
- getting interviewed on the radio/a podcast. This is probably more effective for promoting your book launch then directly promoting your blog, but it’s an option.
- Paid ads.
- Joining online communities. Like you could join a different forum and interact there and then drop some links to articles you’ve written.
- Q&A sites. E.g. Quora. You answer questions and hopefully some people will think you’re cool and click the link to your site/landing page.
- Webinars. You volunteer to teach a webinar for someone else’s audience. In return, you can add all the attendees to your email list.
- E-courses. You create a course and promote it. Anyone who signs up enters their email as part of registration. Vwala! You now have a subscriber.
- At the back of any book you publish, you have a link to your email list.
- You bribe your current followers to share your site or email list freebie in exchange for some prize. This will probably require software depending on how you do it.
- Create some survey/quiz/test thing that people will think is cool and want to share. Relate it to your blog/email list and have a link at the end or, even better, a submission form to leave their email address.
- Ask people you know to join your email list.
I know there’s more you could do, but, hey, this is a lot already. Of course, you could try any of these techniques and fail miserably at them, but they might also work really well for you. You have to try and fail and then learn from your mistakes and press onward.
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@daeus @audrey-caylin Thanks for the awesome tips! I’ll try to do as many as I can! 😀
Now, about the email list…I don’t actually know how to make one of those. Either you know?
☀ ☀ ☀ ENFP ☀ ☀ ☀
@dragon-snapper yes, I do! 🙂 I started one several months ago, so here’s a basic overview of how to do it.
1. Go to Mailchimp.com There are other email services to use, but I’d recommend that one. NOTE: they will ask for your address. It’s law for them to do this. My family has a PO Box, so it’s no big deal, but if you’re uncomfortable using your street address, you might want to consider either getting a PO or asking your church if you can use their address
2. Create a “list.” Title it something easy, like “D.G.’s Mailing List” or something.
3. Get people to subscribe! You can announce it on your blog and go ask friends and family to join in (the latter still terrifies me 😛 ). You could say something like, “hey, I’m starting an email list of people who support my writing. Will you join?” I’ve actually had people I barely know on FB message me randomly to ask if I’d join their list, so don’t be shy xD
4. Start sending out emails. You don’t want to overdo it; maybe one or two per month with special behind-the-scenes look at your writing, updates on your publishing journey, etc. Just something different from your blog so subscribers feel like they have special content.
As for the signup forms, you should be able to embed one in the sidebar of your blog. If you click on the link to my blog in my signature here, you’ll see I embedded a signup form right below my bio, where it’s easy to see. I recently started promoting it more than I do my blog follow signup, as email lists are *that* important for authors and aspiring authors.
Let me know if you have any questions about that! It’s super exciting that you’re taking these steps toward growing your reader base 😀
@dragon-snapper What they said 😉
Quick tip: Make a goal list. Doing as many of these as you can is a fabulous goal, but don’t try and do them all at once. Pick your top three priorities (say like, email list, submitting a short story to a site and joining a new writing community) Focus on getting those three goals established/done before adding another goal. (Bonus quick tip: it also helps to give yourself a time in which to get those accomplished, say like, I’m going to outline my short story this week and write it over the weekend etc.)
Sometimes I have to take one goal at a time! (*rubshandstogether* “This week, I’m gonna start an email list and be brave enough to ask people to subscribe.”)
Anyway, it’s way less overwhelming to focus on these goals a little at a time instead of all at once 🙂
https://rolenahatfield.com/
Thanks for the advice guys! 😀
@audrey-caylin So about the address thing. Would people receiving the newsletter be able to see the address? I know KP has a mailing address, and we can see that, but is there a way for me to set up my newsletter so that no one can see the address but me?☀ ☀ ☀ ENFP ☀ ☀ ☀
@dragon-snapper Unfortunately, no, not that I know of 😛 There’s a law that says you have to have a physical address there.
I’m subscribed to a ton of author newsletters who use Mailchimp, and though I can see the addresses, I typically have no clue where they are beyond the state. I guess someone could look it up, but you can also keep track of which people are subscribing. If someone looks shady, you can take them off. And like I mentioned, using a business’s or church’s address (with their permission) might be a good idea.
Bleh.
Well… thanks for the info… I suppose I’ll have to work around that.
☀ ☀ ☀ ENFP ☀ ☀ ☀
@audrey-caylin Certainly would be nice. XD Laws.
☀ ☀ ☀ ENFP ☀ ☀ ☀
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