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Building Community on Your Blog

Are you actively building community on your blog?

"Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing."

~ Rollo May ~

Build Community on Your Blog

Blog community has been on my mind as I developed a webinar for Social Media Biz School and on the same day read a fabulous post by Marcus Sheridan, The Sales Lion, about using blog comments to build community.

Initially, I think most bloggers don't consider the value of community building. They're focused on their editorial calendar, the look and feel of their site, developing content and getting it distributed on their social outposts.

Then, reality sets in. "Is anyone reading my posts?" begins to creep into your thinking. 

"Am I writing to myself?"

"Does anyone care what I have to say?"

Enter community.

Community may not be part of the strategic plan for your blog. That's OK and, it's important to know the goal and purpose of your content and site so you can make that decision. But let's say you do want to build an engaged, vibrant community of "1000 Fans" ala Kevin Kelley…

“A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author – in other words, anyone producing works of art – needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.”

To carry through Kevin Kelley's example, if each fan spends $100 per year on your products and services, and you have 1000 "true fans", you will have a nice six-figure income of $100,000.

The question then becomes… how do you build a community of fans?

6 Tips for Building Community on Your Blog

1. Comments. The obvious place to start. Take full advantage of this powerful blog feature. How do you encourage more comments?

  • Ask questions at the end of your post
  • Interact with your readers by acknowledging their comments
  • Answer questions that arise in the comments
  • Set the tone you want and moderate comments if you're getting a lot of spam
  • Go one step further and check out your readers' blogs and comment on their posts
  • Be positive, encouraging and grateful for the time your reader took to share his/her time and thoughts with you

2. Make it all about your reader. Remember, no one cares that you're an expert. Most everyone wants to know how you can solve their problems.

  • Focus on what your readers wants. Comments and feedback will give you a lot of clues.
  • Answer reader questions. Post a form on your site soliciting questions.
  • Post questions for discussion (Michael Martine at Remarkablogger does this well).
  • Put the spotlight on your readers by doing a shout out in a post or featuring their questions or comments
  • Give your readers center stage…profile active commenters in your posts once in a while
  • Create a weekly roundup featuring links to your readers' content (check out the Fetching Friday Resources Mashup on Kikolani.com for a great example)

3. Make your content interactive. Everyone loves to share their opinion.

 

4. Solicit guest posts and invite your audience to contribute content.

  • Articles
  • Tutorials
  • Gather a selection of tips on a subject (I did four posts on list building tips that featured 21 contributors)
  • Post images and request suggestions for captions

5. Create action steps. While it's nice to express your opinion on what and why your reader should do something, giving them action steps so they can immediately implement your advice helps build credibility with your audience and demonstrates that not only do you know what you're talking about, they can be successful to if they apply what you teach.

  • Give step by step homework
  • Include a video tutorial
  • Post an assignment related to your article and ask your readers to submit their results in the comments.

6. Create more connection points with your fans and take your community off the blog. Your audience spends time on social networks so do a poll (see #3) to find out where the majority spend their social time and engage with them there.

  • Create a private forum (either paid or free)
  • Publish a newsletter with different content (good for building your list!)
  • Create a group(s) on your primary topic, on Facebook or LinkedIn (I have very active communities on both Facebook – mostly about business blogging – and on LinkedIn – focus on online visibility – and it's a great way to add another layer of connection to what happens on my blog)

Take Action Now!

Give it a try…here are your blog community building action steps…

  1. Pick one of the six tips to implement in the next week.
  2. If you need a specific tool to implement the tip, then get it, install it, use it.
  3. Focus on just one activity for the week. Don't try to implement more than one tactic since you'll want to be able to determine what results you get and focusing on one at a time will give your clearer feedback.
  4. If you have questions about what and how to do it, post them in the comments below or on my Facebook page.
  5. At the end of the week, report on your results in the comments below. :-)
Filed Under: Business Blogging Tagged With:
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Top 5 Reasons You Need To Use Pinterest With Your Blog

This is a guest post by Jessica Kupferman of Badass Biz.

We all know everyone’s been talking about Pinterest – that it’s the fastest growing site on the Internet, that it sends more referral traffic to websites than Twitter now, and, of course, how it’s been storming the social media world. Are there good reasons why you as business bloggers should be paying attention? Below are 5 great reasons why

1. #3 Is Not The Loneliest Number

As of March, Pinterest is the number 3 social media website, right after Facebook and then Twitter. What does it mean to be #3? It means that in the month of March, Pinterest received 104 million visits (not unique visitors) – right after Twitter’s 182 million and Facebook’s 7 billion. (Yes, that says 7 billion! But that’s another story.) So if you’re investing tons of time on LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, or anything else, perhaps it’s time to shift a little effort in the direction of Pinterest. 

Maybe you’re thinking that if everyone jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge, it doesn’t mean you should do it too. Well, when it comes to popular social media channels, yes, it does! You should go where the audience goes. If your audience is on Pinterest, get to steppin’! Set up an account on Pinterest and go through the process of creating a keyword-friendly profile. Then look through the pins and get started! Denise has a great article in her archives on how to get started.

2. Traffic To Your Posts

When you share your blog posts on Pinterest, you can get some crazy boosts to your website traffic. Why? Each of your pins from your blog leads back to your website, so Pinterest users can read the articles.  Unlike Facebook and Twitter, which depend on the user to see your article in their news feed, Pinterest encourages users to search by category, and also to follow BOARDS by category, not just follow users only. So your article topic will be found faster, and by a more engaged audience.

It doesn’t mean EVERYTHING you post should be from your own site – just like all other social media sites, you need to interact with others and share other content throughout the web besides your own. But creating a board with your own content is a great way for people to share your stuff – and when you’re interacting with others, they’ll check out YOUR boards and hopefully share and repin!

3. A Whole New Audience

Pinning your content isn’t enough. Much like when you started on Twitter, you’re going to want to follow people with similar interests, or interesting boards and comment on their pins, and get to know them a little. Many Pinterest users aren’t going to be people who already know you on Twitter and Facebook, thus giving you a new opportunity to reach a more visual crowd. Yes, you can connect with those Facebook and Twitter people – but the real gem of expansion here is to start following and commenting on people you’ve never heard of – do a search on your topic and check out the individual pins that pop up and then start sharing and commenting on them. Your audience will grow before you know it!

4. Amazing Market Research

You can really learn a lot by seeing what people are pinning from your site. If one article is being pinned like crazy, and other things aren’t getting as much attention, perhaps that’s a subject you should spend more time on. You can put your website address into this link and see what’s been pinned from your website – it can be very telling. http://pinterest.com/source/yourwebsite.com

When you use this link, Pinterest will pull all the images that have ever been pinned from your website. You’ll get to see what people are moved by – and what they aren’t. Take note and change accordingly – it’s visual proof that the track you’re traveling down is the right one.

5. A Much More Well-Rounded Branding Experience

I’ve been saying for years that people should marry more the personal with the professional online. I personally get way more business when I reveal more personal things about myself through my blog, or when I admit I got a run in my pantyhose, or showed a recipe that I DIDN’T ruin, or whatever. People are then invested in YOU – your successes and failures – business or otherwise. Your audiences on social media channels can be more interested in the personal aspects of what’s going on with you and your business, and Pinterest is a great way to show them the personal – maybe more so than Facebook.

A board on Pinterest can be a collection of your favorite things – your favorite entrepreneurs, your favorite products, your wishlists – and often times, those are the things that get the most attention, shares and repins. I personally have boards showing products I can’t live without, famous quotes, pictures of personal heroes, and so on. They help the audience really feel invested in you – and in turn, it creates a more loyal readership and customer base.

Want more in-depth info? Jessica and her partner in Badass Biz, Sammi Johnson will be sharing the nitty gritty on how to use Pinterest for Business Blogs April 25 during a FREE 1 hour training! This webinar will fill up fast. Get details and register here now.

About the Author:
Jessica KupfermanJessica Kupferman is the Founder and Technotherapist of Badass Biz – a design, marketing and tech firm that helps small biz owners implement low cost and easy solutions to market their digital badassery. Always plugged into the latest in social media and design technology, Jessica is a creative and engaging expert web designer, branding specialist, speaker, and gifted social media strategist.
 

Filed Under: Business Blogging, Social Media Marketing Tagged With:
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The Content Creation Challenge: 22 Tips from Copyblogger [infographic]

"I don't know what to write about!"

"I'm stuck and have writer's block!"

"I have nothing new to say."

Ever say any of those things to yourself when faced with the need to write a new blog post? It's the content creation challenge and I hear some version of those statements above all the time from clients and others in my networks. That's why I love the brand new infographic (below) from Copyblogger on 22 Ways to Create Compelling Content When You Don't have a Clue.

I've written about the content challenge many times in the past so if  after studying the infographic, you need even more motivation and more ideas, check out these articles on Build a Better Blog as well:

Want great content for your blog? Ask for it!

Cool Tool – Use Evernote to Track Content Ideas, Links and Resources

6 Ways to Constantly Produce Quality Blog Content

22 Ways to Create Compelling Content - Infographic
Like this infographic? Get more content marketing tips from Copyblogger.


Got a hot tip for consistently creating compelling content? Share it with us in the comments!

Filed Under: Business Blogging
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Get a Little Love for Your Blog – Your Valentine Gift

Your Blog As Centerpiece of Business on Kindle Fire

It's Valentine's Day and I want to share some blogging love with you!

If you missed the gift in December, you have another opportunity…

For two days (February 14 and 15) you can get my Kindle ebook "How to Make Your Blog the Centerpiece of Your Business" for free on your Kindle!

Click here >>> http://denisewakeman.com/hub

I have one invitation and two favors to ask if you get the ebook:

1. If you'd like a virtual autograph (Kindlegraph) for your ebook, click here (it's cool!)
2. Click the orange "Like" button at the top of the page
3. Write a quick review of the ebook, or post a video review
4. Scroll down the page until you see the Tags. Check off the "blogging" tag and click to Accept. (I'm doing an experiment. Supposedly, the more people who aggree with a tag, the higher visibilty the ebook gets)

If you got the ebook in December, please share this post with others in your network who could benefit from the business blogging tips…

Thank you, enjoy and blog on!

P.S. You don't need a Kindle to get the ebook. You can download the free Kindle reading app for your computer, iPad or smart phone here.

P.P.S. Don't have a blog yet? Check out Christina Hills' Website Creation Workshop…by far the best training on how to set up your sites on WordPress. 

 

Filed Under: Business Blogging Tagged With: ,
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How To Use Guest Blogging To Get Targeted Traffic To Your Niche Website

I've long advocated incorporating guest blogging in your online marketing as a great way to build visibility in your niche. When you carefully target the blogs you where you want to guest blog, you can generate ongoing traffic to your site and establish credibility in your subject area.

This is a guest post by Susanne Myers of DailyAffiliateTasks.com.

Why Guest Blogging?

Whenever I need to generate more traffic to one of my niche websites, the first strategy I turn to is guest blogging. I love the fact that I can get in front of an established audience (the loyal readers of the blog I’m posting on), share my content and then invite them to check out my own site. It’s a great way to get a big surge of traffic directly from the blog and to also build some strong incoming links that will help will search engine traffic for years to come. 

Where To Guest Blog?

Your first goal will be to come up with a list of bloggers that you can approach about guest blogging. You want to find about 10 blogs that cater to the same niche you are in. Don’t go after the really big names at first. Instead focus on some established blogs that are getting traffic. Look at the number of comments. I like to go after blogs that average 5 or more comments per post. This usually indicates that the blog is getting some traffic and has some loyal readers.

How To Guest Blog And Get Published?

Your next job will be to spend some time reading the blogs you’ve selected. Browse through the archives and add the RSS feed of the blog to your favorite RSS reader. You want to accomplish two things here:

  1. Get a feel for the blog and the types of posts that are published.
  2. Start commenting regularly to start building a relationship with the blogger.

After a couple of days two things should happen. You will start to get ideas for blog posts you can write for each blog and the blog owner should start to recognize your name from all the awesome comments you have left.

Write one of those guest blog posts and send it to the blogger. Rinse and repeat with the other blogs on your list. Don’t bother emailing the blogger first asking if they’d like a post… go ahead and send them the finished blog post. It’ll make it easier for them to just plug it in and publish.

To increase your chances of getting the post published, link back to one or two posts on the blog or include an affiliate link for the blogger (you can find those within other posts on the blog). The idea here is to make it even more beneficial for the blogger to post what you’ve written. The more there’s in it for them, the harder it will be for the blog owner to say “No” to your guest post proposal. 

What’s Next?

Keep writing and sending off more guest blog posts. Once a post gets published, spend a little time promoting it. Tweet about it, post a link on Facebook etc. You’ll end up getting more traffic from each guest blog post that way and you may just be invited to guest blog on those sites again.

Ready for more tips on what works and what doesn’t? Join Daily Affiliate Tasks.com for $10 per month and work on things that actually work to bring you more traffic, more subscribers and make more affiliate commissions working as little as 30 minutes per day. Learn more and join today at DailyAffiliateTasks.com.

Learn more about how to get targeted traffic to your sites in a series that includes four additional articles.

Susanne Myers, DailyAffiliateTasks.com

About the Author: Sweet and smart, Susanne Myers is a little power house with a huge affiliate marketing presence but, don’t let her quiet demeanor fool you.  Susanne’s brain works at the speed of light formulating plans and plotting to take over whatever niche she happens to be working on at the time.

The journey to a 6-figure income was filled with twists, turns and yes, failure but Susanne, never let the mistakes get her down.  She educated herself and quickly learned how to choose profitable niche markets and the rest, as they say, is history.

Today, Susanne has taken her love of all things internet & affiliate marketing and has started to teach others how to claim the same success she’s found by using a step-by-step, this-is-exactly-how-I-did-it strategy and she’s willing to teach it to you.

Filed Under: Business Blogging Tagged With: ,
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