How Authors Can Get Their First 1000 Blog Readers
Getting your first 1000 blog readers to your author blog is very achievable if you know how and what to do. But first let’s ask:
Should Author’s Blog
100% YES. No matter whether your author business is attracting retail customers or other businesses, you need to be providing valuable content via a blog. In fact studies show that converting lookers into customers is 6 times higher for authors who blog than those who don’t. Want to sell more books – then blog.
In fact I covered this more fully on this blog here Why You Should Start A Blog
But for 68% of all author bloggers, getting traffic to their blog is their biggest challenge. Most just sit in silence waiting for somebody, anybody, to turn up. Let’s see if we can help that along. Let’s create an avalanche of eyeballs onto your author blog
9 Red Hot, Not To Be Missed, Must Do, Winning Tips To Get 1000 Blog Readers To Tour Author Website
#1 Don’t Write For An Oxford Professor
Writing has changed since the 1950’s. Words appear in many more places than a stock standard book. Since the growth of online articles, the language used in writing has become more conversational. Writing is less formal, unless you’re writing for an Oxford professor. It’s less stuffy.
Keep the mood relaxed. Write in short paragraphs, much to the horror of that professor, I know. Even be as short as one sentence. Shock, horror. Why has this become the normal?
80% of readers do their reading on a mobile device. 79% only skim your article. So make it easy for them to read. Short paragraphs and bold heads make it easier to skim.
#2 Lure Them In – The Carrot Dangling Method
It’s great to have skimmers, but readers of your article is better. How can you entice them to read every word of your article. I like to use the Problem – Agitate – Solution method
First and foremost your article needs to help your reader. It’s not about you, Mr. Blowhard. So what’s their problem/
Discuss the big issue. What are some of the pain points.
Then turn up the heat by asking what will happen if they don’t solve this problem. In a word it means failure. A total catastrophe. Financial ruin, maybe even death. This is the agitation part.
Now you, their saviour, come to their rescue with a solution. Aren’t you just the nicest person? You are because you are providing a solution to their woes.
#3 Put In The Time – Length Does Matter
About a decade ago I was writing 300 word blog posts and generating reasonable traffic to my property blog then. But as time went on I started to see a decline in my reach. I had peaked at 30,000 readers a month and started to slide.
Readers were telling me in a round about way that they wanted more. They needed me to put more time into my posts. They needed to to give them the wow factor. I could not longer knock out something in 30 minutes and expect tens of thousands of eyeballs.
And with time came more words. Three hundred words didn’t cut it anymore. That was a lazy man’s approach who didn’t really care about his customers. Nope I had to pen 500 – 1000 words.
But now that’s got even more in depth. If I want an article to rank in the top ten for a keyword phrase, I need to write 1500 – 2000 words and MORE!
#4 It’s Not Only Keywords
Keywords are important and you need to do your research. No point writing an article around a keyword that does get any traffic. But what is equally important is what people are searching for on the search engines.
The most popular type of search on Google comes under the ‘How To’ area. How to write a book, how to design a book cover, how to build better characters and so on. If your author blog is looking to attract other authors to your products and courses, how to posts will be popular on your site.
#5 A Picture May Tell A Thousand Words BUT
a STORY drives a readers emotion.
You know that. You are a writer of stories. But don’t just restrict that for your book.
Adopt stories into your blog posts and watch your readership grow.
Jamie Buttigieg, a certified Story Brand Guide, understands this best. He has seen over 1000% growth in blog enquiry not only on his own business but for his clients as well. “Having a clear message gives a site clarity and lets the visitor know exactly what they can expect”
Jamie Buttigieg Story Brand Guide
#6 Go Beyond Words With Pictures
Skimmers read in blocks. Bold headings are good but images also slow down the reader, hopefully capturing more of his/her reading time.
#7 Shmooch An Influencer
Get friendly with an influencer in your industry. If you are a romance writer hook up with other writers in the romance genre who have more appeal on social media or simply make more sales.
Reach out to them every time you give them a shout out. Here’s a simple email script
” Hey Influencer (use their name)
I love reading your blog/books. In fact I’m a big fan.
I just wrote an article about “The 10 Best Ways To Develop Sexier Characters For Your Romance Novel’ and I mentioned you as one of the all time best authors.
Here’s a link to my post if you would like to share it.
It would not only make my day, but it would make my year.
Thanks
Your Name”
Sure not everybody will share but if you get 5 or 10 who do, bingo! More traffic to your blog.
#8 Target Your Audience Not Everybody
You are not writing for the whole world. As an author you are generally in one specific genre, sometimes venturing into its sub genres. Don’t chase everybody.
C T Mitchell has the tag line “I write mystery novels that entertain readers”
There are two specific audiences here. Those who like mystery and those who are not hung up on ‘professor quality’ grammar or stuffy English. His mood is very much about entertaining and it shows in his writing
Grab it fee at TheShortReads
#9 Encourage Engagement
By talking in a conversation tone throughout your article, you give the reader a more relaxed, somewhat intimate experience rather like how two old friends would communicate.
At the end of your article leave a question that invites the reader to leave an answer or comment.
Over time this builds trust with your reader who are then more likely to buy your services or products
Conclusion
Getting your first 1000 readers is a challenge but if your adopt these 9 hot tips you’ll soon achieve this and surpass it with ease.
Of the nine tips, which was your favourite? What ones are you going to adopt? Please leave me a comment below.
