5 tips on how to build and grow your audience
I have been asked by many people around me and by my readers on how to truly grow and to keep your audience growing. This in it itself is not an easy feat but I will do my best to explain on how to grow your audience and the little tricks needed to increase traffic on your blog/page/website.
I am proud to say that I will be celebrating the 3rd year of having my blog this month. The first thing that I can say is that it was not easy getting to where I am today. It has taken quite a while to find what works best for me as far as time management, creating content and even just marketing myself. Over the past 3 years I have learned a few tips and tricks that I believe will help anyone who wants to enter this world.
Tip #1 | Find your content
What I mean by this is discover what you want to write about and what you want to share with the world. I have seen a lot of sites that say for new bloggers/writers to "find your niche". I kinda find this a bit deceiving because I tried following this tip and it honestly did not work for me. It fucked me up so much because I tried to write about just one thing and that is not me. The thing about me like everyone else is that I have many interests and I like writing about them all. I think what makes my blog unique and what keeps people on coming back is that I write and cover over a many deal of topics. I mostly write reviews but it ranges from so many different genres and topics that it doesn't feel repetitive or generated garbage. Writing about many different topics such as beauty, movies, books and about my life has allowed me to garner the audience that I currently have now. I made this my "niche" but I am not saying that writing about just one topic won't allow you to succeed as well. Also, I have written double the amount of posts compared to what I currently have posted on my blog. That just means that I trimmed down what I had and carved my blog into what it is. Find what works best for you and at the end of the day you need to be able to like your own work.
Tip#2 | Know your audience
Of course when you are producing work, you are first and foremost writing for yourself but you have to keep in mind that people are going to read what you write. So the way you write will affect the way people see you and perceive you through your work. At this stage it's up to you on how you are perceived. Granted it is hard but there are ways to do it. Don't be afraid to open yourself up in your writing. Either by cracking jokes, relaying personal experiences and memories. Knowing your audience also means knowing how to get them interested and how to keep them coming back. For example; I've got quite a few viewers who enjoy my movie reviews, hence, I keep writing movie reviews. And don't be afraid to ask your viewers what they want to see next from you. I love receiving requests and it's quite helpful, especially, when you are in in a bind and not sure what to write next.
Tip#3 | Marketing yourself/work
Now this is usually the area where many people fumble and have no idea on how to get back up and running. Heck, I still have issues in this area but I can proudly say I'm not doing so bad. Over the years I have learned different social media techniques to gain views and have people coming back again and again. We are finally in a world where social media is around us every second of everyday. Where not being on social media is unheard of. And that is where we take advantage of such social media closeness and when you think about it, it is basically free advertising. Believe it or not but you don't need to hash out a bunch of money in advertisements to make people aware of your page/blog. Once you have discovered your niche or what you are writing/creating the next step would be to find those specific groups or platforms that contain the same topic/subject that you are covering. For example: I write book reviews so when I want to share my reviews with book lovers I use the platform of Goodreads. Goodreads is the #1 website where authors and readers can come together and share their love for literature. This is what I mean when I say to use different platforms that are directly related to what you write. If you write movie reviews then find a site with a huge audience that allows you to share your reviews or links. The best sites to use are the ones that are super interactive and this helps you lead new readers/viewers towards your own site/page.
But now to discuss the big titans of social media; Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Now this is where you can really help and grow your audience. Always go towards where a lot of people congregate I like to compare it like a goldmine of views. Get into the right niche/group and boom the views come rolling in. Use popular hashtags when you post a picture or share a link. By doing this, what you post will stay and will be attached to a popular hashtag where people are frequently looking at. Don't be afraid to join facebook groups that share similar content as yours. Another platform which I have found to be a game changer is Google+ believe it or not but there is a huge amount of people who use google+ and there are a bunch of groups with 10,000+ members. All you have to do is find a group with similar interests and you will garner more views than you can imagine.
Tip#4| Commit yourself
Believe it or not but these things take time. It takes a lot of time and dedication to build first your content and then to simultaneously build and grow your audience. If you are serious about building a page/website/blog you have to put quite a good chunk of your time towards that. Furthermore, I know it can be difficult to put time aside to write but it's all about being proactive and even putting aside 5 minutes will make a difference. I always have a super full schedule (and I wouldn't have it any other way!) it is hard to always write new content so that's why try to divide my time between writing new content and sharing and introducing the content I already have to new readers. So find what works best for you and put in the time that is needed.
Tip #5| Enjoy your work and have fun!
Don't stress about all of this. I first starting writing because it was a way to express my thoughts and opinions to the world. Sometimes we get so caught up on wanting to achieve and succeed that we forget the bigger picture. For me, all of this is about self-expression and being creative. While also, documenting my interests and dislikes. Don't forget after a few years of doing this you've gotta enjoy what you do. Try to have as much fun as possible and achieve as much as much as you set out to achieve.
Don't forget to comment and let me know what you guys think and if you have some tips to share as well :)
I am proud to say that I will be celebrating the 3rd year of having my blog this month. The first thing that I can say is that it was not easy getting to where I am today. It has taken quite a while to find what works best for me as far as time management, creating content and even just marketing myself. Over the past 3 years I have learned a few tips and tricks that I believe will help anyone who wants to enter this world.
Tip #1 | Find your content
What I mean by this is discover what you want to write about and what you want to share with the world. I have seen a lot of sites that say for new bloggers/writers to "find your niche". I kinda find this a bit deceiving because I tried following this tip and it honestly did not work for me. It fucked me up so much because I tried to write about just one thing and that is not me. The thing about me like everyone else is that I have many interests and I like writing about them all. I think what makes my blog unique and what keeps people on coming back is that I write and cover over a many deal of topics. I mostly write reviews but it ranges from so many different genres and topics that it doesn't feel repetitive or generated garbage. Writing about many different topics such as beauty, movies, books and about my life has allowed me to garner the audience that I currently have now. I made this my "niche" but I am not saying that writing about just one topic won't allow you to succeed as well. Also, I have written double the amount of posts compared to what I currently have posted on my blog. That just means that I trimmed down what I had and carved my blog into what it is. Find what works best for you and at the end of the day you need to be able to like your own work.
Tip#2 | Know your audience
Of course when you are producing work, you are first and foremost writing for yourself but you have to keep in mind that people are going to read what you write. So the way you write will affect the way people see you and perceive you through your work. At this stage it's up to you on how you are perceived. Granted it is hard but there are ways to do it. Don't be afraid to open yourself up in your writing. Either by cracking jokes, relaying personal experiences and memories. Knowing your audience also means knowing how to get them interested and how to keep them coming back. For example; I've got quite a few viewers who enjoy my movie reviews, hence, I keep writing movie reviews. And don't be afraid to ask your viewers what they want to see next from you. I love receiving requests and it's quite helpful, especially, when you are in in a bind and not sure what to write next.
Tip#3 | Marketing yourself/work
Now this is usually the area where many people fumble and have no idea on how to get back up and running. Heck, I still have issues in this area but I can proudly say I'm not doing so bad. Over the years I have learned different social media techniques to gain views and have people coming back again and again. We are finally in a world where social media is around us every second of everyday. Where not being on social media is unheard of. And that is where we take advantage of such social media closeness and when you think about it, it is basically free advertising. Believe it or not but you don't need to hash out a bunch of money in advertisements to make people aware of your page/blog. Once you have discovered your niche or what you are writing/creating the next step would be to find those specific groups or platforms that contain the same topic/subject that you are covering. For example: I write book reviews so when I want to share my reviews with book lovers I use the platform of Goodreads. Goodreads is the #1 website where authors and readers can come together and share their love for literature. This is what I mean when I say to use different platforms that are directly related to what you write. If you write movie reviews then find a site with a huge audience that allows you to share your reviews or links. The best sites to use are the ones that are super interactive and this helps you lead new readers/viewers towards your own site/page.
But now to discuss the big titans of social media; Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Now this is where you can really help and grow your audience. Always go towards where a lot of people congregate I like to compare it like a goldmine of views. Get into the right niche/group and boom the views come rolling in. Use popular hashtags when you post a picture or share a link. By doing this, what you post will stay and will be attached to a popular hashtag where people are frequently looking at. Don't be afraid to join facebook groups that share similar content as yours. Another platform which I have found to be a game changer is Google+ believe it or not but there is a huge amount of people who use google+ and there are a bunch of groups with 10,000+ members. All you have to do is find a group with similar interests and you will garner more views than you can imagine.
Tip#4| Commit yourself
Believe it or not but these things take time. It takes a lot of time and dedication to build first your content and then to simultaneously build and grow your audience. If you are serious about building a page/website/blog you have to put quite a good chunk of your time towards that. Furthermore, I know it can be difficult to put time aside to write but it's all about being proactive and even putting aside 5 minutes will make a difference. I always have a super full schedule (and I wouldn't have it any other way!) it is hard to always write new content so that's why try to divide my time between writing new content and sharing and introducing the content I already have to new readers. So find what works best for you and put in the time that is needed.
Tip #5| Enjoy your work and have fun!
Don't stress about all of this. I first starting writing because it was a way to express my thoughts and opinions to the world. Sometimes we get so caught up on wanting to achieve and succeed that we forget the bigger picture. For me, all of this is about self-expression and being creative. While also, documenting my interests and dislikes. Don't forget after a few years of doing this you've gotta enjoy what you do. Try to have as much fun as possible and achieve as much as much as you set out to achieve.
Don't forget to comment and let me know what you guys think and if you have some tips to share as well :)
Hi Aman da,
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking of starting a blog and have been reading posts like yours. My problem is that I am a teacher, author and love cooking and gardening so like you don't want to write about just one thing.
Thanks for the tips. They were most helpful.
My book 'The Migrants' is released on Amazon . I hope you will read and review it.
Meanwhile I will work on starting my on blog.
Thanks again.
Salma Siddiqui
No problem whatsoever! I am more than happy to help out :)
Delete😍 Thanks for the blogging tips! I am a new blogger and I am still trying to grow my audience. Just like you, I have many interests. At first I tried to limit myself to a specific topic (motherhood), but that does not give me joy. I also want to write about traveling, products I love, etc. So now I am writing about what I want to write, and it makes me happy.
ReplyDeleteNo problem! I am happy to help out, I know how hard it can be being a new blogger.
Delete