How to Build a Huge Audience with Less Than 10 Blog Posts?
You've heard over and over that you need lots of great content in order to attract readers. While the quality and quantity of your content is important, this is actually not what attracts readers.
Believe it or not, you can attract tons of readers with less than 10 blog posts.
Today I am going to tell you how to do this. It seems counterintuitive that someone could build a huge audience for the blog with less than 10 blog posts. Most people believe the conventional wisdom that tells them that attracting readers to their blog involves the creation of a lot of content. These people might spend the majority of their time creating content with the belief that great content automatically attracts readers.
While great content does often attract readers, this is not a hard and fast rule. Owners of popular blogs know that they must promote their content if they want their blog to be successful.
The 80/20 Rule
Derek Halpern of the Social Triggers blog tells blog owners that they should spend 20% of their time creating content, and 80% of their time promoting the content they created. It seems weird that you can gain readers with less content, but this is actually the case. Blogs that are popular are those that are well-promoted.
The TAPP Technique
Halpern has come up with a technique to promote content called the TAPP technique.
The first rule of this technique is that you should target a specific group of people and create content that caters to that group. You should figure out who your ideal readers are and create content that they would find appealing.
The second rule of this technique is that you should use certain emotional appeals that would attract your audience and lead them to read your post.
The third rule of this technique is that you must produce content that is actionable. You should encourage people to do something or get them to feel something. You might also produce content that makes them feel good.
The fourth rule is that you should promote your work by reaching out to people you don't know and getting their attention.
Building An Audience
In order to build an audience, Halpern lists three tasks that should be completed.
The first task involves "starting before you're ready." A lot of blog owners want to wait until the best possible moment to start their blog. They want to wait until they have gained expertise or when they have a blog post that is good enough to be posted. Halpern cautions against waiting to begin your blog. He argues that you should stop worrying about being ready and just get started.
The second task that Halpern argues is to not be discouraged if you are not an expert in your subject matter. He mentions a role that many beginning blog owners might fall into: the "curious novice." The curious novice writes about what they are learning. They are not an expert, but if they keep learning they might eventually become one.
The third task that Halpern mentions is that building an audience shouldn't take too much time. One doesn't need that much content. It is possible to build an audience with one or two blog posts a month.
Different Ways to Promote Your Content
Even the best content does not automatically guarantee readers. Your content must be promoted in order to attract readers.
How can your promote your content?
Google has put out a guide for webmasters and blog owners about search engine optimization and how to get your content in front of new eyes.
#1 Notify Your Audience
The Google guide notes that putting a blog post on your website letting your visitors know that you added something to the site is a way to promote new content.
#2 Offline Promotion
Another way to build an audience for your blog is to incorporate your URL into the offline promotion of your business. A business owner can list their URL on business cards, letterhead, posters, offline newsletters and other marketing materials.
#3 Social Media
Social media sites can also be important for promotion. These sites involve user interaction and easy ways of sharing content. You can create snippets to share on these sites with short quotes from your blog post. These processes are a good way to gain readers. The Google guide does include some caveats for this type of promotion. Webmasters or blog owners should avoid promoting each new, small piece of content and instead promote only their most interesting posts.
#4 Reach Out to Your Community
Another good way to promote your blog is to reach out to the community surrounding your site. The community might involve your readers and those who comment on your site. It also might involve those who maintain blogs with a similar subject matter to your own. Readers of blogs similar to your own might be persuaded to read your blog and possibly link to your posts because they have an interest in the subject matter.
Aaron Agius of the KissMetrics blog mentions that you may also submit to content communities such as Blog Engage, BizSugar, Triberr, and TribePro. Content communities contain an established audience that is waiting to view new content. If your content is really great, this can be a way to attract attention and traffic to your blog.
#5 Ask an Influencer for a Killer Quote
Aaron Agius notes that posting an influencer's killer quote in your blog post can lead to increased views. You should put the quote in the post and add a link to the influencer's website and social media accounts. Once the article is published, the influencer can share a link to your post with their own audience. This is a great way to gain exposure with new group of people. In addition, your content becomes more reputable because you are associated with someone who is established in your topic community.
Promote, promote, promote!
I hope this article has showed you some ways to promote your content. The takeaway idea is that great content is important, but it is not everything. You can have less than 10 posts published to your blog, but if they are promoted effectively, you will gain readers. It's counterintuitive, but it works!
Believe it or not, you can attract tons of readers with less than 10 blog posts.
Today I am going to tell you how to do this. It seems counterintuitive that someone could build a huge audience for the blog with less than 10 blog posts. Most people believe the conventional wisdom that tells them that attracting readers to their blog involves the creation of a lot of content. These people might spend the majority of their time creating content with the belief that great content automatically attracts readers.
While great content does often attract readers, this is not a hard and fast rule. Owners of popular blogs know that they must promote their content if they want their blog to be successful.
The 80/20 Rule
Derek Halpern of the Social Triggers blog tells blog owners that they should spend 20% of their time creating content, and 80% of their time promoting the content they created. It seems weird that you can gain readers with less content, but this is actually the case. Blogs that are popular are those that are well-promoted.
The TAPP Technique
Halpern has come up with a technique to promote content called the TAPP technique.
The first rule of this technique is that you should target a specific group of people and create content that caters to that group. You should figure out who your ideal readers are and create content that they would find appealing.
The second rule of this technique is that you should use certain emotional appeals that would attract your audience and lead them to read your post.
The third rule of this technique is that you must produce content that is actionable. You should encourage people to do something or get them to feel something. You might also produce content that makes them feel good.
The fourth rule is that you should promote your work by reaching out to people you don't know and getting their attention.
Building An Audience
In order to build an audience, Halpern lists three tasks that should be completed.
The first task involves "starting before you're ready." A lot of blog owners want to wait until the best possible moment to start their blog. They want to wait until they have gained expertise or when they have a blog post that is good enough to be posted. Halpern cautions against waiting to begin your blog. He argues that you should stop worrying about being ready and just get started.
The second task that Halpern argues is to not be discouraged if you are not an expert in your subject matter. He mentions a role that many beginning blog owners might fall into: the "curious novice." The curious novice writes about what they are learning. They are not an expert, but if they keep learning they might eventually become one.
The third task that Halpern mentions is that building an audience shouldn't take too much time. One doesn't need that much content. It is possible to build an audience with one or two blog posts a month.
Different Ways to Promote Your Content
Even the best content does not automatically guarantee readers. Your content must be promoted in order to attract readers.
How can your promote your content?
Google has put out a guide for webmasters and blog owners about search engine optimization and how to get your content in front of new eyes.
#1 Notify Your Audience
The Google guide notes that putting a blog post on your website letting your visitors know that you added something to the site is a way to promote new content.
#2 Offline Promotion
Another way to build an audience for your blog is to incorporate your URL into the offline promotion of your business. A business owner can list their URL on business cards, letterhead, posters, offline newsletters and other marketing materials.
#3 Social Media
Social media sites can also be important for promotion. These sites involve user interaction and easy ways of sharing content. You can create snippets to share on these sites with short quotes from your blog post. These processes are a good way to gain readers. The Google guide does include some caveats for this type of promotion. Webmasters or blog owners should avoid promoting each new, small piece of content and instead promote only their most interesting posts.
#4 Reach Out to Your Community
Another good way to promote your blog is to reach out to the community surrounding your site. The community might involve your readers and those who comment on your site. It also might involve those who maintain blogs with a similar subject matter to your own. Readers of blogs similar to your own might be persuaded to read your blog and possibly link to your posts because they have an interest in the subject matter.
Aaron Agius of the KissMetrics blog mentions that you may also submit to content communities such as Blog Engage, BizSugar, Triberr, and TribePro. Content communities contain an established audience that is waiting to view new content. If your content is really great, this can be a way to attract attention and traffic to your blog.
#5 Ask an Influencer for a Killer Quote
Aaron Agius notes that posting an influencer's killer quote in your blog post can lead to increased views. You should put the quote in the post and add a link to the influencer's website and social media accounts. Once the article is published, the influencer can share a link to your post with their own audience. This is a great way to gain exposure with new group of people. In addition, your content becomes more reputable because you are associated with someone who is established in your topic community.
Promote, promote, promote!
I hope this article has showed you some ways to promote your content. The takeaway idea is that great content is important, but it is not everything. You can have less than 10 posts published to your blog, but if they are promoted effectively, you will gain readers. It's counterintuitive, but it works!
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DABK -
Thanks
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