Everywhere you look on the Internet, you’ll find blogs on a variety of niche topics. You’ll see some blogs that are of superior quality and you’ll see other blogs and wonder why they even exist.
The Internet gives anyone who desires it the ability to have a voice online. You’ll see lots of well-intentioned blogs. These are blogs that someone created with the good intention of bringing thought provoking, intelligent conversation to the world.
But when you read the fine lettering, you see the last time they blogged was four years ago! The stagnant blog happens a lot with personal blogging but it’s a shame when those stagnant blogs are business blogs because it usually means someone gave up too soon.
There are some specific ways you can communicate with your audience to build a loyal bond with them.
How Frequent Blogging Can Help You Make a Connection
People who get started with business blogging and even some who’ve been online awhile always ask how often is too often and when is it not enough? The frequency of blog posts can be debated in many ways.
You might have heard that there is no right or wrong way to blog and no right or wrong amount of time that should pass between posts. But with blogging, frequency is what you want to aim for.
The more you blog, the more content fodder you’ll have for search engines to index – and the more information you’ll be able to share with your audience. They like to know of an approximate schedule you’ll be following.
Will you be checking in daily on your blog, or just once a week? If you’re too sporadic, then your audience won’t think of your blog as a home on the ‘net, and they’ll just plan on visiting you again “someday” to see if you have anything new. This usually means they’ll forget about you.
Another perk to frequent blogging is that the more you write, the better you become. The more you blog, the freer you get when you create content. Walter Wellesley “Red” Smith once said, “There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.”
If you’re not leaving something of you poured out on the page, you’re not opening up enough of your vein – being real, getting to show your audience what you’re all about.
It doesn’t matter how much you write or how often you write if you sacrifice the quality of your words to quantity. One hundred plates of garbage is still garbage no matter how you garnish it.
One hundred blog posts, poorly written is still not going to help you build a solid relationship with your readers no matter how good your blog looks everywhere else.
Your goal for your blog should be to write something powerful every day. If you’re in marketing and you need to blog about electric blankets, you can still write it in a way that sticks with your readers.
Your readers might want your product, but the reason they keep coming back, the reason they keep reading your blog is because of the connection they feel through your writing.
The best blogs on the Internet aren’t the ones that are eloquent with big words and plenty of polish. The best blogs are the ones that touch the audience in some personal way.
Having a blog gives you the opportunity to use your words or the text on the blog to enrich the lives of your readers. You get to help them by giving them insight, telling them about a product they need or showing them a service that will impact their lives in many great and meaningful ways.
You can lead them to other products that will help them and warn them about ones that they need to steer clear of. If it helps you keep content on schedule, consider using an editorial calendar. This will help prevent you from letting your blog grow stagnant.
Using Multimedia to Connect with Your Audience
Your blog can use other forms of media besides text-based content to help your readers understand information (or enjoy your insight) and build a closer connection to you.
People like visuals. Some people like visuals because that’s their learning style. But for the most part, people like visuals because they can see the product in action or they can see the person that they’ve been connecting with.
While people can read your text, they can’t read facial expression or hear the tone of your voice through the text. Videos allow that to come through. They feel like they can get to know you better once they’ve seen you because they feel like they’ve ‘met’ you.
That’s not the only reason why you want to use video on your blog. Video is an incredibly powerful form of marketing. You can create videos and link them from video sharing sites.
It’s easier for video to go viral. Video formats come with share buttons so when people see what you have to say and like it, they can hit the share button and go post it on their social media sites.
You’re getting great free advertising this way. Also, video formats are extremely compatible with mobile devices. People can access your message on the go, post it to Facebook, tweet it for you, and share it on Google Plus.
You don’t want to forget about podcasts either. Podcasts are audio files that allow you to bring a message to your audience. Some people don’t like the sound of their own voice.
If you’re not sure what you’ll sound like, you can do a dry run first to polish up. Remember that polishing up your delivery doesn’t mean a performance. It’s okay to want to be better as long as you remember to be yourself. You shouldn’t sound like you’re reading a textbook.
You’ll want to keep three things in mind when you’re making a podcast. The first thing is you’ll want to know the goal of the podcast. Is it that you want to talk about a time when you felt lost and found the motivation to break through?
You want to give something back to the people who have been your loyal customers and inspire them or entertain them with your podcast. Whatever the reason, have a goal – because having a goal will keep you from subject hopping.
If you go over your podcast notes prior to actually recording the podcast, it will help you take out the repeat phrases everyone uses. Most people deliver a ton of ‘ums’ and ‘uhs’ when they’re speaking and don’t realize it.
The second thing you want to do is work with an outline. If you don’t work with an outline, you might end up spending too much time on one point and end up not having enough time to bring up the most important point you want to touch on. An outline can help keep the podcast flowing.
Third, watch the length of the podcast. Give your audience as much value in as short a time frame as you can. The reason for this is because most people find it very difficult to give 10 uninterrupted minutes.
There’s a ringing phone that has to be answered or something else that needs to be handled. If you have a podcast that meanders on and on, you’ll lose listeners. Make your final point by 10 minutes in and have it all wrapped up within 12 minutes. You can make several 10 minute podcasts versus one hour long one.
Posting audio and video files on your blog in conjunction with text gives your readers a better experience, and it keeps them on your site longer, too.
Comments Let You Connect Directly with Your Audience
When you’re trying to build a loyal audience, you have to pay attention to the comment section of your blog. You’ll want to check that throughout the day. You’ll want to check it more often whenever you put up a new blog post.
The comment section is where your readers are giving up time from their busy day to reach out to you. Whatever it is they’re commenting on, even if it’s just them saying, “Great post – this really resonated with me,” you need to respond to that comment.
Not because they can’t live without your return comment – but because when you comment back, it builds social proof. It shows that you care about your audience.
What is social proof? Social proof can be defined by one word: influence. That one word is loaded with power. Social proof is what influences your readers and influences those they know in their circle.
Social proof is a little known marketing tool that can make a difference in your business. It sways people to buy your products. No man is an island. We are all subject to the influence of people around us.
Social proof is what directs people to the buy button. When a group of people are in proximity or online and they’re all talking about a certain product, others are going to be led to buy that product just because others are talking about it.
Check the spam comments to see if any legitimate comments accidentally got caught by your spam filters. Then go through and approve and reply to each person who commented on your blog.
As your lurkers see this type of interaction build on your blog, they’ll feel more comfortable participating and opening up. Always make sure you’re projecting the kind of personality you want for your business. If you engage with trolls and start getting angry on a self help blog, it might not reflect the kind of personality you’re shooting for.
