Post Info // super fun stuff.
Foolproof ways to get people to read your blog….
Over the last two years I have blogged I have noticed some sure fire ways to get a lot of people to read your blog.
Here are my six can’t miss strategies:
Write a book
Okay. its really this simple. Want a lot of people to read your blog? this is a sure fire way. Okay, it’s slightly important that you write a good book. I’ll be honest, when I read a blog written by someone who is supposedly an authority on a topic, all the sudden I find what they say has weight.
Be well known or a popular leader
If you are somewhat famous (in our small Christian world) people will read your blog. I guess the thinking is, if you have a big church or somehow well known you must be really smart.
Name drop as much as possible
If you are not famous yourself, its really helpful to take advantage of your famous friends by making sure everyone knows that you have famous / well known friends. It’s always good to objectify your friends this way. Of course, this goes back to the thought that “its not what you know its who you know.” (This is too bad because some of the best blogs I read are by people who no one knows about).
Be a jerk
This is another the sure fire way to get lots of people to read your blog. For some reason the jerks are the ones who attract all the attention in the blog world. It’s kind of like when you are on the highway and you drive by that horrible wreck and for some reason you just can’t stop staring at the carnage even though you know its not helpful and all it does is depress you.
Be “anti” something
there are a few blogs that have made a living by being against something or being against a blog that is against something. I this follows the accident on the highway reaction like the jerk bloggers.
Kiss the butts of other famous bloggers
one good way is to kiss butt of all the famous bloggers out there and hope that they will link to you. The best way to do this is this: whenever a the famous blogger writes a post, don’t respond to the post with observations or further thoughts. Instead, just tell them how cool they are over and over again.
(by the way, if you didn’t read sarcasm in to this post, go ahead and read it again)
Kevin said...
101/3/06 7:49 AM | Comment Link |
Perhaps I could start an “anti-blogging” blog. I could blog about how blogs are spreading misinformation and confusion, and why people need to stop blogging. my site could be called endblogging.com
Todd said...
201/3/06 8:51 AM | Comment Link |
if you do that, i’ll start an “anti, anti-blogging” blog about how your anti-blogging blog is mean and insensitive to those who are blogging. maybe i could call it “antiantiblogging.com”
djchuang said...
301/3/06 3:34 PM | Comment Link |
This is a slightly different take on strategies to grow a blog readership, and I think some of them will work well. But, I’m not sure it’d grow a 6- or 7-digit size audience. You’re right that a strong opinion or controversy does draw a crowd. You might also add a few other strategies (I think your list wasn’t meant to be comprehensive) like: posting daily (or almost daily) about current events, link to other blog posts and use trackbacks, and/or talk about technology, politics, or entertainment.
Todd said...
401/4/06 9:02 AM | Comment Link |
DJ, you are very much more right than me of course. i was trying to be really sarcastic with this post, maybe didn’t come accross too well. maybe i could have called it “Illegitimate ways to get people to read your blog.”
what’s really funny is that i just realize that the two posts after this one i have done the name dropping. man, i should really practice what i preach a little more often!
of course, thanks for stopping by a friend of mine LT (Laurence Tom) says he knows you and I have to say, if you’re a friend of LT you must be quite a person. really, though, he talks very highly of you…
Efren M. said...
510/5/07 12:17 AM | Comment Link |
Todd,
Great post, it made me laugh and was entertaining. But for real, you do have some good points and they are truthful. Jerks do get all the attention, no? Just like in high school! Or was that jocks? Anyways, hope you can post again some more references for our blogs.