What is the 1 Fastest Way to Grow Your Blog?
Well everyone, you're all here to know what you can do to grow your website in the fastest way possible. I'm going to tell you what it is. The best part is that it is totally free. No, I am not asking you to buy anything from me as part of an affiliate link. This is not a sales pitch. I will NOT ask for your credit card number.
Okay dude, what is this going to cost me?
What am I going to ask of you? I'm going to ask you to break out of your shell. I know, as a blogger, it can be easy to bunker down into your little home that you've built in the internet and hide there while writing some awesome content and wonder why people don't come to see it. I know it's what I have been doing for the past few weeks. Until a week ago I decided it was time to really grow. Since then I have have a LOT of good stuff happen in my outreach.
Why should I believe you?
I run a blog on mobile gaming. I write reviews and guides for phone games to put it simply. I have had 4 separate companies agree to give me free beta tests and free copies of their game, I have had a post that I finished writing 12 hours ago bring in more readers than all of my other posts combined... by about a multiple of 10. I have even started getting people share my blog through mediums that I have ever even been to.
So how did I do it?
To put it incredibly simply, I asked. There is a chapter in a book that has been life changing for me and I have read several times. The book is The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. I highly recommend you read it if you get the chance. But that isn't necessary to see this success. A chapter in that book just perfectly describes why you should break out of your shell and ask things sometimes... Because sometimes, the answer just might be yes... It might even be yes more than you think, and that will make your life easier when it is. So go ahead and ask.
Really? Just ask? I ask for comments on my blog every day and never get them? What makes this any better?
Well, quite simply, it's about HOW you ask. You're not JUST asking. You're doing what is called NETWORKING. Remember that word. That is the word that describes what you are going to do to grow your blog. You want to ask people to help you out. But you aren't going to say, "Hey, could you help me out?"
Let's compare these two ways of asking people for, to take a direct example from my niche, a chance to review their game and a promo code to download it for free.
"Hello,
My name is Chase Williams. I run a mobile gaming blog.
I need games to review. Can I review yours? It looks pretty good.
Sincerely, (but NOT actually sincere)
Chase"
OR
"Hello Nik,
My name is Chase Williams and I am the founder of Mobile Game Guides .Net. I am currently looking for games that I can review on my website and share to my twitter followers and Apple News readers. Your game looks really interesting and I like the art on it a lot.
Would it be alright if I reviewed your game on my blog? If so, how can I get a copy to play for the testing of the game? You can see my reviews and guides that I have written so far by going to mobilegameguides.net.
Thank you for your time and I look forward to any future correspondence.
Until next time,
Chase, Founder of Mobile Game Guides .Net."
I want to point out a few things that the second one does better than the first as a way to NETWORK (there's that word again) instead of just asking for a favor.
- It compliments the work that the person you are networking with has done
- It feels much more professional and polite
- It establishes who you are and what your website is several times
- It offers a chance for them to see an example of your work
- It sets the tone that you plan on making this into a long term relationship.
What else can I do to put the magic of networking at work for me?
Make a post referencing the work of one of the most popular bloggers/youtubers/influencers/podcasters in your niche and then mention their twitter handle in a tweet that tells your readers about your new post. Which you should be doing every time you publish a new post.
By doing this you honor the person with heavy influence in your niche and also have a good chance of getting a response. If it is a positive response that quotes your tweet you have just hit the jackpot. By connecting to them you have just made connection to their entire network of followers. That's NETWORKING at its best.
Now, go find who your targets are and go find ways too network with them. Yes, you will have to break out of you blog shell. You have to interact with actual people who you think are out of your league. You have to make a concerted effort to help other people and hope that they help you back. But when it works, it REALLY works.
Let me know if this helped you out with your low readership woes. If you have anything that you want to add put it in the comments below! If you want to help me out go see my site and share this or posts from there with people who you think will be interested.
Let's all get our blogs and networks growing together!
Until next time,
Chase, Founder of Mobile Game Guides .Net
Recent Comments
2
Great to hear you are doing so well.
Just a heads up though. Affiliate links in a blog post (your link to amazon) is a big NO in WA posts. Also links to your website are not allowed in WA blog post, but should be kept on your own profile. I would recommend you to remove them before it will get marked as spam.
Wish you all the best.
Mikael
Will do. Thanks man.