This is a guest post by our top contributing author and travel blogger Ryan Biddulph. He is the founder of Blogging From Paradise, his course 11 Fundamentals of Successful Blogging and the author of more than 126 eBooks.
Social media has brainwashed human beings easily manipulated by their own fears.
People who fear not being enough crave illusory attention in the form of lofty vanity metrics.
But the illusion of vanity metrics forms a stark contrast to the reality of human beings who love you, admire what you do and follow you diligently.
Most people cannot see the difference between having fake followers and loyal humans who love you and love your work.
Most bloggers see blogging in a similar light.
Bloggers cannot understand the difference between fake followers and loyal readers.
Fake followers appear to follow your blog.
But fake followers literally add fake, vanity metrics to your blogging campaign. Vanity metrics are useless. Many new bloggers boast of gaining 1000 blog followers. But 1000 blog followers is simply a number attached to a vanity metric. New bloggers feel frustrated when their 1000 blog followers do not hire them, buy their stuff or spread their word by promoting the blogger followed. Unfortunately, the vanity metric of 1000 blog followers does not equate to having 1000 loyal readers.
Loyal readers:
- read most if not all of your blog posts
- promote your blog posts persistently
- tend to hire you
- tend to buy your stuff
Loyal readers endorse you, grow your business through word of mouth marketing and allow you to go pro. Loyal readers take a genuine interest in you and your blog. Caring, loyal readers make blogging fun because chatting with people who love what you do feels like a blogging party.
Fake blogging followers click a button but do not read your posts regularly.
Fake blogging followers may sign up for your list but rarely if ever open your emails and click through to your blog posts. Do you want to weed out fake blogging followers to connect solely with loyal readers? Email only active subscribers. Any subscriber who does not routinely open your emails is a fake follower padding vanity metrics. Perhaps you accumulated a high number of email subscribers, but just because someone subscribed to your blog via email does not mean:
- the individual opens your emails
- the individual clicks on links in your email to visit your blog
- the individual reads your blog posts
- the individual shares your blog posts on social media
- the individual buys your courses and eBooks
- the individual hires you
Loyal readers read your blog, hire you and buy your stuff more often than not.
Give virtually all of your attention and energy to loyal readers.
Chat with loyal readers on social media. Engage loyal readers through blog comments. Email loyal readers to ask how they are doing. Bonding with loyal readers brings more loyal readers to your blog because where your attention and energy goes, grows. Loyal readers promote your blog and business to their like-minded buddies. Their like-minded buddies follow your blog, hire you and buy your stuff.
Let go vanity metrics because anything that pleases ego and makes you appear to be trustworthy is meaningless, worthless and held in esteem only by superficial, vacant people easily impressed by illusions. Let go fake followers. Release your obsession with numbers. Give your attention and energy to genuine human beings who love you and love your blog.
People who diligently follow your blog form a rock solid foundation for your blogging campaign. Listen to their needs. Tune into their problems. Pay close attention to their dreams. Blogging gets easier when you realize going pro depends on building intimately personal bonds with loyal readers, 1 to 1. Long term success flows to bloggers who make their loyal readers feel special, loved and cared for.
eBook
Do you want guidance on how to build a loyal blog community?
I wrote an eBook to help you build your blogging tribe.
Buy it here:
6 Tips to Grow a Rabidly Loyal Blog Community
