Connecting With Your Community of Readers (Part 2)

As promised, I’m continuing to share my session with you from BlissDom.  I was on a panel with 3 other fabulous bloggers.  You can catch up by reading BlissDom: Connecting with your Community of Readers Part 1.

Next we’re diving in a little deeper and talking about Blog Alliances.  I’ve got to tell you that I formed one 2 years ago on a whim; with out knowing what it was called or even completely understanding why it’s so important. I can’t tell you how passionate I am about this topic!  I’m so excited to help teach you what I have learned the last 2 years.  Feel free to ask any questions in the comments on this post.  I’m here to help you!

Create a Blogging Alliance

• Network Within Your Niche
• Help Other Bloggers
• Be Accessible to Readers
• Welcome Landing Page
• Feature Top 10 Referrers
• Collaborate vs. Compete
• Barter

Ladies, this one is key! If you do not learn anything else from this presentation, it should be how important it is to create genuine relationships and love the women in your niche. All of the top bloggerss do this (yep even the ProBloggers). Shoot, Barbara and Alli have put their financial futures on the line to host a conference every year which is devoted to forming alliances with other bloggers. If that doesn’t explain how important this is, I don’t know what will.

I will say that my stats would not be what they are today if it wasn’t for my blogging alliance with Today’s Creative Blog, SITSgirls, and Skip to my Lou. We brainstorm with each other, we Skype often, are a shoulder to lean on, and create really cool business opportunities with each other.

Your goal this week should be to create a list of 3-5 other bloggers in your niche and with approximately your same stats. Don’t be afraid to include a new blogger.  It’s good to have someone who is still addicted to learning and has a passion for blogging.  I included the SITSgirls when their blog was only 4 months old – it was the best decision!  I was drawn to them because of their business sense and their passion for promoting women.  They are now hosting mini-conferences all over the US and have a very dedicated and loyal following.

E-mail the bloggers on your list a super sweet but short letter that specifically compliments them and tell them about a post that spoke to you. That’s it! Don’t ask for anything, don’t tell them about your blog. However, do leave your blog link after your name at the bottom and see how they reply back. I promise, you’ll be glad you reached out of your comfort zone and made a new friend. Next, let your friendship evolve naturally, be real, and don’t force it.

Landing Page Example

When a new feature comes up w/ surge of new readers (like a feature on another blog or print publication), create a welcome landing page for them. Imagine that someone is reading your site for the first time.  Gather everything they will need to navigate and find great information. Include your favorite posts, a bio about who you are and why you started your blog, and how to subscribe to your site.

Monthly Recap to Keep Readers Engaged

Create a post weekly or monthly that will showcase others that read your site and to keep them engaged on your site. Amy creates a highlight weekly a round-up of great blogs that offer information that our readers will find helpful.  As you may know, I do ‘Your Personal Assistant” every month. I promise I created it with the best of intentions to help you get organized and find my old posts to help inspire you.  However, it has turned out to boost my stats like no other post has ever done.  It’s a way for Google to re-index my site and send more readers to Tip Junkie every month.

Collaborate vs. Compete

This is another key blogging tip that I would not underestimate.  By nature I’m not a competitive person.  I find that life is tough enough – so when I see good things happen to others – I’m naturally happy for them.  {{I know – secretly you were hoping for more drama.  But you won’t find it here.  HA!}}

Here’s the thing. Don’t worry about your readers loving another blogger more than you.  I personally have 161 blogs in my Google Reader and bets are that most of your readers have multiple blogs in their readers as well! So you don’t need to worry about giving link love or spotlighting someone else.  I promise your readers will love you for it and keep coming back to see your recommendations.

There are many examples of fabulous collaborations, we spotlighted two:

• Kimba from A Soft Place to Land has DIY Day.  Enter A Soft Place to Land’s MckLinky & contest by leaving comments on 5 participants blogs.  This is such a fun way to get your readers engaging with each other as well as collaborating with a Mom-preneur to spotlight her products.
• I have teamed up with Today’s Creative Blog, SITSgirls, and Skip to my Lou to form Chic Chick Media; which provides cheap text and sponsor ads for small businesses like blogs and Mom-preneurs.

To Be Continued…

Sorry Ladies, it’s a snow day here in Texas and all of my boys are home playing in the incredible snow fall we’ve received the past two days. I swear it looks more like Utah than Texas right now. I’m also hosting an adult Valentine’s Day party at my club house tonight with 20 couples. So much to do. I promise I’m not stringing you along for kicks.  I hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s weekend and I’ll finish up the session in a few days!