Can’t Get Rich

So you’ve made your very first blog. Congratulations, you probably have 2 or 3 readers, and it’s going to stay that way until you get out there and make yourself known. Sitting on your hands and waiting for readers to come to you won’t get you anywhere.

Socialize

Find other blogs in your niche and comment on their posts. Everybody loves getting comments, and other commentators seem to read and visit the sites of people who comment first. A few months ago I made a fairly decent comment on one of John Chow’s articles and the number of hits for my personal blog spiked for a day or two. Read other people’s blogs and they’ll read yours in return.

Current events

Talk about what’s going on in the blogosphere (I hate that word), and be generous with your links. For example, everybody’s favorite Cow is having a contest for a $250 Amazon gift certificate. That’s a great way to get even more traffic and attention. Bob Buskirk redesigned his home office and wrote about how that effects his productivity. Uberaffiliate gave his readers a few ideas how to make a quick buck online. Geoff gave away a $100 Apple gift certificate. Oh wait, that’s me.

Be active in your niche and your traffic will slowly increase.

Interact with your readers

See the Mybloglog widget over there on the right? Visit those sites to see what your readers are up to. Also, encourage conversation in your posts so that your readers will comment. For example, a few days ago I lamented about how Blogrush has been practically worthless for me, and asked my readers to guess how many hits I’ve gotten from it. Derek from Widgets Lab was pretty close, so he gets some link love as well as a plug about how useful his site is. I’ll get around to posting that as soon as I peruse his site a little more.

Last ditch effort

If you still can’t get any new readers, try holding a contest like I did, or appeal to the big guys. If your site is interesting, you may get a plug. Above all else, try to get your name out there in a positive way.

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