Secrets to Blog Success: How to Build an Audience Who Will See, Subscribe and Share Your Work

Last night, I drove to Manassas, Virginia to be the guest speaker for a literary group called Writing by the Rails founded by Cindy Brookshire. The writing group is composed of authors, aspiring writers, and is a representation of various kinds of writing styles and genres.

It was a privilege to share my expertise on building a blog platform. I am thrilled that my articles have generated activity in 188 countries. I have met some amazing people through this blog space, and have been booked for radio and speaking engagements.

The above picture is exciting feedback from Cindy Brookshire who said that I am a fascinating speaker. The audience members had several questions about blog marketing. In an effort to give you a recap of what I shared, I’m going to provide you with Cindy’s minutes from the meeting.

Cindy Brookshire’s minutes to share with her group Writing by the Rails in Manassas, Virginia

One of the concerns during the evening was, how do you market to your target audience without watering down your work. My advice to the audience member is that you don’t water down your work. People will be attracted to your authenticity and that is how you develop your target audience. Be yourself.

As you writing and business goals grow, you will begin to be shaped by some of those goals, understanding why and how people find you. You’ll naturally learn how to be yourself and attract the audience who will call you, show up for you events, and purchase from your website.

You May Also Like: How Do You Come Up With Blog Articles?

One other thing that I shared with the audience is that you always want to be the solution to someone’s problem. People buy deodorant because they do not want to smell bad in front of other people. People buy certain books because they help them to be better people, why would they buy something that you have written? If you can figure out what problem you’re solving you also crack the code on supply and demand.

My last tip may be a controversial one. This is a bonus that I did not discuss the other night. I heard one author tell another author to keep writing as many books as they can. They advice was not to wait for one to be successful but to keep writing. I did not interject because the author seemed so confident that I thought she knew something that I did not know.

From a business perspective, I think you get better with time. I certainly have become a better writer since I started blogging several years ago. I do believe you should keep writing, I’m just not-so-sure that I agree you should keep publishing.

In my experience, I wrote my memoir Identity Crisis, Identity Christ Is: A Journey To Love which is available for download here. After writing the book I realized how necessary it was to blog. I had to learn the industry of blogging, and understand through trial and error why certain blog posts did not gain a viral platform. There were certain posts where I am extremely vulnerable.

You can find an example post like my letter to my mother, and brother here and here. I also wrote a letter to my younger self here. They serve different purposes for me. Individuals who are healing from child sexual abuse, homelessness or share in my journey somehow always find those blog posts through a search engine, or a shared source. They are my core followers because there is a connection. They will be the ones who show up to my events, who admire my personal and spiritual growth and who buy my books.

The blog posts which make me popular are usually something that I’ve written from an expert perspective and/or is an Op-ed. This strategy I have learned gives me access to a greater audience, even if they don’t agree with my opinion. Here, here and here are examples of blogs where I wrote an opposing view, and they went viral.

You May Also Like: A Man’s Gift Makes Room for him, and then what?

There will be mean people, or people who just don’t admire your work. You do not want to focus on them, because they are not your target audience. Who is inspired by your work? Find out what makes them read you, comment and share it. I believe that if you use my secrets here, you’ll find some measure of blog success.

Are you:

• a beginner blogger?
• an aspiring blogger?
• someone who has a personal story to share?
• afraid that people will steal your work?
• still wanting to have your questions answered?

If you identify with the above list, and you have additional questions, I offer a 15-minute free consultation. I am available to be reached at: 202.717.7377 (RESS)

Ressurrection Graves is a child sexual abuse expert and H.E.A.L.E.R.® who speaks on topics surrounding healthy relationships, overcoming homelessness, child sexual abuse prevention, adult healing, and awareness. Ressurrection is available for radio/television interviews, or ministry/conference/keynote speaking engagements nationwide by telephone at: 202.717.7377 (RESS) or please email: ressurrection dot wordpress at yahoo dot com.