Today’s post comes from Deb, who blogs at Science@Home.
***
What do you give your readers?
Sounds weird. It’s just another way of approaching the perpetual blogging question of
’Why should your readers choose you?’
Your elevator pitch, your voice, your story, your authentic self – these are all different approaches to help you work out what it is that makes your blog tick and your readers come back. In other words:
In what area are you the go-to gal?
This is easier to answer for those of us who have information or practical blogs. I’m the kids science person with a dash of education. The Planning Queen is ‘Wow, how do you fit it all in?’ Stuff With Thing is living with children with autism.
But it can be done by personal bloggers too – are you hilarious? Do you live in the country and people enjoy hearing about your different lifestyle? Do you take gorgeous photos? Are you a beautiful, lyrical writer? Are you up on all the latest gadgets? Do you inspire sympathy, empathy, sighs or fascination? Why do people come back to you?
If you have repeat readers who aren’t related to you then there is a reason, you could even do something radical like ask them what it is.
Are you giving it to them?
Once you have worked out what your readers are there for, turn the question around and ask yourself – are you giving it to them?
Well naturally. I mean I write about kids doing science four times a week! What more could my readers ask for?
Quite a bit, actually. I have bookmarks full of quirky, sciencey things. I like nothing more than to click around my favourite science blogs, YouTube and Twitter and find time lapse photography of flowers, or turtle embryos, or camouflaged octopuses, or the time of the next meteor shower. This is fun. And if I think so, chances are my readers think so too – after all, they follow me for the fun science.
So I’ve started sharing things. Not just re-tweeting, but actively looking for links to share on both Twitter and Facebook. Commenting on my fanpage when one of my kids does something that makes me think ‘Hey, that’s science!’ Remembering to use Google + whenever I can. Adding more videos to my posts. I’m giving my followers more of what they follow me for.
Links are a nice easy way of adding value for your readers while being fun for you and not much more work – hopefully these are things you look for and click through yourself.
Crafty people – do you share your suppliers? Your favourite patterns? The place you got that fabulous camera?
Funny people – how about the YouTube clips that have made you laugh? Or a ridiculous sign?
Homemakers – I’m sure we all have favourite tips, even the completely non-domestic like me have flashes of brilliance.
And so it goes. Your readers love you, otherwise they wouldn’t read you. Be confident in that and give them more of what they love you for. They might even love you more for it.
—
Deb writes about kids having fun doing science and rants about education, but for the zombie octopus link you need to see her on Facebook or Twitter.
{ 8 comments }
I struggle so much with this one. I’m none of these things. I’m just me. And I don’t know how to find out how other people define me without straight out asking. And then I sound needy. Er.
Melissa recently posted..Do you think this is too much?
Hi Melissa, my first thing would be to say you can always ask. I run surveys in different forms regularly. It’s a bit easier for me because people come to me for information, but you can do it in different ways – I can see a series of ‘chats over a cuppa’ and ask people what they want to chat about. It’s not needy at all, most people will appreciate it. People are reading your blog because they are interested, they’re not doing it to do you a favour.
From a quick look at your site it looks like you have tons to share because you’re quite distinctive – you can tweet lovely vintage photos or put them on Facebook, people will enjoy seeing them in their feed. Then there’s resources for working with challenging children, grief or mental health – whenever you see something you personally find useful, bookmark then share the link around.
This is a great question! I am new to blogging, and had a pretty definite idea about what I want to blog about – Our tree change experiences. I am finding that there are heaps of other ideas that are coming to me too, so the blog is already evolving to include a bit of our life in general too. At the end of the day, I am just blogging for fun, and while I want to stick to my ‘area’, I want to blog about my experiences.
Jo @ Country Life Experiment recently posted..Logistics
Blogging about something you’re doing makes it easy to add value, because you’re researching it yourself. Every time you find a great tutorial or resource you can bookmark and share it.
Hi Deb,
Great to meet another person passionate about her field of “work” in education!
I have blogged since end 2010 & have found myself on the perimeter of the blogosphere as “I” couldn’t not quite describe the who/what of my blog. Several months and restructures later, I have decided… My Blog is Denyse Whelan.
My name and who I am is my connection with readers, bloggers and tweeps I’ve met. I write about LIFE from a different perspective to many, as I’m a 40 year teaching veteran, mum of adults, grandmother of 5, wife & carer to hub….. And I finally got what I need to do to reach out to my readers…..
Be me. In my voice. With my beloved photos. Blogging & telling my news & asking about others’. Every day. Consistent. Comfortable. Easy to find & respond to if required.
Finally this week I’ve come HOME .. To me! Denyse
Denyse Whelan recently posted..$5 off! TSF. My Sponsor.
This is so useful to me Deb thank you. I really have no idea what my theme is only that I am mostly always bordering on insanity and sharing ways to keep in check under the bigger umbrella of what it means to be a parent, wife and mother. Sounds incredibly broad. I’d fail first year marketing with my lack of direction.
Thanks for the idea about the surveys too. They are one of my fav things, and I can use my business skills in this area to illicit info from my readers. I do like to see what they are commenting on and talking about too and reflect that in my random writing.
So much food for thought.
Gemma @ My Big Nutshell recently posted..Book Week should be renamed Mothers Insanity Week!
Fabulous post, Deb. I’ve tried to hinge myself on the funny mummy tag, but some days (like today) lack of sleep makes my funny bone less… funny!!
I’m also trying to be more “usefull” so readers gain a little more than just purely a giggle.
You’ve given me lots to think about. Thank you. x
Kellie @ Three Li’l recently posted..Alphabet Photography Challenge – T
Thanks for the link Deb! I am big on sharing with my readers. They trust me and many use me as a filter for parenting info. This is something that I don’t take lightly, so always make sure what I am sharing is of b=high quality.
PlanningQueen recently posted..10 Myths of Motherhood