by Skellie
Photo by josef.stuefer.
By beginning this post with the above figure, I don’t do so to boast. I know there are thousands of blogs that have received more subscribers than this — and in less time.
I highlight this figure (1,050 subscribers in 3 months) to show that you don’t need to have big money, the perfect niche or a staff of writers to quickly develop a 1,000+ network of loyal readers. This blog exists within a mature and crowded niche, I’m its sole author and I’ve spent nothing on marketing and promotion.
I’ve learned enough from this experience to share how you can get 1,000 more subscribers in 3 months.
Subscribers are people, too!
A subscriber is a person who has elected to have every article published on your site delivered to them. That’s an impressive committment.
For a reader to make the decision to subscribe, they need to feel that your content is 1) unmissable and 2) tailored to them.
If you can’t quickly describe your target audience then you’ve just identified the key reason why you don’t have as many subscribers as you’d like. You’re writing about topics, when you should be writing for people.
What this means
Here’s the difference when it comes to subscribers. I’ll use a hypothetical personal finance blog as an example.
Firstly, let’s examine a personal finance blog without a target audience, writing on the topics of: Investing, Debt Elimination, Saving and Frugality.
Can we imagine a person for whom all these things are of a keen interest?
If you’re in a position to save, you’re probably not worrying about debt elimination. If you’re trying to pay off debt, investing and saving might not have much relevance to you. Even if you balance these topics equally, your readers will be skipping up to half of what you write.
Secondly, compare this with a personal finance blog written specifically for people in debt. With a target audience in mind, you can ensure every post you write is relevant. You can skip over talk of saving and investing and provide valuable advice on budgeting and frugality instead.
When an indebted person visits such a blog they can look across the breadth of the content and say: “Everything here is relevant to me.” They’re in a perfect position to decide to subscribe.
Once you work out who you’re writing for you can cut out the topics that aren’t relevant to them. When a visitor feels your articles are consistently tailored to their needs they’ll be much more likely to subscribe.
Hopefully you can see that each post I write is aimed at a target audience (look to the top right corner of the screen for a hint!).
Another key strategy is to make your target audience obvious. That way, each time a member of your target audience arrives they can see straight away (hopefully before they’ve even started reading your content) that your site is tailored to them.
Another blog that does this is Freelance Folder (which managed to gain around 1,200 subscribers in 3 months). You can see how below.
Summary:
- Focus on a target audience rather than a selection of topics.
- Write every post for the benefit of that target audience.
- Make it clear to new visitors who your blog is written for.
When more is less
The biggest misconception about getting subscribers is that you need to write a lot of articles each week (preferably daily) and that people will unsubscribe if you don’t post enough.
In fact, the opposite is true. Subscribers dislike being interrupted by content they don’t want to read. In terms of getting (and keeping) subscribers, one great post per week is better than five mediocre ones. That your content is relevant isn’t enough. It also has to be good. To fall back on a common but appropriate cliché: when it comes to subscribers, it’s quality over quantity. Of course, quality and quantity is ideal. If you can make the time, go for it.
Summary:
- When it comes to subscribers, quality trumps quantity.
So, how can I write good stuff?
My guiding principle is to fill each post with value for the target audience. For example, instead of trying to explain you how to get 1,000+ subscribers in three months, I could have written about a nifty new Wordpress plug-in, or the current state of the BlogRush widget. There’s nothing wrong with either of those topics, but it’s clear which one would be more valuable to you.
One post with lots of value is better than a few posts with a little. For a reader to want to subscribe they need to be moved by the value you offer. They need to feel that your content is worth treasuring.
When creating content, let the value principle guide you. Ask yourself: what’s the most valuable thing I can give my target audience right now?
If you find it hard to find the time to write value-packed posts, post less. Yes — even if it means you only post once a week. One value-packed post a week will grow your blog faster than seven posts with only a little bit of value (Tim Ferriss writes at about this frequency and is in the Top 1,000 blogs on Technorati).
People simply don’t link to or vote for posts that aren’t sufficiently value-packed — regardless of how many you write.
Summary:
- Consistently value-packed articles are required in order to move people enough to subscribe.
How to source-out potential subscribers
Now that I’ve described the process behind creating the kind of content that motivates people to subscribe, the next (and crucial step) is sourcing out potential subscribers.
Potential subscribers are really just members of your target audience. They’ll discover your blog through either of two main paths: links, or social media.
A bite-sized guide to getting links
Breaking it down again, there are two kinds of links: links you make and links you get.
My subscriber count has always jumped when I got a bunch of links (or one link in a highly trafficked location). If you want to get links, you need to:
- Write an exceptionally value-packed article.
- Do something remarkable and word-of-mouth worthy.
- Ask for them.
The second type of links (the kind you make) can be just as powerful. These include:
- The by-line in your guest-posts.
- Your forum signature.
- The linked name that comes with the comments you make.
The most powerful links you can get are those on blogs, websites and within categories frequented by your target audience — preferably the most popular ones. Not all links are equal:
- A link with lots of targeted click-throughs is best.
- A link with a handful of targeted click-throughs is second best.
- A link with lots of badly targeted click-throughs is third best.
- A link with a handful of badly targeted click-throughs isn’t worth much.
All these links are better than nothing, but some are better than others. Links are doorways your target audience can use to discover your site. If you’re not getting links, you’re not getting subscribers.
Summary:
- If you’re writing value-packed content you will generate links naturally.
- Exceptionally value-packed content will always get more links.
- Make your own links by guest-posting on popular blogs.
A bite-sized guide to social media
Articles will rarely do well on social media unless they’re exceptionally value-packed or remarkable. If you’re not focusing on value, focus on doing something remarkable.
Luckily, content people want to link to also has a tendency to do well on social media.
Being active on social media will help things along. People often vote for your articles if you vote for theirs: not because you’ve got some sort of reciprocal scheme going, but because it’s an easy way to repay the favor.
I’m certain that having an active StumbleUpon profile has played an integral part in this blog’s growth, for example.
Summary:
- Writing linkable content will also help you with social media.
- Put effort into social media and you will be rewarded.
A bite-sized guide to networking
People who like you are more likely to link to you or vote up your articles on social media (and in doing so, source out new pockets of subscribers). The much-vaunted practice of ‘networking’ is ultimately made up of what you do to get people to feel positive about you.
Here are some simple principles I’ve stuck by:
- Be nice.
- Don’t ignore people.
- Be friendly.
- Treat every person you interact with respectfully.
- Don’t view others as a means to an end.
- Help out in the best way you can.
- Be generous.
- Don’t take up too much time.
- Focus on mutual benefit.
- Give more than you take.
Viewed in this light, every email, comment, message, IM conversation and social media experience is networking. They key is to help people out. Give them something valuable for free, whether it be knowledge, advice, or your time.
Just like we saw with the success of Radiohead’s In Rainbows album, you ultimately get more when you don’t ask for anything. In a world where people only want to give a little less than they can take, being generous will make you remarkable.
The little things
If a reader is moved enough by your content to subscribe they’ll find the button even if it’s hidden in your footer. In fact, I’ve subscribed to blogs that didn’t even have a subscribe button, either by burning their feed at Feedburner or getting the feed from the address bar.
Little things like button placement won’t make or break your efforts to get subscribers. It’s all the above stuff that matters most.
Despite this, the basic tenet of usability holds true: if you want someone to do something, you better make it as easy as possible.
- Put your feed button above the fold. This is where people expect it to be and is also the first place they look.
- Give readers the option to subscribe at the end of your articles. By doing so, you’re catching them when they’ve just read a value-packed post and are feeling most positive about your content.
- A great looking design can increase a visitor’s disposition to subscribe. We inevitably associate a professional design with how seriously the blogger or webmaster takes what they do. First impressions do count.
- You can offer another incentive to subscribe. I’ve written about this in detail at Blogging Tips.
- When do I start showing the subscriber count? When you start to be proud of how many subscribers you have.
Conclusion
This is, in essence, a three-pronged strategy:
1. Work out who your target audience is and write your content exclusively for them.
2. Pack your articles with as much value as possible. If time is a problem, post less.
3. Source out your target audience by getting or making links and writing for social media.
By following this three-pronged strategy Skelliewag grew to 1,050 subscribers in 3 months. There’s no reason why your site can’t grow by just as much, if not more.
If you have any questions about this process please don’t hesitate to ask by leaving a comment.
Got a few seconds? A stumble, Digg or anything else is always appreciated (you can use the links below).
A little while ago I asked about the posts you’d like to see at Skelliewag. Several readers (Scam, Redwall_HP, Amber and PaidTwice) wanted to hear my advice on the best ways to get more subscribers. This post is an answer to that question.
Skelliewag features daily discussions on content creation, great ideas you can use, and design tips. Join the community by subscribing!
rss feed
72 Comments, Comment or Ping
Jack
Excellent post.
I think one helpful thing in keeping subscribers, if not getting them in the first place, is offering the full article via the feed as you do. It means that I can read the whole piece in my feed reader whenever I have time, regardless of if I’m at work and too busy to open a dozen tabs with everything that looks interested. Blogs that don’t do this tend to get skimmed over in my feed reader.
I’m not sure how true this is for other people, and I know some authors worry about lost ad revenue, but I end up clicking though to a blog to read the comments half the time anyway, so I’d say it balances out.
Nov 21st, 2007
paidtwice
Thanks for answering one of my questions!
Valuable advice… working on it.
That is an excellent point that every blog has a specific audience and I need to tailor my blog to them. I shouldn’t take it personally that some people aren’t interested - I can’t be everything to everyone. I just need to work harder at being what I am for those who would be interested. I know my “scope” but I forget that it is just not possible to get everyone as interested in what I am interested in as I am.
I need to focus more on finding those people who *are* interested instead of trying to convince people who aren’t that interested.
Nov 21st, 2007
Billionaire Strategies
I have been using a similar strategy over the past couple of months and can vouch for its effectiveness. You filled in a few more details and I thank you for it!
Nov 21st, 2007
Kent
Good post. Will be starting a blog soon, will apply your advices…
One point to note: can’t find the submit button to del.icio.us on your blog. Anyway, do so manually.
All the best.
Nov 21st, 2007
skellie
@ Jack: Absolutely. I’m subscribed to very few blogs with partial feeds, simply because I’m often not motivated enough to open the article in a new window, and if I persistently don’t read feed items from a blog I’m subscribed to, that’s generally enough to cause me to unsubscribe.
@ Paidtwice: Your target audience is definitely people who are also in debt. Focus on them with every post and you will continue to grow :-).
@ Billionaire Strategies: Thanks for your comment. Good to see you around!
@ Kent: Sorry Kent, sometimes they take a little while to appear. They should be there now.
The strategies above were used to go from 0 to 1,050 subscribers so they should be very relevant to you as someone who’s just starting out.
Nov 21st, 2007
emigre
Great tips there. I’m in the camp for writing less frequently but making sure most posts say something that interests readers. I find this not only help ease the pressure of blogging daily but also increases the quality of my posts.
I have also monitored my traffic stats when I post less frequently and notice no drop in traffic. Instead, on the days when I had a good post, traffic went up and sustained itself over a few days without a new post.
Nov 21st, 2007
Brian Auer
That’s really funny — I just wrote a similar article on my blog… though you’ve got me beat on the 3-month thing. Interesting to hear your thoughts on building success, because you’ve been quite good at it and there’s a lot of buzz around you right now.
Are we taking bets on when you pass the 5K mark? I wouldn’t be surprised if it were only another 3 or 4 months. By the way, isn’t this like the 3rd or 4th article you’ve posted within the last day or two? Good grief!!!
Nov 21st, 2007
CHESSNOID
Hi Skellie,
I usually read your posts in my reader but I was compelled to comment on such an insightful post. I always enjoy your articles. Thanks again.
Cheers!
Nov 21st, 2007
skellie
@ Emigre: I’ve noticed the same thing. A lot of people seem to have the misconception that people will abandon your blog if you post a bit less. Not true! Good to see that you have a handle on that :).
@ Brian: Just read, tumbled and Dugg your post :).
The ProBlogger and DBT posts were written a few days ago — the respective owners of those blogs decide when they’re going to go up. Sometimes it can seem like I’m everywhere though ;).
@ Chessnoid: Thanks for the kind words. I always like it when feed readers pop in to say hello and thank you :).
Nov 21st, 2007
Bente Lilja Bye
Hi Skellie,
I’d just like to confirm that it was first and foremost the simple and easy readable design that made your site remarkable.
It is a pleasant experience to read the content on these pages, whereas other sites may have high quality content their design makes is difficult to read - or it is too much “noise” on the pages. Too many ads for instance is annoying and often break the good design.
I actually subscribed to your site after my very first visit.
Keeping me as a reader has to do with the steady flow of high quality posts. My motivation to begin with was to brows the internet to learn general stuff about blogging for my own site which is totally different that you and what this niche is about.
Skelliewag has a very good comment form and policy too. The fact that you take your time to make comments directly related to what comes in on your site is remarkable. I’d have to say that you so far are the best I have seen in this field. You could perhaps share your thoughts on this policy/strategy as well? I’m sure it is quite deliberate.
Finally, how do you make time to study?
Nov 21st, 2007
skellie
@ Bente Lilja Bye: It’s really interesting to hear about the site from the perspective of a reader. I’m definitely rewarded by making the time to read and respond to comments: I get to see and engage with unique insights from readers, like the one you just gave me.
As for studying, well… I have an exam tomorrow and I’ve not yet started revising! So I think I need to subscribe to some blogs about being a better student ;).
Nov 21st, 2007
Scam
Skellie,
Thanks for taking the time to address a question posed by myself and others. That in itself is a real motivation for people to subscribe - they know that you are listening to your readership.
I will have to re-read this post again in order to digest everything and determine where I can make changes.
The main thing that sprung to mind for myself was the fact that I perhaps approach my subject from too many different angles, thereby diluting the value of my content so that’s definitely something for me to think about.
Editing my single.php file, by adding a request for readers to subscribe, at the end of every post would appear to have led to a 10% increase in subscribers so audacity certainly works!
Nov 21st, 2007
Mark
Skellie ~
Just letting you that it is posts like the above that have me coming by here first for my morning reading and then I head on to other sites.
Keep up the good work!
Nov 21st, 2007
Kalena Jordan
Thanks Skellie - this is a very motivating post to read on days when I’m really struggling with the blog. Thanks for sharing
Have you got a suggestion for coping with feedback overload? By that, I mean I get more FAQs sent to me than I could possibly answer unless I made several posts a day and I just don’t have time for that. How would you deal with that?
Nov 21st, 2007
Anthony Lawrence
Jack and Skellie and everybody else who thinks partial feeds are bad:
It isn’t necessarily so.
I offer both full and partial feeds, and the full is the default - the one you’ll get if you just hit “Subscribe” and don’t go poking into the details.
The partial stats readership increases just as quickly as the full - and you’d think that would not be the case, since it’s nominally harder to get the partial.
Personally (as a reader), I don’t like full feeds - I want to skim headlines and a little bit of text. As a publisher, I recognize that people want choice, and I give it to them.
As to audience, yes, you need to write for your readers, but there is a larger concept: why are you writing at all? If I am only writing for ad income (a depressingly common reason), I really have to concentrate on keeping my readers enthralled. However, I may have other reasons where my readers are perhaps not unimportant, but certainly secondary. For example, I started my website as a repository of information that *I* needed: if other people read it, fine, but the primary purpose was for my use.
That’s changed a bit over the years, but there are still posts I write where the main reason is to document and detail something for myself. Often that may be useful or interesting to others, but the impetus was entirely personal.
Nov 21st, 2007
Jason A Clark
This is a comprehensive article with a lot of good, common sense information. It’s laid out nicely and very easy to read. Good job.
Nov 22nd, 2007
skellie
@ Scam: Thank to you and others for being the inspiration for the post :). And yes, it is an article that will probably need to be digested over time. I spent the better part of the day writing it!
@ Mark: That’s great to hear — thank you.
@ Kalena: Let people know that you’re answering questions in the order you received them. Rather than trying to answer questions as soon as you get them, add them to a queue and work through them at a pace that’s comfortable for you. If people know that you’ve received their question and plan to answer it eventually I think they’ll be more than happy to be patient. You could also write a FAQ page for the questions you seem to get again and again.
@ Anthony Lawrence: They’re not to my personal taste, but I’m always in favor of doing what works. If they work for you then that’s excellent. I think it’s great that you offer readers a choice :).
@ Jason: Thanks — I’m glad you liked it!
Nov 22nd, 2007
Christopher Kata
What a fantastic post. We’ve been debating this exact topic lately and are in the process of shifting the focus of our blog to what our core audience really is!
Nov 22nd, 2007
Brad Detchevery
Hi, I’m a new subscriber and I’m really liking your posts. Whenever you have the chance I have a few questions.
1) It can sometimes hard coming up with new posts for just 1 target audience, but I can easliy come up with several posts for several audicences. How would you suggest handling this? A different blog for each targeted audience? What if people simply subscribed to the keywords that were important to them (ie: A custom tailored feed of just debt reduction)
2) Even if I post less, it won’t gaurentee that my entries will have a lot of value right? I can put myself in my audience’s shoes and try to think, “What would they like to read about”, but the answer I get still doesn’t ensure value to others. So at least some of it must be trial and error. It’s a 2 way communication between you and your subscribers, you learn from your mistakes and feedback you recieve (hopefully) Once I’ve picked a ‘target audience’. Is there any easy way to research what they may like to hear?
Thanks for the blog, I look forward to reading and learning more. It would be nice to have 1000 subscribers
Nov 22nd, 2007
Maki
Congrats on the subscribers, Skellie. Impressive stuff. I reckon you’ll grow even faster in the next few months.
Once that core audience is solidified (1K+ subscribers), your stuff will spread faster and wider, bringing more people in..
Nov 22nd, 2007
paidtwice
This post and the preceding one have provided me with some needed clarity on what I am doing and why I am doing it. I’m going to keep tweaking with my about page and see what happens. I tweaked significantly this morning but I’m not quite to happy.
I did have an uptick of about 10% in subscriber #s this morning but I think that is more to google reporting fluctuations than an actual substantial increase. but I am always in favor of the “up”
Nov 22nd, 2007
Adnan
Congrats on the quick success Skellie and for sharing some tips with us. The first 100 are the hardest, and I guess that means the first 1k are the hardest too, so it should be downhill from here - I see you’ve already got nearly 1400 subs today!
Keep up the fantastic writing - I’m sure that’s the number 1 reason for your growth - the content is amazing.
Nov 22nd, 2007
Alex Kay
Top notch post.
I think that you are one of the few that really “gets” blogging.
“When an indebted person visits such a blog they can look across the breadth of the content and say: “Everything here is relevant to me.” They’re in a perfect position to decide to subscribe.”
This perfectly illustrates my point. And I think that with posts like this, I am on my way to “blogging enlightment” too.
Alex
Nov 22nd, 2007
Pachecus
I started my personal blog yesterday.. I’ll apply your advice.. thanks
Nov 22nd, 2007
Livrona
These are great tips for any one who is just starting into blog like me. Great post.
Nov 22nd, 2007
UnCladChef
Excellent post, I am in the early stages of writing for my blog and am having a hard time attracting a readership through rss. I plan on writing an E-book and offering it in return for an rss subscription. I also plan on referring to this article often as I pursue my goal of getting more rss readers. Thanks!
UnCladChef
Nov 22nd, 2007
Tina Su - Think Simple Now
Wow, this is a fantastic post!
What a great example of a value-packed article!
I loved how clearly you articulated the points, and the summary for each major point.
I’ve personally followed these and it’s worked for me very well. I’ve spent the past two month focusing on nothing but generating valuable content for my readers, and networking. And within less than 2 month (still counting) we were blessed with 600+ subscribers who found the content relevant to them. I was trying to articulate how I did this with someone, but you have given a fantastic summary.. I will be sure to link this to people when the topic comes up.
One question: regarding not ignoring people and seeing “every email, comment, message, IM conversation and social media experience is networking.” Do you respond to every comments left on your blog?
Thank You!
Tina
Nov 22nd, 2007
Matthew Crist
This is a great post. I have been stuck around 800 subscribers on our primary site for quite a while.
There has been quite a lot of churn which leads me to question some of my recent writings and whether or not they are helping or hurting my numbers.
Just another reminder that content is always the most important thing.
Nov 22nd, 2007
Sebastian
You rock Skellie!
I love your win/win attitude.
Taking the time to be nice to people is a long-forgotten art in today’s society, but it really works!
Nov 22nd, 2007
Mark Dykeman
Excellent post, Skellie, as always.
I’ve been thinking about multiple blogs for some time now, since segmentation seems to be pretty important. That would certainly provide focus. I might benefit from some focus. I dunno. It’s just that “brain broadcasting” and “catch the brainwaves” gives me a lot of room to maneuver, you know?
Nov 22nd, 2007
Ivy
Skellie, I was just struggling with the quantity vs quality question earlier on. After a relatively successful post that got me some votes at StumbleUpon and new subscribers, I felt pressed to follow up with another article to “keep the traffic”.
After I hit the “Publish” button, I knew I had substracted from the quality of my previous post. While there is some valuable information, I did not have the time to work an angle or to tailor it to readers. Presentation and breakdown of your analysis / readings to serve it to readers is always an important task, and one that I could not do on that post due to lack of time.
So I definitely subscribe to the post less, write better quality article philosophy.
Thanks for the insight of this post. Actually, it flows with your previous post on re-writing your About Us page. Its two essential components of blog branding and talking to your target audience.
Nov 22nd, 2007
Emmanuel70
Hi Skellie,
I am one of those 1,050 subscribers, I got hooked the first time I chanced upon your blog, can’t remember exactly from which site. I am quite new to internet marketing and the blog that I started back in October is getting just a bit of traffic for the keyword I’ve targetted. This has been steadily improving as I implement ideas I pick up from the successful bloggers like you. Thank you for the lessons today. I guess as a beginner I’ve been writing for too broad an audience, ending up with no returning readers (not to mention subscribers). This and the strategies of providing value-added content and maximizing the benefit of social media are all powerful lessons I’m thankful I learned this early in my internet career. Keep up the great job, Skellie.
Nov 22nd, 2007
David
writing articles on how to build blog traffic certainly doesn’t hurt…
Nov 22nd, 2007
Jon - FreelanceFolder
Hey Skellie! thanks so much for the mention, really appreciated!
That was a fantastic post, you just have to change the title to reflect your actual fee count now
Seriously, it’s no surprise you now got so many subscribers. I keep coming back like almost everyday, even if there is no new post. I don’t know, I just feel at home here
Nov 22nd, 2007
Evan Hadkins
Hi Skellie,
Great advice.
My question is how to go about defining and reaching your target audience. I haven’t seen much on the how-to’s about. I think this may be because for those who are good at it it is instinctive (’common sense). For people like me it is bewildering.
All advice most welcome. Evan
Nov 22nd, 2007
Anthony Lawrence
I think I’ve read this post six times now
One thing I keep thinking about is that whole “subscriber count” thing and the amazing fact that there are still tremendous throngs of people who have no idea WHY they would subscribe. I have talked to people who say things like “Great site - I read it every day”, but if I ask “Do you subscribe” I get answers like, “No, I’d rather read it on-line”, which of course means they do not understand the benefits of RSS.
It’s a little frustrating..
Nov 23rd, 2007
Anthony Lawrence
Evan, re: “defining and reaching your target audience”
I think there is something above that to consider first: are you a part of your target audience?
The first part of that is the obvious one: you can’t write about something you know nothing about. I can’t read or write music; it would be pretty silly of me to start a site devoted to musical creation. As obvious as that is, I do see people doing things like : “Darren Rowse made a ton of money reviewing cameras, why don’t I do that?” Because if you don’t know jack about photography, why would anyone read it?
But the second part is not as obvious. Let’s say you are an expert on, oh whatever, let’s say Perl. I mean a real,
“Oh, yeah, I talk to Larry Wall all the time” expert. You eat and breathe the stuff..
OK, I use Perl. Am I going to read your site? Maybe not, because it’s probably way over my head and far more than I need. You do have an audience, but unless you can sink down to my level, I’m not part of it. And that audience is going to be pretty darn small because there just aren’t that many people who can appreciate what you have to offer.
There are some people (very few) who can successfully bring great expertise down to a level where larger numbers can enjoy it. For most of us, however, it’s probably better if we are closer to our audience, if our level of knowledge is similar to theirs - maybe a little better because we are concentrating on a subject that they only dally in, but not so far above that we don’t seem human and approachable. I think being at the right level (or being able to write to that level) is very important for success.
Take Skellie as a good example. Does she seem human and approachable? You betcha. Is she talking about things we understand? Definitely. Is she a “head in the clouds” expert? No, she has that rare gift of communication that lets her impart that expertise in a very readable way.
I took a look at your site, and I have a pretty good idea of your target audience is - but it’s not my area of expertise, so I can’t offer an advice on reaching them more effectively. I can tell you that personally I don’t like your style of
Setting things off like this in bold
when they aren’t headlines, but that wouldn’t stop me from reading you if I were otherwise enthralled..
Nov 23rd, 2007
Keira Peney
Wonderful advice, and an incredibly value-packed post. I’m currently trying to get my own blog noticed in a crowded niche, and I think your articles are going to be a LOT of help. I’m still not sure how to get a post to go viral though… I keep trying, and it never seems to take off! I probably need to network more with other social media users.
And definitely useful advice on cutting down the number of posts but improving the quality. Something I’m guilty of is trying to get a post out as often as possible, without always taking the time to make sure it’s a good one.
Nov 23rd, 2007
Mandy
This is a great guide and really makes me think about what I am doing for subscribers.
And in turn it will make my blog better and more targeted.
Thanks
Nov 23rd, 2007
Simon Townley
Terrific post. But I must admit, I’m one of those people who tried RSS and lost interest fast. I still prefer just bookmarking stuff and visiting sites, especially when they have great design.
Isn’t it true, though, that it’s regular readers you need, not just subscribers? Of course, subscriber numbers are easy to measure. Though it does beg the question, how many subscribers still get around to reading the posts several months after they clicked the little orange button. Is there a danger that subscriber numbers are a bit of vanity, because you don’t really know if they are reading or not?
Nov 23rd, 2007
Anthony Lawrence
Simon:
I would say that the point of RSS feed stats is to see them growing. True, you cannot tell if the readers really are reading: I have sites in my RSS reader that stay there for months on end, unread and unloved until I finally do some housecleaning and boot them out. So yes, you are absolutely correct: you don’t really know if they are reading or not.
But you DO know if the stats are increasing, and that is an important indicator for your blog. Raw stats like Google analytics can be affected by odd things: a random link at some popular site, a glitch in Google (I have an ancient, very unimportant page that baffles me because it gets thousands of Google referrals for no apparent reason - over 7,000 hits today for example!) or whatever.
Those hits might indicate you are doing a good job, but an increasing RSS subscriber counts almost definitely means you are on track: with very few exceptions, almost all subscriptions come from a human being deciding your content is woth something to them.
Nov 25th, 2007
Anthony Lawrence
Simon:
Actually, if you do a little bit of log file analysis, you can at least tell how many of those RSS “readers” came to your site. Doesn’t help you with knowing whether the rest are ignoring you or not, but it’s still interesting.
I wrote a little Perl script and ran it against my logfile so far this month. The results:
Visitors: 131,446
Not from RSS: 131,186
From RSS: 260
RSS Visitors: 954
Never came to site: 694
Came to site: 260
=================
I’ll write this up and share the script on my site later today. It will be in the “Web” section and will be called “How many RSS readers do you really have?”
Nov 25th, 2007
Evan Hadkins
Thanks Anthony,
your comments much appreciated. I’ll see if I can find a different way of highlighting stuff.
Nov 25th, 2007
Udi
Hi Skellie,
Thanks for this wonderful post. I think that I can definitely take some inputs from here that will help me be a better person/blogger.
Mostly I like your tip about writing for people over writing about subjects. I guess this is true for life and not just for blogging.
- udi
Nov 27th, 2007
Janice Sharman
Skellie,
This is a great article, packed with valuable content. You have hit the nail right on the head. Your advice doesn’t just work for blogs… Writing exclusively for our target audience should work for most businesses
Nov 27th, 2007
Manju
Thank you so much for this wonderful post.Packed with lot of content.I will apply this for my blog .
Dec 21st, 2007
Vanessa
Fabulous post!
I’m a new subscriber to your blog and I must say that I totally look forward to reading your posts. I love your writing style and your posts always chock full of great content.
Dec 31st, 2007
stergeron
I’ve been a huge fan of your blog for a few months now. I think I”ve read every article on the site now. This one was definitely value packed. Anyhow, just wanted to say thanks for all the great articles. If my site gets 1,000 subscribers over the next few months, I’ll know who to thank.
Jan 18th, 2008
Chris
This is a great post.
I’m struggling to find my identity having just launched <3 weeks ago. After reading this post, it seems it may be more worthwhile to create separate domains for all my interests. This was a consideration initially, but I didn’t think I would have the time while still balancing a full-time job. Your less is more concept is not only appealing, but sensible. Thanks.
Jan 24th, 2008
DrGizmondo
Hi skellie, an excellent post cramed with good anvice. I dont know if you will ever get around to reading this, if you dont maybe someone else may be able to help.
Im pritty secure in the fact that I know who im writing for, my main problem is getting linked. I write good content, that has value, but for somereason I dont get any incomming links to my material. does anyone have any sugestions on how to generate more incoming linkes.
Feb 5th, 2008
Jacky
I learned a lot from this post. Thanks ^.^
Feb 6th, 2008
Tal
Hi Skellie,
Thank you for the article and the great advice - i’ll try to apply it on my new blog!
Feb 12th, 2008
Deanna - Adventurous Wench
Wow - thanks for all the great advice!
You’ve certainly given me a lot to think about and work on. I can see why you attained the success you did - great content!
(And no sooner did I find your blog than I became a subscriber too!)
- Deanna.
Apr 1st, 2008
james kennedy
This article definitely helped me better understand how I should be posting. Subscribers are one thing, but do you have any tips on starting to generate income? I surely don’t think random loosely related ads are the solution.
May 23rd, 2008
think outside the piggy bank
Excellent post. It inspired me to write one of my own!
My blog is still young, and probably in need of tweaking, so I’ll certainly be combing your articles and taking them to heart. Your site provides a great service to all of us, so thanks for being here. Hope you’ll be back soon!
Jun 19th, 2008
Adam Singer
This post is better than the one on 1100 subscribers in 5 days! I think this is FAR more possible. =)
Jul 4th, 2008
Reply to “How to Get 1,050 Subscribers in 3 Months”