Blogging Mommy: A is for Audience

Last week, I wrote the 5 rules for social media etiquette,  and how we can all attribute good social media skills today to the manners our moms taught us many years ago.

But I want to focus and discuss a few things over the next few Wednesdays: The ABCs of blogging.

Today, I am going to focus on A:

Finding your Audience.

1. Claim your identity

There are millions of blogs out there that focus on every topic from parenting to politics to fashion to art to technology and music.

Think about it. For every thing, every person and every industry there are thousands of people that want to write about it. In fact, there’s a great article about niche blogging that talks about why more focused blogs do better… in everything.

Why do you blog? Do you want to make money from your blog? {Who doesn’t??} Do you blog just to have fun? Do you just want to keep in touch with your family?

I blog to connect with other women and parents. I blog to have fun. I blog to capture my life as a new parent. I also blog to market myself on a professional level.

Decide who you are. Embrace it. And when you do…

2. Go to where your audience is.

Read what they’re reading. Find the forums and communities they frequent. Look in the comments sections of the blogs you follow. Comment on their blogs.

Find your people.

I use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, The Blog Frog, and niche communities I happen to frequent to find my audience. If it’s appropriate to comment and talk about something relevant on my blog, I do so. It’s never a “sell” or “spam.” It’s authentic, approachable content from a reliable source: Me!

But the most fun resource as been face to face contact. Bloggy Boot Camp was, by far, the best resource to find “my people.” I put faces to blogs, met the peeps behind the tweets and forged real friendships offline. In turn, I discovered new blogs… I became part of other writer’s audiences, and they became part of mine.

But most importantly, give out what you want to get in return. Be generous with your material. Don’t underestimate the power of friendship, sharing and promoting yourself.

3. Engage, engage, engage.

Write about what your audience wants to read, then engage with them and give them reasons to come back for more.

I happen to think that blogging is not a one-way form of communication. Engage the readers that visit you and give them a reason to come back. Keep the audience that has found you.

Comment on their comments. Use tools like Social Mention to find people who are interested in topics you write about. Create Google Alerts, and use analytics to see where your traffic is coming from.

Three tips to finding your audience. I know there are so many other ways, and I didn’t even touch on my favorite tools to find people on Twitter… but these are some of the basics…

Now, how did you find YOUR audience?

Tagged as: Audience, Blogging