I don't normally write "How To" pieces but now that I have been blogging for over a year I consider myself to be somewhat of an expert in the field. Sure there are others that have been at it longer and others that have a bigger following, but once you hit that year mark you know that you have made it. Being a blogger past your one year "Blogoversary" (nonsense word) really does give you street cred in this medium.
I have a pretty decent following on Twitter and Facebook, but I can't be certain that at least three quarters of my followers aren't just spammers and marketers. I will just go with the idea that there are at least a few people that are following me because they actually like to read my blog.
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When you are an up and coming blogger you go anywhere to get information on how to grow your blog and gain more readers. More readers meant certain wealth, and more wealth meant instant fame. I know that I did, and really didn't find that much useful information. I must have visited hundreds of sites trying to find the most foolproof methods to gain more readership. All of them had the same nonsense about being yourself, finding your voice, creating a niche and the list goes on.
I am here to tell you the one secret that every blogger needs to know in order to get viewers.
Write a post on how to grow your blog!
I can't tell you how many times I would see a "How to" post on my Twitter stream and be compelled to read it only to find that same stuff about using Twitter and Facebook and all the great social mediums. EVERYONE WAS AN EXPERT when it came to growing their blog, I know because I read them all.
Then it hit me, I had never heard of half of these blogs and most hadn't been around the requisite one year so they could not be considered an expert in the blogging world. The only way that ANYONE visited these blogs was because they wrote a post about growing your blog.
It's genius right?
They probably didn't even know how smart they were when they were writing it. I can almost guarantee that that post was their most read post of all time. Whether or not people showed up for their next entry is besides the point, they had the hook. They suckered me in and I am sure that I wasn't alone.
The truth is, there is no right way or wrong way to grow your blog. There are no answers, I've looked.
Trust me. I'm an expert.
