And What You Can Do About It To Start Attracting Real Readers
There’s a quote out there, about a leader without a following, and how he’s just taking a walk.
Blogging can feel that way, which is why it’s good to see your traffic spike every once in awhile. It’s good to see a few retweets, and a few comments just to realize that people are alive. They read what you had to see, and some actually thought enough to interact.
If that’s not happening occasionally for you, there might be a few reasons why.
- It’s boring. This is a moment of truth for you, so be honest. Have you really put enough personality or passion behind what you’re doing, or are you boring people? Remember that the best way to attract customers online right now is to stand out from your competition. Sometimes searches yield hundreds or thousands of results. Differentiation is no easy task.
- You’re a wicket supply company selling wickets to people interested in wickets. I don’t care how you think Google operates. PEOPLE understand what you’re trying to do here, and it’s getting a little old. Try writing copy you’d want to share instead. The Internet’s for people. Stop writing for robots.
- It’s littered with mistakes. Grammar and spelling can be a tricky business. When you’re constantly using the wrong “they’re” and misspelling a bunch of words, it erodes trust. Readers begin to wonder what you really know about your topic or industry, if you can’t simply spell the word right.
- Constant peddling. Spare us the hard sell. We’re not sitting at our computers trapped, being forced to watch or read your advertisements. Most of us hate a hard sell. If you can entertain us, educate us or otherwise provide value, it’ll go a lot better for you in a content marketing world. I promise.
- Share your work. Make sure that you’re active online, away from your blog. Post links to promote it on your other social networks. Participate in other online discussions by commenting on other blogs and forums, etc. Guest post on other industry blogs. This is the online version of networking. Sometimes you just need to go where the business is.
I’ll be honest here, not everyone’s a writer, and that’s OK. It reminds me that I need to get in touch with my accountant for tax season. Numbers aren’t my thing. Content is a crucial part of doing business anymore. Companies need to be blogging, and producing regular content.
If this sounds overwhelming, don’t be afraid to hire a freelance writer.
Matt Brennan is a Chicago-area marketing writer and copy editor. He is also the author of Write Right-Sell Now.
