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9 Habits of Bloggers Who Have Huge Audiences

Posted By Guest Blogger 19th of August 2015 General 0 Comments

9 Habits of Bloggers Who Have Huge AudiencesThis is a guest contribution from Jeff Foster.

If you’re just starting out as a blogger, you’re probably wondering how to grow your audience.

The good news is that there’s a lot you can learn from bloggers who have already built an enormous following – no matter what they blog about, great bloggers share a number of habits that make them successful. If you’re diligent about developing these habits yourself, you too can build an army of loyal supporters.

Let’s look at why highly successful bloggers truly connect with their audience:

1. They are Passionate About Their Subject

When you’re truly excited, it comes across in your writing – it arouses your audience and makes them feel that you have something worth saying. Don’t pick a blog niche just because there are lots of potential readers, write about something you truly care about, and readers will come flocking. In any case, if you’re not deeply passionate about your subject, chances are you’ll get bored and abandon your blog very quickly.

2. They Take the Time to Make Themselves Experts

People read blogs because they want unique insights and interesting points of view. If you just repeat what other bloggers are saying, then you’re not adding any value.

You need to take the time to become a true expert. If you’re passionate about your subject, this should be a labor of love – not a burden. Read widely and keep up with the latest news so that you have your finger on the pulse of your subject.

Engage in social media – not just your own blog – to build your knowledge and have meaningful discussions. By making learning a lifelong process, you’ll give your readers something that they just can’t get anywhere else.

3. They Create Incredibly Useful Content

Not only are top bloggers experts, they also give their readers genuinely helpful information.

Don’t just focus on expressing your own views – think about what your audience wants to know, and then give them this information.

For example, if you blog about cooking, ask kitchen equipment manufacturers for product samples. Then try these samples out, and tell your readers what you think. On the other hand, if you’re a fashion blogger, make the effort to go to real fashion shows and give your followers a first-hand account of what went on.

4. They’re Prolific

To grow a huge audience for your blog, you need to keep your readers coming back. Sure, it’s important to add new readers all the time, but if your existing audience is drifting away, then you’re fighting an uphill battle.

The way to build a loyal following is to produce lots of fresh content – every day if possible. This doesn’t mean you should write for the sake of writing – fuzz and fluff are useless. You have to deliver concise, insightful material on a regular basis – it’s tough to do this, but the more you try, the easier it gets.

5. They’re Motivated Self-Starters

The great thing about blogging is that you don’t have a boss telling you what to do – it’s also one of the biggest challenges.

No one is going to force you to sit down and write that next blog post, or tell you to go out and interview industry experts. What you do has to come from within yourself. Unless you can get up each morning and tear into life with a fresh appetite, you’re going to struggle. That’s why it’s so important to be passionate about your subject – if you believe in what you’re doing, then staying motivated is much easier.

6. They Know How to Manage Their Time

As a blogger, it’s so easy to waste time. There are countless ways to pretend to yourself that you’re getting useful work done. For instance, you may find it fun to play around with the latest plug-ins for your blog – but you need to ask yourself whether this is the best use of your time.

Successful bloggers look at their time as a precious resource – they plan ahead, schedule activities, and then do what they say they’re going to do. Everything in their plan is there for a reason. If something isn’t in the plan, it isn’t a priority.

7. They Persist

Even the most successful bloggers have setbacks. Not all of your blog posts will hit the mark, and you’re going to get turned down again and again by people you want to interview.

It’s easy to get discouraged, but to succeed you need to carry on. Talent isn’t enough – there are lots of skilled bloggers who don’t succeed because they can’t keep going when the going gets tough. The best bloggers are determined and won’t take no for an answer – if something doesn’t work, they just move on to their next great idea.

8. They Engage in Meaningful Dialogs With Their Readers

A blog isn’t a lecture. The best bloggers listen to their readers and create a dynamic community.

By responding positively to what their readers say, answering their questions, and engaging in meaningful conversations, they make their readers feel like they belong. This in turn creates a deep bond and a sense of trust – turning readers into impassioned supporters.

9. They Build Strong Relationships With Other Bloggers

Blogging isn’t a competition.

Great bloggers take the time to build relationships with other bloggers. They leave thoughtful comments, share other bloggers’ posts and even get in contact with them directly. If you do this, you’ll get amazing insights that you can share with your own blog readers. Equally important, connecting with other bloggers gives you exposure and helps you to build your audience. When you build a relationship with other successful bloggers, they’ll be the first to talk about what you do. Just make sure that you’re completely genuine. You have to truly care about what other bloggers are saying – otherwise you’ll just come across as engaging in cynical promotion, and they’ll spot you a mile away.

Jeff Foster is co-founder and CEO at Tomoson, the influencer marketplace. The platform allows bloggers and social media influencers to get paid for posting sponsored content, and lets businesses connect with targeted, niche audiences.

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Comments
  1. I think you captured the key points Jeff – a focus on creating valuable content, engagement with readers and consistency.

  2. Awesome – and so true!

    Well, I’m working on ALL the things. (At once ;)

    @Darren – please could you guys place a Pin button on your posts / images?

    Thanks!

  3. I think my biggest downfall here is time management. I tend to drift off to solve a small problem and hours later I am back to where I started.

  4. Points 3 & 6 are my favourites…. writing content that people actually want is so important and its so easy to waste time. I schedule my day using apps & tools. Its amazing how much you can do in one day!

    Good read :)

  5. Great Post Darren. I especially like #2: Taking the time to make themselves experts”. It’s an important point to make that real experts are not self-proclaimed. They obtain that title by gaining the respect and admiration of industry peers. In most cases it can take years of hard work to get there and maintaining it is no easy achievement either.

    I actually just wrote a blog post about what makes my 12 favorite blogs successful, and Problogger was also featured: http://www.adngin.com/blog/blogging-best-practices/7-essential-success-factors-to-adopt-from-a-dozen-killer-blogs-part-1-content-ux/

  6. Sameer says: 08/19/2015 at 10:23 pm

    Point no 3,8 and 9. It,s always important to write about what audience want.If you have strong relationship with your readers then no one can stop you from huge traffic.

  7. GREAT article.

  8. Finding your voice as a blogger takes time. At least it did for me. And I believe when you know who you are and what you want to say, that’s when the audience comes. Strangely, the more close to my heart I I write, the more people read my posts. I’m always striving for that thin line between personal and universal. Thank you for these great reminders.

  9. I cannot break through the traffic plateau – I’ve been trying for months and months. Do you think it is time to employ a marketer?

  10. these are true fact. there also many habits of bloggers. point no 3 & 4 is very common.

  11. Hi Jeff, I feel that the biggest point is the one that you mentioned last. Bloggers who manage to have big audiences also have a thriving community. It’s this community that purchase from their blogs and share their articles.

    If you have a community going you are winning.

  12. Creating useful content *and* being prolific means you need LOTS of knowledge about your topic and your audience … and can communicate it at a level that reaches your audience. It’s harder than it looks! Time management is also critical because once you get into blogging you’ve got more things happening and more demands on your time.

  13. Excellent points Jeff! I feel being persistent really helps one to stand out from the blogging crowd.

    Thanks for sharing :)

    Ryan

  14. So true. Without focusing on a particular niche that you are passonate about means you loose interest soon or just keep thinking, ‘what should i write about?’. Thanks for this. :)

  15. Sometimes i cant even sleep without updating my blog http://www.scholarshipschemes.com/ and scheduling the tweets as per my blogging schedule.I am naturally attached to my blogging schedule, and keep looking for any update from Darren Rowse’s facebook page and this blog. Such a interesting articles and and I love how he holds/engage his audience in facebook. Thank you

  16. Kapil says: 08/20/2015 at 3:56 pm

    Nice article. My fav pointers 5 & 7. Lot of bloggers can’t get going when the going gets tough. True that.

  17. Hi Jeff,

    It is very important to stay consistent and persistent in what you do as a blogger. People out there are continuously looking for valuable insights and facts. All they need is someone to deliver them.

    A great post indeed. (:

  18. Very True… A Blogger should always have useful content to the audience, so that users get habitual to read blogs.

  19. GREAT article! Really well-written and entertaining!

  20. Great Points shared here, It is not enough to just write the content it is all about the promotion of your blog as well and being driven to write a blog post every day. For me my take away is connecting on other peoples blogs and sharing a common interest, something I will be scheduling into my day.

    Great Value

  21. Absolutely agree with you! There are to many bloggers on the market but you can recognize the quality ones. If you ask me “the content is the king”

  22. Great post Jeff,
    These are really the things that differentiate pro bloggers with huge audience from mediocre bloggers with little to no audience.

    Its very necessary to be passionate about your blog because if you, you’ll always find it fun and you will never get bored of it. Also, successful bloggers never stops learning. As a blogger, learning should be an ongoing process because no one can know everything, there are still some areas you’ll be a novice on therefore, acquiring as much knowledge as possible is required for you to keep up with the trend.

    I agree with all you said Jeff, thanks for sharing.

  23. Time management is the key factor for most businesses wither large or small. Twitter feeds, blog posts, Facebook etc are all vital tools in our armoury.

    Tips on managing these platforms always makes popular in demand content.

    Morgan

  24. Great Mr Rows, I am a blogger but I don’t know I’m a succesful or unsuccesful blogger however thanks a lot for your nice article

  25. Absolutely agree, especially #1, #2, #5 and #9, those are the things I have used to become an expert in Travel Blogging. Great read.

  26. Awesome points, Stacey! Indeed, managing time and coming up with new, research-oriented topics for the next blog have always remained a challenge even for the most experienced bloggers. However, if you’re truly passionate about blogging, things tend to become far less daunting for you. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

  27. Loved this guide, any blogger should keep that in mind.

  28. I’ve learned that consistency is equally important, even though I have yet to master that.

    My blog is still quite small and I partly blame that on the small chip on my shoulder. While I have learned from mistakes and gotten better, finding my own community has never resulted in success. Too many bloggers I have come across are clique-ish in nature, though they’ll vehemently deny that they are. And yet, to those of us who are trying (while also battling our own personal demons and trying to avoid being bitter and jealous) but still on the outside see it differently. Well, generally speaking from my own observations anyway since I cannot and will not speak for everyone.

    Despite my own shortcomings though I’m still trying, still writing. I may suck at several things on this list, but thankfully I’m still persistent and not willing to throw in the towel.

  29. Heyya.,I think my biggest downfall here is time management. I tend to drift off to solve a small problem and hours later I am back to where I started.I am naturally attached to my blogging schedule, and keep looking for any update from Darren Rowse’s facebook page and this blog. Such a interesting articles and and I love how he holds/engage his audience in facebook. Thank you

  30. A wonderfully well composed and informative blog post just as all are all the time. I love point #2, #5 and #9. All new bloggers should apply.

  31. Great thoughts. It’s interesting how the “motivated self-starter” (for which i easily qualify) collides with the Persistence (which is a tough discipline for me). As a newbie, these are great tips to keep in mind as i drudge ahead.

    Thanks for writing!

  32. Hi Jeff,

    Great post. Number 6, Time management resonated with me. I have lists of lists of things to do but I’ve been trying to focus more on being productive than fiddling about with all the things that don’t matter so much.

    I think a lot of us creative types struggle with perfectionism too. I’ve managed to let go of the ‘it must be perfect’ syndrome but it still slows me down on occassion.

    Thanks again for an enjoyable post Jeff. Have a great day :)

  33. Terrific post. I have found in my own experience that persistence and being a self-starter can be two of the toughest aspects. Even when you pour your heart into something over and over, it can get tough sometimes to keep going. But it does seem that persistence usually, if not always, pays off. Thanks for this post!

  34. I think the most important are those that have nothing to do with blogging. Persistence and learn to manage their time.

  35. Great post! I post once a week and have been wondering whether I should try to move it up to twice a week. I’m going to start doing video so maybe that will be twice a week. I think twice a week writing would lower the quality of my posts. I have so many ideas but my health & low energy levels get in the way of my ability to keep turning out deep, thoughtful posts. People think blogging sounds like a cushy job but it’s actually so tough! But just launching has proven to me that there’s so much support out there for you if you go after what you want and just keep on working through the rough spots. :)

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