Growing a blog takes time. Maybe even several years. Or can it be done almost instantly? Recently there have been a few examples of bloggers building a significant audience almost immediately. Skellie launched AnyWired and racked up 1,100 subscribers in just 5 days. David Airey started Logo Design Love with a successful first week that included over 450 subscribers.
Of course these two blogs are the exceptions, but there are some lessons to be learned. Skellie and David certainly aren’t the only bloggers to accomplish this feat, but they are two current examples. In this post we’ll look at some proven methods for accelerating the growth process for a new blog, as well as some of my own opinions on the matter.
Here are 5 methods for instant blog growth:
1. Start a 2nd Blog on a Related Topic
Both Skellie and David had successful blogs before their most recent blog launches. Each had a few thousand readers and a loyal following that was immediately interested in anything new that they created. By starting a new blog in a related field, a higher percentage of current readers will subscribe to the new blog as well. This not only makes it easier to increase the subscriber count, but it also dramatically helps to start with an audience that already has a great deal of trust and respect for the blogger, something that will otherwise take much more time to develop.
Of course, this is only an option if you already have an established blog in the first place. While it doesn’t help everyone, it does clearly show the learning curve that exists with blogging and it is a demonstration that building a blog becomes easier with time.
2. Tell All of Your Contacts
If you are an existing blogger, you probably have a number of contacts and friends that you have developed that share similar interests with you. All of these people are potential readers of your new blog, so be sure to send them an email to let them know about your new project and many of them will subscribe.
New bloggers may also have plenty of friends and contacts that would be interested. Have you been working in the field for a while and developed a network? Do you have friends and family that might be interested in the topics you cover? Do you visit community-related websites or forums where you have gotten to know others online that might be interested?
3. Social Media
While social media visitors typically have a short attention span and are less likely to subscribe than other visitors, social media can still be an effective way to instantly jump start a new blog. Last week I launched my 2nd blog, and while I can’t claim the type of success of Skellie or David, I feel like I had a pretty good first week, primarily due to social media. I received 15,000 visitors in 4 days and almost 100 subscribers.
If you have been using social for a while this is a great option. You probably have an idea of what type of content does well and maybe you even have some strong profiles at some of the major sites. If not, maybe you have a friend with a good profile that would be willing to submit your content. StumbleUpon is especially useful for new blogs. You don’t need to be a “power user” to get great results, and the traffic will continue for longer than it will with Digg or other social media sites.
4. Giveaways
Freebies are always good for growing traffic, links and subscribers. Free e-books or other downloadable products are especially popular. This technique is used by many bloggers, but rarely by new bloggers to correspond with a launch. I think this is partly because of the time that it takes to create a successful e-book, plus in some cases new bloggers aren’t yet knowledgeable enough to create a truly high quality resource.
My opinion is that a great giveaway would be an excellent way to boost exposure for a brand new blog. Those bloggers that have success with giving away a free e-book will often get the word out by emailing other bloggers in the niche to ask for some help or promotion. With a high quality e-book this could be a good way to introduce yourself to other bloggers and to build some buzz around your blog launch.
5. Hire Writers
Freelance Switch has grown to over 20,000 subscribers less than one year after launch. Collis and Cyan started the blog and they have paid a number of other writers to keep Freelance Switch constantly producing top-notch content. If you are willing and able to approach the blog as a business and spend some money without and immediate return, hiring qualified and respected writers will do wonders for a new blog. Ideally you’ll want to find writers that are well-known in the industry that will automatically attract readers to your blog.
6. Partner with Someone Else
If you don’t have the contacts that other bloggers might have, maybe you have other valuable skills that would make you an ideal partner for another blogger. You may be able to find an established blogger that is looking for a new opportunity. I don’t have any specific examples for this, and I don’t think it is done very often, but I do think it could be effective in the right situation (if anyone has an example please share in the comments). Multi-author blogs are becoming increasingly popular and many bloggers, as we have seen, have multiple projects going on at once. If you can find the right situation to work with an established blogger for mutual benefit it could lead to fast growth for a blog.
What would you add?
What are your thoughts about blog growth and the time that it takes? Do you have experience growing a blog quickly, or have you seen other examples that you can share?
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16 responses so far ↓
1 D Web Design // Feb 12, 2008 at 6:06 am
For the time being I have been doing only the 1st point, i.e to start a second blog on a related topic.
2 Caroline Middlebrook // Feb 12, 2008 at 9:39 am
Really I think the first point is the most crucial because if you don’t already have a large online presence then I don’t think many of the other factors will work. You wouldn’t have the contacts to email, your name would be lost in the sea of social media and your giveaways woud fall on deaf ears. I’d like to see a story of a newcomer who instantly grew a blog - I bet there isn’t one!
3 Eva White // Feb 12, 2008 at 10:37 am
You say Start a 2nd Blog on a Related Topic, but I am new to blogging and making my first blog. In that case I still need to make my visitors to come and visit my blog. What should I do to increase traffic to my first blog.
4 Tom Beaton // Feb 12, 2008 at 1:20 pm
I think he only way to grow that fast from nothing is to either spend a lot of money advertising/promoting/contests and getting attention of a big A lister such as ProBlogger.
5 David Airey // Feb 12, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Thanks very much for the mention. I agree with what Caroline has said, in that if you don’t already have a large online presence then the other factors become much more difficult.
Best of luck with your new blog project.
6 adnan // Feb 12, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Great post Steven - and i agree with David and Caroline in that it is so much easier to start a 2nd presence or blog space online, if you have the first crowd to market to.
Whilst giveaways can be great, it’s sort of a Catch-22 situation, because your competitions won’t be nearly as good if you don’t have enough people taking part, and you can only get people to take part if you find a way of attracting them (if that makes any sense ;)).
I think Skellie and David have done particularly well in keeping their 2nd blogs close to their original, starting niche so as to transfer a lot of their readers over. In all honesty, it would make for quite good income, repeatedly setting up new, related blogs, and then selling them off every few months. If your readers didn’t notice what you were up to, then some good moolah could be had!
7 Steven // Feb 13, 2008 at 12:42 am
Caroline,
I completely agree that the first point is the most crucial. That has been proven over time, in my opinion. On the other hand, I don’t really agree that the other factors won’t work without an existing presence online. I guess it’s also necessary to state that “success” is open to interpretation and what one person considers to be huge growth could be insignificant to someone else. From my perspective, your blog is a good example of one that grew steadily and quickly without a large existing base of readers from another blog. While new bloggers may not have existing contacts, that could be changed pretty quickly if they have great content. So in my opinion, not having an existing blog and network doesn’t mean that other methods of promotion won’t work. When my blog was new and I had no contacts I gained almost 250 subscribers in one day thanks to a lot of exposure from social media. I would certainly agree that it will be much more difficult than if you already have a strong network.
Eva,
There are any number of things you can do to increase traffic. Most importantly, focus on creating the best content that you can. A method that I used with a good bit of success when my blog was new is guest posting for other blogs. It’s a great way to build your network, get exposure and build links.
David,
I agree that it’s more difficult for new bloggers, but I think the other methods will still have a big impact if they are done well.
Adnan,
I wasn’t referring to competitions in the article, just free giveaways. I agree, competitions would be hard to promote with new audiences. If a new blogger that I didn’t know approached me about a new free e-book they wrote and I though it was really great quality, I would give them a recommendation from my blog (if it was relevant to my subject matter) and I think many other bloggers would do the same. Sure, it won’t get as much attention as it would if it were released by someone that was more well-known, but it could make a big difference in getting a new blog out into the spotlight.
8 SOCOM Sales // Feb 16, 2008 at 2:39 am
Unless you have a 1st blog with a large readership, that doesn’t work very well. I like your other ideas and have been using social media and giveaways as a way to grow readership. There are many people in the ’sales’ niche that are available to partner with but most of them are running businesses from their blogs and they only want it to be about them.
As for my other blogs, your steps are spot on for making an impact.
9 Ruchir Chawdhry // Feb 16, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Instantly growing a blog is only possible if:
1) You have a lot of money
2) You already have a well established blog
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11 Steven // Feb 16, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Social media doesn’t require either.
12 Tibi Puiu // Feb 17, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Excellent article Steven. Launching a blog is probably the most difficult period for a blog and managing to be successful, from the start, is very difficult.
13 Steven // Feb 17, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Hi Tibi,
Thanks for your feedback. Yes, the early days are definitely the hardest part. Fortunately it gets easier.
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15 Mike Touch // Feb 27, 2008 at 10:53 pm
To be honest I’m pretty scared of paying money for original contents. Unless I was some kind of seasoned pro I would have to stay clear of paying for writers when I was not confident of getting a return on the investment
16 zowoco // May 7, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Blog marketing: a new specialist niche??!! You have to get out there! Blogging is like dating: get out and network with as many people as you can! Kiss a whole lot of frogs. Enjoy thinking new thoughts!
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