The Raven, writing today about several aspects of free speech (http://blogs.salon.com/0001381/2003/02/09.html#a289) waxes eloquently on the desperate feeling of new bloggers trying to find an audience:
For the time being we’re having lots of fun, writing cryptic notes to each other that very few people are going to run into by chance… And then you start to realize how deep you’re buried. You aren’t a one-man publishing empire, you’re a bit of trivia locked in an underground vault at the end of a hidden tunnel system that takes a committed effort to locate even with directions.
So what can the new blogger do to salvage his (or her) self-esteem when, like the guy that sets up a snazzy new office, sends out flyers and then sits by the phone wondering why no one is calling, his brilliant new blog flounders at the bottom of the page-reads list, unloved and, worse, unread?
I’ve advised start-up businesses how to bring new products to market, and, although the blogger has a lot less money at stake than the entrepreneur, here are a few ideas that may work analogously for start-up bloggers:
1. Do your research first: Read other blogs, learn what subjects, styles of post, and lengths of post, get the most audience response (number of page reads and comments) and, unless you’re really patient or actually like shouting in the darkness, give the market what it wants.
2. Notwithstanding hint #1, be really patient anyway. I’ve seen many great business ideas folded because the owner wasn’t prepared to wait for the idea’s time to come, or the market to discover it. And even the medium of blogging is still unknown to most potential readers. Take your time, enjoy the ride, develop a style, learn to write better in the process.
3. Notwithstanding hints #1 and #2, don’t copycat. Your ‘product’ has to be better and/or uniquely different from others’ if its going to be a market success. Better analysis, synthesis, composition, insight, your particular background, experience or perspective – something that fills a need that others’ blogs don’t.
4. Learn from your successes, your failures and your customers. If something innocuous attracts surprising attention, or you post a real scoop that falls into a black hole, find out why. If someone gives you a suggestion or a pat on the back, take it to heart.
5. Join a club and network like mad. Salon Blogs is a great start. Comment on others’ posts. Send them articles that you think they’ll find interesting that bring them to your blog. Read at least twenty times as much as you write. E-socialize.
6. Blogging is one of the rare ‘businesses’ that isn’t a zero-sum game. Just like locating your specialized bookstore across from Barnes & Noble might seem counter-intuitive but is actually very clever, linking to other blogs and sites that deal with the same topics yours does can actually increase traffic to your blog. But don’t forget hint #3. The key constraint you’re dealing with is readers’ lack of time, so get to the point.