{"id":26969,"date":"2013-06-01T02:19:45","date_gmt":"2013-05-31T15:19:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/problogger.com\/?p=26969"},"modified":"2016-04-11T20:19:30","modified_gmt":"2016-04-11T09:19:30","slug":"8-steps-to-building-your-blog-into-a-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/problogger.com\/8-steps-to-building-your-blog-into-a-community\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Steps to Building Your Blog Into a Community"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"buildingThis is a guest contribution from\u00a0Jonathan Goodman.<\/em><\/p>\n

There are other people blogging about the same subject as you, maybe better or maybe worse\u2014but, as you probably have figured out by now, content is no longer king; context is.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Getting repeat readers who become brand ambassadors for you is pertinent to the success of your blog. So is getting repeat customers. It allows you to focus on what you do best: make great art\u2014writing material that people enjoy reading and writing material that will help thousands of people around the world.<\/p>\n

All successful blogs are communities<\/strong> and if you want to turn your blog into something special, something that will grant you financial freedom, and something that will help countless people then you must create a community out of your blog.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

There are a lot of great blog posts about creating communities<\/a>, but this one is different. The 8 steps I describe below is the exact process I used to build the world\u2019s biggest collaborative blog for personal trainers, in less than 2 years, with no connections and no technological acumen.<\/p>\n

Whether you’re starting anew or\u00a0you already have a blog you can apply these steps, in any order, to build your audience, network, and repeat readership.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Step 1 \u2013 The Idea<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"8<\/a>

Photo credit: Mar\u00eda Magn\u00e9tica from Flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

All good blogs are based on a powerful idea that\u00a0fulfils\u00a0or hits on a need.<\/strong> Perhaps there\u2019s a knowledge gap in your industry or, in the case of the personal training industry, there was a lot of information but it was all boring text-book material.<\/p>\n

The gap I filled was teaching personal trainers the soft side of training but adding in jokes, usually about how much I hate that stupid useless green bird in Angry Birds. Seriously, let\u2019s talk about that bird for a minute. Anybody else hate that thing? He adds an element of difficulty into the game that I don’t appreciate. I just want to smash pigs and move onto the next level.<\/em><\/p>\n

But I digress.<\/p>\n

Build your community on a single powerful idea.<\/strong> Understanding the blogging medium requires a lighter and more approachable tone — don’t be afraid to approach your topic with humor and wit.<\/p>\n

Most of all don\u2019t ever hide your personality.<\/strong> People buy into what you do because of the 1% that makes you different, not the 99% that makes you the same.<\/p>\n

I should also note that once your blog grows, it might grow out of your initial idea<\/strong> so you need to flexible about its evolution. An experts power doesn\u2019t come from knowing, it comes from knowing where to find and that\u2019s why step 2 is so important.<\/p>\n

Step 2 \u2013 The Sea Lion System to Build Your Network<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I\u2019m reminded of a family trip I took to Alaska. We found ourselves watching a group of whales bubble feed — it was spectacular — but something grabbed my attention and it wasn\u2019t the whales; it was the Sea Lions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You see, Sea Lions wait patiently on the outside of the vicious bubble feed and catch the fish that the whales fling out. Sea Lions are opportunistic.\"Sea<\/a><\/p>\n

You must be the Sea Lion<\/strong><\/p>\n

In any industry there are existing influencers who I\u2019m sure you can name off of the top of your head right now. These people have social media pages and blogs. Existing on those pages are what I call connectors.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When an industry influencer posts a status update or a new blog, there\u2019s a flurry of activity. Instead of trying to get the influencers attention, be the Sea Lion<\/strong> and find the people who are avidly liking, commenting, and sharing the influencer\u2019s material \u2014 there are your connectors.<\/p>\n

Over a short period of time, you\u2019ll notice the same names keep appearing. Likely they have blogs and even if they don\u2019t they will probably be open to network. Read and comment on a blog post or two of theirs and send them an email saying hi. Or, if they don\u2019t have a blog, send them a message saying that you would like to connect.<\/p>\n

Step 3 \u2013 Implicit Understanding, Explicit Meaning<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Choosing a name for your blog or community is an important step. Even if you blog in your basement at night, the name should make it sound like it\u2019s bigger than you.<\/strong> You\u2019re building a community here that others will want to be a part of.<\/p>\n

In addition, you want to have the option to sell the blog later on. A community blog is valuable and it\u2019s a nice option to have. JonsAwesomePersonalTrainerBlog.com<\/em> isn\u2019t going to be easy to sell but the Personal Trainer Development Center<\/em> is.<\/p>\n

Lastly, your blog name should be something that is intuitively meaningful for your audience.<\/strong> It should also be something that will make them feel like they look good by passing it on to colleagues, friends, or family members.<\/p>\n

Step 4 \u2013 Contact potential contributors<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Now the fun part starts.<\/p>\n

There are 3 different types of contributors that you want for your community blog.<\/p>\n

1. Camp Busters<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In every industry there are established camps that you should be able to identify. There\u2019s probably an influencer at the top and varying levels of followers underneath him or her. Ideally, you want to break into every camp that serves your industry. To do so, try to find somebody that\u2019s well connected in that camp and is currently lower down in the pecking order.<\/p>\n

2. Up and comers<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In step 2 you identified your connectors. Many of these people will be up and coming bloggers. Have a read through their material and note which ones are good. In addition, look to contact the ones who are hustling the hardest and get them on board with your community.<\/p>\n

3. Established authorities<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There\u2019s a Catch-22 here. You need readers to attract established authorities to write for you, but you can\u2019t get readers without established authorities right?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s one approach:<\/strong> When you sign up for my free content course<\/span>, you also get to download my free Diamond in the Rough System Ebook. This is how to use Twitter to get the attention of the people behind the people.<\/p>\n

When contacting authorities you probably can\u2019t pay them but you can offer them value.<\/strong> Usually these people have years of archived high-quality material on their blogs. Sell them on your powerful idea in step 1 and ask them to come on board as a \u201ccoach\u201d or \u201cadvisor\u201d for your community. Assure them it is 0 work on their part.<\/p>\n

Tell them that you want to go through their entire archive and will send them a list of all the material that you would like the opportunity to use. You will re-edit and re-format the material so that it\u2019s different enough that Google doesn\u2019t view it as duplicate material and post it to your blog attributing it to them as the sole author with links back to their site.<\/p>\n

Some people may say no, but many will agree.<\/p>\n

Having established authorities on your site does two things:<\/strong> It establishes credibility for other contributors and you gain the audience of the authority.<\/p>\n

Step 5 – Planes, trains, and automobiles<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As personal as social networks are (sometimes too personal) nothing can ever replace meeting, shaking hands, and having a conversation with somebody in real life. Look for more intimate industry events that leave time for networking<\/strong>. I\u2019ve even been known to skip entire afternoons of talks to sit down and network with one person at a conference I was looking forward to meeting.<\/p>\n

Step 6\u2013 Develop a course<\/strong><\/h2>\n

What\u2019s the biggest issue or misconception facing your industry?<\/p>\n

Identify it and write a course<\/a> that you will integrate with an autoresponder sent over 10-20 days<\/a>.<\/strong> Here\u2019s a breakdown of how to plan out the course:<\/p>\n

\"Example<\/a><\/p>\n

To start, I suggest some brain mapping software (I use the MindNode App)\u2060<\/sup> or grabbing a note pad and writing it down the old fashioned way.<\/p>\n