{"id":61932,"date":"2022-08-03T16:13:03","date_gmt":"2022-08-03T06:13:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/problogger.com\/?p=61932"},"modified":"2022-08-03T16:13:03","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T06:13:03","slug":"get-first-1000-readers-heres-step-step-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/problogger.com\/get-first-1000-readers-heres-step-step-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Get Your First 1000 Readers: Here\u2019s Your Step by Step Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Get

Photo by delfi de la Rua on Unsplash<\/p><\/div>\n

By ProBlogger Writing Expert Ali Luke.<\/em><\/p>\n

Has your blog got a grand total of three subscribers? (You, your test account, and your mum?)<\/p>\n

Maybe you\u2019ve got a little bit further than that. You\u2019ve got 10 or 20 or 50 readers signed up to read your posts or your newsletter. <\/span><\/p>\n

But you don\u2019t know where to go next.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to assume that your blog is currently in reasonably good shape.<\/b> If there are any key things that you need to do or fix, then get those sorted before proceeding. (For instance, if your About page is currently a single line saying About page under construction<\/i>, don\u2019t try to attract readers until it\u2019s actually finished.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking shipshape? <\/span><\/p>\n

Before we get underway, let\u2019s quickly deal with a trap some bloggers fall into:<\/span><\/p>\n

Forget About Getting \u201cOne Big Break\u201d<\/b><\/span><\/h1>\n

Maybe you think that if a big-name influencer tweeted a link to one of your posts, you\u2019d get thousands of subscribers overnight. Or maybe you\u2019re crossing your fingers, hoping to get linked to by Buzzfeed or mentioned on The Huffington Post…<\/span><\/p>\n

Stop waiting for that big break to come. Even if you do<\/i> have a particular stroke of luck, you want to be in a great position to capitalize on it \u2013 not sitting back and twiddling your thumbs.<\/span><\/p>\n

A surge of traffic may look great in your stats \u2013 but it won\u2019t necessarily result in many new long-term readers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of thinking just about traffic<\/i>, you want to focus on getting subscribers<\/i>: people who keep reading your posts day after day, week after week, and month after month.<\/span><\/p>\n

A great first goal is to get 1000 subscribers to your blog, either through email or RSS subscriptions. <\/b>(Unless you\u2019re writing about techy things, you\u2019ll probably find most readers prefer to subscribe through email.)<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

When you\u2019re just starting out, though, with just a handful of subscribers, or none at all, 1000 can look a long way off. Here\u2019s how to get there, step by step.<\/span><\/p>\n

Step #1: Tell Family and Friends About Your Blog<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

I know this one sounds a bit obvious \u2013 but if you\u2019ve not already told family and friends about your blog, do so! Even if none of them are at all interested in your topic, they\u2019re interested in you<\/i> … and they might well know people who\u2019d love to read your posts.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Obviously, you don\u2019t want to overwhelm people with a flurry of messages. I\u2019d suggest:<\/span><\/p>\n

Send out a single email to family, friends, former colleagues and anyone else who knows you.<\/b> (Make sure you use BCC for their email addresses \u2013 most people don\u2019t like their email address to be shared with a group of strangers.) <\/i>I\u2019ve put suggested text for this email below.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve created a Facebook page for your blog, send out one invitation<\/b> to your family \/ friends on Facebook to ask them to \u201clike\u201d the page. Don\u2019t pester them if they don\u2019t do so, though.<\/span><\/p>\n

Link to your blog in your email signature\u2019s footer<\/b> (if appropriate \u2013 e.g. it probably won\u2019t be in your work emails)<\/i>. Giving the title, URL and tagline is fine here.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a sample email you can use:<\/span><\/p>\n

Hi friends,<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve just launched [my first blog \/ a new blog], called [name of blog]. It\u2019s about [topic \/ tagline]. You can find it here:<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

[link to your blog\u2019s homepage]<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019d love any feedback about it, and if you\u2019ve got a friend who you think would enjoy it, I\u2019d be really grateful if you\u2019d pass the link on to them. Thanks!<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

[your name]<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

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Step #2: Find Blogging Peers to Connect With<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Chances are, your pool of family and friends is not vast \u2013 and many of them won\u2019t have a particular interest in your topic. <\/span><\/p>\n

Your next step, then, is to find other bloggers to connect with, particularly those writing about the same topic as you \u2013 or similar topics.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be very clear here that you do not <\/i>want to be targeting \u201cbig name\u201d or \u201cA list\u201d or \u201cinfluencer\u201d bloggers at this stage. <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Of course you\u2019re no less worthy than those people \u2013 it\u2019s just that they\u2019re very likely to be extremely busy, and they get a heck of a lot of emails and tweets from new bloggers all the time. They\u2019re unlikely to be able to give you much help or attention.<\/span><\/p>\n

(This isn\u2019t to say that they\u2019re forever out of your reach, of course. Once you\u2019re a little further along with blogging, you may well be able to build up a great relationship with them by <\/i><\/span>sharing their content, linking to their posts, or guest posting for them<\/i><\/span>.)<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, you want to look for <\/b>the \u201clittle guys\u201d of blogging<\/b><\/span>.<\/b> These are bloggers who are at a similar stage to you: working their way up to 1000 subscribers. They might be a bit further along (with several hundred subscribers) or not quite so far along (just launching their blog) \u2013 but they\u2019re essentially your blogging peers. Here’s some tips on collaboration and finding a blogging buddy<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can find them by:<\/span><\/p>\n