How to Get More Followers as a New Blogger

Do you have an email list (Not a purchased one. DON’T do that!)? Thousands of followers on social media?  Of course not. If you’re reading this, you’re a new blogger! So, if you don’t have an email list and followers, how do you get more followers and convert readers into those followers? Read on to find out.

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Followers? What are Those?

Yeah, I remember those days. You finally get some readers to check out your post then…where did they go? Did they leave? Were they abducted by aliens? Nope. They read your first few sentences are were bored.

Seriously, a few sentences!

To keep readers on your page, you have to entertain your reader.

Well, I’m not an entertainer! I’m a writer!

I hate to break it to you, but writers ARE entertainers. What happens if you pick up a novel, read the first page and it is BORING? You put it down and buy another one, right?

The truth is, you can deliver a great message with your blog posts and still entertain.

If you are struggling to find readers or when you do find them, they don’t stay or come back, this is your problem. No offense, but no you can’t get more followers if your readers can’t stay awake reading your work.

The good news is, you CAN CHANGE! One of the most difficult parts of being a new blogger is that you have to find your voice. I’m not talking about the sound you make when you speak. You’re true writing voice.

 

How a New Blogger Can Find Their Unique Writing Voice

How Do You Speak to Friends?

When you speak, do your friends laugh? Do they listen? If so, great! Record a conversation of yourself with your best friend.

Don’t be all creepy about it. Tell your friend that you’re going to record the conversation as an exercise in finding your voice. If he/she objects, promise to delete it when you’re finished.

When you listen to the conversation, take note. When your friend laughs, ask “What did I say? How did I say it?”

THAT, my friend is YOUR VOICE! The way you used words to engage your audience (friend) in the conversation. Yeah, it really is that simple.

Are you goofy, sarcastic, and fun to be around? Let those characteristics shine in YOUR WRITING! Once you do, you will get more followers, plain and simple.

Confession

I have to fight to be entertaining with every post. In business, I have always had to be informative and literal. I earned my B.A. in English, but it was in Technical Writing?

What is Technical Writing, you say? It is writing boring documents. Literally. If it bores you, you did your job!

I wrote instruction manuals, legal documents, proposals, and other boring material. It is all about concisely writing material that fulfills a legal purpose.

When I left the field, I couldn’t write for people! I still have to fight my trained writing style. I’m getting better at it, but it is work.

As a new blogger, you can start out with a humorous story or anecdote about your blog topic. As long as it ON TOPIC, go for it! By all means, try it. You can always rewrite the post later on, if you find a better style.

Once you find that sweet spot, not only will you get more followers, like you want, but everything else will fall in place.

Methods to this Writing Madness

As a new blogger, there are a couple ways you can add personality to your posts.

Method 1:

Write your boring post and add personality in the editing phase.

This can work well for new bloggers. How it works is that you write the boring parts first. Once you have finished, you take a short break (this really helps, believe me).

When you return to your post, read each paragraph independently. Think, is this boring? If the answer is yes, try to think of a way to spice it up.

You may start out with a sentence that says, “John walked to the store every day.” Yuck, right?

Once you mull it over, you could end up with. “The corner store was grim and dirty, as usual. John’s walk daily walk here was as uneventful as it was every day.”

Now, you’re wondering, “Why does John walk there every day?” or “What is about to happen?” That’s engagement. It is the difference between your reader reading more or moving on.

If that method doesn’t work for you, don’t worry. I have a couple more methods that may help.

Method 2:

Start with a funny story, then add content.

This is a public speaking method. Instead of starting your text by saying, “Raising chicks in the house can be challenging,”

Instead, start with: “Last night, I chased a chicken around my bathroom for 5 minutes. She had found a first aid kit rubber finger cover and thought she had won the lottery.”

Which one caught your interest? The last one, right? And just for your own entertainment, that really happened to me last night. Yeah, I have two curious, half-grown chicks in my bathroom.

Using an anecdote or humorous story gets your blog post off on the right foot. It starts it out on a high note and makes the reader want to read more.

Once again, it engages your reader and converts them into a follower, if you do it right.

Method 3:

As you write every sentence, think “How can I make this funnier or show more of my personality?”

After your personality is a habit, this will likely be the method you use.

New bloggers will likely benefit from methods 1 and 2, but once you are more seasoned, Method 3 is much less work. I only include this method because a new blogger can be a natural storyteller.

I am writing this post using method 3, but sometimes it doesn’t come as natural to me as it is today.

I keep thinking, “How would I say this to my best friend?” So, yeah, y’all (I’m from the South, so I actually speak like a southerner) are getting the slightly edited version that I would tell her. I left out a few words, but in general, this is our norm.

Your Followers Will Follow

That they will. Once you find your beautiful, unique voice, your audience will notice. They will look forward to reading your quirky blog posts.

Just remember to provide them with high quality, actionable content too. Your content is your bread and butter. If it isn’t any good, no humor or personality can save it.

You want your readers to walk away saying, “I learned how to …” and wanting to learn more from you. If they didn’t get the message, cut back on personality and work on content delivery.

Whether you are a new blogger or more seasoned one, your content message has to be clear. That doesn’t mean it has to be dry or boring. Not at all. Just keep it all in perspective and everything else will fall into place.

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