One of the most important things that define us, humans, is that we like to belong to a group. It is something that is built into us, and no matter what we do, we try to be part of a group. We play sports, we join clubs, we get married, and we have children. We were not made to be alone, and, thus, we avoid loneliness at all costs. But do you know what is even better than being part of a group? Being part of an exclusive group.
By now you might be wondering what this has to do with blogging. Well, it has a lot to do because you can use this simple piece of information to your advantage. Just imagine this: you manage to convince people that by being part of your audience, they also become part of an exclusive group. What do you think will happen? They will be more than happy to follow your blog, participate in discussions, and share your content with their friends. Why? Because they belong to your exclusive club and this gives them a feeling of satisfaction.
If you want to build an engaged audience that will support you, consider offering exclusivity. Take the example of premium brands around the world if you are still reluctant to my suggestion. Do you know any Apple fans? If you do, you know how loyal they can be, and that’s not because the PC counterparts don’t have equally good products, but because they feel like they belong to an exclusive club — the club where everyone uses only Apple products. And Apple succeeded to build this exclusivity through their branding and marketing. It’s time you started to learn from these powerful, popular brands, because there are many things you can apply to your own blog. It’s all about making your followers feel special and needed.
To engage your readers you first need to find out what triggers their interest and compels them to share their opinions and insights. As superficial as it may sound, the truth is that people become involved immediately when they are helped to make more money. Tell them you’re going to teach them how to increase their income, and they will read every post and leave comments with their own opinions or methods of making more money. We might not always admit it, but the financial aspect tops the other needs and interests we have.
How I built my exclusive audience
Building an exclusive audience is not that easy, as it takes more than quality content. It takes strategy. I can tell you about how I managed to build such an audience by letting people understand that being active on my blog meant being part of an exclusive club. An exclusive club is, of course, not for anyone, and this is what makes people feel unique.
First of all, I started writing very long posts of 2,000+ words in which I gave away a lot of valuable information. These posts were published only once a month, and after two weeks I would always close the comments. What’s the effect of this strategy? Because I posted only once a month, it felt like my articles were truly exceptional, and my blog was different from all the others where there were always at least three posts a week. Then, because I closed the comments so quickly, people felt like they were missing something important and exciting if they didn’t get to write a comment during those two weeks. This made them subscribe to my newsletter so they would immediately be notified when a new post was up. Thus, they would be among the first to leave a meaningful comment.
I tried to keep my readers interested by writing about working from home and making a fortune by selling sites for $5,000 after just a few months. My readers felt unique simply because they read these posts, got to leave a comment on them, and even got a reply. But, most importantly, they felt like they belonged to an exclusive group because they read these posts and worked towards achieving what I achieved by following my methods.
You might think that writing such long and complex articles means a lot of effort and it doesn’t pay off because you’re offering valuable information for free. Well, you couldn’t be more wrong. In my case, the strategy I used worked as a “pre-sell,” because those who read my articles and saw that I always offered quality content, trusted me enough to buy my first eBook when it was ready. They didn’t hesitate to buy it because they were sure it would contain even more information than my blog posts. And, if my posts were so long and consistent, then how would my book be?
Change people’s lives and they will love you forever
When you successfully build an engaged audience, you have to be aware that you can literally change these people’s lives. Your content influences them greatly, and you will understand this when your posts start having hundreds of comments. It is your responsibility to make sure you deliver valuable information, and that you are helpful to anyone who is reading your blog.
The strategy I described earlier is just to make your blog look more interesting and convince your readers that they belong to an exclusive club. It’s up to you to turn this engaged audience into a friendly community. Every time you open a document and start typing, make sure you aim to help your readers, and they will not hesitate to show their love and affection by sharing your content and being there for you whenever you may need them.
The whole point of blogging is to make people happier. If you blog for a different reason, maybe you shouldn’t bother anymore.