The Best Marketing Strategy For New Bloggers (And Anyone)
You know what I wanted this headline to be?
“Being A Good Person IS The F***ing Marketing Strategy”
Highlight that and comment if you think it should’ve been that. I don’t know, I just didn’t want to curse in my headline today.
A Lot Of People Ask Me This Question..
How do I get more exposure for my work?
There’s a ton of ways to get more traffic (I’ve been hopping on the Tailwind Tribes bandwagon lately).
But what about getting people to read your stuff when you’re first starting out as a blogger? It’s tough, isn’t it?
To understand the answer, let me explain the current state of affairs of the internet and people in general.
Generally, People Are In This Sh*t For Themselves
This is true of everybody, right?
Even me.
We’re all, first and foremost, looking out for numero uno — ourselves.
And we should. But I think this level of selfishness varies from person to person..
There’s a blogger I follow online that literally tries to sell me something WITH EVERY SINGLE EMAIL THEY SEND.
And I love their content — but there’s ALWAYS a pitch at the end.
And you know what? Sales pitches are fine as long as the products genuinely help somebody.
But the problem is — now that I’m getting overloaded with sales pitches from this person — I don’t read their stuff anymore. I see them as fake. I see them as someone who’s just trying to line their pockets and not someone who wants to genuinely help ME.
Numero uno.
This Could Be Your Biggest Strength
People have no time for yet another online influencer with a course to sell.
And sadly this has sort of become the norm. Everybody is selling something (even me), which is okay, but I think some of us have started to do too much of it.
And this could be your biggest window of opportunity ever.
People Aren’t Expecting You To Be Genuine
I think part of what’s made Medium so successful is that it’s a place where people come to read writing that has no agenda.
Sure, there’s writers that have call-to-actions and stuff at the end of their articles, but behind the 200–300 that are doing this HEAVY are an army of thousands who just want their voice to be heard.
That publish articles with no call-to-actions. That write from the heart for the sake of writing and being vulnerable.
Not Many People Are Honestly Good
When I say “good” in the above sub-headline I don’t mean that people aren’t opening up doors for each other or being unselfish anymore..I just mean “good” in the HIGHEST sense of the word.
Like, I’m talking about Ghandi-level of goodness.
Okay, maybe not Ghandi-level (because he was on another level), but you get what I mean, right?
I’m talking about the bloggers who will spend 10 minutes writing a thoughtful response to 1 person who commented on their article.
And then that blogger goes and reads some of that commenter’s stuff. And then they leave a comment on their article. And then a friendship blossoms.
And then both parties legitimately water that friendship over the course of a couple months and years to the point where they could ask anything of each other and they’ll honestly be there.
THAT kind of goodness.
Not the kind that sees every comment as a business opportunity.
And, okay look, I don’t know how else to say this… YOU DON’T DO THIS UNLESS YOU ALREADY HAVE A GOOD HEART.
You know?
I have a confession to make, too..
This article is NOT for everybody..
I can’t teach you how to be good. This article is meant for those that already have caring hearts and think this whole “blogging” thing is just meant for slick oil-salesmen who know how to “play the game.”
You know what my message is to you?
You already have the tools to be 100 times more successful than all of these slick oil-salesmen ever could be.
You can make a good living with the help of people that like you. You can do so much more with the help of people that LOVE you though..
And you can only build that love when you give yourself away in ways that nobody else wants to. Remember that.
Caring is your biggest strength. It’s a trait that not many people legitimately have, and this should fill you with so much hope.
People used to get so surprised when I’d respond back to them with a couple paragraphs of words. When I’d actually care.
This gave me a major clue as to how people ACTUALLY act online compared to myself. If they were surprised about THAT, then how was everybody else online acting?
It was then that I realized my biggest strength wasn’t my work ethic or my writing talent (I still don’t think I have much of that) — but my heart. The way I care.
How Does This Help You With Marketing?
By going the extra mile with one person, you better BET they’re going to remember you. They’ll remember you over so many other people they read online depending on just how much effort you put into everything.
Then, if you keep the relationship going (which you will, cause you’re thoughtful), then they may even tell others about you, or share your articles.
And one person that’ll read everything you write is more valuable than 100 followers.
That’s why it’s such a powerful “marketing” strategy.
But the people that want to do this/are already doing this don’t even think of it as a strategy at all — it’s just how they would act anyway.
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