How to Build a Core Audience with your Blog

Building a core audience with your blog—you know, people who actually come back—is difficult in the sea of the hundreds of millions of blogs out there (no kidding—WordPress has over 63 million blogs alone, not taking into consideration other blogging platforms and branded company blogs). But, creating a targeted, knowledge-based blog within an industry niche is the first way to cut through the noise and have your expertise heard. The second, third and fourth ways are below. With these tips you’ll learn how to build a core audience with your blog:
 Tips on How to Build a Core Audience with your Blog
1. Live by the 80/20 Rule
Writing intelligent, tangible blog posts is only part of the battle. About 20% to be exact. The other 80% of your effort needs to be put into promoting your blog. After all, a blog without an audience is like a library with no books. In addition to putting effort into your blog, you should put 4 times as much effort into its promotion. This includes promoting it on: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, forums, with SlideShare, on similar blogs and sister blogs, in RSS directories, with banner and PPC advertising, with long-tail SEO keyword promotion, by commenting on other blogs, on news-submitting sites in your niche, with a YouTube video(s), contests/promotions, webinairs, with article sites (like Squidoo or Wikihow)—and every other outlet you can find to promote your blog.
The most important tip we can offer is to create strong and real networks with other bloggers in your niche that will help you promote your blog and you theirs.

2. Be Regular
You can’t build regularly-returning followers without posting regularly.
3. Inter-Mingle with your Social Media Marketing Efforts
Your social media efforts should bolster your blog, and vice versa—but, don’t simply write a “have you seen our blog/Facebook?” call to action button. Use your social networks to build a community and discussion around your blog, and use your blog to build relevant, helpful content for your social networks.
4. Be Different, Interesting and Informative
As we said above, there are 63 million blogs with WordPress alone. That is a lot of people standing on a cyberspace podium releasing their thoughts into the air. To attract the followers that create a core audience you need to be a unique, interesting person/company that uses their expert status to inform people on specific topics (and make your topics super-specific).
5. Guest Post
Guest posting on blogs in your industry will boost your expert-status while boosting your star power. While you are establishing yourself you can also gain followers for your own blog.
6. Love the Few
You can’t please everyone all the time—so focus on your core followers instead of ignoring them to attempt to attract newbs. By feeding your core fans you will gain a larger reach, organically, as they will continually share your content within their circles. Keep in mind that one evangelist is worth a thousand people who merely glance at your blog.
For more tangible tips on how to build a core audience with your blog, and your overall online marketing efforts—join our core audience by following this blog and adding yourself to our email marketing list.