商业博客如何寻找读者

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今天我被邀将要给商业人士发表个演讲，关于博客和社会媒介在商业经营中的作用。我需要准备的其中一个问题就是该如何给博客寻找读者。

这个问题也是我最经常碰到的，但是也不是我在45分钟内就能回答得清楚的，发展读者关系这里头有无数的技巧。在此我想跟大家分享下一些要点。当然下面的方法不一定都是很全面或者说适合所有的博客，不过这是我个人开始寻找读者时的途径：

从当前拥有的关系网着手

请注意我这里是针对企业博客，我认为寻找博客读者的最佳途径是从企业已建立的关系入手。任何企业都已建立一定的关系网络，包括：

员工
先前和当下的顾客/客户
行业协会
供应商
邮件列表

如果我开始为企业建博客，我会从这里开始。让这些与你已经建立关系的人关注你的博客。这些人熟悉、喜欢、信任你- 通过他们的订阅、评论帮助你的博客实现滚雪球效应- 这将有助于你建立信任以粘住其它读者。

充分利用其他途径

大多数企业还可充分利用其他途径来突出博客，包括：

名片
电子邮件签名
签名
信头
广告
网站
社交媒体网页

这些归到其它类型中- 不过关键是要找到合适的地方来突出你的新博客，从那些可能不在你经常联系的关系网中却又稍微有点联系的用户中吸引流量。

内容为基石

内容是一个非常关键的因素，决定了偶然进入你的博客的人们能否再次光顾你的博客(并向其它人推广你的博客)。你的文章要一定程度上满足读者的需求。企业博客读者的需求不尽相同，包括行业新闻、如何使用产品、公司发展/新闻的更新、了解别人如何使用你的产品等。

这个需求的清单，当然会依据不同的商业博客而不同。关键就是找出你的顾客（和潜在顾客）需要什么，然后尽量写这样的内容来帮助他们解决问题，一定程度上提高他们的生活效率。文章内容还需要表达良好、清晰准确、富有吸引力。

攻向潜在读者

“文章发布了，读者就会到来”这种思想在博客上是行不通的。实际情况是，如果你不积极主动点，你的潜在读者是不可能找到你的博客的。

寻找读者一个关键要点就是，明确你要吸引哪一种类型的读者，然后寻思这些类型的人都经常聚集在哪里（线上或线下）。

对你想要吸引的人们做下分析- 某种兴趣爱好、某种特定类型的职业等等。这样你就可以在脑袋里想想他们主要在什么地方出现。可能逛在另一个博客或论坛上，可能是在一个社交网站，也有可能根本没上网在阅读一些诸如杂志之类的刊物，或者还有可能参加现实中的某个关系组织。

当你开始想这些潜在读者的聚集地时，你就得考虑如何使自己在这些地方露相。如果是在线博客、论坛、社交网站，只要加入这些社区并成为对大家有帮助一员就可以了，当然还可包括你给这些网站创建一些有用的内容。如果是一些线下的协会组织，你可以加入他们中，参加活动、介绍自己等。如果你的潜在读者都在阅读一些纸质刊物，你可尝试提供赞助或在上面发布广告等。

在你的缝隙市场中与别人建立好关系

在你的缝隙市场中，其他的博客或网站可能某种程度上是你的“竞争对手”，但也可能是你的合作者。博客的基础是需要blogger们互动、互相链接合作，不要把其他blogger们当作敌人-认真考虑看是否有双方携手合作的机会。

实验、追踪、改进

博客建立初期，尝试些新东西，这一点很重要。尝试新的文章类型，试验下各种声音和媒介(视频、播客、图像) 等。随着时间的推移，你将会发现某种类型的帖子会给你的博客带来更多的互动和注意力。可能是跟话题相关也有可能是跟文章的形式相关。

追踪查看哪种形式的效果好，哪些表现欠佳。效果好的方法可以反复用之，表现欠佳的也可学习借鉴。如此反复，你会发现你的博客更具特色，写博客的动力也有了。

创建社区

很多人上网并不单单为了获得内容 – 他们渴望归属、贡献、参与、互动。

我发现，越是专注于给读者互动提供创造性空间，给他们主动权限越多，我的博客流量生意也越增长。不管你的博客现在属于怎样一个层次，你都可以这么做，但是在最初你可以只是问问读者问题，他们通过回复与你互动。

不要仅仅成为内容的创建者 –要成为一个社区的建设者!

How to find Readers for a Business Blog

Later today I’m speaking to a couple of groups of business people about the power of blogging and social media to help market a business.

One of the question I’ve already been told to prepare a question for is – How do you find Readers for a blog?

The question is of course one of the most common ones that I get and the answer is far more complex than I could possibly answer while on a 45 minute panel – there are a myriad of techniques for growing a blog’s readership (I’ll link to some posts I’ve written on that topic below). But I did today want to share the main points I plan to make in my answer today.

By no means is the following comprehensive or applicable to every single blog – but it’s where I’d start in tackling the challenge of finding readers:

How do you find Readers for a Business Blog?

Start With Your Current Network

Keeping in mind that I’m talking to businesses about blogging here – I think the best place to start with finding readers for a blog is to start with those that your business is already in contact with.

Any business will already have some kind of network which will include:

Employees
Previous and Current Customers/Clients
Industry Groups
Suppliers
Mailing Lists

This is where I’d start if I were a business starting a blog. Get those you’re already in relationship aware of your blog. These are the people who know you (and hopefully like and trust you) – they can help get the ball rolling in terms of generating some subscribers, comments – this will hopefully help create some social proof to help hook others.

Leverage Other Places Where you Have a Presence

Most businesses will also have other points that they can highlight their blog including

business cards
email signatures
signage
letterhead
advertising
websites
social media pages

There will of course be others – but the key is to find appropriate places to highlight your new blog and drive traffic from those who might be outside of your network but who you come into some kind of contact with.

Content as a Foundation

The content appearing on your blog will be one of the most important factors in getting those who stumble upon your blog to come back again (and spread the word of it to others).

Your blog posts need to meet a need of readers in some way. Readers of business blogs needs will vary but could include a need for news about your industry, a need to learn how to use your products, a need to get updates on developments/news about your company that relates to them, a need to see how others are using your products.

Once again – this list of needs could go on and on and will vary greatly from business blog to business blog. The key is to work out what your customers (and potential customers) needs are and to develop content that will help those people solve their problems and enhance their lives in some way.

Content also needs to be well written, clearly communicated, of a good standard and compelling.

Go to Potential Readers

A ‘Build it and they will come’ mentality does not apply to blogging. The reality is that your potential readers are unlikely to find your blog unless you get a little (or a lot) proactive.

One of the keys to finding readers is to identify what type of reader you’re looking to attract and then to identify where those types of people are gathering (online or offline).

Do some thinking about the type of person who you want to connect with – this might be a certain demographic, a person with a certain hobby or interest, someone in a certain type of job etc. Once you’ve got them pictured begin to brainstorm where they gather. It might be online on another blog or forum, it could be on a social media site, it could be reading an offline publication like a magazine or it could be in some kind of real life networking group.

Once you’ve started to identify your potential reader’s gathering points you need to begin to find ways to build a presence in those places. If it’s an online blog, forum, social networking site it might be as simple as joining the community and being a useful and social member. It could also include creating content for these sites. If it’s an offline networking group it could mean becoming a member, attending, presenting etc. If it’s an offline publication there may be opportunities to contribute or advertise.

Build Relationships with Others in Your Niche

Other bloggers and website owners in your niche may well be ‘competition’ in some ways – but they also could be collaborators. Blogging is a medium that has been built on bloggers within a niche having conversations, linking to each other and collaboration – don’t treat other bloggers as the enemy – reach out and see what opportunities for working together there may be.

Experiment, Track and Evolve

In the early days of a blog (and beyond the early days) it’s important to try new things on your blog. Try new types of posts, experiment with different voices and mediums (think video, podcasts, images etc) etc. In time you’ll begin to find that some types of posts get more reaction and attention from readers than others. It could be topic related or perhaps the style of posts.

Track what works and what falls flat on its face. Build upon the positives, repeat what works and learn from your mistakes. If you keep doing the types of things that have worked in the past you’ll often find you become known for a certain type of blogging and momentum will grow.

Build Community

Many people online don’t just want to consume content – they want to belong, contribute, participate and interact.

I’ve found that the more I concentrate on creative spaces for interaction with and between readers and the more permission I give readers to be active – the more my blogs and business grows. This can happen on many levels but at the most basic level it can start by simply asking readers questions and interacting with their replies.

Don’t just be a content creator – be a community builder!

Add Your Tips for Building Traffic to Business Blogs

As I’ve mentioned above – there are many many ways to build traffic to a blog. I’ve got some further reading listed below – but I’m also keen to hear your suggestions – particularly from those who have ‘business blogs’ (ie blogs attached to an existing business). What would you add?

晓闻心雨