Building Your Blog’s Tribe
by Eric and Sean on February 11, 2009
in blogging
EDITOR’S NOTE: Today we have a guest post from Sid Savara, who discusses personal development and personal productivity at SidSavara.com. Before we get started, we’d like to direct your attention to Sean’s new copywriting venture. More on that tomorrow. Until then, here’s Sid.
What is a Tribe?
“A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea.[...] A group needs only two things to be a tribe: a shared interest and a way to communicate.” – Tribes, by Seth Godin
My fellow readers, all of us belong to tribes, whether we realize it or not. Tribes of Wordpress users, tribes of lifehackers, tribes of writers.
Here at Blogopolis Blueprint we make up a tribe interested in having our voices heard. We communicate in the comments, and the discussions we have add greatly to the already excellent experience.
Sean and Eric have done a great job of leading and nurturing this community. This brings us to the crux of this article – how can I nurture my own blog’s tribe?
How Can You Build Your Blog’s Tribe
“I found my people and nothing else matters” – Third Eye Blind
I’ve been growing my tribe since day one on my blog. I genuinely care about my readers and nurture my relationship with them. Here are a few tips that may help you build your tribe as well:
- Respond to comments. Readers love hearing from the blogger. Even readers who don’t comment see the discussions and “lurk” in the community. Set the example for future members to follow by build a welcoming community for your tribe.
- Focus on nurturing your current readers, not attracting new ones. One great point Seth Godin makes in Tribes is that for all the bands trying to sell millions of records, there are a number of artists making a living by focusing on 1000 true fans. In order to gain true fans though, you’ve got to nurture every one and give them the best you have to offer. You’ve got to focus on the readers of today – not on trying to get a new wave through social media or advertising. Those true fans will evangelize you, submit your blog on social media sites, tweet your new posts and email their friends. You can’t buy that kind of loyalty – you have to earn it.
- Write about what truly matters to your tribe. I write articles on topics my readers are interested in. When my readers ask a question, I answer honestly and to the best of my ability as I did when asked for my recommendations about the best personal development books. Too often a blog I used to enjoy will degenerate into random ramblings, or perhaps start chasing social media sites with fluff articles. If the leader of that tribe doesn’t speak to me, I’ll leave.
- Visit the tribe where they gather. I know members of my tribe visit other websites, so I join them there as well. I interact with them on other life hacking and personal development forums and blogs. Seeing me there legitimizes me as a member of the tribe. Giving unselfishly in forum posts and comments provides value for everyone – and builds my own brand. Visit ProBlogger or Zenhabits sometime, and you’ll see Eric and Sean are active participants on just about any discussion.
- Speak to the tribe from any soap box. I’ll speak anywhere, anytime, to reach out to members of my tribe. I guest post whenever the opportunity presents itself, and have spoken at conferences and seminars on topics such as time management in my community. Darren Rowse and Leo Babauta spoke to Eric since he’s a fantastic blogger, but they also know their readers gather here and would love to see them in a new setting.
The bottom line is, there are no shortcuts. Building your tribe takes time, sincerity, and leading your followers. Every blog begins day one with just one reader – you (or in my case, two – me and my mom!). From there on out, it’s up to you to write about what matters, respond to your readers and provide real value to your tribe.
How about you? What are you doing to build, nurture, and lead your tribe?
This is a guest post from Sid Savara, who discusses personal development and personal productivity at SidSavara.com. If you’re curious if Sid’s blog is right for you, click through to read some of Sid’s most popular articles .
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Hey Sid,
Excellent post, and thank you for linking back to my article.
I completely agree with you. Far too often we, as bloggers, try to seek new ways to find new readers, and often forget to nurture those we already have.
Thanks!
Jamie
Jamie Harrop’s last blog post..Where Will Your Blog be in 25 Years?
Ok, what IS the secret to getting your mother to read your blog? Mine won’t. I suppose it can’t help that she missed the technology generation and can’t understand a thing about web design.
Learning to be a part of your own tribe is truly the first step. Tribal leaders live their tribe’s experiences, they are the central hub, completely immersed in the tribal beliefs. They are the ones who initiate tribal events and make an effort to be where their tribe gathers.
I think the most important thing to remember is that a tribal leader isn’t the leader because it benefits them, they lead for the benefit of the entire tribe, even if that sometimes means making personal sacrifices.
Great article – and perfect timing. Blogopolis is a ‘tribe’ I love belonging to – great hosts, commenters and guest contributors!
Being part of a new blog like this is the purest way to feel like we all have a role to play in building a creative, caring tribe where everyone learns and benefits. I really resonated with the feelings above about sincerity and trust building. We have to be authentic and passionate and know ourselves first so we know what to offer others and how to nurture them.
The desire to monetise everything too quickly without having a small, tight core of folk who ‘get’ you and appreciate why you blog has ruined blogging for a lot of folk. I’m with Darren Rowse when he says he can’t wait to get started every day, and John Chow who said he’d still blog if there were no readers! Thanks again, guys!
Great article Sid.
This is something I’ve only really been getting my head around recently but it is extremely effective when put into practice. We are after all social animals.
Marc’s last blog post..5 Books To Help With Your Blogging. You Only Pay For 1
I understand that blogging takes time. I tell myself where will I be in 10 years if I don’t do this? Step by step I’ll continue to improve and don’t forget the turtle won the race.
Tess The Bold Life’s last blog post..Bold Love for February 14th
@Jamie Definitely! Kind of reminds me of bands that sometimes forget their roots, and then become washed out versions of someone else – they lose their original fans, and end up going nowhere.
@Rebecca Love your point about the tribal leader making personal sacrifice for the good of their followers. Reminds me of a quote, I think be Benjamin Desraeli – “I must follow the people, am I not their leader?”
@Janice I really do think building a welcoming community from day one is harder than it looks, Darren Rowse and JC are both masters at it (JC especially – he’s such a down to earth guy, but he has a particular “voice” when he blogs that really fits his content)
@Marc Thanks! And we have opposable thumbs. Though, the opposable thumbs may be less relevant to blogging…;)
@Tess Some of the biggest bloggers have said over and over they blogged in obscurity for years right? I’m sure beginning in a welcoming community gives us a head start =)
Sid Savara’s last blog post..What Is Life? Favorite Inspirational Quotes About Life
Hi Sid,
What an awesome first guest post. Thanks for dropping it and I couldn’t agree more. That’s certainly something that’s hard to hammer into the heads of an awful lot of people – there are NO shortcuts. The only thing that will get you past the finish line is a lot of sweat and hard work. Thanks again, great job!