Building Your Blog’s Tribe

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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