How to Connect with your Audience

This is a guest post from Nathan Hangen, who arrived on the blogging scene with a bang, and whose work I always read. You’ll find a short biography and link to his site at the end of the post.

As I've gone through the rigors of growing a blog, I've learned a lesson or two about how to connect with my readers, both short and long term. The thing is, unless you spend time getting to know them, you probably don't know as much about your audience as you think you do. I thought I knew what my readers wanted, but after sending out post after post without getting any traction, I realized that my readers had a different view of my blog than I did. Now, this doesn't mean you need to abandon your own concepts about what you have to offer, but it does mean you need to spend some time getting to know your audience better so that you can give them what they want to hear.

For the purpose of this post, we'll talk about two different types of readers. You have the long-term readers that have been around for a while and either subscribe to your newsletter, RSS Feed, or keep coming back to check for new posts. These readers have an idea of what you are offering and obviously like it or they wouldn't keep coming back. You can meet these readers in your comment section, but there are more effective ways that you can find out what's on their mind.

One of my favorite ways to learn more about the thoughts, views, and opinions of my long-term audience is to submit a survey and ask them to fill it out. I use Survey Monkey for this and usually offer some sort of incentive to get people to fill it out. I try to be as thorough as I can while still respecting the time of those kind enough to submit their answers. The first time I did this, I was simply amazed by the comments I read. I read some things that I expected to, but much of what I saw was brand new to me! Although you won't always get all positives, seeing them can make your day. On the other hand, when you see a negative comment or response, you are given a gift of insight. It is up to you to address this issue immediately in order to make sure you retain that reader and any others with the same sentiment.

The second type of reader is a bit more complicated to read because many times they come to your site on a whim or when following a link from someone else. They aren't sure what to expect and will judge everything on your site within 10-20 seconds...many times less, before they decide to stay or go. Your site has to look good, your content has to be up to par, and you have to have a way to keep them around...and that won't even guarantee that they'll stay! Your site has to "click" with them, which means you have to know your niche, embody it, and present it in a way that they recognize.

I realize this is not a simple task, but it is something to think about as you design your blog and create your content. You need to keep your content consistent enough to keep your loyal readers, but at the same time you need link bait, viral friendly content, and a stickiness factor, such as an opt-in form or a free book, to keep them coming back for more. Once they sign up for your newsletter, then you can as them to your survey down the road and determine whether or not you are converting new readers or losing them.

Since making money online relies mostly on figuring out how to create traffic, converting traffic at that, you need to spend the time to make sure you are doing what you can to improve, rather than stagnate or stumble. Your feed stats will tell you how you are doing, so make sure you check them regularly. Metrics are huge.

Lastly, the basics still apply. Respond to Tweets, comments, emails, and messages as often as you can. Be a presence, but don't preach. Communities inspire others to action, and if you can create one, you will be ahead of the curve.

Nathan Hangen is a webrepreneur, social media consultant, and triathlete. He authors the Webrepreneur Blog and is a frequent contributor to Darren Rowse's Twitter blog, Twitip.

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