Got crickets?
We all know the feeling. We write an awesome post, put it out into the ether, annnnnd … nothing. Nary a comment, a like, a retweet. It’s like you threw an amazing party with fancy dips and even a two-liter bottle of Fresca and sure, people came, but they didn’t even talk to you. And they certainly didn’t tell anyone else about your party.
Are you getting the metaphor or do I have to hit you over the head with it? YOUR BLOG IS YOUR PARTY. You don’t want passive party guests. So today as we continue to follow Problogger’s 31 Days to Building a Better Blog, we’re talking about calling our readers to action. Let’s change those uninvolved readers to active, engaged members of your community. And to do that, you might just want to ask them to do something.
It doesn’t have to be something big. In fact, you should start small. And it shouldn’t be something outside of your comfort zone. Suddenly asking people to click on a mess of affiliate links if you’ve never worked with brands before is going to turn your regular readers off. As with all of the work you’ve been doing this month on your blog, your calls to action should fit seamlessly with the niche and purpose you’ve so carefully developed. Here are a few ideas:
Get people talking
Everyone’s just standing around awkwardly? Nobody wants to hang at that kind of party. You want people to comment on your posts. Maybe if you had just listened to your mother and ASKED NICELY already, people would. But it has to be more than just “Hey, I’d love a comment!” Engage in a meaningful dialogue about your content. Ask your readers to share their experiences on your post’s topic. Invite them to offer tips or advice. Writing an opinion post? Open the floor for readers to weigh in. [And please make it easy to comment. Turn off comment moderation and Captcha and optimize your blog for mobile platforms.]
Invite your readers to stay awhile
Convince people to linger, read, love you, and long to be your BFF. Encourage readers to dig deeper into your archives. Link to previous posts in a current post and ask your readers to click for the back story. Tell your readers about other posts you’ve written on the same topic. Readers who invest time in your blog are readers who will subscribe and return.
Be sure they tell everyone about your party. Did I mention the fancy dips?
You don’t just want readers to comment and run away. Oh no. You want everyone to talk about your blog/party in school the next day because it was, like, SO AWESOME. So ask them to share your stuff. Be sure you have sharing buttons at the bottom of your post for the social media sites that fit your audience, but maybe jazz up your tagline. Instead of a simple “Share this” or a row of icons with no explanation, let’s all go in today and change the title on our widget to something more intentional that fits our blog’s personality. (See what I did there? I called you to action, people.) For me? I’m thinking “Share my freaking post!” That might not work for you.
I’m calling you to action now
Do it. Write a post calling your readers to action. Problogger has lots more ideas on the types of actions you can use. Link it up below. Use the comments to share other experiences with engaging your readers that have worked (or not worked) for you.
Looking for this week’s writing challenge?
It’s over here being hosted by Chad Simpson. For the third week, if we reach 30+ entries on the challenge grid, unlocking the invitational grid and the editor picks, we will send copies of Chad’s new collection of short stories (as well as the other two books he’s mentioned in his guest series) to the jury prize winner. Submission guidelines just for you.
I have to ‘fess up and say that I did not purchase the 31dbbb workbook. I’m wondering if adding a poll to a post would fit under this task. I tried it out two weeks ago when I wrote about attending my high school reunion. I ended up with 16 responses, but I don’t know if it really drew readers in. Also, I’m thinking that the poll itself wasn’t that exciting-at least not exciting enough to merit its own follow-up post.
Has anyone else tried a poll? Did it increase visits? Did it help you gain info needed for a future post or otherwise support your blog? Tweet me any links you have as an example or include it in the reply. Thanks!
I’ve added my weekly fashion link up.
I also revamped my layout and doubled down on my sharing options. Both the default Blogger sharing AND ShareThis.
Of course you had to bring out the big guns and link up your money-raising-eminem-rapping-best-ever-call-to-action-post!
That was awesome. Even better that you reached your goal.
Of course I care about children in Ethiopia (and other places), but for now I would just be happy to get my Facebook page to 100 (ish) likes…
I have put that call out several times and I do get the occasional response. Sometimes I wonder if I should not be asking people to like my FB page on Twitter… but I REALLY would love to connect on Facebook, for me it’s just a much more inviting place than Twitter and not so fast paced. Maybe I just can’t handle fast-paced anymore because I’m getting old.
So is there a protocol to follow where to ask for what and how often?
Sigh.
You ask; I deliver. Seven effective ways to boost likes on your Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/donna-newman/7-super-effective-ways-to-ask-your-friends-to-like-your-facebook-fan-page/123077994418717?ref=nf
I use the “suggest to friends” feature about once a month – that has gotten me the most likes. I’ve also asked within my blog posts – things like “If you’re not following me on Facebook, you’re missing gems like this: ” and then I do a screen shot of some ridiculous thing I posted on Facebook, with a link to my page.
I should say – only #1-#3 really work for bloggers. The rest are for businesses looking for customers.
Thanks for the link! Yes, #1 – 3 definitely useful for what I want to do with my page.
I did have to laugh about the “suggest to friends” 2x per month, since “the number of friends will definitely increase”…. mine really doesn’t increase, lol – it must be me. Even though I love Facebook I may not be social enough for Social Media…
Yeah, it’s a fine line between asking nicely and spamming, isn’t it?
Oh, Cindy, I love the “missing gems” idea! Thanks!
Personally, I find too many requests to like a page annoying, though the “suggest to friends” DOES work. I might start doing it every 3 mos vs every month.
I do it every now and then with Twitter too 🙂
I’m linking up an old post for a fundraiser I did to raise money for healthcare in Ethiopia, my younger daughter’s birth country. I promised to rap “Lose Yourself” if people gave us $1000. And then they did, so I had to. The moral: Be careful what you call your readers to do.
I’m going to do this in my Friday’s post, which means I can’t link it yet. I’m writing posts ahead of time because I’m taking a road trip with my mother and my call to action is going to be sharing a road trip memory–good, bad, or crazy. 🙂
That sounds great! I’ll keep an eye out for it!