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When someone talks about how to become an authority online, are you left wondering what exactly that means?
It might seem like the ability to grow your blog and make online connections is a tough mountain to climb.
Never fear! We’ve got the tips all bloggers need on how to become an authority and start promoting yourself with the best of them.
Become An Authority On Your Blog
I have a secret to tell. It’s not mine. It’s an industry secret, it’s a business secret and it’s a powerful secret… it will take your blogging from hobby to hot in 30 days or less.
Lean in real close and I’ll whisper it in your ear. Ready?
The secret is Authority.
That’s right. Simple and straightforward – authority.
Becoming an Authority is a Choice, Not an Appointment
That is the real secret. No one is going to give it to you. No one can nominate you as an authority – at least not until you’ve positioned yourself as one. In order to become an authority, you need to initiate it. It’s that simple. You choose to give other people a reason to view you as an authority as you consciously step out, take risks and write what really matters.
So if you want to become an authority and take your blog from hobby to hot in the next thirty days, then apply these three strategies daily:
1) Make Your Choice
Make a choice right here and now to do what it takes to take your blog from hobby to hot. When I say hot, I don’t mean trendy, sexy, dramatic hot; I mean traffic driving, engagement fired up and authority oozing hot.
When you make a conscious choice to take your blog from hobby to hot you:
- Become consistent in your writing, posting and engaging
- Add clarity to your approach and
- Radiate confidence in your position (become an authority)
Simply making the choice to move from hobby to hot will boost your traffic and increase promotions to your blog naturally. Your readers will feel it and you will too. Making that choice motivates strategies and strategies are what bring success. So, if you’re in the market to really get things moving on your blog and become an authority, then it’s time to make a decision.
It doesn’t happen overnight, but it will happen fast if you stick to the choice and own it.
2) Dominate Q & A
They say content is king (queen); the cliche ruffles the pages of almost every blog in cyberspace. I don’t believe it. I say you are queen and your content is the court jester. Part of taking your blog to the next level is realizing that what you’re writing isn’t for you. It’s for the ‘members of your court,’ your readers.
They are looking for someone to guide them, perhaps entertain them and keep their attention, but above all, they want someone they can trust. One of the best ways to build trust and take your readers from hobby engagement to regular readers is when you answer their questions.
Of course it’s unnecessary to answer in a traditional Q & A format all the time. Taking your blog to the next level means that you’re able to keep your readers attention and gain their trust because you are applying your expertise to the very questions they are asking in every sense. Read between their lines. Be keen to their responses and you’ll develop an extra sense for knowing what they need.
Listen to their concerns, applaud them, focus on what you can do together as a community and apply your expert knowledge. It will keep them coming back for more. You ARE an authority. You DO have what it takes and yes, your knowledge is expert. In fact, you are such an expert that if you don’t have an answer, you know exactly where to go and who to reference to get it.
Your readers love you for that. When you are committed to moving your blog to the next level the content you provide will develop trust and loyalty unlike anything related to hobby blogging.
3) Promote It
Content, even incredible content, is good for nothing without a promotion strategy. There has never been a day when a great idea didn’t require promoting, often heavy promoting. You should treat your blogging with no difference. It requires strategic promotion to take your blog from hobby to hot.
Strategic promotion – those words sound kind of scary don’t they? Like you have to have a team in the likes of Coca-Cola or Disney to have a ‘strategic promotion strategy’ that works. Thankfully, you don’t. You are very capable of strategically promoting your blog and getting great results. All it takes is a little time and organization.
Here are three ways to make a quick connection and start strategically promoting like the big guys:
- Connect with influencers, complementary brands and authorities (Hint: Don’t waste all your time trying to connect with the ‘big guys.’ Find the medium size and up and coming blogs and start there.)
- Curate, curate, and curate more to start developing relationships and ‘borrow’ traffic.
- Utilize online tools for promotion to help with automating and scheduling.
Make promoting the very first thing you do the second after you hit the ‘publish’ button.
And you can even set yourself up to pre-promote too, like ending a blog post on this note:
Now you have the foundation! Becoming an authority, comes first. We’ll get more in depth on specific ways to promote next week when I cover the topic: Simple ways to make strategic connections that drive traffic, increase engagement and get your blog noticed.
Until then, stay connected and let me know if you have any questions about how to become an authority. Tweet me @weMAXthat or let’s discuss on The SITS Girls Facebook page. I’d love to hear your success stories too!
Taco Twats
What you said seems sensible. Yet, picture this, suppose you included a little more? I am talking about, I do not tend to teach how you can run your site, but if you added more stuff which can easily grab peoples awareness? Simply as a video clip or perhaps a image or maybe 2 to obtain your readers interested concerning what you are talking about.
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I was recommended this web site by my cousin. Im not sure whether this post is written by him as nobody else know such detailed about my problem. Youre amazing! Thanks!
Interesting stuff.. mtb Would like to read more of this.. Awesome blog btw! Subscribed
Ye! Its cool to outsource to India. They speak english and know how to work.
Promoting my blog is definitely something that I need to step up- it’s ironic because I work in PR.
Wow Great descriptive post ! i have just started a new blog & i was in search of such a brilliant article . I will use your tips & tricks to produce a good quality content, more Comments 🙂 & rank higher 😉 Thanks!
Bonnie,
Thanks for such needed advice. I think I’ll have to come back to this a few times to make sure I am hitting the mark! I look forward to more info from you!
This was extremely helpful! I must admit that some of my posts are geared towards my seemingly non-existent audience, while the other posts consist of me just babbling away! My blog does not have a niche because I discuss my experiences being a parent, a student, fashion, life etc; and although I have been on the blog scene for quite sometime, I am still trying to find my way. Tonight’s blogwork (homework) assignment is going to focus on dominating and promoting!!!! Thanks again!
This has been one of the most informative and motivational posts about blogging that I’ve come across in my research. Thank you so much for your great insights! I already see a tremendous improvement in my blog!
Jessi, I’m so glad to hear it was worth the read for you 🙂 Thank you. And I love your blog design simple, fresh and so quick to navigate!
I will definitely be going back to this post many times! Thank you for outlining the steps for exactly where I want to take my blog. So helpful!
Jessica, that’s so great to hear. Thanks! I look forward to following up and connecting with you along the way!
Thanks so much for the great information. I have been working more on my Pintrest. It’s amazing how much traffic it’s generating for me. Have a wonderful week 🙂
Diane, congrats! Pinterest is a powerful traffic generating tool. I’m just starting to explore it and it’s absolutely unreal what happens with a few minutes a day!
Such a fantastic post! Thank you for the kick in the butt that I needed today. I’m a bit exhausted and just needed to read the right thing to get me going for the week and this was it!
Kimberly, so glad you connected! Thank you. I hope you have a kick-butt week!
First, I love this website. You all post so much helpful information!! I have always liked writing and had a short-story blog going for awhile, but I really started blogging to promote my new Etsy shop (Eva M Designs) – I find all your info just as applicable to my shop as to my blog though, so I love coming here to see what’s going on on the site and what I can use for my Etsy venture!
Thanks!!
Nicole, you’re right! It’s such a great place for all of us. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Wow! Love this article. I learned a ton from the article itself and the comments. Thank you!
Thank you, Susan! I just followed you on Pinterest, Yay! I haven’t done much in that platform with my new blog so I’m looking forward to it 🙂
Thanks so much for the encouragement Bonnie! Knowing your niche, then honing your skills takes time and dedication. Whatever is worth having is well worth working hard for. Thanks for that extra push…for we all get into the doldrums in the blogging world. Headed over to check out your blog…have a wonderful weekend! 😀
Michell, thanks so much for stopping by my blog! I’m glad we got to connect today 🙂
Posts like this are so motivating and inspirational. I love them and I wish I could spend all day every day on this website!
Hello, Kelly! I’m so glad you’re here. The SITS Girls is a great place to hang out online 🙂 Thank you for your kind feedback. I appreciate you taking time to stop and leave it!
Enjoy your weekend! (Maybe we’ll get to chat at #SITSSharefest 🙂
That was an awesome read! It came at the perfect time and within the perfect moment of my life. Thank you so much for this motivating post!
Thank you, Laurali! Your 10 Bad Habits post is fabulous 🙂
This is great advice! Thank you so much !
Wanda, I’m so glad you liked it and SUPER Congrats on your magazine interview!
This article is so helpful! Also really motivating. I am so excited to launch my blog soon. 🙂
xoxo Aimee
Aimee, I’m excited for you too! The SITS Girls have so many great resources right here on this blog, it’s a perfect community for you to be part of 🙂 Keep us posted.
If I could hug you without it being totally weird, I would! This post has perfect timing because I am kicking my site into high gear! I want my blog to be my only full time job, instead of my second full time job. Thanks for all the great advice!!
How exciting! From your blog; I’m sure it will be a success. 🙂
xoxo Aimee
Rose, *hugs* to you!
Way to go! It’s wonderfully exhausting when your in the middle of a transition from start-up to high-speed. Just hang in there. This is my creed: http://bit.ly/YhvoFV (I say it to myself all the time 😉 You might say it to yourself too… Stay tuned, we’re going to talk about promoting like a bandit for the next few weeks!
This was amazingly helpful, is there a way to get an email alert for the next installment?
Thank you!
You know, I suppose you could follow my author RSS feed on SITS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheSitsGirlsBonnieAndrews but I think Fran is going to post them on Thursdays, if that helps at all? Thank you for connecting. Let me know if that helps!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Fantastic Tips! Thank you so much for sharing…
Thank you 🙂 I am an all-things-foodie girl at heart, so I’m looking forward to your recipes! (The strawberry bread sounds fantastic and I LOVE the reminder that the freezer should be my friend!)
Thanks a lot Bonnie. This couldn’t have come at a better time for me!
I’m so glad you connected! I look forward to following you and it looks like you are doing some really great things on your blog. Keep it up! You’ve got this!
That helps a lot! The promoting and such I can do daily (and am doing). 🙂
Way to go! See, you know what you’re doing! You’re the authority. Let me know if you have any more questions or would like to see me cover a certain topic/challenge. Have a great day!
Can the consistency be several times a week as long as it’s the same days and follows a familiar theme? I have two jobs and a disabled husband. Posting daily is sometimes a stretch but I really want my blog to be seen as a place to go for health and wellness.
Carli, that’s a great question! Thank you for asking 🙂
I am going to assume you mean ‘posting’ as in posting an article to your blog, not just posting in social media etc. If that’s the case, here is my response:
The quantity doesn’t necessarily need to come in blog post form. The consistency of your blogging combined with regular promotion and engagement (responding) is what’s going to get you that extra mile.
So if you consistently blog X amount of times each week, that’s fabulous. Just be regularly engaged, promoting and responding every day (I do six days) a week. It is important to engage in some form at least six days a week, but it doesn’t need to be a new blog post everyday. In fact, it’s a good rule of thumb to spend twice as much time promoting and engaging (blog commenting, social media, forums etc)your post as it takes you to write it.
I hope that helps!
Excellent Bonnie!! So much great wisdom in this post…can’t wait for the next!!
Thank you and Blessings!
Shari, thank you!
p.s. I love your post from today 🙂 I’m so glad He has a plan too!
Aww thanks Bonnie..I look forward to reading your posts and visiting your blog too!
Blessings!
Great advice! One thing is for certain, if we do nothing, nothing will change. It took me many months of wanting to start my blog, but hesitating to take the step.Now it and the community I am in, is truly one of the best things in my life.
Hello Raquel 🙂 You are spot on. Do. Commit. Choose.
Isn’t it wonderful how a community can give so much when your all so ‘far away’ from each other. I love it too.
p.s. I am going to have to whip up your brown sugar baked salmon one of these night for dinner. It looks delicious!
*you’re 😉
Thanks Bonnie! It is quick and easy!
Bonnie,
Great advice & looking forward to reading more “you go girl” pieces from you. When you say “curate” what do you mean? Sorry if the use of this term is common knowledge in the blog world, but I am pretty new. Want to check out my blog & see if I am doing anything right? http://www.mysoulfulhome.com
Many thanks,
Kelly
Kelly, you’re blog looks great! I would love to see a picture of you somewhere at the top of your sidebar 🙂 A close-up headshot is a very fast way to make a connection with new readers. A face behind the blog is always a bonus. It will increases the likelihood that readers will connect and come back. (Don’t reference my current blog right now since I just launched – it’ll get there 😉
As for the curating, that’s a great question, you can think of it as sharing. Yahoo News is a good visual for curating. They take popular content, organize it and share it with their readers.That’s a general form of curating. When you use Twitter effectively, it’s also like one giant news feed of relevant, topic centered information – curating.
The benefit of you curating is that as you curate (or share) industry relevant articles from influencer networks with your audience, it will open up doors for connecting and possible cross-promoting with them in the future. It’s all a fantastic web that works together to support each point. Hang on for the ride and we’ll get you promoting and curating like a champ in no time!
Wow! Thanks for the quick response. I was considering a photo. I have one of me on my about page. I will take your advice & try it. I think I have been “curating”…I have been linking other sources in my posts. By the links sharing info I culled from other respected sources. Am I curating already? I am so excited to follow your posts & learn more.
Thank you!!]
Kelly
Thanks for the quick response. I was considering a photo. I have one of me on my about page. I will take your advice & try it. I think I have been “curating”…I have been linking other sources in my posts. By the links sharing info I culled from other respected sources. Am I curating already? I am so excited to follow your posts & learn more.
Thank you!
Kelly
That is most definitely a form of curating 🙂
Thanks for the quick response. I was considering a photo. I have one of me on my about page. I will take your advice & try it. I think I have been “curating”…I have been linking other sources in my posts. By the links sharing info I culled from other respected sources. I am so excited to follow your posts & learn more.
Thank you!
Kelly
Thank you so much for this fabulous advice! I dreamed about starting a blog for years and finally launched it in January. I work as a Children’s Book Publicist so I’m not brand new to the whole media world but in some ways I feel like I am. Great advice. 🙂
Crystal, thank you for connecting! The media world is so huge. There is always something to learn. Isn’t it wonderful!
As i have experienced till now in my blogging carrier is that people start blogging with the thinking of earning money from initial stages only but as a fact it is not possible.. So before all this we should have to concentrate on the health of the blog am i wright……..
Tushar, you are most definitely right 😉
Don’t forget to promote along the way… that’s what really makes a blog ‘healthy.’
I’ve been slowly moving away from my oldest blog (The Coffee Pot Chronicles) in an attempt to establish a more credible and authoritative presence. I love CPC and will likely continue it (along with my weight loss blog) but for now, this new one (kimulmanis.com) is taking center stage.
These are awesome tips and will help me figure out a good direction for this one. I need it. I’ve been slow to promote it because it’s still so new but I do want it grow and thrive. Thanks for the excellent advice!
Kim, what an exciting time for you! How wonderful.
Stick with me and you’ll know exactly why you don’t have to wait
to promote a ‘new’ blog until it’s a little more established.
You’ve got this girl!
Thanks, Bonnie!
I have been told by others to not wait to promote either and even though it makes sense, for some reason I’ve been holding back. Oops. Change your mindset, Kim. Change your mindset.
Change is SO good! And I would never preach anything I didn’t practice for myself. I’ve been in small business and marketing for private clients for years, but it’s only been in the last five weeks that I started MAX that Marketing as my own ‘online real estate.’
What if I would have waited to ‘promote’? I would have missed out on a lot of great time… time = strategy and success. So get out there and work it. You’ve got this one covered!
This is great advice. I have jusr re-entered the world of blogging after a long absence and I need to kick-start things. This got me thinking about my own strategy. The theme of item #1 reminds me of another quote that I love and have been thinking about a lot lately, not sure who originally said it… “If you’re not creating, you’re waiting.”.
D, it’s so true – create, create, create! Way to pick things up and move forward.
I’m looking forward to helping you keep that kick-start fire alive 🙂
Phew! OK! These are great tips! I feel like I’m missing some minor and yet crucial part of this whole thing. I’m just going to keep pushing and working.
First, you are not a terrible blogger! 😉 Hang in there with me and that missing piece will come faster than you think.
Just keep at it. You can do it!!
Alright. Going in. Let’s do this.
Yay, Emelie! SO glad to have you on board 😉
I’m IN!!! BRING IT!!! I just want to know more about how the heck I promote my blog… Expanding my reach is my goal. I love your encouragement!! 🙂
Chris! I’m all over it starting next week and the weeks to follow. Stay close and keep the energy!!
Wahoo!
Really enjoyed this article and the quotes embedded amongst the useful tips. It’s absolutely essential to claim your spot as not only mistress of your domain but a true authority in your niche. What I really need to focus on is the subtle art of marketing… I’m much more of a content person, but I know you need both!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Buckle up, because we’re gonna dive into promoting/marketing next week!
I LOVE this post. Thank you so much, and I cannot wait to read more.
Jennifer, I want to squeeze you through the screen! Thank you. I’m so glad you like it. You’re a master at implementing it all – way to go! I love that your FB page has skyrocketed and your overall engagement is awesome. Congrats to owning it!
Thanks Bonnie, and I love the virtual squeeze! I have seen a lot of things come from you thru Twitter, I think I need to hightail it over there and start taking more action.
Twitter is my first choice for a launch platform – I just launched my weMAXthat profile five weeks ago… (case in point). It’s a great place to grow fast, targeted community, and there’s something about it that resonates with my semi-ADHA behaviors 🙂
It’s great for B2B connections. The other networks I usually work in slowly, however I haven’t had much experience with Pinterest so I’m really looking forward to working it in this go around!
Since you mentioned an interest, I’ll make sure that Twitter is one of the first case studies I cover next week!
Woah! What a great post. I just read it in my car and couldn’t even tear myself away until I had read the whole thing. Suddenly I feel so powerful! Pow!
Yes! Yes! Yes! Jeanette, You are! And it’s not a secret anymore 😉
I’m looking forward to following your empowered self!
Ok! I’m motivated now! Great tips!!
*happy dance * Way to go!
This is so true. I’ve applied these tactics and I went from having less than 10 visitors a day to my blog one week to having over 40 a day the next week. And, the numbers keep climbing. I’ve also just been asked to have my own group and moderate my own topics on a well known indie author network. They asked me! How did they find me? Through a tweet recommendation. How did I get the tweet recommendation? I joined Triberr a post promotion platform. My tweet, which would have only reached my 900 followers reached 500,000 followers instead through Triberr. Now, not only is YOUR WRITING COACH an up and coming blog with me as the authority, but I now am seen as the authority about writing on an Indie Author Network. How awesome is that? Thanks for posting. Your tactics work. Have a blessed day!
Congratulations, Vicki! What wonderful news. I’m thrilled for you. Way to make it happen.
This post is so empowering, Bonnie! This has really inspired me to work harder toward becoming an authority. These tips are great, thank you so much for sharing them. 🙂
Yay! Felicia, that makes me so happy – you go! p.s. I love the design of your blog 🙂
Awesome, practical and doable tips, Bonnie. Thanks for sharing!
Alison, I LOVE your self-portraits. It just makes me smile from ear to ear! Thank you right backatcha 🙂
What wonderful tips!
Thanks! p.s. I love your birthday breakfast idea 🙂