According to Seth Godin, the secret of marketing is: the first ten.
So who are the ten? These are your early customers, the ten people who will listen, read or buy whatever you are selling.
If they don’t love it, you need a new product. Which means you will have to start over. But if they love it, your idea will spread. Your business will grow… probably not as fast as you want, but faster than you could ever imagine.
So now that you understand the concept of “10″, here is how you can apply it to blogging:
Step #1: Find the 10
Getting your blog off the ground is hard. You might spend weeks, maybe even months before you get your first comment.
If you watch the analytics, you may even notice people showing up on your page. But you haven’t quite got that following yet.
Here’s what you need to do to help encouraged the growth of that ten:
- Publish content frequently – you can’t expect to build up a following if you don’t have anything to give them. So you need to write every day and learn how to write popular posts.
- Write for other bloggers – right now guest posting is the best way to gain attention for your blog and to develop your audience of ten. Read this quick and dirty guide on your first guest post to get tips on how to do it.
- Engage the social web – it’s important that you find where your readers are hanging out. Is it Facebook? Twitter? Google+? All three? Go there and spend time replying to posts, liking posts, sharing posts and contributing your own content.
- Comment frequently – if you want to encourage that ten to start following you, then you need to spend time on their blogs. While leaving lots of comments consistently is a great way to encourage people to follow you to your blog, I’ve found that simply emailing the blog owner is one of the best ways to create a conversation. Make sure you have an email signature with your blog URL in it so they can check you out. I’ve picked up readers this way and even created business through an email exchange like this.
Really, this first step is all about getting online traffic.
Step #2: Nurture the 10
As your blog grows, you’ll start to notice a few people who consistently comment or share your articles on the social web.
Here’s what you need to do to keep these folks happy:
- Create a comment competition – I use a widget that shows who comments the most on my blog. The top five are displayed, encouraging this behavior as other people look at the commenters and then follow them to their websites. It’s all about rewarding loyalty.
- Thank the 10 – anybody who comments or shares your content on the social web, you need to thank them. And the sooner you do it, the better. You can do it in the comments or even email them.
- Return the favor – if you really want to encourage the ten then start by follow their blogs. Comment on their posts and share them on the social web, always giving them credit so your audience sees you recommending them.
- Keep the focus on the blog consistent – too much off-topic posting is one of the reasons that readers unsubscribe from blogs. Don’t do that.
- Leave your ego at the door – remain humble with your ten and treat them like they are the most important thing to your blog. This means leave the excessive self-promotion at the door, too.
Step #3: Unleash the ten
Eventually your ten will be primed to help take you to the next level. Here’s how to encourage them to become super-advocates or your blog.
- Run a contest – even if you only have ten readers, that doesn’t mean you can’t run a contest with them. For example, you could offer to give away ten books you’ve recently read for the person who tweets your content the most. Or perhaps helps you drive more traffic to one particular topic. Competition is a great motivator.
- Limit the restrictions – don’t slow down your readers from sharing your content. Allow them to reprint and repost without your permission… as long as you get a link with credit back to your name. You may want to protect your work from piracy, but really a lack of money isn’t most bloggers problems… it’s a lack of popularity. Take a hint from Leo Babauta: the more freedom you can give readers to share your content, the better.
- Open up your archives – encourage your readers to dig into your archives to get more page views and more content they can share. But how do you do that? Your first step is to make sure you have a search box on your blog. Next, use a plugin that highlights the most popular posts and a plugin that includes related posts at the bottom of each of your new posts. Always link to other articles in your blog, reaching back as far as you can. Finally, write compilation posts that highlight posts in the past. This works as a top 20 of the year or for series when you wrap up the subject, kind of like a table of contents. You can also resend old content. I’ve seen this trick work where I’ll re-send an old article via email and it will drive more traffic to that post. It makes it look like you updating frequently.
Step #4: Ride the ten
As you work to grow your blog by leveraging the ten who love you, you’ll eventually get a bump in traffic and readership.
It might be from a post you wrote that went viral or that guest post gig at Mashable. Here’s how to take advantage of that sudden flood.
- Don’t get used to the traffic – first off… you might have a really busy day or two, but things will slow down and get back to normal. Relax, enjoy the traffic and make an effort at capturing that traffic as best as you can.
- Make your blog sticky – the design of your blog is important. You should have a clear place where new readers can subscribe. Also, provide pathway pages that help new readers know what to do next. For example, do you have a “Start Here If You Are New” link? This will give new readers your cornerstone content.
- Make your post sticky – each individual post should be scannable and there should also be clear places that new readers can subscribe. Also include related post links so new readers can start crawling around your blog. And if you have an email newsletter, don’t forget to provide a link to subscribe to that, too.
- Post a follow up quickly – when you get a boost in traffic from an unexpected source, like a big blogger or media site, the best thing you can do is follow up with another post as soon as possible. This way you give new readers something new to read, which helps keep the momentum going. For example, if a post on “How to Publish an eBook” that got a surge in traffic, follow up the next day with a post on how “How to Promote your eBook.”
- Don’t let the criticism get to you – a rise in traffic will naturally attract people who want to criticize what you do. Feel free to ignore them, because they come with the territory.
- Don’t forget your ten – if that sudden surge in traffic brings you fifty new readers, don’t forget about the original ten. They are your core and will probably prove more loyal than the fifty. Don’t forget to take care of them.
Conclusion
Building a blog by focusing on your ten core readers is a sound model that’s been proven by bloggers like Darren, Pete Cashmore at Mashable and Leo Babauta. So what are you waiting for? Go out there and leverage your first 10.
What other ways do you know that can help you leverage the rule of ten?
This amazing course will teach you, step by step, how to double if not triple your traffic over the next 30 days.
Neil, just wanted to say I think this is great advice, and a great reminder for us all. Nice job. – Mike
Thank you Mike, glad you enjoyed it.
Yes Neil. You can’t forget where you started from and especially who you started with. If you show gratitude to your readers they will certainly show it back.
Yep. I also appreciate you constantly coming back and commenting.
Thanks!
Hi Neil,
This is solid proven advice that works. A good reminder in the beginning of 2012. Thanks!
Happy New Year.
Thanks Mohit,
Happy New Year to you too!
its a thought ful article neil .thank you for giving sweet suggestions
Happy to have been able to help. Hopefully these tips will work for you too.
Hey thanks for the tips
I have been reading your blog for last couple of months and I applied some of your tips on my movie trailer blog (http://www.bmatrailers.com) and it really works well in terms of traffic.
Also please share as how to make visitors click on ads.
Thanks
Great, good to hear my post have been useful to you. Best of luck on your blog.
Read you bio and ended up on this article, You really are a inspiration!
Thanks, I appreciate the kind words.
Finally just started my own blog so I will definitely try to put this advice into action, thanks!
Cool,
Definitely give them a try. Let me know how they work out for you.
Hey Neil, nice article. According to me blogging is a great way to build the solid long term relationship with the customers as well as with other bloggers too. “Leave your ego at the door” this matters a lot, many bloggers fail because of their ego. “EGO” is something that we should avoid it completely because then only success can be achieved. EGO less life is a successful life because it gives a positive results.
I agree, blogging is a great way to further connect and network. By providing useful content and interacting with your readers you will be able to build beneficial relationships.
Ego is something that can hurt everybody, not just the bloggers. Having an ego and not listening to anybody is a safe way to disaster most of the times.
Yea, I hate when people have egos. They’ll learn sooner or later…
Hey Niel,
These are great tips and a good reminder. Thanks for sharing these tips.
Happy New Year, mate
!
Thanks for your support Devesh. Always happy to provide helpful tips and reminders.
Thank you for the useful reminders here Neil.
I think the rule of 10 works, the real challenge is getting them and keeping them. From my own experience, I think the first 10 change per time, the initial ones I got some have left the list and others are still on. This is one of the new lessons I am learning from blogging. Especially from fellow bloggers who come in contact with other blogs; their original intent is traffic. Over time as their traffic grows, they tend to reduce the number of blogs they comment on.
As you did mention, one of the ways to guarantee stickiness is being consistent in your content delivery. The more focused you are at helping them solved specific problems through your articles, the more loyalty you build.
Thanks for sharing.
You are right. Keeping them is the hard part, which is why you have to engage with them on a regular basis. Whether it is through comments, emails or even AIM chats…. engaging is the key to keeping them.
Thanks for the post Neil — my blog is just starting to get some traction and I’ve been looking for ways to try to keep up the momentum. I’ll give those things a shot!
Let me know how it works out for you.
Your timing is great–just started a blog on Sunday and was starting to think about what I need to do to get it off the ground. Cheers!
Awesome. Make sure you stay consistent with your blogging…
Keeping all the things in mind, your last 5 mails and many blog post form this blog. undoubtedly…my blog is rocking!! A Big Thank to you!! thanks for all the help!!
And a big thanks for reading Quick Sprout. If it wasn’t for your comments and other peoples’ comments, I wouldn’t be motivated to keep on blogging.
Plus I am learning from the comments you guys leave, which is a huge plus.
Great post and just in time for my first day back in 2012!
Could have named this blogging/social media 201 or 301.
Yep, I timed it just for 2012. Thought it would be better than a resolution type of post…
Great Post Neil…..
Enjoyed thoroughly.. Feeling Enlightened..
You are welcome. Thanks for reading Quick Sprout.
Thank you for the always great posts. I agree it is very important to take care of the followers you have instead of doing the Aesop’s fable fox thing. The fox is standing on the bridge holding a bone and looking into the creek below. He sees the bone reflected in the creek and drops the bone in his mouth to grab the one in the water. He loses both bones. Followers are like bones — keep and appreciate the ones you have!!
Cool fable. I never head it before… thanks for sharing.
I was missing two great things that discovered here in your post – frequently post & frequently comment. Some rule I already knew, but never applied. So, I think only knowing anything is like nothing until you apply it.
Anyway, I’m too lazy to comment but starting here. Thanks for your update…
Definitely, if you don’t apply what you know then your knowledge goes to waste. I hope you get started on implementing these tips!
Great article as usual, Neil. I’ve never minded about how important the first 10 are but they’re definitely the people you should strive to keep with you!
Thanks and happy 2012!
They are very important as your first 10 will turn into thousands…
What about tagging articles to different social media sharing platforms?
That can be a good way to get some traffic, but if your content isn’t good those sites won’t drive much traffic.
Hey Neil, Hope you had a good Christmas and New Year all the best for 2012.
These tips work great. I have been using them on and off for a while, and more recently on a lot. Engaging all your comments is essential for gaining continued comments from repeat readers.
I also found when commenting on other blogs and the blogs of your readers adding value counts for a lot as well which does help to pick up extra readers. I have also found some great blogs and started some great relationships with guys who I have found in the comment sections of my regular blog reads.
Great info as always Neil thanks.
Dan
It’s a really good way to pick up extra readers. Pete from Mashable did this to kick off his blog and look at where it is now… he killed it.
Thanks for this amazing advice Neil! Much appreciated.
No problem Priya… thanks for reading.
Thanks Neil! The subscribe button at the end of each post on my blog has not been working well. I’m going to try “Start Here If You Are New†link and see how it works out.
That is a good idea. I am going to try something similar on my blog now…
Excellent! Still working on my own “first ten”.
You’ll get there soon. Just keep cranking away.
This isn’t the first time i read about getting your first ten. Great job applying it to blog readership.
Thanks! It was a bit tricky to do so, but I am happy with the way the post turned out.
Great advice! I can’t wait to put it to use for my new blog!!
Thank you:)
Jen
I love readin your blog neil. Your blog has always give a great content. this one really inspire me! Thanks neil
Thanks for the kind words Lili.
Make sure you start using it ASAP. The longer you wait, the hard it will be to build a strong foundation.
Once again gold content,
Thanks Neil
I’ll try to keep on writing “gold” content. Hopefully I don’t disappoint you and the community.
Thanks Neil. when will you post the results of your recent survey?
Soon… hopefully in the next month or so.
Neil,
I felt that this line could be described in 2-3 lines more. “If they don’t love it, you need a new product. Which means you will have to start over.”
First time entrepreneurs (who treat you like godfather) might take it incorrect way after interacting with 2-3 customers. I agree that the context of the article is ‘blogging’ and not ‘customer interaction’, but still..
Yes and you have to make sure the first 10 are the right audience or you will get bad feedback. You need relevant readers…
Great advice, I will experience with these. Thanks a lot!
You won’t be disappointed. They work really well… I have been using them for years.
Very great things for blog maintenance, I am receiving lot of comments to one of my post repeatedly,don’t know whether are posting in proxy ip and different mail id’s. Is there any way to rectify this Neil?
Try to look at the IP. WordPress should detect spam comments…
Thanks Neil, I was looking the ip.I have a doubt since i am receiving comments without related to my blog post topic.
Sometimes some spam gets through, you just have to manual delete those.
This is excellent advice. Start small, nourish the tribe of loyal followers, and be consistent in giving content to please the loyal followers who were with your blog from the beginning. This is what I got from reading the article. All good advice that I can use! Thanks for the post. I am wondering what is the best way to know if you have disconnected from your first 10 readers? For instance, say a blogger has been blogging for 2 years. Where to look and find the statistics to know who you are reaching.
Start surveying them. Ask them how disappointed they would be if your blog no longer exists.
Starting my first blog very soon and will definitely try to use everything as possible
Use thesis, great wordpress theme with super powerful SEO built in.
Yes, Thesis is great. If you are a new blog you should consider using it as it makes things a lot easier to modify.
That is the best time to start using them as that is when it matters the most.
Thanks for this detailed post, Neil. Mine is a relatively new blog with few subscribers yet. I can see how the rule of pampering the first 10 would immediately benefit my blog. I also read your guide to guest posting on Problogger recently. Keep them coming!
Will do. I will try to blog more often.
These are the excellent tips to find perfect ten who is interested in your blog. Increase those ten people’s interest in your blog by adding new things and features in the blog is a great idea.
Thanks! Make sure you implement them on your blog.
Hello Neil,
I am sure these 10 rules will work for all like 100 smashing ways to popular your blog post and we can true our dream which is every blogger want to see good number of comment on their blog post.
comments are like crack for bloggers!
They are. Plus traffic… those two metrics are really important.
Try them out… you won’t be disappointed.
recently, i was trying to figure out what is so special in SEO Pressor a much talked plugin for wordpress, and it was hard to understand why people are so mad about this plugin.
It was the first ten who was convinced and satisfied user of that plugin that made that so popular otherwise according to me there are so much good plugins available for wordpress that directly out rank SEO pressor.
The same you have explained for the blog. it is the first 10 that matters a lot.
It is. Because if you can make them happy, you can make thousands of other people happy.
Awesome post. I always try and reward my commentors and contributors and added the top commenting widget as well,
It is really effective. You’ll see the number of comments sky rocket once you add that widget.
This is an insightful article and I’m applying it to my own blog.
I’m a new reader to your blog and I’ve been enjoying reading your emails on high volume traffic strategies. I found your site as well as a few of your colleagues through a Google Blog search and I’m so glad I did!
Thanks for letting me know how you found Quick Sprout!
Thanks for the great advice, Neil. I recently subscribed to your blog & am loving your kick-a** content. Keep it coming!
Thanks! I’ll try to publish another blog post this week.
Thanks Neil…you rock as you do always !!
Thanks! I try to write posts you guys love.
Another great article to pass on to my students! http://www.facebook.com/TheComputerGal
A client recently asked me if I blog. I told him that I micro-blog with Facebook to keep in contact with my students.
Micro blogging is also effective. Facebook makes it really easy these days to micro blog.
Very well said but it should not be that they follow you blindly else they wont motivate.
Yes or else they also won’t come back and engage.
We all know that having backlinks to a web site helps with SEO but does the precise clicking of a backlink by a human (i,e not a robotic) help add weight to that individual hyperlink as individuals are interested? Also, what about when someone finds you on Google and clicks that hyperlink, does that inform them so as to add some weight to that search engine consequence?
To your first question I don’t know the answer. As to your second question they are tracking click through rates.
Great post, Neil. I’ve made it a resolution to really write for my readers rather than myself this year, and to ensure that I provide content that engages and encourages comments. A review site often struggles for comments–who’d comment on something they haven’t read?–but adding in other content to engage my core readers has really helped. Thanks for the suggestions!
No problem. Hope things keep on going well for you.
Hi I’ve been reading your wisdom for a couple days now. Good stuff, but you knew that
thanks for showing how this can be done and can be Very successful. I’m going to let my peeps on Face Book know about you. Thanks for making this stuff approachable.
Thanks for spreading the word about me and Quick Sprout. I really appreciate it.
That is so true NEIL PATEL. As an author and business man, I can relate to how you said ” if they love it, your idea will spread. Your business will grow… probably not as fast as you want, but faster than you could ever imagine”.I hope more people discover your blog because you really know what you’re talking about. Can’t wait to read more from you!
Thank you Daniel, glad you agree. Thanks for the kind words, please do come back!
Neil this is really interesting! how about a group of bloggers who can help each other in getting traffic and recognition? i would say lets join hands with around 50 more bloggers, and if i make a post the other 50 will share about it in their blogs and will share it on their respective social medias.. this will eventually save a lot of time in getting a new blog recognized.. what say??
Sounds like a cool idea… kind of like a meme. Although I like it, I try to only make informational posts on Quick Sprout… as once I do other things it opens up a can of worms for me.
Great post Neil.
I am trying to take all of those points into account with my new blog it really is all about the social and the community around the blog. One day I hope it to be as good as this one!
http://www.armenante.co.uk Take a look let me know what you think and hope I could improve it.
Tom
Thank you Tom,
Happy to take a look, however I work better through email. So if you shoot me an email with your blog and i’ll let you know what I think. My email is neil@neilpatel.com.
I do not mind paying just a little for quality. I would like the critiques to crawlable by search engines like google and yahoo, and if attainable I would like the plugin to do some IP monitoring…
Hey Cira,
Can you rephrase your question, I am not sure what you are trying to ask…
The hardest thing for blogs, i think is to quick off, reach the first readers and keep them coming back. I understand that good content is everything but how to make them come to visit you for the first time?
Try to build your name and credibility first by guest posting. Once you have established yourself you shouldn’t have a problem getting readers to come to you.
Through guest posting you can not only gain readers but also able to get traffic, backlinks and authority etc. towards your blog.
Yep, thanks for chiming in. Guest posting has many benefits.
Yeah. This blogpost really helps me. I forgot some of these methods, but right now I will try them. Thank you for adding them
Definitely give them a try and let me know how they work out for you. Happy this post has helped you.
Best of luck!
hey Neil very nice blog article i learned something new in this article. nice job
Happy New Year
Thanks Ajay,
Cool, glad you were able to learn something new.
Happy New Year to you too.
Great article, Neil.
Why not send out gifts to top ten readers.
Good idea, I will consider doing that. Thanks for the suggestion.
Interesting article. Great Job Neil.
This is the First visit to your site and definitely i will visit again to learn from you.Happy New Year.
Happy to have you visit, I hope you come back and read more in the future!
Great post Neil! I’ve been blogging since 2001 and agree with your recommendations.
For me it’s about truly trying to help people, providing my best content, and doing it on a regular basis. Thing is, you never really know what’s going to stick or go viral. In my experience, it’s when you least expect it that something gets traction.
Thanks, Steinar
Thanks Steinar,
Glad you agree. Yep, that is a great way to go about it. I agree with you as well, thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Best of luck.
Neil,
Little late getting around to reading this but saved it when I had the time to study it. One of my 2012 objectives to start “re-start” my personal blog from scratch and just see what I can do in 12 months. I love to write and just need to make the commitment and take the time to do it. I building the WordPress from the ground up without experience and taking way more time than I’d like but learning a lot. Trying to populate the blog with some initial interesting posts so newbies can get a feel for my “voice”. Then I’ll be searching for the 10. Thanks for the advice.
David
Well, thanks for taking the time to read it. Sounds good, blogs are extremely beneficial when you take the time and effort to create and utilize them properly. Hopefully these tips will help you. Let me know if you had any questions along the way.
Best of luck!
Our company is about to launch our blog and the resources that you post have been most helpful. One of the points that I found intriguing was the idea of creating competition within your blog. I believe competition brings out the best in people while recognition plays a critical role in nurturing relationships.
I look forward to reading your future blog posts!
Glad to hear it Blake. Yep, competition is a great way to get the best results. Good luck to you and thanks for reading!
Never thought of it that way but it makes sense. However, your first 10 may not necessarily be as productive and willing to comment, share, etc. If that were the case, I guess you move on to silently choosing your 10 favorite… assuming you have mor then ten, that is. I don’t think I do yet. Heh.
Yep, you could go with picking your 10 most active commenters. It may take a while to build up a consistent group of readers but if you keep at it and produce valuable content you should see your following grow over time.
Interesting article on power of 10.
I have noticed that we get way too pre occupied with traffic. once the traffic jumps , we get obsessed with stats. Things will eventually slow down for sure.
make sure you spend only 4-5 % on stats and the others on how well your blog would do with new features.
It is important to not get to obsessed over numbers. However it is smart to keep track of your traffic flow. This way when you try new things you can see what type of impact it has on your site.
Hi Neil,
I run a niche site and now planning to start a sports blog, dont have much of a idea about it.. your article has given me a basic idea on how to start with…
Great, glad this post has been helpful to you. Let me know if you have any questions as you go.
Best of luck!
Hi Neil,
Thanks for the tips,presently am handling one blog yet i have planned to run few more blogs in different niche your post has given me some ideas
No problem, glad these tips have helped. Running multiple blogs can be tricky. However if you can keep up with them, then you will have a greater chance at success in at least one if not more.
Best of luck.
Thanks for your support Neil,will share the updates of my blogs process
Sounds good.
I would like to add value on comments. One of the best ways to get more comments is to comment more and reply to all comments. Simple as that.
I think creating cornerstone content on your site like lists of solutions which help people and solve problems is crucial if you want the big traffic, exposure and links.
Linking a big list to full posts on each solution helps rank higher.
Not many bloggers seem to go back over old posts and constantly update them as well as work on internal links to new content from old content
I agree, if you respond to your readers when they comment you will find an increase in comments over time. When you don’t respond they may feel like their comment was a waste of time.
You make good points. I appreciate your added input. You seem to have a lot of knowledge on the matter, I would guess from personal experience. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I like the point of keyword competition but I also see a potential drawback in this. This also attract spammers to come to your website and post junk comments with no usefulness. Though it brings a little more traffic but I feel we should combat this situation. Any suggestions on the same?
You have to manually moderate them. That is the only way to control the spam issue.
What a great post, never would imagine that all this could be possible, realy learning new stuffs with you Neil
Thank you Fernando,
Happy to hear you have learned new and useful things from Quick Sprout. Let me know if you ever have any questions.
I have been reading “how to grow your blog” articles for hours now and this is one of the best! Very informative, very practical and none of the rubbish about how you will become a blogging superstar by doing one simple thing (which is usually to pay someone money!). Thanks a lot, great article. Will give all of this a go.
Thanks Richard,
I appreciate your support, let me know if you have any questions as you go.
Good suggestions Neil, I especially like how advised to leave the go behind and opt for humbleness instead, and also that no matter how many subscribers eventually sign on, always treat those first ten like gold.
You have to. You can never forget how you got to where you are today.
A very useful post.
Neil,
Me and my virtual staff team is looking forward to create a new male health site, which will concentrate completely on affiliate products. I plan to make it an extremely successful site at any cost, I have a skilled team and plenty of time to devote.
It would be great if you could lend me some initial advice, so that I can establish my site as a brand and get more conversions.
Thanks.
Email me with specific questions and I will gladly answer them.
Even after a lot has been said in marketing, customer service and elsewhere, still entrepreneurs tend to forget who are important to the business, the ones that helped put them there in the first place. A great read Neil. Loved the diversity that goes with your articles.
Jojo
It’s funny you mentioned customer service as I mentioned that on an interview today. It is a very important aspect to a companies success… just look at Zappos.
Hey Neil, thanks for being such a great resource. I love your related post plugin that pops onto the lower-right portion of the screen when your reader is at the end of the post. Do you mind sharing what plugin that is?
It is called “popularity contest”.
How often should we publish our posts?
It’s up to you. You should focus on consistency… but I like publishing at least once a week.
I love step # 2 – nurture the 10. Just like with your other post, building a relationship with your reader. Just like what you do, you reply on every comment (as I’ve noticed). That’s why a lot comes back and reads and comments on your article because they feel accepted. (if you know what i mean) . Good relation of blogger and reader is a key on successful blogs.
Thanks for noticing. It takes a lot of time to do so.
Great blog Neil, now I can understand why you spend so much effort in answering every single comments coming in. Great job Neil, I have a lot to learn from you.
Thank you Will,
I appreciate you taking the time to read and comment.
Thank you! This guide will help me a lot to get my first ten readers!
Great, let me know if you have any questions as you go.
haha Pete Cashmere.. awesome typo
Thanks for pointing it out. I have gone back and fixed it.
Thanks for the tips Neil, seems like a pretty logical process – sort of based on Karma in a way. Now, do you have advice about how to get ranking in search engines?
I’ve come across conflicting information about the importance of it in general. With some bloggers not seeming to care about it, while others see it as an absolute must, what is your take?
Here are links to some of my pervious post. They should help you learn more about SEO.
How to Leverage Link Blending and Stage 2 Link Building to Maximize Your Rankings
http://bit.ly/w5u0tA
The SEO’s Handbook – 53 Resources For First Time SEOs
http://bit.ly/xSOHBT
How to Rank on Page 1 of Google Without Buying One Paid Link
http://bit.ly/AhHy9y
6 Advanced Ways to Improve Your Search Engine Rankings
http://bit.ly/ywXzLE
10 Ways to Get More Traffic, Attention and Higher Rankings Through Social Sharing
http://bit.ly/AeznYl
Great post! Bookmarked for inspiration. That first ten does seem so important. If you can get that original 10 then scaling it up to 100, 1000 should be easy, you already have a plan to get 10!
Chris
Great, glad you understand how important the first 10 are in growing the rest.
Why is it all these blogs giving advice on blogging and what not always have the most ANNOYING pop up ad subscription things hahaha It’s kind of hypocritical isn’t it? Especially on blogs that list “don’t have pop ups” as a piece of advice.
I am sorry you feel that way. I hope the information you receive from reading these post is worth the inconvenience.
One really golden rule about blogging that you are so good on following (other than all the others ..ihihi): answering your readers comments. This really motivates your readers to interact with you and feel their own comments useful. Thank you for that!
I definitely try and get to all of them. Sometimes I get behind but I always make an effort to catch up!
Its really nice and valuable information Neil, in terms of social media what will be the stage of blogging in coming years?
I am not sure, we will have to wait and see, but as it comes out, I will be sure to blog on it.
I usually use the symbol (~) before your search term.
Using synonyms within your content, according to experts, your blog must be ranked with the most relevant keywords.
http://hostcarioca.com.br
Cool, thanks for sharing Antony.
Great suggestions, in particular thanking your first 10 and having a thick skin for possible criticism. I write a progressive political blog — harveysglobalpolitics.blogspot.com — and from time to time I receive harsh comments from folks with different opinion…oh well, it’s still traffic!
Yep, you will always get those readers who disagree. I rather enjoy when they mix it up.
This was the 1st post that I read on QuickSprout. I was recommended this blog at a startup conference in Mumbai. Then after, this has been like a coffee shop for me. Everyday I visit QuckSprout and spend some quality time with gaining some kickass knowledge.
Awesome, glad to have you!
I have read many of your blogs regarding blogs commenting and got a good response by following the steps you mentioned in your blogs. Its always good to read all the blogs you post and get to always learn new things about seo thanks!!
Happy to hear these tips have worked out for you.
This post has so much value, you can read it any time and still take away something valuable.
Thank you Faisal, I appreciate the kind words.
Hi Neil,
Somehow I missed this post back when you wrote it. The power of those first 10 is a very interesting concept. Let me find a way to implement it and see how it goes.
Thanks for sharing very relevant content all the time.
Let me know how it goes!
I really like that top comments widget you have on your website, as soon as I saw that I thought it was a great idea. However I can’t imagine the moderating time you must spend because of how you allow comments to appear on your website automatically.
WordPress helps sort most spam, but it does take quite some time to go through comments.
Hi Neil, great post as always!
I have a question though: In rule #3 you mention that we shouldn’t limit people from sharing our posts, even without permission as long as we have a link in it. In a most recent post (after Penguin) you wrote about how to block other bloggers from “stealing” your content by placing CopyScape banners, and other useful tips.
Would you say now, after Penguin, that we should or we shouldn’t allow others copying our content, since that would create lots of duplicate content.
And a second question about the rule of 10: how do you manage the opposite situation? = when you have lots of comments and no time to read and answer them all.
Thank you!
Carlos
I think it is worth letting people take your content and link back as it can drive good traffic. Even if it isn’t best for search, in the longrun it will drive more traffic and search engines will change/adapt if need be.
I’m currently employing the rule of ten with my local courses in Internet Marketing…
It works great and I’m getting recommendations and forming new groups from this first 10-12 people who already finished the course…My support and care is first class!
Awesome, happy to hear it is working well for you!
Most people know these tips but are just too lazy to execute. It is extremely hard to motivate yourself to do all of these things on a consistent basis
It is hard, but if you truly want to succeed you will get it done.
Hey,
Your post is great as usual. I really like that top comments you have on your website, as soon as I saw that I thought it was a great idea.
Thank you for great idea posting.
Thanks, glad you liked it.
hey neil,
i really liked the step#4. nice post by you, i really liked it. a very informational article.
Thanks.
Matt
Hi!,,,This post has so much value, you can read it any time and still take away something valuable and helpful,but anyway thanks for sharing!,,,,
From my own experience, I think the first 10 change per time, the initial ones I got some have left the list and others are still on. This is one of the new lessons I am learning from blogging. Especially from fellow bloggers who come in contact with other blogs; their original intent is traffic.
I like the idea of starting with ten. I have become a more consistent and focused blogger now. I am trying to get those TEN. I have noticed that a couple of visitors have come back…loving that. Definitely need to keep in mind what to do to keep them coming back. I definitely try to return comments as soon as possible and to revisit those that come back to my blog. Thanks for the info. I have learned to be patient in growing my blog now.
Sharon, slow and steady will definitely win the race. Best of luck!