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I started a discussion at the C.R.A.F.T. Community on Blog Frog about blog growth. I often get emails from other bloggers about this very topic. Things like: What is the best way to get new followers? How did you grow your blog? Is Twitter really necessary? That kind of stuff Today, I want to share what has worked for me to hopefully save you some time and energy..
2. I wish I would have done this one sooner. Start a facebook fan page and twitter account for your blog immediately. It’s easy and free. Use networked blogs so that every time a post is posted to your blog it automatically goes to your facebook and twitter accounts. I try and interact at least once a day on C.R.A.F.T. facebook…I really enjoy these conversations. Sometimes it’s just asking for an opinion on a project or even just, “what’s for dinner?” or posting a picture of the old school plastic weaving loom and reminiscing about the good ol’ pot holder making days!
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| see at the bottom where it says “9 hours ago via Networked blogs” |
3. SOCIAL NETWORKS. Facebook and Twitter are great, but there are many more. Basically, the more exposure your blog gets, the better. I use these: Blog Lovin, Stumble Upon, linked in, Pinterest, and Blog Frog ! HERE is a list of 15 of the most popular social networking sites.
4. Linky parties helped C.R.A.F.T. grow the most in the beginning. I linked up to THIS list of parties every. single. week. for a good 6 months. Being persistent is something I’ve always been good at…the squeaky wheel gets the grease, right ? Keep linking up, and you will get featured! Exposure was key for C.R.A.F.T. Once people know how awesome your blog is, they’ll come back for more!
5. Start your own linky party. It stinks that you have to pay now, but it is only $20 bucks a year. I use inlinkz. In the beginning, and sometimes still now, I will come a cross a blog I’ve never been to with an awesome tutorial, and just leave a little note and the M.M.M. url for the week…something like:
“WOW! What a great idea! (say something personal, for example… I’m so doing this in my bathroom!) Please come on over and link this idea up to M.M.M. !”
6. Blog swaps, guest posting, and submitting your projects to bigger sites and blogs. It never hurts to ask 
C.R.A.F.T. has done a ton of blog swapping over the past 16 months. Blog swaps are a win- win! Rachel @ One Pretty Thing features a TON of crafts–email her and let her know about your projects! I’ve also had good luck with submitting projects to Apartment Therapy and Craft Gossip.
7. Here are 2 things that will instantly make your blog better (again this is just my humble opinion): Turn off your music and turn off your word verification for comments. This will get you more comments!
8. Create a full disclosure statement and post it somewhere on your blog–it’s the law!
9. INTERACT and/or meet up with other bloggers. Comment on other blogs, go to conferences (loved bloggy boot camp) and/or set up blog dates with like mined ladies in your area. It’s FUN and good for your blog!
10. Business cards. Whether your blog is business now or you want it to be someday…carry these with you all the time. You never know when blog talk will begin. HERE and HERE are what I carry around in my bag. Update: I made new business cards!
p.s. if you want to know more about getting sponsors, I always direct people to THIS post from Little Miss Momma!
UPDATE:
How to Grow your Blog- Part 2
How to Grow your Blog- Part 3
Blogging for Bacon
10 blog tips and/or lessons learned
How to make your blogger blog a dot.com
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What great ideas! I'm new at the whole blogging thing so thanks for posting.
This post is fantastic and SO helpful because I'd really like to grow my blog into something more than it is. I actually just started doing Twitter yesterday and I've pondered doing a facebook page but do you think there's a certain size you need to be before that's effective?
Love this post! So many great ideas!!!!
Thank you!
-emily
nestnestingnested.blogspot
I just wanna say THANK YOU for this. Great tips. SO SO TRUE. It was extremely kind of you to put it out there for newbies trying to learn the ropes. I couldn't have said it better. I may be a fairly new blogger but every single thing you mentioned works. SO thanks!!
–Mary Beth @ Nothing But Country
These are some really great suggestions! I totally agree with joining in on the Link Parties. That's where most of my followers have come from
Also, I tried to share your link on my FB page (Happy Baby Designs) but it flagged it as "abusive" material!?! I sent a message to dispute it so hopefully it will get corrected.
AMEN to #7! Didn't know about #8! Great post!
This is so helpful! Thank you for posting this.
danielle
Thank you, this post is so very helpful. I have been blogging for a little over a month… I started one because I love creating DIY projects and wanted to share them, but I don't know anything about how to make mine successful. Thanks for sharing your knowledge
Connie @ Salvage Savvy
This is great stuff, Jamie! Thanks for sharing so many great tips – I had no idea about the disclosure statement either.
Thanks for this. Very informative. I just transferred 4 blogger blogs over to wordpress and now I have to grow everything all over again. Ugh…but I don't regret it. Fortunately, they were relatively new blogs.
Anyway, I'll definitely check out the things you listed that I'm not currently doing.
Cheers,
Tracy Screaming Sardine
I'm so happy y'all found this post helpful
Does anyone have anymore good ideas I left off the list?
thanks Jamie!
i'm no expert, but sounds to me like you got all the points!
(i still don't like twitter, but it's an 'age' thing!!!! ahahah!!!)
Thanks for sharing this! I'm new to blogging and am looking for all the help I can get!
Thanks for all the tips! This summer I will try everything you listed and see what happens.
I already Twitter. And I love Pinterest! Did you know you can have a "follow me" blinkie for Pinterest??
I don't do any DIY, just make cards and scrapbook pages, but I love to browse blogs. I am amazed at all the creative ideas!
Thank you so much for posting this Jamie! I am a new blogger and I love reading advice from the seasoned veterans.
What a helpful post! I have a new blog and was wondering what is the next step to grow it. I mean, I love to make things, but it takes time to blog and so having readers would be nice. Sort of reinforcing my craft addiction… I am going to read your tips until I memorize them! thanks!
Thank you for posting this – it's SOOOO helpful and now it's like I have all your awesome emails in one place! It's nice to know that I'm not the only one overwhelmed and confused by this stuff… : )
Great list of pointers Jaimie!
I could not agree with you more about linking up. Consistency IS key!
I started linking up consistently to a long list of great weekly memes. I became very committed to this back in December.
Was it successful?
Well, June of 2010 my blog was getting 3,000 pageviews per month.
June of 2011 my site is getting 26,000 pageviews per month.
My top ten referring sites are all sites that I link up to every week.
You be the judge.
Thank you so much for this post. I've learned so much. Love your blog btw.Thank you so much for this post. I've learned so much. Love your blog btw.
Not why my comment repeated itself, lol. But I wanted to let you know that I mentioned this post in my blog with a link. You have been so helpful, thank you. http://realcraftymama.blogspot.com/2011/08/late-nights-amping-up-my-blog.html
Jamie! I love this! Thanks so much for taking the time to put these together. They are so helpful and I will be coming back to look at these as I try to improve my blog.
What GREAT advice from a seasoned blogger to a newbie! Thanks so MUCH for compiling this…off to read more now!