I’ve got some brutal advice for you today:
Just because you have a blog (or a business) doesn’t mean you’re entitled to readers (or customers)…
…You’ve got to earn them.
You’ve got to give these people a “reason why” they should read your site or do business with your company.
That said, I have a question for you:
What’s Your “Reason Why?”
Take a hard look at your blog or business.
Why should people do business with you instead of your competitor?
What do you offer that your competitors don’t?
What can people get from you that they can’t get anywhere else? What’s your “reason why?”
If you don’t have one, you’re doomed.
Before you focus on WordPress SEO, split testing, or anything like that, you’ve got to find your “reason why.” It’s STEP ONE.
Heck, I’d even go so far as to saying that you need your “reason why” before you even have a WordPress installation.
What Happens When You Have A “Reason Why?”
Good things…
Actually, make that great things!
I can only speak from my experience, so I want to share three stories with you:
1. The Entertainment World
By now, you’ve likely heard that I got started with blogging by running an entertainment site. The site was huge, and in one year, the blog generated around 30 million hits.
How did I grow that site?
Part of it was that I was in the right place at the right time, but what really helped me stand out was this:
Back then, I was the only entertainment site (celebrity gossip) that targeted college aged men—most gossip sites targeted women.
What was my “reason why?”
Men read my site because I gave them the gossip they wanted to read about.
2. DIYthemes Blog
You’re a loyal reader of the DIYthemes blog, so now I’d like to let you in on a little secret:
Loads of people read the DIYthemes blog because we offer practical information. Information that people can read, and go use on their websites today.
Yes, we traffic in “theory” once in a while—you need to—but mainly we focus in on practicality.
That was no accident.
I’ve heard complaints from people that blogs don’t offer any actionable information. So, when we launched the DIYthemes blog our main goal was to give people actionable information.
So what’s our “reason why?”
You read DIYthemes because you get actionable information that helps you build a successful blog.
3. Social Triggers
Earlier this year, I noticed some other complaints going on in the blog world…
People were sick and tired of reading fluff blogs (blogs that are all opinion with no data facts).
So, when I launched Social Triggers, my goal was to always present the data AND opinion. I focused in on psychology research, conversion optimization, and various other personal experiments I’ve ran on my own sites.
Or, in short, my “reason why” people should read my site was because I presented them with what they wanted: data.
Now I Pass It To You…
What’s YOUR “reason why?”
And if you don’t have one, find one.
If you don’t have one, people will go to competitors who do.
To get you started, here are some quick tips for creating your “reason why”:
- Keep it concise (the shorter the better)
- Keep it concrete (the more tangible the better)
- Keep it clear (if you’re the only one who understands your “reason why,” you failed)
