The Shortest Distance Between New Friends is a Tweet

So you have your blog set up and hav e some interesting things going on! You’re writing articles on subjects that interest you. What’s next? You want visitors! As many as you can get. But, how do you get the attention you’re aiming for?

There are several ways to get visitors to your website. In this article I won’t give you tons and tons of tips on how to increase your traffic. Instead, I’ll share with you my favorite way of getting new visitors on my blog.

Making friends.

Yes, making friends! Preferably, make friends all over the world! Don’t get me wrong, you shouldn’t get in touch with lots of people just to increase your analytic numbers. Not only is it fun to have conversations and share interests with people miles and miles away, you can also learn a lot from them. And.. they’re functional, they can contribute, share, like and dislike everything you share online. Give you feedback and help you improve what you do.

And that is just the beginning.

Everyone has a network. In your network you collect people you like talking to, people you like sharing with. These people have networks of their own. For example;  you have 100 people in your network you talk with on regular basis. Each of these 100 contacts has 500 followers. That means, should all of your friends share (retweet) a piece of content you created, you have reached out to 50.000 people. Surely this will not happen, but it gives you a general impression.

So, we agree ‘knowing’ people through your social media platforms is worth your time?

Now.. how do we ‘befriend’ people online?

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Establish Contact

Reach out. Look for people related to what you do. For example; are you interested in healthy food, use Twitter search to find people sharing the same interest. Then simply start talking to them. This might feel a bit awkward from time to time, but what have you got to lose?

Sure not everyone will respond. Some might, but not on the enthusiastic way you are looking for in a future online friend. But some day someone will show up who you can relate to.

Have some manners

Be polite. Pretty straightforward altough often underestimated. Be nice and gentle to other people. Try helping them out wherever you can. And most important; acknowledge the work they share. People share things they’re proud of and want to be complimented for it.

Get a positive image online, and people will treat you as such.

Take initiative

Get bigger reach; visit other people’s websites and comment on their articles, artworks and other things you like. Share ideas with other people made on twitter, and you can count on it that they will check who you are and what you do.

It takes time to ‘get to know’ people online, and it works a tad different from your real friends. But if you make sure you get noticed from time to time it will pay out.