7 Easy Ways to Really Connect with Your Readers

Your best content won’t grow your blog into a business if you fail to connect with readers in a meaningful way. Discover how to create real connection with your ideal readers with these 7 effective ways to connect with readers as a blogger.

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You spend so many precious hours writing your blog, always wondering if you’re reaching anyone, in terms of traffic numbers. But what about reaching your readers on a deeper level?

How do you create meaningful connection with your readers?

It’s crucial to connect with readers in order to create raving fans who become customers. That’s how your blog becomes a business.

The following are 7 effective ways you can connect with your readers as a blogger or business owner, and really show the love!

Always start with a clear avatar of your ideal reader

Have a clear avatar of who your ideal client, customer or reader is. More than just a general sense of the audience you want to attract, an avatar is an amalgam of one individual reader.

Make a very specific list of her characteristics, needs and interests and every thing you write, whether a post, an ebook or a tweet, direct it to that one person.

While I’m happy to have my content be useful to moms of any sort, I am specifically writing for single mom bloggers. My avatar, or ideal reader, is a single mom like me who wants to start a blog, build a business and make money working from home.

She’s most likely in her mid to late 30s or 40s, loves her kids and is tired of the constant worries over money and childcare. She lies awake at night with feelings of mom guilt because she wishes she could work at home and be with her kids more. She’s fed up with the 9-5 rat race and wants more control over her schedule, her contribution to the world and her income.

Do you know who your ideal reader is? Get this clear, and creating connection gets so much easier.

Read Easy Guide to Choose a Blogging Niche and download my Free Niche Smarts for Bloggers Workbook.

Free Niche Smarts Workbook

Write the way you speak to connect with readers

If you were a good student and rule follower like I was back in school, you’ll need to forget a lot of that to write well for the internet. It’s a whole different style that makes it easier to connect with readers.

Rather than writing for a report, writing the way you speak is a far more effective way to connect with your readers. Further, write as though you’re speaking directly to one individual, your avatar.

Writing this way creates a more personal feel for everyone who reads it.

Read 15 Elements of a Great Blog Post

Check your posts by reading them out loud to yourself before you hit publish. Does it sound like you or some stranger? It’s your unique personality that will make your blog stand out, so go back and inject your style into your blog post before you share it with the world.

Free Blog Post Checklist

Share your stories with words and photos

Share yourself as much as you can, even reaching a bit outside your comfort zone (but not so far that it doesn’t feel OK to you or your family) and let your audience know you.

Be sure to use your face instead of a logo across your website and social platforms. Include your real name in addition to your business name on those places as well. People don’t follow blogs as much as they follow bloggers. So be yourself, be more than your blog.

Read Best Social Media for Bloggers to Grow Traffic and Make Money

In your blog posts, social media content, and emails you can create a great connection with your reader by sharing a relevant personal story. Your personal stories can elicit emotion, making your content more memorable and meaningful to your readers.

Include photos of your travels, your cooking, your family and yourself, on your blog and social accounts too.

Start by sharing your story with an About Page for your blog. An effective About page shares parts of your personal story while keeping the focus on your ideal reader’s needs and interests. Use your story and personal photos to help your readers see how you can be of service to them.

Some bloggers are totally comfortable sharing every little detail of their lives, and often Instagram is used to great effect by these bloggers. I’m not going to lie – it doesn’t come as easily to me. It’s something I continue to work on.

Be as honest and transparent with your readers as you can be. You don’t have to do it the same way another blogger does, but find your own way. As a single mom blogger I have become pretty good at taking selfie portraits of my little family.

Letting your readers into your world helps them know, like and trust you, which leads to raving fans and a thriving business.

Connect with readers in a private group

Create a Facebook group. A Facebook page can help get your blog or business more exposure. But to really create connection directly with your readers, a Facebook group is far better!

My Facebook page, Heather Cottrell Business Services, has 1000 more followers than my Facebook group. But I get a lot more reach and engagement in my Mom Bloggers & Business Builders group than my page ever got. Even back when pages got more reach without ads.

In your own private Facebook group, you can go Live, ask questions, create polls, share your affiliate links and advertise your products and services. All while sharing value, teaching and supporting your members.

I’m in many private Facebook groups, and admin a few. We all feel safer and more seen and heard in a private group vs a public page. Is that true for you as well?

Facebook groups are a great way to get to know people, personally and professionally, across all sorts of interests. And for your business, it’s a great way to create direct connection with your audience. It’s also a great way to meet other bloggers and business builders!

Read Best Social Media for Bloggers to Grow Traffic and Make Money

Build an email list of subscribers who feel connected

If you want success as a blogger or business builder, you must build a list. Nowhere do you have more control over your pathway to your readers than through their inbox. It’s an ideal way to create connection with your readers.

Read Why Email Marketing for Bloggers Matters (and How to Start for Free)

You can create all kinds of free incentives to attract readers to join your list. Think about your ideal reader or customer, the avatar you created. What would solve a problem or create ease in her life that you can easily create?

So far I have created a Weekly Checklist for New Bloggers, a Blog Post Template and a Niche Smarts Workbook. I am always working on new freebies for my subscribers.

Free Weekly Checklist

I use Canva to create all of my graphics, including the printables I offer my subscribers. It’s incredible how much you can do with a free Canva account, which includes thousands of free stock photos and elements.

I use ConvertKit for my email marketing which works very well, and allows me to add optin boxes (like the one above) easily throughout my blog with the use of a free plugin. If you’re not building a list yet, start with a free ConvertKit account now.

To learn more about why I recommend ConvertKit, and how it compares to other popular email services, read Best Email Marketing Services for Bloggers.

Each week, you can create an email, aka newsletter or broadcast, to send to your readers. You might share something personal about yourself to introduce the email and then share your newest blog post. As you create products or services to sell, your targeted email list of subscribers will be your top customers.

Read What to Send Your Email List: Email Marketing Tips for Bloggers

If you haven’t already, get on some lists of bloggers you really like and pay attention to their style. Many of them will include personal stories in their emails and talk to you as if they’re talking to a close friend.

Include video to create connection

Give video a try. I admit, it’s not my favorite format, but some people really love it. Video allows you to expand your reach to those who favor watching content vs reading it. If it feels natural to you, speaking on camera can create a much more personal experience for your readers and viewers.

When we write, sometimes we over-think and over-edit, and we may come across more sterile. It’s harder to do that with video, unless you hire a big production team and rehearse for a week (don’t do that).

To create videos your audience will love, all you really need to get started is some good lighting, a clean background and a decent phone. I also recommend a selfie stick that doubles as a phone tripod for making videos.

I bought a selfie stick tripod with remote just like this one as a Christmas present for myself a couple of years back. In addition to helping you create videos for your blog, it can also make capturing special occasions as a single mom a lot easier!

If you don’t have great lighting, then get yourself this awesome Selfie Ring Light with Tripod Stand & Phone Holder.

Create videos and upload them to your own YouTube channel. Then you can easily embed your video from YouTube into your blog posts.

Play around with Facebook Lives, Instagram Reels and TikTok to see what feels best for you and reaches your ideal audience.

Your videos can be stand alone, additional content for blog posts, social media stories or part of a course series. You can even just shoot a single video to introduce yourself on your blog’s home or about pages.

If you’re not excited about getting on camera, give audio a try instead. Clubhouse is a great place to network and connect with your audience, and consider starting your own podcast.

Read How Bloggers Can Use Clubhouse to Grow Your Audience

Ask and answer questions to connect with readers

This blog post began as a question by one of the members of my Mom Bloggers & Business Builders Community. She asked how to create connection with her readers and another member and I both answered, creating a nice connected conversation.

Answering your readers’ questions, whether in a private group, in a comment on your blog, or by response to your emails, is a great way to connect with readers. It can also be a great source of new content ideas for your blog. If one reader asks, many others are probably thinking the same.

Asking questions is another way to connect with your readers. As you begin to put the suggestions above into place, you can use those pathways to ask questions of your readers:

• at the end of every email you send to your list to encourage email replies
• in your private Facebook group as well as on your Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter to increase engagement
• at the end of your videos to encourage emails or comments on YouTube or on your blog
• as you conclude each blog post to gather comments

Take the time to answer your readers’ questions, and make note of them in your content calendar for future posts. Also keep track of the questions that garner the most response, and ask them again.

How do you connect with readers?

Now it’s your turn to answer my questions!

What ways do you create connection with your audience? What makes you feel connected to a blogger you follow?

I would love to hear your ideas in a comment below!

I’d love to stay connected with you!

Join me and a growing community of motivated mom bloggers and business builders in the free Mom Bloggers & Business Builders Community on Facebook now!

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• Best Social Media for Bloggers to Grow Traffic and Make Money
• 15 Elements of a Great Blog Post + Free Blog Post Template
• Start a Blog Today: Easy Step-by-Step Guide
• How to Stay Focused as a New Blogger + Free Checklist
• Why Email Marketing for Bloggers Matters (and How to Start for Free)
• Quickly Find Blog Post Ideas for Beginners