Hi everyone!
I've never been good at promoting what I do and what I need. I may appear to be an extrovert but truthfully, I'm a closet introvert. I have guts and determination and can appear so confident. But I'm not always and it's a struggle to work on a daily basis to find my niche and feel comfortable with reaching out.
Right now, I'm working on boosting the traffic to my blog as well as trying to gather more families for my summer programs as well as trying to gather more families for my fall programs as well as trying to gather participants for our first bereavement conference as well as trying to gather bereaved families for our 2nd annual memorial walk. None of it is currently going well at all. Throwing in the towel would be my next move, except that I'm awfully stubborn and quitting is never on the agenda.
And yet, I find myself not getting the numbers needed. When I visit other blogs and see the number of comments, I'm intrigued and I'll admit, slightly jealous. Which is totally not my character. I truly write for me, for history, so numbers shouldn't really matter, right? But for some reason, they seem to be important, a measure of acceptance perhaps that I crave but continues to elude me.
I love and cherish the dedicated readers I have but can't figure out how to get my blog "out there".
When I see the success of other programs that have similar offerings, I wonder why my numbers, while good, are never huge. Our evaluations and quotes from clients show we have a strong, viable program, that is unique. As the only one of it's kind offered in Western Canada, you'd think we'd be overrun with numbers.
But truthfully, we're not and I can't figure out why.
I am intrigued by the vast numbers of volunteers, sponsors and attendees others have received for their conferences and their walks. But again, can't figure out beyond the typical promotion (web, emails, posters, media) to spread the word about our events.
What am I doing wrong? Or not doing enough of?
Maybe it's fear.
Maybe I'm not savvy enough.
Maybe I'm too short or not beautiful.
Maybe what I think others want is not really want they want.
Maybe no one wants to read what I have to say, or attend my programs, or need a conference.
In the end, I'll figure it out, 'cause that's what I do. But I would love your ideas on how to get there. In this season of hot weather, many deadlines and too many decisions, my head is swimming and making sense of the chaos isn't making my posts very attractive!
Share, do please share.
I'll cherish anything you can offer.
4 comments:
I bet your height has nothing to do with it :) I noticed that in summer it's harder to find volunteers. We volunteer a lot in our Church and it's almost impossible to get people during the hot months.
As for blogging numbers, the best way to boost it is to build friendships. The more you visit other people's blogs, the more they would want to come to yours. I love to discover new blogs and visit them frequently (or as often as I can). It's also harder to build those connections with bigger bloggers because they have more readers to follow up with. I hope it helps :) Good luck!
Hi Lena,
I so appreciate your thoughts. I always joke about my height! Sometimes, it has been an issue but most often it's not.
Summer is hard to get volunteers but our conference is in October, so I hope by then, anyone who would be interested will come out and help with our event. We are holding a meeting tomorrow to decide and if it looks like it will be too big a job for the few of us that are currently committed, we'll wait until spring.
I've spent some time today searching for more blogs that are similar to mine and starting the process to connect more. Thanks for the great tips!!
Hope you are feeling well today. So excited for you and your family.
Hello! I just found your blog from Susan Branch's. She's just the best! I like what I see so far here. I have a blog, but haven't blogged since Feb. (been ill). But I suggest you leave comments on other people's blogs. My traffic went up considerably after Susan started her blog and I began to leave comments. I also sell things on etsy & ebay with a link to my blog. So read blogs similiar to your content or one of your interests and just comment. People really do read them. I did, and found you! Good luck on the other stuff, I can't help you there.
Welcome Holly! Thank you for your kind words and suggestions. I have only left a comment or two on Susan's blogs so I might try that as I read it all the time. Thank you!!
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