Note: this episode can be listened to in the player above or on iTunes or Stitcher.
How to Move Readers From Passive Lurking to Engagement
Welcome to episode 116. I am working through a series that helps you to warm your blog readers up.



 In episode 112, I introduced the four stages of warming your readers up. In episode 113, I talk about how to get the first eyeball to your blog. In episode 114, I talk about getting people to give your blog a second look and become interested. In episode 115, I talk about how to get readers to subscribe and connect with you. This is crucial for building an ongoing relationship with your audience.

Today, I am talking about the final step which is getting engagement.

In the process of getting readers warmed up, we have people who subscribe, but they often never actually comment or connect or engage with us. Today, I will be giving strategies for getting our readers to talk back to us.

Next week, In episode 117, I will be going over a case study that pulls together all four stages, and I will be interviewing somebody who has developed a system for taking people from becoming aware to becoming fully engaged.
In Today’s Episode  How to Snap Readers out of Passive Lurking to Become Engaged

We need to be the community that we want to have. If we want engagement, we need to be engaging. This is the challenge that bloggers have.
Help your readers to get onboard - onboarding, helping your readers to get onboard with your blog

Set up an autoresponder with an email list

Email list of Ytravel Blog

Thanks you for joining (Email #1)
Tells a little bit about what the email will be used for
Sets expectations of when emails will be sent
Encourages people to add email to address list
Gives free audio download (optin)
They invite their readers to apply
Email #2 - Similar things generosity
How they are going to help their readers
Suggestion of 3 links, to get the readers back to the site
They point out useful stuff
Another invitation to reply
Email #3 - They really tap into the pain of their readers and give them a series of posts to help






Create engaging content as part of your regular production

Ask for engagement
Create blog posts that are all about engagement - A discussion post
Digital Photography School - How would you photograph a funeral?

I wrote a post about this question and opened it up to my readers
This goes beyond getting a comment, it shows my readers that I am interested in helping other readers


Weekly Challenge - Modes of Transportation

On Digital Photography School we issue a weekly challenge to our readers
I would do these writing challenges on ProBlogger too


Run a poll or survey and share the results in another post
Have a weekly editorial strategy and focus on different areas - attention, quick wins, engagement


Personal mediums are effective - live streaming is very engaging
Engagement is about you, your readers, and your readers to each other

When I live stream readers leave comments for each other
Twitter Chat having a # party allows readers to engage with one another
Real life events - tweetups and meetups and having readers come together
Our annual events - the relationships formed are amazing


Content Events - A series that goes for longer than a week

Engagement levels went through the roof because there was a challenge and then an invitation to share
Readers were engaging with one another
This brought a lot of life to my blog and built stickiness
People respond well to events - fear of missing out, defined start and end
Vanessa’s Blog Style and Shenanigans

Vanessa’s Last Challenge Event
Vanessa runs events on instagram featuring a color or print for someone to wear and show a photo of themselves wearing that
Every week of the event traffic goes up and engagement goes through the roof