The 5-Step Process for Creating a Successful Author Blog

Author and blogger Michael Hyatt (of MichaelHyatt.com) currently has 615,000 subscribers on his mailing list, and he runs one of the most popular websites on the web.

On the first day of his most recent book launch, Michael’s fans cleaned out Amazon’s entire stock of the new book. Michael actually had to email his list of subscribers to give them some alternate vendors where they could buy their copies.

Great story, right?

Here’s the not-so-secret background story behind this amazing book launch tale:

Michael Hyatt’s blog is the reason he’s become so successful.

Michael’s site is one of the top three business blogs on the web, and he attracts over 500,000 to his blog every single month.

Michael says his blog is the engine behind his entire business — and his business includes multiple bestselling books, a popular membership site, and numerous online courses.

Mr. Hyatt’s blog is the foundation of his hugely successful online business. He currently has:

• 270,00 Twitter followers
• 117,000 Facebook fans
• 250,000+ podcast listeners

Most of the biggest, most successful writers on the web have built their platforms around their blogs – folks like Joanna Penn, Seth Godin, Scott Adams, Neil Gaiman, Cory Doctorow, and Nora Roberts – and starting a blog is one of the best things you can do to launch your first book, or sell more copies of your current book.

Let’s take a look at why blogs are so important for authors, and the critical steps you need to take to create your own thriving author blog.

4 Reasons You Should Start an Author Blog Today

It’s clear that a blog can be the foundation for your success as an author – but why (exactly) are blogs so important? Why does having a blog help your book sales?

Here are the reasons why you should start an author blog as soon as possible:

• A blog makes you visible to potential fans and readers. In our crazy busy online world, your blog gives you a way to stand out from the crowd and let people know who you are and what your message is.
• Your blog content will help you rank well in the search engines. Having a blog enables you to quickly and easily create online content, which helps you get found in the search engines. Google rewards sites that regularly publish relevant content, and your blog platform is your best tool for doing that.
• Building a quality blog helps establish you as an authority in your field. Creating online content (and developing a large audience for that content) is a great way to let the world know you’re an expert in your topic. Building your online authority can lead to multiple book deals, speaking gigs, guest posts, joint venture partnerships, and other high-visibility opportunities.
• Having blog visitors allows you to build a large email list and a sizeable social media following. Want to build a big list of loyal subscribers and potential readers? Publishing a blog can definitely help you do that. Your blog content can also help you gain followers and friends on social networking platforms like Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.

No Matter What Kind of Author You Are, a Blog Can Work for You

If you are trying to get a traditional publishing deal, publishers will be looking at the size of your overall author platform to decide whether or not to offer you a book contract.

That will include the number of visitors to your site, the amount of subscribers on your email list, and the numbers of fans and followers you have for your various social media profiles. A blog is the #1 way for you to increase all of these statistics.

Bottom line: If you want to get a traditional publishing deal, having an author blog is a must.

If you want to self-publish your book, you need a loyal fan base of prospective readers who can’t wait to read your book, and having a thriving blog community is the #1 way to bring in those prospective readers.

Bottom line: If you want to self-publish your book, having an author blog is a must.

And what if you’re a fiction author? Starting a blog is still your best option for building your fan base of potential readers. Some of the most popular novelists in the world use their blog as the foundation for marketing their books.

Fiction writers need readers, too, and the best way to reach potential readers is by developing a strong online presence.

Bottom line: Blogs are the best marketing tool you can use, whether you write fiction or non-fiction books.

The 5-Step Process for Creating a Wildly Successful Author Blog

Let’s walk through the 5-step process for launching and nurturing your author blog.

Step 1: Do some critical thinking before you begin.

 Unfortunately, this is the step that gets skipped by most authors.

Many authors hear that blogging is a good way to sell books (or they’re trying to attract a traditional publishing book deal), so they decide to start a blog. They launch their site, then sit down to write their first posts.

Only then do they ask themselves, “What should I blog about?”

This approach definitely puts the cart before the horse.

Instead, you should ask yourself some critical questions before you decide on a blogging tool, pick your domain, or start creating your first post. Those questions are:

Question #1: “Who is my intended audience?”

What kind of readers (and potential readers) are you trying to attract with your blog? Are they teenagers, senior citizens, or middle-aged people? Are you looking to reach women or men? What are their interests and hobbies?

The more you know about your audience, the easier it will be to create relevant content for those people.

And remember – the audience for your book is the same as the audience for your blog. You should create blog content specifically for those potential readers, so spend some time thinking about who these people are and what’s important to them.

Question #2: “How will my audience benefit from my blog posts?”

The best thing you can do to attract your ideal reader is create blog posts that are useful, interesting and entertaining for your audience members.

So consider this, before you start writing: Why would you blog reader benefit from your content? Can they learn a skill from you? Be entertained by your stories? Gain insight into the human condition?

The most enticing benefits for most people are things like health, wealth, freedom, better relationships, and peace of mind. If you can write content that provides one (or more) or those benefits to your readers, you’ll be well on your way to building a blog community of people who know and like you, and can’t wait to buy your book(s).

Question #3: “What kind of content will I be able to write consistently?”

When you start a blog, you need to publish great content consistently, so it’s important that you consider what kind of content you’ll actually enjoy writing.

Don’t create a interview-based blog if you’re an introvert who doesn’t like interviewing people.

You have lots of choices for the type of content you create – you can do how-to advice, frequently asked questions, book and movie reviews, curated content, and much more – so it’s really important to consider this question before you begin.

Once you’ve pondered these questions and jotted down some notes about your answers, it’s time for you to move on to the next step.

Step Two: Pick your blogging platform.

These days, you have lots of good options for blogging platforms (also known as content management tools).

I personally recommend using WordPress.org, which gives you the most flexibility and power, but SquareSpace and Typepad are also good choices. I would highly recommend steering away from Blogger (Blogspot) for professional blogs.

Make sure you pick a blogging platform that lets you start simple, but can grow with you as your blogging community develops over time.

Step Three: Integrate blogging into your writing life.

I hear a lot of authors say things like, “I can’t waste time blogging. I have to get my real writing done.”

This is a HUGE mistake. If your blogging philosophy is “let me get through this blog post as quickly as possible, so I can work on the writing that really counts,” you are setting yourself up to fail as a blogger.

Publishing content on your blog is a critical part of your book marketing strategy, and as such, you need to integrate it as part of your overall writing career.

Your blog is not some redheaded stepchild of your “real” writing – it’s what enables you to write and sell your books!

You must schedule time for your blog writing, and give your blog posts your best effort as a writer. Don’t assume you can your blog writing into your spare time – because if we’re being honest, none of us really have spare time, right?

Stop thinking there’s a distinction between blog writing and “real” writing – it’s all real writing, and all of it is vital to your success as a writer.

Step Four: Consistently publish top-quality content.

Potential readers will come to your blog because they like your content.

They don’t come for fancy design, or search engine optimization, or any of the other myriad of other things you can spend time and energy on as a blogger.

If your content isn’t good, you aren’t going to succeed as a blogger. Period. So your blog must be useful, interesting, or entertaining for your reader.

If you’re a non-fiction author, use your blog to teach your reader more about your area of expertise. Think frequently asked questions, tutorials, how-to posts, infographics, and recommendations.

If you’re a fiction writer, you can do interviews with other authors, make book and movie recommendations, tell stories, and talk about your life as a writer.

As soon as you possibly can, start writing a list of possible blog post ideas. Keep it in your computer, your phone or tablet, or even a little notebook in your purse or briefcase. Once you start brainstorming ideas, you’ll be amazed at the ideas that come to you!

Then use those ideas to publish top-quality posts on a regular basis – it’s the most important thing you will do as a blogger.

Step Five: Build your traffic and your email list.

As you publish content on your blog, you’ll also need to promote that content and take steps to build your email list.

You can attract more traffic by doing blogger outreach, finding guest blogging opportunities, hosting webinars, optimizing your content for search engines, and using social media in smart ways.

One of the very best things you can do to get more traffic and build your platform is work on building your email mailing list.

Your email subscribers are the folks who are most likely to visit your blog, share your posts on social media, comment on your posts and buy your books – so it’s definitely worth cultivating your list as part of your book promotion and blog growth strategy.

The Inspiration for Starting Your Own Author Blog

If you are willing to invest some time and energy into your blog, it can be your new best friend as author.

Your blog can help you build your online platform, which will make you highly attractive to traditional publishers. Or if you’d like to go the self-publishing route, your site can help you attract passionate buyers for your book.

Follow these steps to creating your own successful author blog, and you’ll be able to do anything you like with your platform – whether that’s publishing books, creating online courses, getting high-paying speaking engagements, or anything else you’d like to accomplish in your career as an author.

All you need to do is get started – so dig in, and begin your journey as a blogging author today!