The royal road to a man’s heart is to talk to him about the things he treasures most. ~ Dale Carnegie
Every blogger searches for that royal road. We want to touch hearts of our readers – that’s why we talk about their children, their food, their homes, their hobbies, their businesses, and their beliefs. That royal road shines brightly when we infuse our blogs with our real lives, but it shines brightest when our blogs reflect, ignite and enhance the lives of our readers.
You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. ~ Dale Carnegie
But how do we win friends and influence readers if a lot of readers love apples and we write about oranges? We can’t be everything to all readers.
Or can we?
We can if we join forces, pool our resources, help each other and engage in communities.
1. Join an aggregate blog.
By pooling a bunch of unique, engaging and diverse blogs, an aggregate blog gives readers everything they need in one roadside oasis. The Daily Brainstorm is a new aggregate blog that launched this week. It is a blogazine featuring some of the best bloggers on the planet, along with promising up-and-comers. It reaches into the hearts of readers and talks to them about their health, food, writing, exercise, diet, news, homes, gardens, travel, hobbies, money, blogs, careers, science, technology, politics, entertainment, simplicity, productivity and relationships. All the apples and oranges of life and more. By joining an aggregate blog, you’ll stand side-by-side with other bloggers, you’ll engage with more readers, and you’ll extend your influence by association.
2. Find a community of bloggers.
There are forums, clubs and communities of like-minded bloggers across the web. The support, guidance, expertise, camaraderie, laughs, resources, opportunities, lessons, networking, and friendship is priceless. I joined Leo Babauta and Mary Jaksch’s A-List Blogger Club three months ago. Since that time, I have picked up bucket loads of friends, readers, experience and momentum that I could not have gathered alone.
3. Guest post and mention your friends everywhere.
By guest posting, you step outside your blogging comfort zone, blend your blog with another and push yourself beyond the boundaries of your niche. You’ll end up creating orangapples that might appeal to a whole new reader. Tweet about your friends and mention their blogs in your posts. Their success will become yours.
And on that note, here are some of the friends I am now collaborating with at The Daily Brainstorm and first met in the A-List Blogger Club. They are definitely worth checking out:
- Mary is the passionate, fun-loving blogger behind Goodlife Zen and Write to Done.
- Leo is an inspiring, genuine, thoughtful blogger of Zen Habits, Mnmlist and Write to Done.
- Barrie is the bold and insightful life coach extraordinaire of Live Bold and Bloom.
- Jean is the gregarious, motivational force behind Virgin Blogger Notes.
- Arvind is the authentic and kind voice behind the blog Make It Happen.
- Angela is the wise soul and gentle presence at Powered by Intuition.
- Manal is the heartfelt and honest voice of One with Now.
- Alison is the friendly and sincere blogger of Loving Nature’s Garden.
- Lisa is the lovely and engaging blogger of Privilege.
- Leah is the vibrant and profound blogger from Peaceful Planet.
- Farnoosh is the wonderfully real and powerful voice behind Prolific Life.
- Jeffrey is the thoughtful and philosophical presence behind The Art of Great Things.
- Linda is the reflective and truthful blogger of Thought Medicine.
- Doug is the clever and warmhearted blogger behind The New Wealth Paradigm.
- Tammy is the sassy simple living blogger at Rowdy Kittens.
Those are some of my friends and some of my favourite places to hang out with them. I hope you’ll visit, get involved, join aggregates, find clubs and, in the process, win friends and influence readers. When we enrich our virtual lives with collaboration, connection and friendship, we enrich the real lives of our readers. We become the royal road, a pathway to their hearts.
Your turn: Do you have some friends, clubs, communities, or aggregates that you’d like to mention? Join in the conversation and tell us about them.
