Blog Tip #4: Lead Your Niche

Even if you blog with passion, consistency and engagement, your blog may fall flat without one more essential ingredient – leadership.

That’s because with passion, consistency and engagement (specifically replying to comments) alone, there may still be a “build it and they will come” mentality. If you wait for people to find your blog and take the first step to engage with you, you may be waiting a long time and hear nothing but crickets.

A good example of this is the Christian SEO Guys blog we started earlier this year. The passion was there (at least initially), the consistency was there, and Kurt responded those who commented, but the mentality was still that the content alone would build the audience. It did not.

You maybe be able to get away with not taking any leadership or initiative in your field if your blog is the official blog of an organization, you’ve already got your audience and you’re simply telling your organization’s stories. But if your goal is to engage people outside of your organization, leadership is essential.

What does leadership in blogging look like?

Here are 4 key elements:

1) Develop a unique vision that’s bigger than your blog. Who do you want to help? How do you want to help them? How are these people going to be better off because of what you’re going to do?

2) Do something that no one else is doing. If your thinking is you like some other blog and you’d like to do something like that, don’t bother. People don’t have time for copy-cat wanna-bes. Blog because you’re filling a void, because there’s a perspective you have that no one is currently addressing.

• Do your own research.
• Provide reviews or ratings of things.
• Provide information no one else is providing.
• Interview people no one is interviewing.

3) Find the people you want to work with. Don’t sit back and wait for people to find your blog and engage with you. Find the people you’d like to have engaged with your blog. Look for people who share your values and goals. Look for influencers who already have an audience that will overlap yours.

4) Take the initiative to ask. After you find the influencers you’d like to have engaged with your blog, take the initiative to ask them to engage in some specific way.

• Interview them.
• Ask if you can guest post on their blog.
• Ask them to join you in a group blog project.
• Write a blog post that links to and expands on an idea they blogged about. Then contact them and ask if they’d comment on or share your post.

Paul Steinbrueck

Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com

Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.

An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.

Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication.