So, here’s how it works:
You start a blog, grow a big list of email subscribers, and then your loyal fans contact you to hire you as a freelance writer. The money comes in.
At least, that’s supposed to be what happens.
But what if your blog’s readers and your clients are completely different people? Strangely, your clients never seem to come from your blog’s email subscriber list.
When I first started a mailing list for my blog in a previous niche, I assumed that growing an email list meant I could pluck most of my clients from my list. But I then I noticed that some people who emailed me for help weren’t my blog readers or subscribers. The vast majority of my readers weren’t my clients either.
My business was doing OK. All seemed fine and well, except that I started to wonder whether I was being productive with my time when it came to writing blog posts.
If you’re in this situation, don’t despair. It happens more often than you think.
But before we get to the remedy, let’s get to the heart of the issue first:
Why does it matter that your clients don’t read your blog?
At first, it seemed nice that people passing by my website were interested in my services. But over time, I noticed a difference between clients from drive-by traffic and those who were loyal readers.
People who weren’t readers would ask for help, I would deliver, and in a flash, they were gone. They may have come back for extra help, but it was sporadic and had a transactional feel.
On the other hand, regular readers who were also clients would be more likely to reach out on a periodic basis and keep in regular contact. The tone of their communication was friendlier and felt more collaborative.
While it’s nice to get business from drive-by traffic, email is still the best way to turn blog readers into long-term clients.
Your blog subscribers trust you enough to let you into their inbox. They know your views are aligned with theirs, and you’re a familiar name.
Drive-by traffic, on the other hand, tends to attract clients who are looking for immediate help. They don’t get frequent reminders from you in the form of blog updates, and most likely don’t feel about you the same way a reader would.
So now that we know why it’s important to get clients who are also readers, let’s see what we can do to make that happen:
1. Change the services you offer
The services you’re offering might appeal to other people, but not your readers. For instance, you might run a blog on shooting beautiful photography. On the side, you offer your photography services.
However, readers might not be interested in what you have to sell.
Why?
Because people who want to learn photography likely don’t want to pay other people to take pictures for them. They want to take the photos themselves.
It might make more sense then, to offer photography tutorials and consultations to people who want to improve their skills.
If your service doesn’t align with readers’ interests, you could be losing out on potential income.
2. Find the sources of your blog’s audience
Another possible place to investigate is where your readers come from. If you’ve been doing guest posts or ads, are your visitors coming from those sites?
It’s possible that readers from certain sites aren’t used to purchasing services, or the specific ones you offer. You could be attracting audiences that aren’t a perfect match for you.
Start by asking your clients which sites they found you from. If you ask around, you might notice trends that pop up in the answers. Clients may come more often from certain sites or find out about you in certain ways.
Clients might also have similar characteristics. For instance, do they tend to be older adults looking for a flexible lifestyle? Or are they women in their 30’s looking to get into better shape after having children?
If you can find characteristics that clients share, it becomes easier to hone in on places where your target groups tend to congregate.
3. “What do you want from me?”
Besides channeling your inner Adam Lambert, ask readers what they want. It’s that simple.
Do they want to read posts on a certain topic? Maybe a different product or service from the one you’re offering?
You can ask readers in a number of ways.
For instance, you could:
- Talk individually with readers through email or on the phone.
- Use a survey to gain insight from a number of people.
- Send out an email to your list asking readers what they’re struggling with.
Be careful not to ask leading questions when talking to your readers, though. In case you haven’t heard that term before, here’s an example:
- Leading question: “Do you feel frustrated when you can’t write detailed blog posts?”
- Better question: “What’s your biggest issue with writing right now?”
4. Ask an expert
It’s easy to feel frustrated when your subscribers aren’t buying. But many people have experienced this situation before and can offer words of wisdom. If you’re fortunate enough to have the guidance of an experienced blogger, don’t be afraid to explain your situation and ask for advice.
Of course, remember to thank these people and keep them updated on your progress – it’ll make all the difference in making a good impression and forming a strong relationship.
But even if you don’t know an experienced, successful blogger personally, you can reach out on forums for advice from fellow freelance bloggers, like here on BAFB.
Other bloggers are happy to share, discuss, and help one other. After all, a rising tide lifts all boats.
5. Ask clients what they’d like to read
Instead of asking your blog’s readers what they want to learn more about, try asking your clients.
When I was working individually with students, I was able to see their work and determine what they needed help with. As a result, I often didn’t need to ask what they wanted to learn more about, since I already knew from working with them.
It’s always great to ask, though. You’re already communicating regularly with your clients and they’ve already shown that they’re willing to shell out some hard cash for your services, so find out what else they want!
If you can write blog posts that cater to your clients, it can strengthen existing client relationships while attracting new ones. It did for me.
Of course, make sure you don’t alienate your readers or your clients in the process. They’re both important to your blog. If you get to know them better, you’ll have more readers become clients (and more of your existing clients become readers, too).
Over to you: Have you experienced this phenomenon before? How did you react? Let me know in the comments.
Cathy Goodwin says
This is a really good post! As a copywriter, I have two types of clients. Those who want “Done For You” (DFY) copy, where I do *everything,* and those who want “DIY” copy, where they want to learn and get coaching. The DFY clients are fun to work with because they’ve achieved a level of success that allows them to pay for quality copywriting. The DIY clients are fun in a different way and also I like the quick “one-off” consultations (some copywriters hate doing those and won’t even offer them, but I love copy coaching). The DIY clients also take courses and keep wanting to learn.
The DFY clients don’t have time for learning. They’re in the position of serving clients and hiring resources for everything else. I actually get to know them because they have big projects that require research. But they might read my blog as a way to get to know me before we start working together.
I’ve never thought about this directly, so you’ve given me a new insight. I see my blog as having two audiences: people who want to know me better before they hire me and host bloggers who might invite me (or allow me) to send them guest posts.
Melissa Chu says
That is very true Cathy! I do find for myself there’s a difference between people who want to learn a skill vs. those who want it done for them. Like you said, the DIY people get coaching, so for yhat can mean offering up a course for them to learn.
And of course, the DFY just want the project taken off their hands – they probably have less time on their hands and are focused on other things. Good point about the blog being used as a way of showcasing your work to them!
Thanks for sharing!
Melissa
Randy Bennett says
Good and useful thoughts, Melissa. I’m going to use them to guide my next reflection period.
Melissa Chu says
Glad it helped Randy! Let me know how it goes!
Melissa
AlbaLnz says
Very interesting and insightful. It certainly has given me a some perspective on the matter. I still don’t have a large audience (actually, it is pretty small) but the example about the photography has given me a great idea.
Thanks!
Melissa Chu says
Thanks AlbaLnz – keep growing that audience and I’m sure you’ll get people that are both readers and clients.
Melissa
Matthew says
Good advice. I appreciate all advice even if the little bit of blogging I do has neither clients nor many subscribers!
Melissa Chu says
Keep pushing Matthew, we all start from somewhere. Let me know how it goes!
Melissa
Brittany Taylor says
Great post, Melissa! I’ve been thinking about this a lot the past week. What gets me, particularly, is that bloggers in general are SO hyper-focused on the numbers that they don’t necessarily stop to consider that those numbers aren’t what makes your bottom line work at the end of the day. While some of us are able to spin those numbers into money, a lot of us offer products + services with the blog/newsletters/social serving as parts of the funnel. If that’s the case, we have to figure out how to differentiate our customers from our audience.
Melissa Chu says
Great points Brittany! I agree, it’s important to stop and think about your strategy and if adjustments are needed, rather than simply charging ahead and trying harder to do the same thing over and over again. I’ve found that very engaged audience members can be different from customers. The best is to find those who are both engaged members (i.e. raving fans who share your work and converse with you) AND customers.
Thanks for your comment and feel free to grab my guide in my bio above!
Melissa
Tia says
I’ve been freelance writing in the past but recently decided to move into freelance blogging in the area of travel. This has “caused” a need to completely redesign my web page and right behind it my blog. So, I wanted to thank you for this article because it helped me focus on where to start and also be alert to some tweaks that will be necessary as I gain clients.
Melissa Chu says
Glad I could help Tia. It’s good that you’ve taken the time to think of how to tweak your blog to suit what your audience wants.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Melissa
Patricia says
Hi Melissa,
Finding the main purpose of one’s blog, the interests of the blog audience and working towards it is surely the most important part of having a blog. I really liked the idea of getting to know the characteristics of your client . I’ m currently focused on the same for my blog.
It was a timely post for me as I set my goals for 2016.
Patricia
Melissa Chu says
Thanks Patricia! I’ve found that having discussions with my readers helped me zone in on what were their biggest issues and how I could help.
Best wishes for your 2016 goals!
Melissa
Daryl George says
Definitely some useful information here Melissa. I think aligning your services (or products) to your audience is , and unfortunately a lot of writers actually don’t spend the time to assess where their audience is coming from, so #2 is DEFINITELY key. A few minutes with Google analytics will definitely help you to understand where you should be focusing most of your time in terms of promotion and see what works and what hasn’t!
Melissa Chu says
I agree Daryl. As writers, it’s easy to get caught up in the creative and free-flowing side of things and easier to avoid analytics, tracking, and all that quantitative stuff.
But taking a bit of time to look at your numbers goes a long way to making sure your writing impacts as many people as possible.
Thanks for sharing!
Melissa
Lindsay Pevny says
Great post!
For this reason, I have two blogs. One is my dog blog Little Dog Tips, where I just write about dog training, and I’m also beginning to connect with businesses that want me to review their products.
In the past few weeks, I’ve been working on the blog at my writer site, creating posts for my target audience – so, all about content marketing for dog-related businesses. I created a opt-in ebook, and now I have my very own personal stream of leads.
It’s kind of a pain to publish weekly posts and promote both blogs, and I haven’t yet gotten any clients yet, but I think it’s going to be worth the effort.
Melissa Chu says
Sounds like a good plan, Lindsay. If the number of readers you have isn’t that many yet, you don’t need to feel pressured to publish weekly. Like you said, promotion is key.
Best of luck!
Melissa
Ashley Flora says
Just venturing out from a freelancer platform (Upwork) out on my own! Thanks for all the amazing information!
Melissa Chu says
Glad to help, Ashley!
Williesha says
This is awesome!! I’ve been pitching a similar post in reference to freelance writing in general. I’ll try not to rehash what’s been told here, but I will definitely reference and link back to it. It’s about time we talk about the money *not* being on the list!
Melissa Chu says
Thanks Williesha for your comments and linking back to it. Yes, sometimes the money isn’t on the list but I think if you tweak your blog message you can eventually put them together.
Melissa
Hari says
hi Melissa,
excellent post, thank you so much!
yes. It is important to differentiate between regular customers and blog readers. Well said Brittany!