How to Hype Your Blog

The power of hype cannot be overstated. As I sat waiting for a table at a Williamsburg hot spot this past weekend, I started to wonder how much of the restaurant's success was a result of hype. Not surprisingly, I quickly received my answer once we were escorted to our table. A scan of the dining room made it clear: There were plenty of vacant tables, yet about 50 people clamoring to get sat.The food was adequate and the $11 Lychee Martinis were sweet. However, the restaurant's biggest success was that people felt they had experienced a "hip" place. This made me think of several blogs I write for. As bloggers, do we do enough to hype our own blogs? Personally, I don't lie. Ever. Nor do I embellish or stretch the truth. But when it comes to blogging, I might be missing a golden opportunity to attract more readers. Here are a few ways I figure you can grease the PR wheels into motion. TALK IN PLURAL: Ask yourself, which has more stock: "I think the food is great" or "We think the food is great." There's power in numbers and people are attracted to the wisdom of the crowd. Being a blog of one could be a lonely place, but being a blog of many gives you instant weight. INFLATE YOUR NUMBERS: Adding a feedburner chicklet before you have a handful of readers is a death wish of Charles Bronson proportions. Few people hang around a ghost town. The same way they don't flock to empty restaurants. Within your posts, refer to your rapidly increasing readership, bevy of incoming links and flooded inbox. Just don't be an ass about it. I once had a blogger, who ranked around the six million mark on Alexa, tell me he was getting hundreds of e-mails a day. Gimme a break. WAIT LIST: From women to Websites, when you can't have something, you want it that much more. Hence, waiting a ridiculous amount of time to eat the same food you can get instantly down the block. Consider releasing an eBook in limited quantities or opening in limited beta. Or, shoot for the sky with a premium service. Limiting access could be an avenue to a larger audience. Now it's your turn. How do you handle the hype machine for your blog? It goes without saying that your content must back the hype. I wouldn't race back to that restaurant that made me wait because the food was mediocre. But I might return to see if people are still beating down the doors in six months.

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How to Hype Your Blog

Andrew G.R.

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Andrew G.R.