I know a lot of you are involved with Blogging Idol, and I did promise I’d try and get you content that would help. Whether you are involved in Blogging Idol or not, all of you (probably) are interested in boosting your online income, and one of the easiest ways to make some income is by flipping blogs with active visitors. Apart from say… writing a guest post, one of the biggest things a visitor can do to become active is subscribe to your blog – with this, they are opting in to receive your content every single day (or how often you post).
The more subscribers you have, the more valuable your blog is – that is something that is pretty simple. How do you increase subscribers? Below, I’m going to list a few ways – ranked by how useful they have been for me.
My own contests - by far the best way to boost metrics. Some say it is ‘bribing’ your readers to follow you, but I’ve got to disagree – if they do not like your content, they will unsubscribe. A contest is a great way to get people to know about your blog, people that wouldn’t have prior as they see posts on other websites and the best thing is, all you have to do is ask around and you’ll get plenty of sponsored prizes. Don’t forget to promote your contest after you start it!
Great posts – funnily enough, this comes second in the list – the reason for this is that great content alone will not get you subscribers, marketing it will. There are plenty of bigger blogs with content that is to put it lightly… utter rubbish, and the main reason they are big is because of the marketing they have done (which includes weekly, or sometimes even daily contests). As is the common speak in sales, a mediocre product with great marketing will do far better than a great product with mediocre marketing. 
Guest posts – guest posts allow you to expose yourself to a whole new audience and they don’t cost you anything except time. Time that plenty of us have too much of – seriously though, it’s one of the best ways to promote a blog and I will be doing a few of these over the next month, so watch out for them – if you’re interested on seeing a guest post on your blog, send me an email
Others contests - sponsoring someone else’s contest is a great way to get the word out, especially the ones that require people linking to a list of sponsors etc. You don’t even have to sponsor much – I’ve sponsored 1,000 copies of an eBook that is about 3,000 words long and took me a couple of hours to write for quite a few contests; in return, it’s built me more than 1,000 backlinks to the blog over the last month or two. How’s that for return on time?
Paid advertising – paid advertising is at the bottom of the pile because it is in my eyes worthless; you should only pay for advertising if you like the blogger and are not doing it for the exposure, as there are plenty of ways to get the word out, free (top commentators, guest posts… etc).
Mini Contest
I’m competing in Blogging Idol and want to boost subscriber count – now, I’m not offering cash as you can’t sponsor your own contest with money, however I am offering links for everyone that subscribes.
Here’s the deal – subscribe to my feed via email, and once you’re done send me an email with the one you used and your link with anchor text. I’ll confirm and add your link to my Links page, which gets a few hundred uniques monthly. This is only applicable to new subscribers, but if you are already subscribed you can always do so again – by email.
Edit: Idea taken from Tom @ Stand Out Blogger. You can subscribe to his blog at his site to help him out too
If you want more exposure, write a post mentioning three reasons people should subscribe to my RSS feed and link to my RSS page and you’ll get a one month link under ‘Blogging Friends‘ in the sidebar, with the best post getting a 125 x 125 ad for one month. You’ll also get an (extra) entry into a sponsored contest I’ll be running later this month with (hopefully) decent prizes. For inspiration, you can check out my ‘Why Subscribe‘ page.
I’ve been making updates to the blog – added the above page and updated my ‘About’ page, will be reworking other things too. I rewrote my about page because there was a bit too much slang used, wanted it to seem more professional; I added my Skype contact as well as a mailing address (I get a couple requests a week for it so why not). If anyone wants to mail me something, feel free 
Two bits of news that I have for you guys;
a) I’ll start the article marketing case study soon, thanks for all those that reminded me; I’ve been busy with offline stuff so not really had time for it.
b) The winner of the Creative Vado has been chosen, without me knowing – anyways, you can check out the post on Derek’s website. For all those that ask – I had no input into selecting the winner, nor was i asked – so I do not know how it was chosen. Just had to update as a few people were asking about it.
Over and out!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
July 2nd, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Hey Jason thanks for the informative post. I’m going to start a contest on my blog once I develop a few more dedicated readers and such.
I subscribed via email already (totallyjosh@hotmail.com), reckon I can have a link?
Josh’s last blog post..Benefits of Blog Commenting
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July 2nd, 2008 at 2:10 pm
How about if I subscribe with a different e-mail??
Flimjo’s last blog post..Build A Niche Store (BANS) Update – How To Find A Niche
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July 2nd, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Well if you want to, sure mate
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July 2nd, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Looks good Jason, hopefully you don’t get TOO flooded with emails requesting links. I know a mass exodus of readers to your link page could create some havoc
Jim’s last blog post..The Net Fool Dot Com Earnings Call (June 2008 Traffic & Income Results)
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July 2nd, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Nice to see my tactics was good enough to steal
Tom – StandOutBlogger.com’s last blog post..StumbleUpon: Make Your Blog Famous For A Moment
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July 2nd, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Jason, I’m starting to really like your tactics, hope you don’t mind me borrowing some
Rajaie AlKorani’s last blog post..Just A Few Things On My Mind
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July 2nd, 2008 at 2:48 pm
@ Josh, just seen your comment – sorry mate, you gotta subscribe with a new email. You can subscribe again though
@ Jim, only had two so far. Then again, the day is young
@ Tom, real sorry – I remember someone else doing it, know I took part too but couldn’t remember who. Anyways, edited the post with a link to you, the competition – hehe.
@ Rajaie, go wild mate.
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July 2nd, 2008 at 2:52 pm
thanks… I wasnt having a go at you… thanks for the link though!
Tom – StandOutBlogger.com’s last blog post..StumbleUpon: Make Your Blog Famous For A Moment
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July 2nd, 2008 at 6:46 pm
How many links are you going to put in your link page? If all subscribers email you for link you will have a link farm.
Agent 001’s last blog post..Help Me Choose a Wordpress Theme
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July 2nd, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Let’s say a maxmimum of 100. If I get 100 new subscribers today, I’ll be a happy bunny
Seriously though, this ‘mini contest’ only runs for the next couple days
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July 2nd, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Jason,
Linking to competition makes the readers respect you. Linking to competition if they have something good shows that you put the readers on top of everything.
I’ve seen lot of contests lately. I’m considering it as part of my strategy too.
Hendry Lee’s last blog post..7 Reasons Why Numbered Blog Post Titles Work — and a Simple Formula to Create Them
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July 2nd, 2008 at 11:02 pm
[...] orang-orang yang memiliki motivasi tinggi akan usahanya. Apakah itu berarti konsultasi mengenai strategi marketing ataupun hanya untuk bercengkrama dan membicarakan [...]
July 2nd, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Nice to see someone making the effort for Blogging Idol!!
Should be interesting to see how many people are still trying in 3 weeks time!
David Shaw’s last blog post..Search Meter: What Your Readers Want
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July 3rd, 2008 at 12:56 am
Nice idea TUK. All those alternatives are valid, but you cannot paid for advertising in this month, at least for the blogging idol contest
. See you around
Mr. Javo’s last blog post..By: Mr. Javo
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July 3rd, 2008 at 2:18 am
How can I get my site on your link page ?
Elroy’s last blog post..Tai-chi-chuan
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July 3rd, 2008 at 11:01 am
Interesting post, and idea with links is OK.
Aleks’s last blog post..Funny picture of the day – Economy transport
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July 3rd, 2008 at 1:42 pm
I subscribed a day or two ago, am I still in?
Nathaniel’s last blog post..Blogging Idol Was Launched!
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July 3rd, 2008 at 1:44 pm
I just subscribed via email. Thanks for the link. Best of luck to you in Blogging Idol!
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July 3rd, 2008 at 3:03 pm
@ Nathaniel, needs to be a new email – you can subscribe again though
@ Winning Startups, you need to email me with your link / anchor text, cheers
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July 3rd, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Dont miss out on the chance to get some free advertising::
http://www.protycoon.com/index.php/2008/07/03/advertising-giveaway/
David Shaw’s last blog post..Advertising Giveaway
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July 4th, 2008 at 12:35 am
LOL! You know how my blog had “link love” for EVERYONE before? Well, looks like I’m going to start that same exact thing for iBlogtoBlog.com so I can get some subscribers…
And no, it’s not the same thing as yours or Tom’s… you’ll see
Jay
Jay’s last blog post..Be Your Own Competition, Literally, to Make More Money Online
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July 4th, 2008 at 4:18 am
Ok. I guess I will subscribe again, though it was just Tuesday(the 1st) the first time. I am looking forward to it, and I think the linkage is a good deal, I wonder why I am giving banner ads for free.
Nathaniel’s last blog post..Balance Your Time
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July 4th, 2008 at 7:28 am
So if I subscribe with 50 email addresses can I get 50 links? Hmmm, maybe I can sell these links on DP! Just kidding, but you may want to watch out for this as someone may have that idea, and act on it.
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July 5th, 2008 at 6:13 am
I have subscribed to your blog by email. Would like to be included the list Jason!
Life is Colourful’s last blog post..Backlinks.com – Make Money by Selling Links and Referring Webmasters
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July 7th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
I have subscribed to you email subscription with the email : novaero@gmail.com
Ganesh’s last blog post..My Plan to become a Blogging Idol
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July 7th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Guys – you need to email me with anchor text etc.
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July 11th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
hello jason, i subscribed via email (i did rss earlier). so hope i get a link too
Sadek Jake Alam’s last blog post..Cliffsidemalibu.com: Alcohol and Drug Rehab Center with Excellent Care Facilities
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July 16th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
I really want to add a competition onto my site to increase readership and subscribers. How to you find out subscribers details to give them their winnings?
Any ideas of a great way to source a great product for a competition?
Ryan McLean’s last blog post..Ten Tips on How to Write a Successful Budget
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