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Have a Transparent Agenda You have to plan out what you ultimately want to achieve, and then create a content strategy that gets you there. On Copyblogger, we have an editorial calendar that goes ahead several months, and it culminates in the next product we’re launching. We think about what we need to be doing in the future in terms of giving away great content while also making money by selling great products. And you shouldn’t hide this from your audience. Not every post has an agenda, but every post fits into the overall goal of generating more conversions by creating more value for and trust with the audience.

To have positive impact. I need to care very much about who I work with, and who I engage with. I am humbled, flattered and constantly surprised that I have an audience at all. After I was given the gift of an audience for my first book, I had no reason to believe it would sustain itself, but people have stayed, and more people are coming. I receive more emails and answer more questions about my books now than I did when they were first published. My audience has found an affinity with what I am saying, and we connect based on that affinity.

That weekend of reflection was the start of the book that you’re reading now. You see, when I set out to build an audience, it was because we needed a way of marketing our training program – that’s all. But along the way, I spent hundreds of hours interacting with other people who had built audiences. I read their posts, commented on their work, corresponded with them via email, and spoke with them on the phone. I came to respect and admire many of them, and in some cases, what started as a professional connection has become a true friendship.