One of the first things many web designers forget to do when they are develop their sites is to think of how they are going to reach out and touch the hearts of their readers through their content. Too often I see websites which focus only on the bottom line – making money – but what is more important than that is connecting with your readership. Look into your heart and find that common ground which will help your readers relate to you.
I understand that we all have a goal in mind and that is to create an online residual income which will provide more financial freedom allowing you to spend time with the ones you love most in this world. But you want your readers to know the real and be able to understand you. Establish a trusting relationship with your readers.
Here are some of the things you should do when writing your articles and publishing your posts:
- Write articles which help people in some way.
- Think of a problem your readers might be struggling with and help them to find solutions.
- Teach them something new, such as a tutorial, that they can use to improve their own lives and/or businesses.
- Share your personal interests to help better relate to you
- Show them that you are compassionate and can empathize with their situation.
- Always put an About Me on your website with a story that others can relate to.
He was hoping someone in there would reach out to him
For instance, you can read about my situation on my About Me page. I recently lost my father. He passed away a little over six months ago. Being an only child, I was all my mother had left and so, I made arrangements to move from one part of the country to another region and started helping her with the various tasks required and be there for her through this emotional time. And quit frankly, she and I both need each other right now. I lost my father and she lost her husband. While initially it only appeared to be emotional Our family has always been close, so it has been rough and will continue to be for a long time.
Therefore, I was in need of a way to earn an income while staying at home. I have had prior experience in web design and knew I could easily pick it up again despite my skills being a little rusty. So I began searching online for legitimate ways of making money online and let me tell you, there are so many scams and unscrupulous companies and people out there such as the MLM-type companies and so many others. I did, however, find probably the one place which is a true legitimate online opportunity – Wealthy Affiliate. Personally, I think the name could easily may people think, “Oh, it is a get rich quick scheme!” But it is not. WA will tell you from the start success is possible, but not without much work and much dedication. You do have to put the hours and time and training in to develop your sites and learn how to monetize them. But eventually, after you begin achieving results, you will see success is possible. The first site I created was a tribute site to my father. I found it was healing as well as providing a way for all of his friends, family and fans to remember him by.
Part of that hard work I put into my online business comes from spending considerable amount of time helping and giving my time to others. WA works on the philosophy of paying it forward – you help people and they help others and so the chain continues. The more you give, the more you get back.
And that is how you connect to your readers. Tell them why you are doing what you are doing and what brought you there. Find ways to relate to people so they want to learn more about you and like you. The more you are able to connect to others, the more following and connections you will make.
Please feel free to leave a comment below. I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter. Thank you for taking the time to visit my website today.
24 thoughts on “Connecting Through Content”
You always give such good advice! Looking for ways to help people…to find a solution to a problem…is an excellent tip! Thank you.
Hi Cheryl:
Thank you so much for reading my article on Connecting through Content. That is my main focus for this website to help people solve problems. I am glad you enjoyed it. Have a wonderful day and please come back soon.
Steph
Hi Steph:
Thank you for helping people who are like me and not as well versed with writing content for the web as you certainly are. I am always in a constant state of writer’s block whenever I try and write a post. I am always second guessing myself and trying to be a perfectionist. I just end of getting frustrated and give up and thus, I make no progress. What I really need is a structured program which can help me get traffic to my site and show me how to be writer for the web.
You have provided great tips on how to relate to your target audience. Thank you for giving me some ideas on how I can frame my new posts. I like your idea of telling a story and reaching out to the other people on the other side of the screen.
Cheers!
Douglas
Hi Douglas!
How are you doing? Great to hear from you. Yes, by connecting to your readers by showing them that you are a human and not some sort of Spam robot will lead to trust within your targeted audience. The best thing to do is to stop second guessing yourself and do not worry about being a perfectionist. You can always go back later and edit your work. What you want to focus on is being natural. I always try to write as I would talk to someone.
As far as program that is structured and provides the guidance you are seeking, I recommend Wealthy Affiliate. You will get the support from the massively helpful community, the training from not just the owners of Wealthy Affiliate, but also the veteran members. I am one of those veteran members and I am an Ambassador of the Wealthy Affiliate University. I have provided loads of training to help new and seasoned members.
I am glad I was able to provide some insight for you. Please come back and visit soon.
Steph
Hello Stephanie!
I loved this post of yours! I am really sorry for your loss but thank you for taking the courage to share your story!
I have to agree with you that telling your story is important because you build trust and makes people engage more easily.
It’s great to concentrate on using keywords etc but if you don’t manage to touch the reader and grab his attention then you simply will not succeed.
Thank you for sharing this information with us and keep up the great work!
Hi Katerina:
You are most welcome and thank you for comment. I agree with you that keyword research is important, but it will not matter if you do not find ways of connecting with your readers.
Steph
Hi Steph,
I am sorry about your father. I lost my mother more 12 years ago and my life has not been the same ever since. You are a great daughter for being there for your mom, there are so many people would have been as considerate as you have been.
Connecting with your audience is the easiest yet hardest task as far as building a website. If you write from your heart then it would be as easy as being yourself. On the same token you will need to think from your audience’s point of view, covering every detail without making assumptions.
Thank you for sharing 🙂
Keep up the good work, love your site!
Phoebe
Hi Phoebe:
Thank you for your kinds words regarding the loss of my father. I truly appreciate your kindness. My Mom and I are just taking it one day at a time. We know that it will get easier, but as you said, it will never be the same.
Yes, connecting with your readers is one of the hardest things to do when designing a website. You always want to put yourself in the shoes of your readers and provide them with the details they need to achieve the purpose they came to your site for. It will take some time, but my goal is to eventually have this website be a resource to help folks build an online business through a niche website.
Please come back and visit soon.
Steph
great content in this post, I believe every word you are saying, my main goal in my blog is to put out there how I feel about the sport I love the most, and see how others feel about it as well.
It’s all about the experience, I believe this will help me bring in an audience who share similar likes as me.
thank you.
Hi Michael:
Thank you for reading my article. I am really glad it has helped to think of some ideas and ways to connect to your readers as you develop your blog on your favorite sport. Please come back soon!
Steph
Hi Stephanie,
Sorry to hear about your father, I lost my father 2 years ago and it’s still hard.
It’s great you found a way to help your mother and make a residual income. The advise you give is good – giving more than what people ask creates a relationship based on trust. Good to know that Wealthy Affiliate created a secure base from where you grow your business.
All the best.
Monica
Hi Monica:
Thank you for the condolences. I am sorry about the loss of your father two years ago. You are right about it being difficult. I moved from one part of the United States to another part to help my mother who needed me for the emotional support. I had to find a job that I could work from home and earn residual income to help my mother and myself maintain a comfortable living. Many thanks for reading my article today and I am wishing you well in your future endeavors.
Steph
Great advice, Steph, and thank you for opening your heart and sharing with us about important aspects of your life. I totally agree that if you want to sell something (online or in a real store) you need to be helpful. People need to be able to relate to you. And you need to be able to relate to them in order to best understand their needs and be able to recommend the perfect fit for them, such as your recommendation for Wealthy Affiliate. I will have to check them out. Thank you for taking the time this wonderful article.
Hi Claudia:
Thank you for visiting and yes, it does make a huge difference if you can relate to your readers on a level that is meaningful to them. I appreciate your kind words. I hope you are doing well. Wealthy Affiliate is a good buy. You get so much more out of it. The community is awesome and the training you receive empowers you to see a new way of living and existing.
Steph
Hi Stephanie, I like the way you phrase it connecting thru content, because that is exactly the best path. You post is a good example of that. You have give some good guidance on steps to take to provide helpful content.
Hi Vic:
Thank you so much for leaving me a comment. I am touched you liked the way I phrased the process of connecting through content. The best way to into the soul’s of others is through your words and tone. Please come back soon!
Steph
Hi Stephanie,
One tip the resonates with me that you mentioned is “tell your story”
People want to know who you are.
And by telling your story it provides that connection where people can go “That makes sense” or “I understand that”
The bottom line is people like stories, so always be telling yours.
And as for the wealthy affiliate, well I can’t say enough good things about it.
I was already making a full time income online when I discovered the wealthy affiliate.
And a few the reasons I became a member were:
1) It gives me the opportunity to give back. To help as many people as I could who wanted to build a thriving online business.
2) The community. It’s so empowering to be surrounded by like minded positive people.
And not to mention all the tools, resources and support that myself and all the members have access too.
I have to say we (the members) are certainly spoiled being part of such a great community.
Great post.
Cheers
Leo
Hi Leo:
Good to see you again. I agree with you. Telling others stories about yourself and the various chapters in your life is the best way to connect and reach out to our users. People need to relate to people before they will take action on anything. They want to like you, so give them a good reason to do so.
Wealth Affiliate is a great platform for sure which allows like-minded talented individuals to network and support one another through their online business opportunities. Thank you for your insightful and long comment. Much appreciated. Keep in touch!
Steph
As usual great article… my all time favorite aim when writing content is to say something that will help your reader in some way. To me, that’s the whole point. I figure if your helping the reader in turn he/she will begin to trust you… with trust, amazing things can happen… such as everyone’s bottom line… sales. But the fun part is helping, the sale is just icing on the cake. I love this post, thank you for sharing it.
Hi Sharon (lb):
Thank you for visiting again. It is great to see you again. I could not agree with you more. When writing content for the web, you want to help your readers know more about you and by sharing personal stories you will establish trust and harmony among people. I hope you to see you again real soon and keep in touch.
Steph
Hi Stephanie – What a great timely reminder your article is! I like the feedjit you have. Is it a free service? I will need to come back and visit some of your pinterest tutorials some day. You are bookmarked!
Marcella
Hi Marcella:
Thank you for your comment. I am thrilled you like my FeedJit Live Traffic Feed and yes, it is free. That is actually one of my tutorials I have on my website. All of the pinterest tutorials you can access here on this site. I just organized them into a board on my pinterest because many people view pinterest on a daily basis and it is way to chose others the help I have for them here.
Thank you for visiting. Please return soon.
Steph
Firstly I am so sorry you lost your dad. I dread the day I lose my parents. Strength and love to you and your family.
And thank you for writing such a great article. I think so many people lose sight of what it is they are doing and just go for spammy things to try and make some money. Firstly that can’t be in any way personally fulfilling, secondly I can’t think you would actually be able to make money that way, and lastly I don’t think it is a very honest way to go about things.
Like you say you need to give something to people, something valuable and honest. Definitely the way to do it and in true pay it forward style, you don’t get anything without giving!
Hi Lynne:
Thank you for your kind words regarding the loss of my father. It has been a rough rocky road for my family, especially my mom and I. The pain will always be there but in time, we should heal. We could use all the strength and love we can get, so many thanks for your warm tenderness.
I am thrilled you enjoyed my article today. I find I always relate better to people when I can either “feel their pain” or can say, “I have had first hand experience with that and yes it is hard.” You are absolutely correct. Too many people who try and build a website forget the “why” behind it — you should always be wanting to help people make a difference in their lives to spend more time with the family they love. That is the reason for my journey is to learn how to make revenue using honest legitimate methods so others could learn from me and pass it forward to others who also wish the same. It is what I really want to do. It takes losing someone who is dear to you to make you realize just how short life truly is and you should never take it for granted.
Steph