Having trouble turning your blog readers into a tribe?
A list of email subscribers can turn blog readers into fanatical tribe-members.
You are a quiet kind of person who would never talk loudly on the street but you know you need to find a better means of communicating your ideas to your fans.
This article will show any shy or introverted blogger how to build the tribe of his or her dreams.
I am an Introvert
I was a teacher for 29 years. Teaching might sound like a silly career choice for an introvert but it’s not: Most of the time you are in your own classroom with the students doing your own thing.
Writing as a blogger suits me perfectly and from talking to other bloggers it looks as though most bloggers are introverts.
No introvert wants to come across as loud and crass. And that is the reason I have never had an email list. I saw it as annoying people, as bullying people into giving me their email address, as heavy-handed. An email list was against my principles.
I have thought about this for a long time and have come up with a new conclusion.
So many extrovert marketers see their email list as an audience for them, as a way to make sales. My introvert mind says this attitude is wrong.
An introvert also needs an email list, but the reasoning is much more restrained. I need a list so I can help people, so I can show people what I am thinking. Perhaps I can inspire readers just as I did when I was teaching.
More than that though, I see an email list as a group of people who are interested in the same thing, as a community. And in a community all members have a contribution to make. Everyone learns from everyone else.
Email list building – Why Build a ‘Tribe’?
When you think of your email list as a tribe your subscribers see themselves as tribe members. They feel involved and engagement increases. Your subscribers know that you care about them and they feel loved. They trust you.
You come to enjoy your role as the leader of your tribe and experience more personal growth as you put more efforts into supporting your group. You get to do all this while remaining within your introvert comfort zone and without forcing yourself to become someone you are not.
How to Build Your Online Tribe Through Email
Even as an introvert you happily send emails without any stress.
People read emails. Emails win every time, so you don’t need to think about using anything else.
There is much talk online about building your tribe using this program or that piece of software.
You need none of those.
Your email subscriber list is your tribe. All you need is an email sign-up form on every website page AND to provide obvious benefits of signing up.
People love to belong to groups. They appreciate the support that a good group can provide. Your tribe will not be perfect for everyone, but the people who join will be the people who love what you do. They will be your kind of people.
If people love what you write on your website they will sign up because they want to get to know you better. They want to be part of your community.
Altruistic List-Building
This is how a subscriber list should work. Your subscribers just plain old-fashioned believe in you.
You need to be very careful when you recommend services and products to your tribe because they trust you and that is a big responsibility.
How to Grow Your Tribe
Here are some simple steps to capture, cultivate and grow your business, build reputation and form an online tribe
- Know what your business, blog or is all about and how you plan to grow it.
- Discover where your people are, who your people are and what problem your people want SOLVED.
- Reach out to influencers, rolemodels, competition and people who you believe will benefit from your blog, business or product. Make the first move & build a valuable email list.
- Build relationships, form friendships and nurture your new tribe. Offer incentives, guest post, share your tribes blog or write a review for one of their products.
- Learn from your tribe. Talk to them, discuss ideas and ask for feedback!
- Word of mouth is powerful (and free!) Use your tribe to grow your business.
- Hire a tribe. Short on time? Why not outsource? [2]
Like My Thinking?
If you like this approach to list building then subscribe and join the Roads-to-Riches community.
Your Thinking?
Are you one of the vast majority of bloggers who do not actively build a community? Do you count yourself as an introvert? Please use the comment box below to share your thoughts on any issues I have raised in this article.
Hey Mr. Turner, thanks for the great article. I’m also an introvert, so I find it hard to find a good foothold in making connections with people. I enjoyed your analogy for subscription bases as ‘tribes’, it’s helped me understand how I need to interact and connect with the people who are viewing my content. Thanks!
I’m glad you found it useful. We introverts have to do things our own way. The extrovert way of doing things is not the only one. We can get the same results, we just do it differently
As an introvert myself I can really relate, it’s tough to put yourself out there. I think you definitely hit the nail on the head about altering your mindset and how you view it. It has to be about what you can offer others rather than as a way to reach more people and make sales. Introverts like to have close connections with people and I think the way you put it really helps. It’s a relationship between two people rather than one person broadcasting content and I think this really helps anyone trying to overcome the barrier. Thank you for the article Phil!
Thank you BlackCanary.
Yes, We introverts like to GIVE rather than take. It is sad that a email marketing has been “misused” by so many extroverts for so long.
We just have to do our own thing and quietly begin to change people’s perceptions.
I have always been an extrovert, but as I grow older I seem to enjoy being more introverted and spending time on my own. I do like your article and especially appreciate the fact that you are driven to help others. I do believe that this should be the basis of everything we do if we are going to achieve a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment.
There are those who do not care to be satisfied or fulfilled, but they are not part of my tribe!
Thanks OracleMay
I think our extrovert-focused society rewards those looking for instant gratification rather than playing the long-game that is more suited to our introvert personalities.
Wisdom comes to we who wait. If we only had this wisdom in our 20s, oh what different lives we would lead.
Hi Phil, I can totally relate to this blog. I used to teach too, as a matter of fact. I already love your blog and will be a regular. I plan to start a blog soon and I love the vision you have laid out here. I want to share, help others, have a voice and have a tribe. Thanks for giving me excitement for my goal.
Hey Apsuccess
I have found that it’s all about the vision. Bloggers with vision and the guts to be different are the ones who build the best tribes. If you need help in specific areas just get in touch and I’ll see what I can do.
Hi Phil,
I’m an introvert too :). It may affect me in some way, but I spend more time devoting myself to things that require more thinking and persistence. Sometimes I can achieve something very hard to achieve and since I’m introverted, these achievements are unknown too :).
Hey Min Min
We are each the most important person in our own lives. You know what you achieved. I know what I have achieved. Neither of us needs to trumpet those achievements from the rooftops. I wouldn’t say our achievements are unknown though. People who care to look will see them, but even that doesn’t matter. We introverts are self-contained.