Are You Struggling Over a Small Readership?

How many people read your blog? 1,000? 500? 300? Maybe even just 100 readers or less. Those numbers might discourage you.

Just 100 readers. That’s nothing, you think. You look at the big blogs you admire, and with a low heart, you notice their reader stats so proudly displayed. They have thousands of daily readers showing up. They have the readership you dream of, the stats that make you envious.

Maybe those numbers make you feel small. You might wonder if you’re writing every day or two for nothing. You may feel like you’re wasting your time.

I’d like to turn that line of thinking on its head and give it a good ass-kicking. It’s time to put stats into perspective.

The Biggest Show in Town

Imagine you have tickets to a fantastic show – your favorite artist, too. It’s going to be huge – an extravaganza! The biggest thing to hit the region!

Have you ever been to a big rock star performance? I have. It’s crowded. It’s noisy and there’s no place to sit. You can’t see the stage well. So you stand uncomfortably and watch the big screens that show clips and bits of the most exciting parts of the show.

There are lights shining in your eyes. People around you are talking, and you can’t hear well over the background noise. Someone jostles you. It smells funny. It’s long. Your legs are tired. Maybe the weather isn’t the best, either – of course the show is outdoors.

Who could fit that many people in an auditorium?

When you leave at the end of the show, you’re glad to be out in the fresh air. It’s good to stretch your legs. Your ears are ringing from all the noise. You had a good time, sure! It was the biggest show in town – amazing!

Really? I don’t think so.

Biggest Isn’t Always Best

Now imagine a different show. It’s smaller – in your home town. In fact, the performer about to take the stage is you.

So you walk out on stage. The lighting is basic. There aren’t any big screens. There aren’t many seats in the auditorium, either. Your show isn’t at rockstar levels, and you wonder if anyone is going to show up.

You take a deep breath, and the curtains open.

Look out at the auditorium. It’s small, but the seats are full. Expectant faces look back at you. Everyone is seated comfortably and they’re waiting for your performance. The sound is good, there’s not much noise, and when you begin your show, you manage to reach every single person in that audience.

Up close and personal, too. Now that’s a show I like to attend.

Small Stats Make for Big Audiences

Recently, I attended a performance just like that – a small show in a small town. The auditorium seated about 200 people, tops.

It was full. Not only full, but it was packed for three nights in a row. The show was a resounding success, and everyone who came was very pleased.

I did a bit of math after watching that performance. Nearly 600 people saw that show, in fact – and that show only happens once a year.

I thought about all the small blogs out there, the new bloggers struggling for bigger numbers. Then I wondered if they knew how great their stats were already.

If you have only 100 subscribers showing up at your blog to read what you’ve posted, you are reaching 100 people not just once, but 365 days a year. That’s not counting the new readers that happen to stumble upon your blog, either.

365 days a year, these people come to see your performance. They take time out of their day, every day, to come read what you’ve written. Each post you write draws people to your stage, and readers come to enjoy your performance.

Do brand-new musicians hitting the stage fill the seats of their auditorium like that? Do the research. Do the math. They play for a handful of friends on weekends for a long time before even starting to hit the small local bars on weekends.

Even then, those small local bars and Saturday night shows don’t give them 100 daily fans. It takes them a long time to reach people every single day. They may never make it.

Guess what? You already have.

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