FOMO
Thursday, October 18th, 2007 at 1:39 am
It’s a tough age we live in. You’re expected to have several careers, a quality family life, keep fit, travel, try everything at least once and somehow find time to blog it all. You probably find yourself dreaming of a simple life somewhere far away in a time long forgotten… only to be jolted back to reality by your ringing cellphone and the realisation that you’re camping outside the Apple store two days before the release of the iPhone. Sound familiar? Don’t worry, you’re not alone, these are symptoms of FOMO - the Fear of Missing Out.
Here’s the theory: if you can build a blog that is so good, people will fear missing out on your next entry, they will have no choice but to subscribe. I know, it sounds so crazy it just might work! But where do you start? Here are my top five ideas for cracking open a big can of FOMO in your blog:
- Start a Series
People love series. Whether it’s the World Cup, a television drama or the adventures of a boy wizard - series are a surefire way of getting people to return. No matter what your topic, experiment by splitting one big idea into a couple of posts rather than spilling all the beans at once. - Converse
Although many readers tend to only consume and move on, the culture of contribution is growing on the web. People enjoy having their say - especially if it is a hot or controversial topic. Start an ongoing conversation on your blog:- Enable commenting on your blog
- Write “commentable” entries. In other words, consider your style of writing - is it “preachy” or does it allow for feedback?
- Encourage commenting
- Respond to comments
- Exclusivity
Keep finding exclusive content that nobody else can offer, for example interviews, scoops, tutorials, research or inside info. - Freebies
Give people stuff for free, they seem to like that for some reason. Here are a few examples of blogs that give away free stuff to designers: - Regulars
How about introducing a regular feature? Much like your eager anticipation of Half Price Wednesday at the local pizza place, a regular weekly or monthly feature could give readers a sense of routine and something to look forward to. - Bonus idea: Become a Hero
I have no idea how to go about achieving this, but the bandwagon is a strange phenomenon. Once it gets going, even skeptics jump aboard just so they don’t get left behind. If you can manage to become a celebrity in your niche, people will subscribe to your blog just to see what you’ll say or do next. Take The Big Noob as example - three self proclaimed geeks run this blog, yet it is hugely popular in their niche, simply because they have managed to create a hype through their web development work.
Although “linkbaiting” is a different topic, it is relevant to FOMO so you may be interested in ProBlogger’s 20 Linkbaiting Techniques and Webmaster-Sources Top (Known) Linkbaiting Techniques.
A question: what gives you the Fear of Missing Out and gets you to subscribe to a blog?
redwall_hp Says:
October 18th, 2007 at 2:26 am
Hey, Harry Potter is the best epic saga ever, people aren’t maniacal about it just because it’s a series! Kudos for putting Leaky instead of Mugglenet though. :D
Brian Says:
October 18th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Yes, but what about the Friends of Mulanje Orphans?
Blogsolid Says:
October 18th, 2007 at 11:37 am
Haha, yes, we must not forget that they are FOMO too!
Chris Says:
October 19th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
Great article, and thanks for the link!
Tutorials and Freebies seem to work so far, I’ve actually just started a mini series too so we’ll see how that works out haha!