I want to share tips and tricks that I have used to build the active blog community for GroceryAlerts.ca. Without the active community that we have on our Facebook page, it is unlikely that our website would have received as much traffic as we have had.

1. How to Build a Community
with your blog
Steven Zussino,
Founder, Grocery Alerts Canada
http://www.groceryalerts.ca/
@groceryalerts

2. Introduction
 Grocery Alerts Canada
founded in 2009.
 Collaborate together
as a couple – Frugal
Recipes, Coupon
Matchups, Money
saving tips.
 Currently have 21,000
+ subscribers,10,500 +
Facebook fans, and
6,500 Twitter
followers.

3. We all started our blogs small.

4. Goal is to attract a crowd!

5. Ask yourself these questions?
 Do you share or spread your own content?
 Do you have a regular posting schedule?
 Can a reader comment and expect a response?
 Do you reach out using social media tools?
 Do you offer any solutions for your readers?
 Do you communicate what your blog offers to
potential readers?
 Do you share with other bloggers?

6. Creating and Building a
Community
 Crowdsource
 Credibility
 Be remarkable
 Show your personality
 Essential plugins/tools

7. Crowdsource – 10 ways to
build content for your readers
1) Contest or giveaway (they need to participate).
2) Ask your readers to submit content. (i.e. Share a reader story)
3) Get your community’s opinion on a new logo and have them vote on their
favorites or for a charity event.
4) Invite members to taste test new ideas and vote on which ones will
launch.
5) Ask your community what new products and services they’d most like to
see.
6) Find out issues facing your community regarding your specific topic or
niche.
7) Ask for productivity tips, synonyms or other types of advice.
8) Ask what your community most wants to learn from your content.
9) Ask what sort of discussion topics they enjoy least and what topic you’ve
done to death.
10) Use your community to help choose new designs for product packaging
and new websites.

8. Build credibility
 Show your media mentions with a simple
graphic.
 Builds trust with your readers and potential
community members.

9. Stand out and be remarkable
 We released our
free stuff on your birthday eBook
first to our members to
reward them for signing
up for our newsletter.
 This spread virally with
over 1,200 Facebook
Likes and 30,000 +
downloads.

10. Provide value

11. Provide a little entertainment

12. Even if it is a little out there!

13. Controversy always works!

14. Comments are Important
 Make sure your
readers know that
you care and read
their comments.
 Provide an easy
form to comment in.
 Use Canned
Responses in Gmail
to save time.

15. Recommended Plugins
 Comment Redirect by Yoast
 AWeber Web Forms
 Simple Facebook Connect
 Top Commenters
 Formidable
 Threaded Comments
 Disqus
 Share This

16. Simple Facebook Connect
 Integrate
comments made
on Facebook
back into your
own site

17. Top Contributors
 Displayyour top
commenters or
authors in a
widget.

18. Comment Reply Notification
 You can choose to alert everyone on the
thread whenever anyone replies or limit it to
personal replies.
 You could also allow users to choose for
themselves with a simple checkbox as they
reply.
 This will allow the users to follow up the
comment and expand the conversation if
desired.

19. Threaded Comments
 Threaded comments on a blog are comments
where a reply to a particular comment tucks
nicely under the comment it is a reply to.

20. AWeber Web Forms
 Allowsyou to install an AWeber web form on
your WordPress blog and lets visitors
subscribe to your list when commenting or
registering on your blog.

21. Formidable Pro
 Quickly and
easily build
forms with a
simple drag-
and-drop
interface
and in-place
editing.

22. Disqus
 Disqus, pronounced
"discuss", is a service
and tool for web
comments and
discussions.
 Disqus makes
commenting easier and
more interactive, while
connecting websites and
commenters across a
thriving discussion
community.

23. Comment Redirect
 Redirect
commenters
who just made
their first
comment to a
page of your
choice. Allows
you to ask
them to
subscribe, like
you on
Facebook, etc.

24. What Social Networks are you on?
 Facebook
 Twitter
 Pinterest
 Google +
 LinkedIn

25. Improve your e-mail list
 Add a newsletter to your blog using AWeber.
 Consider a light-box pop-up to sign up more registrants
 Add an email opt-in checkbox to your contest entry form, free
downloads, registrations for webinars, accounts.
 Get permission at check-out (if you run a store).
 Include Forward-to-a-Friend links in your newsletter.
 Add your sign-up form on Facebook as a tab.
 Partner with non-competing businesses and run ads on each
other’s sites and in each others newsletters.

26. Questions?