Attracting and Engaging your Readers

The challenge in writing and managing your blog are 2 fold: 1. Keeping your reader engaged with what you are writing so that they will come back to read more and (more importantly) tell others about your blog and 2. Marketing your blog to drive traffic to your website. I found a good post on freerealtraffic.blogspot.com Titled "Why People Don't Read your Blog" in it the author states that "Blogging is like starting your own print fanzine.
First you put the hard work in, gather a
collection of articles, images and other content
and launch your new publication. Once the first
issue is ready it's time to get out there and show
it to everyone. "
I agree with this. Adding various tools and widgets, like JargonFish, to your site often makes the users experience more enjoyable and is also a great marketing medium. Additionally, getting involved with blog networks and other social networks, such as Blog Catalog, are important to attract the readers and audience you are targeting. A successful implementation of this strategy should facilitate an increase in new visitors and maintain a higher level of repeat readers.