How to Train Your Readers

140422 blogPavlov was definitely onto something. That guy knew exactly how to build excitement and keep his audience waiting at the edge of their seats—or the end of a leash, as the case may be—for his next performance. Granted, his performance was delivering dog treats, so not nearly as entertaining as a well-written blog post but the same rules apply: consistency of any action builds anticipation, for readers of your blog as well as man’s best friend. This is why it’s so important to establish a consistent posting schedule.

Look at it this way: do you know even one person who isn’t stupidly busy every single day? Right. Can you imagine that person (or yourself, for that matter) taking time to hop over to [insert engaging website here] to see if there’s a new post up yet… every day? Of course not. Who has the time? Who can remember to keep checking? And who’s going to keep up with that silliness day after day with no new post anywhere in sight? How long until they give up entirely and find a new blog to glom onto instead?

These are all questions that readers of regularly-posted blogs never ask themselves. Their lives look more like this: “Oh, is it Tuesday? Words by a Pro puts new posts up on Tuesdays!” Then they come on over here, fall in love with our awesomeness all over again like it’s the very first time, and leave satisfied until next week’s post. They know exactly what time the show starts, and precisely when they need to be in their seats, popcorn in hand. Everyone’s happy.

At the end of the day, your blog has a single purpose: to build a readership base. This purpose is accomplished by effectively training your readers on where and when they can expect new posts to come out. It’s as simple as that—a concept Pavlov nailed over 100 years ago. By sticking to a consistent blogging schedule, you too can train your readers to salivate in anticipation of your next great post. After all, in the big picture, how different is a blog post from a delicious rawhide bone, anyway?


Maarit Miller is a writing junkie who will always love the Oxford comma.