(If you haven’t already, be sure to read Part I first.)

Ever heard of the saying “birds of the same feather flock together”?

It’s basically saying, we always want to hang around people who are like-minded and share the same ideas as us, because we can resonate and connect well with each other.

Many bloggers know this but fail to take advantage of this powerful social phenomenon. It won’t happen to you though, because here you are going to learn how to use it to attract more loyal readers to you.

From the Starbucks example, we see that Howard’s success began when he got an idea.

What is an idea?

For the purpose of this article, the most appropriate definition is this,

An idea is an opinion, view, or belief.

That sounds simplistic, so let me explain, because this is important.

We all have our own “personal philosophy” - our own opinions, views and beliefs. Our life experiences and relationships have left memories and impressions in our mind, which shape our own respective world-views.

As the late Victor Schwab would put it,

Our mind is a montage of hasty impressions, fuzzy generalities, bromidic wall-motto sentiments, self-justifications and sentimentalities.

For example, I have a belief that “Buying branded goods is sometimes a waste of money”. Now this is my own opinion or viewpoint. And you have your own opinions and viewpoints, so it may well be different from mine.

Maybe you believe, “Buying branded goods is always worth the money.” Then we disagree with each other, and you probably dislike me a little now.

But if your opinion is the same as mind, then we appear to be “like-minded”, and you are pleased with me.

Listen carefully now. Read slowly if you must, because

Here comes the core point of what I’ve been trying to get to

When we search for information, we all tend to get it from people whom we like to refer to as trusted experts.

But we all have a human tendency to trust people who are like-minded as us, whose “personal philosophies” are aligned with ours, whose ideas or world-views coincide with ours.

This trust is based on deep seated feelings that comes from people who we already resonate and connect well with.

Michael Masterson, the man behind the success of the $300million info-publishing empire, Agora Inc, says it this way -

We want to understand how to get through life in a way that is meaningful to us. We all have our ideas of how the world should be – a world-view.

Whatever kind of information product we buy, we want that to co-incide somehow with our view of the world.

And if you find a person out there, that’s explaining to you how the world works and should work according to your view, you will stick with him forever.

The same applies to why readers visit blogs.

People visit blogs regularly because they trust the blogger’s advice and opinions.

The reason they trust the blogger is because they can connect well with his/her ideas, opinions, views or beliefs.

And the reason they can connect well is because…

… they share the same ideas, opinions, views or beliefs!

Are you getting this?

Let’s look at an example to better illustrate it.

I’m a regular reader of copyblogger and follow Brian Clark on twitter. He also has 56,000 RSS subscribers who are probably regular readers like me.

Brian has a belief that “copywriting is an essential skill to succeed online”.

So why do I and 56,000 others read copyblogger regularly?

I’ll give you some time to guess the answer. When you are ready, scroll down…

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So why do I and 56,000 others read copyblogger regularly?

Because, in the first place, we and him are like-minded and share the same ideas!

Brain’s idea (opinion, view, or belief) is “copywriting is an essential skill to succeed online”.

I, together with his regular readers, have already shared the same belief, or we have been influenced and are now convinced by Brian’s idea that “copywriting is an essential skill to succeed online”. That’s why we feel connected to him, trust him and become his regular readers.

On the other hand, people who think that his idea is nonsense will not return to his blog again.

Now here’s something interesting about blog readers

If you were to ask these people why they visit so-and-so’s blog, they will probably say it in more logical terms, “Oh because the blog has great information”.

They will never say “Oh because I feel connected with the blogger and his/her ideas”.

Just like if you ask people why they visit Starbucks, they will give a logical answer like, “The coffee is great”, or “the customer service is great.”

They will never say, “Oh I feel classy, cultured and sophisticated when I drink Starbucks coffee.” Never!

But the Starbucks “addict” is not aware that there’s an underlying psychological force at work in his mind. He does not realize that he has bought into Howard Schultz’s idea about coffee-drinking being a classy, comfy, cultured affair.

The same psychological force happens to the readers of your blog. They come back to you because they trust you, which is in turn because they can connect well with your ideas, opinions, views and beliefs.

Now I know what you are thinking…

I can hear you probably saying “But I really feel that this blogger’s information is great, that’s the reason why I visit his/her blog. So I should concentrate on delivering great information.”

I totally agree with you on that. I’m not downplaying the importance of writing solid content. That’s not what I’m doing.

I agree that you have to deliver value, because this is what gets you noticed in the first place. You should seek to become the go-to expert in your niche.

And I also agree that some bloggers made it to the top by delivering top-of-the-line quality information that leaves readers hungry for more.

But chances are, you have yet to reach the top.

And unless you are already the best-of-the-best in your field and you are able to deliver information so valuable and impactful that people come back to you because their lives were changed because of you…

… information alone will not draw lots of loyal readers to you. It just won’t.

And you know what, even if you are the best in the world, you can’t possible produce articles that are best-in-the-world every single time.

A marketing study revealed that their chosen expert, who was ranked #1 out of 1,000 bloggers, had his best article ranking at #25 in his niche, and his 2nd best at #300.

And he is ranked number 1!

The point is, if you think people follow you because you post the very best content every single time… well, you have something to learn about your readers.

Your readers follow you because they resonate with your ideas, opinions, views, and beliefs.

(By the way, the people who did the marketing study are missing the whole point of blogging and information marketing, but you don’t have to!)

So, armed with this information, here are some things you can start doing immediately:

1. Share your ideas!

Share your opinions, views and beliefs whenever you write your blog.

Include your ideas about your topic. Give opinions like “SEO blogging is useless, you are better off concentrating on delivering value”. Then back it up with some of your own experiences. These strongly-opinionated posts can become your pillar articles (as termed by Yaro Starak).

You can also do it like what Darren Rowse at problogger suggests – write a link post by sharing your ideas and opinions about what other bloggers have posted.

2. Tell little stories about yourself

If you observe the way top bloggers write, you notice they always share little tidbits or stories about themselves and their ideas. I suggest you do the same – whenever you want to write an article, start off by giving a little story about an experience you had.

People love to read stories, and there’s only one you in this world, so don’t deprive them of your stories!

3. Don’t apologize when people disagree with you

A few people will disagree with you and dislike you in the process. That’s no big deal. It’s just that their ideas are different from yours.

As long as you are respectful of their opinions and you stay away from sensitive topics like religion and politics, you’ll be fine.

There will be a bunch of people who share similar views as you. These are the people who will feel connected to you and stick with you, and these are the ones you want to focus your attention on.

Now all these may sound simple and even trivial, but don’t underestimate the underlying psychological force at work in your readers’ minds. It can be very powerful, just like the one behind the success of Starbucks.

And just in case you forgot, it can translate to LOTS of $$$ for you.

So remember this…

In order to draw readers to you, you need to open up about yourself, your life and your ideas.

Let your personality shine through. Your readers will welcome it.

So, what are your ideas on this?