As mentioned in the first milestone, you really want to create an audience, not a consumer base.

Your blog (and the guest posts you write that will link back to it) is an amazing opportunity for you to provide value beyond the functionality of your product. This means you can give people insights and high quality content without users having to give you something in return.

I found that this is crucial to win trust and create honest engagement around topics without being self-centered. Naturally people become interested in what else it is that you do and want to find out what it is all about you are doing.