This is Day 3 of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog, a group project 60+ other bloggers are doing together in an effort to help each other become better bloggers. You can read more about it and still sign-up to participate here.
I’ve talked to a number of bloggers over the years who are frustrated that few people read their posts or comment on their blog. After asking them what they write about, I usually ask them what they’ve done to promote their blog and connect with new readers. Often, the response I get is just a blank stare.
There seems to be an “If you build it, they will come” mentality with some bloggers. Some believe if you start a blog and write something every once in a while, readers will magically show up, engage, and become regular readers.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Successful bloggers, proactively reach out to people to build their audience.
Today’s lesson in the 31 Day’s ebook, gives some good suggestions for how to promote a blog post. Here are some of the things I do on a regular basis to promote blog posts published here and my personal blog.
Twitter – Twitter and blogging are like peanut butter and chocolate, they’re a match made in heaven. To use Twitter well, you need good content to tweet (aka blog articles). And to blog well, you need channels to get the word out about new posts (aka Twitter). I tweet every post I write. And usually more than once.
Facebook – OurChurch.Com has a Facebook page, which we post our blog posts to. I post a link to my personal blog posts on my personal Facebook profile.
Commenting on other blogs – I try to comment quite a bit on the blogs I read. When doing this its important not to be spammy. You genuinely want to contribute to the conversation. But often times I can contribute to the conversation but posting a link to an article I’ve written on a related topic. I don’t do this often, but you could Google the topic you’ve just blogged about as a way to find similar blog posts, and then post a meaningful comment with a link to your post.
Email distribution – Most of the people who register a username & password on OurChurch.Com check the option to be added to our blog email subscription list. Once a week, we send a post out to that list.
Newsletter – Once a month we send a newsletter to all our web hosting clients. One of the regular features in each month’s newsletter is an exerpt from a recent blog post.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t thinking about today’s topic when I wrote the list post on this blog yesterday. 6 Things I Learned from Day 1 of #31DBBB is not likely to appeal to people outside of our group, and so I going to find another post to promote.
Discussion
- What did you do to promote your list post from yesterday?
- What ways of promoting blog posts have you found to be most successful?
- What other innovative ways have you promoted your blog or posts, that weren’t listed in today’s lesson?
The Extra Mile
A few other things you can do to take your blog, other bloggers, and this project even further today…
- Reply & give other bloggers feedback on their promotion ideas.
- People continue to add comments to the Day 1 & Day 2 posts, check em out.
- Tweet, share, & bookmark this post. (You could win a $25 gift card!)
- Ask & answer questions about blogging but unrelated to elevator pitches in the forums.
229 Comments
I have always used Facebook and e-newsletters to promote my blog. They have both produced about the same number of responses. I have never promoted my blog by posting on someone else's blog. I guess it is worth a shot.
I also made it to where my blogger is now found through my website. Has anyone else done this? Any pros or cons?
http://www.speakinggraceonline.com
My comments keep disappearing.
Wendy, thanks for letting me know. I found a bunch of comments, including some of yours, had been mistakenly flagged as spam and restored them.
What did you do to promote your list post from yesterday?
I always post my articles to Facebook under both my personal account and my business account. I also post to Twitter at least once, Stumble Upon, Digg, Delicious, MySpace, Tumblr, and Reddit. I'm now posting it to several other blogs for links.
What ways of promoting blog posts have you found to be most successful?
Facebook and StumbleUpon have been the biggest referrers.
What did you do to promote your list post from yesterday?
I always post my articles to Facebook under both my personal account and my business account. I also post to Twitter at least once, Stumble Upon, Digg, Delicious, MySpace, Tumblr, and Reddit. I'm now posting it to several other blogs for links.
What ways of promoting blog posts have you found to be most successful?
Facebook and StumbleUpon have been the biggest referrers.
Because I didn't think the original list post I wrote here on Christian Web Trends (6 Things I Learned on Day 1) would gain much traction outside of our group, I wrote another one I thought would be more fun to promote:
25 Ways @BritneySpears @BarackObama @RickWarren Expose Terrorists who Caused #GulfOilSpill, Take Ur Blog Viral w #iPhone https://blog.ourchurch.com/2010/05/06/25-ways-brit…
It's fully of cheesy gimmicks to try to get others to click, read, and share it. I posted it to Facebook, tweeted about it twice each with @OurChurchDotCom and @PaulSteinbrueck. I emailed our blog subscribers. Bookmarked it on several social bookmarking sites. It hasn't taken off, though, at least not yet.
Because I didn't think the original list post I wrote here on Christian Web Trends (6 Things I Learned on Day 1) would gain much traction outside of our group, I wrote another one I thought would be more fun to promote:
25 Ways @BritneySpears @BarackObama @RickWarren Expose Terrorists who Caused #GulfOilSpill, Take Ur Blog Viral w #iPhone https://blog.ourchurch.com/2010/05/06/25-ways-brit…
It's fully of cheesy gimmicks to try to get others to click, read, and share it. I posted it to Facebook, tweeted about it twice each with @OurChurchDotCom and @PaulSteinbrueck. I emailed our blog subscribers. Bookmarked it on several social bookmarking sites. It hasn't taken off, though, at least not yet.
Ok, I'm behind again. Today I set up a Twitter account and a little while ago I tweeted my list post.
Other than having my RSS feed in a couple of places on my Inspirational Gift Gallery web site, I never promoted my blog posts before. I need to start doing that from now on.
I have been promoting both my blog and my web site in my signature on articles I write and emails I send.
I will have to sign up with Facebook and start commenting on other blogs too!
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I read some excellent posts and I think this is encouraging. However, I want people that are interested in Christian life that actually visit my bloghttp://www.christchosenambassadorsministry.com/ap…
Keep it up.
I read some excellent posts and I think this is encouraging. However, I want people that are interested in Christian life that actually visit my bloghttp://www.christchosenambassadorsministry.com/ap…
Keep it up.