Promoting the hell out of your blog

So I gave you some pointers on blogging on Monday. In a nutshell, you should write for yourself first, be consistent with your posting and for all that is good and holy, please use spellcheck.

My last bit of advice in that post was about promoting your blog. If you’re going to take the time to write every day (or every week), you might as well have an audience, right? No need in screaming in an empty room.

But one thing most bloggers don’t grasp right away is that it takes time for a great blog to blossom. Not a good blog, where you get decent traffic and a few PR pitches and maybe a couple thousand followers. I mean a GREAT blog. Where you’re able to speak on topics with authority, because hello! Who knows it better than you do? Where you’re able to pay off a couple decent sized bills each month with blogging income, if not live off your blog entirely.

Yes, it does take time to build that. I’ve read stats that it takes 2-3 years of doing things the right way to build your brand to point where you are calling (more of) the shots. Read on. Let’s grow your blog.

1. Can people share your blog posts? It’s wonderful that you can share your hot posts on your personal Facebook page, or your Twitter account, or by e-mail. But can your readers share it? Do you have the “Share This” buttons on your posts? Do you actively encourage people to share your posts? No, you can’t say, “Please retweet!” to everything you post, but if it’s legitmately an urgent matter (you’re raising money or tweeting about an important hot topic), then by all means, ask away.

1a. If people do share your posts, thank them. Acknowledge them. Trust me – they’ll appreciate it and they’ll do it again.

2. Do you have a Facebook page for your blog? Is it just one more place for you to have to update and monitor? Um, yes. But is it worth it? Yes. You know your readers are on Facebook all day anyway. Most have only “Liked” a handful of Pages. Put relevant messaging with links back to your blog…and you quickly see where this can get you, right? (Looks like I might have to write a third post on building an audience on Facebook…)

3. Can you tag people? Send people links to your blog? With social media, it’s so easy to do a virtual “wave” to get the attention of people you want to show off in front of. Got an inspiration to write a blog post after reading an issue of Parenting magazine? Let them know that. Hit up @Parenting on Twitter and let them know, much like I tapped @BabyMakingMama (a bloggy buddy and a top blogger) to share my post with her.  

4. Comment on other blogs. I can’t stress this enough. Comment and people follow you back to your blog. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read a comment on here and then followed the commenter back to their blog and then promptly got lost for an hour and half reading their hilarious/inspirational/intellectual blog posts. Comment on other blogs. Be seen!

5. Put that URL everywhere. In your Twitter bio, on your Facebook page, at the bottom of your e-mail, on your business card, on the tip of your tongue.

6. Reply to your commenters. Sometimes I know it feels like you barely have time to write the posts, much less take the time to reply to your readers. But I’m telling you, people appreciate it when you reply. Especially if your comments section allows for people to subscribe to comments.

7. Pick one blogging community and dominate it. It is so easy to get sucked into the allure of populating the net with your latest posts, but once you set up profiles on TwitterMoms, MomBloggersClub, 20SomethingBloggers, MyBlogLog, TheBump, etc., etc., well, how in the heck are you gonna remember all those passwords??!?! I don’t know about you, but my memory is shot and I have no intention on hitting “Forget your password?” every time I’m in the mood for a little shameless self-promotion. That’s why I recommend to pick one community. Make your mark. Leave comments (!!!).

8. Not really connected to promotion but…have your blog professionally designed. Yes, a straight-from-Blogger template gives you everything you need to be a great blogger. But once you’ve hit about 50 hits per day and gotten about 1-2 comments per post? You need to build. You know how I suggested you blog for a month and don’t tell anyone? Part of that is because you don’t want to go all out making your blog all pretty and then you discover, “Eh, I hate blogging,” and there goes money down the drain. But once you discover you like blogging and you’ve got a little audience, invite more readers by making it pretty. Sounds petty but I’ve only skimmed blogs that don’t look “lived in.” You know, they’ve got a little bit of personality and individuality.

Whew! It is almost midnight and I need to go to bed. I’ll be back with more tips. Leave your questions in the comments and I’ll answer them later this week!