Blogging for Business Part 2: Getting Your Blog Noticed
Alright! Now that you’ve gotten started positioning yourself as an expert and building a professional brand, it’s time to promote your site and get it noticed by the people that will become your readership, and potentially customers or clients or employer. And so, you ask…
How Do I Get My Blog Noticed?
Aesthetics. Make it look good! Everyone likes things that are pleasing to the eye. Also, a professional-looking site will give you an aura of credibility.
Join the Conversation. Whether on Twitter, on Facebook, or in online communities related to your industry or target market, participating in conversations related to your field of expertise – and weighing in with nuggets of wisdom – will give you visibility and allow you to develop relationships. And don’t underestimate the effect of visiting and commenting on other blogs.
Make It Shareable. The best advertising is word of mouth referrals. Adding widgets to your blog that allow readers to share posts with their followings is an easy way to attract new visitors. Social bookmarking sites such as StumbleUpon, Digg and Reddit are a great way to expose your blog content to the masses.
Think Outside the Box. Consider driving traffic to your blog through alternate sources. Start a radio show on BlogTalk Radio or a live streaming show on UStream or start a video series on YouTube, for example, and give your listeners and viewers a glimpse into the expertise that you share via your blog; if they like what they hear and see, they’re sure to become regular visitors to your site.
Collaborate. This is a biggie. Strategic collaborations are worth their weight in gold. Contact someone with an established following in a target market related to yours and ask if they would be willing to allow you to guest post. Submit to speak at an event. Look for opportunities to contribute to widely read sites (like Babble!). Smart collaborations can go a long way.
Once you’ve started to get your blog noticed, will the cash start pouring in? Tune in tomorrow to find out: Can Blogging Actually be a Lucrative Business?
Excellent tips! I joined a tweet chat last week and it really opened up the doors to great new food bloggers for me to follow. I have connected with some fabulous people and I’m learning a lot. I need to take note of adding an option to share my individual posts via Facebook and Twitter. I see that on a lot of sites and I need to utilize that for my individual posts.
Fab Post! Thanks for the tips.. Can’t wait to get “noticed”
I’m attending blogher conference in the hopes that networking and meeting awesome new people can assist my current aspirations! Look forward to following!