Promoting Your Blog: Which way is Best for You?
Don’t believe the Hype: Unique Content is not Enough
I couldn’t agree more with that statement. But just how do you promote your blog anyway? Ahmed has written a post about this and tells us:
Every time you post something useful, find 15-50 sites that would find your content interesting.
And that of course means contacting them using good old fashioned email (so long as it is done properly of course).
Admittedly this is something that I have avoided. I will spend hours writing the perfect post and little on promotion, relying primarily on GoogleBot to do most of the heavy lifting.
But insofar as contacting other bloggers to promote my blog, I personally feel uncomfortable with that notion for several reasons:
1. I’ve never been much of a salesman, and I especially feel uncomfortable tooting my own horn.2. I feel uncomfortable emailing someone who I don’t know and asking them for a favour.3. I’m uncomfortable with intruding on someone else’s time, especially if I don’t know them very well.
4. I don’t handle rejection very well.
5. I’m too proud to suck up.
I suppose that is why I have relied more on being a contrarian blogger to get noticed, but there are also risks that go along with that.
On the other hand there’s a lot to be said for sucking up. Ironically I will get a great number of emails from bloggers doing this and I don’t seem to mind, so I wonder if it is just a personal hangup of mine more than anything else. Or then again maybe I’m just not forward enough.
Of course there are other ways to promote your blog such as writing comments on other blogs, making trackbacks or adding your posts to social bookmarks such as Del.icio.us and Furl (which I discuss in more detail in my post 10 Killer Ways to Increase Blog Traffic and Stickiness to your Blog).
So my advice is to use whatever method you most feel comfortable with, but don’t forget to promote your work or run the risk of your blog being lost in the dust.
Question: So how do you promote your blog anyway (or do you)? Are you a suck up, or just plain snarky (or like me do you speak your mind and let the chips fall where they may ;-)?
Filed under: instabloke, blog, blog tips, blogging, promotion, email
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Howdy! This has to be my first comment on your blog, which I enjoy! Keep up the great work!
This blog struck a chord. Recently, my stats for blog visits jumped through the roof. I went from 500+ a day to 900+-3000 visits. It’s been awesome. Even though I practiced all the techniques you mentioned, I found out what was caused the change…
http://www.mguhlin.net/archives/2007/01/entry_2701.htm
Take care,
Miguel Guhlin
Around the Corner-MGuhlin.net
http://www.mguhlin.net
Thanks Miguel. I read your post and this is my response. You said:
“How do you get them to come back?”
That’s the 60 million dollar question Miguel. Yes, I have also received thousands of hits from Digg, StumbleUpon etc. but most don’t come back again (although you will probably notice a few more subscriptions added to your newsfeed).
The bottom line is writing compelling content and building relationships with other bloggers will bring you the best results over the long term.
Oh, you’re over there, now. Like to keep visitors on their toes.
Like you, I have an aversion to sending emails to people who don’t know me. For similar reasons as you list. 15-50 of them! Just reading those numbers gives me that cold feeling down your back.
I’m sorta relying on the long haul. Involving myself in the community, commenting meaningfully on other blogs. And keeping my head down trying to write strong articles that will stay.
I’m a bit unsure of trackback. When I see it on other sites I never click on them. They go into a bit of a blur. Perhaps I don’t fully understand them.
As an aside, I am very much enjoying your site. It is proving very helpful to me. Thank you.
Thanks for dropping by Rory. It’s nice to know that I’m not the only shy person out there