HowToMakeMyBlog reader Haider wrote the following comment to my recent article on not being a passive blogger, but being a blogger who actively promotes the blog.
I thought the comment had some great points and was very relevant to my blog post, so I wanted to share it with you:
I think the main reason why people resist promoting their content is that they feel embarrassed to do so. Self-promotion seems cheesy, and it’s usually frowned upon (or so we believe).
But as long as we’re offering content that’s of value (i.e. *we* personally believe that it’s of value), then we should help others find it. That usually means using the sites where people (traffic) can be found.
Although there are many ways to promote a site, I think it’s important to consider other factors, besides number of visitors. For example, I like leaving comments on other blogs because:
1- I get to contribute value
2- I participate in the discussion
3- I become part of a community
4- I target the people who are interested in what I have to offerEven though other approaches can bring in more traffic (which is why they shouldn’t be neglected), they don’t always come with the same advantages.
My response to the blog comment
Definitely true. If you promote bad or unoriginal content, you may get a click once but that visitor will hardly ever come back and will see your future “promotion” as spam.
On the other hand if you create value and help your visitors, then self-promotion has huge benefits as you actively seek, help and provide value to your target audience.
Some thoughts from twitterers
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EyeSpyPro: @HowToMakeMyBlog thats the only way to go, you have to promote yourself. -
JanetBarclay: @HowToMakeMyBlog Self-promotion is necessary and isn’t cheesy if it is done properly
-
exuvia: @HowToMakeMyBlog I think self promotion is necessary as long as you’re modest about it.
No one likes a self-promoting stickler. -
bloggers_guide: @HowToMakeMyBlog It’s cheesy, but I think we all do it. I know I’m guilty of shamelessly plugging…
How do you promote your blog?
What do you think? What did you do today to grow your blog, increase your readership and increase your authority? Do you use self-promotion or do you rely on readers to spread the word about your blog virally?
Image by Striatic
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{ 14 comments }
I like to keep mix of self-promotion and promotion by others. My main tools of self-promotion are StumbleUpon and Twitter.
Thanks for all the comments!
As @Kyle Judkins says, I try to keep a good balance between self-promotion and promotion by others as well.
@Tracy – At start of my blog I did 100% promotion when nobody knew about it. Now it is more even as readers tend to use Tweet This and Stumble this button so I basically just send couple of tweets about each of my new posts and that’s my part of the promotion.
@Man Overboard – I defnitely agree. It is so easy to “block” someone on Twitter or to “delete” someone on StumbleUpon, so people should just use that instead of complaining about people promoting themselves.
@earthmother – Sounds like great promotional activity from your side! Doing this consistently and including Stumble and Twitter in it, plus writing regular articles, will make your blog grow in the long run. So keep on going!
Thanks for featuring my comment in this post. This is a good topic to think about. I really like what Kyle above says about this matter: it’s good to have a nice mix!
I think a lot of us have this ingrained notion that we should wait for others to promote us. Eventually they will, but there is no substitute for taking the bull by the horns and doing a little self promotion.
I don’t remember the statistics, but only a certain percentage of people online do much active participation beyond reading. This has played out on my forums – only a relative few start threads, more post and the majority just read. Very few actually do any active promotion of the forums. I think the same holds true for blog readers, too and we really can’t expect a ton of promotion from our readers. When it happens, great but the majority of the internet doesn’t use things like Stumble or Twitter.
So, self promotion, especially in the early days of your blog is very important! What I’ve found is the readers that are most likely to comment and help me promote my blog are fellow bloggers – probably because they know how hard it is!
I sent out some of my posts via Twitter and Stumble Upon today. I am definitely a confessed shameless self-promoter.
As far as the viral thing goes, on Stumble has been responsive so far. I have gotten next to no traffic from Twitter yet. But I am working on it.
I certainly understand the complaints against self-promotion. But if someone does not like my stuff, they can ignore it or ask me to stop sending it and I will be happy to spend my energy elsewhere.
* I left comments on at least eight different blogs today — two of which, I linked back to an article I had previously written on my blog that related to what they had posted.
* I responded to people who left comments on my blog.
* I contributed to some forum discussions today and linked back to an article I had written that related to the topic.
* I added a Google Sitemap today.
* I added HTML Meta Tags to my blog today.
And since I am a newborn in the big scary blogosphere, I read blogs like this one to learn about all the things I should be doing to grow and promote my blog.
Thank you! I’d be so lost without your insights and wealth of information.
Next project: get up to speed on Twitter.
I don’t know what comment to leave on this post, except to say:
I agree..
Well hard to disagree with most of these “sins”.
I would like to ad one – don’t think too much about all your posts – be spontaneous and get some post through to the readers.
Twitter is a very strong tool if you want to promote your blog. But I think some people are tempted to borrow content to the blog, just to be able to have a high frequency in the Tweeds.
Not all blog posts can be brilliant, but scraping content is not very nice. It’s better to reuse old blog posts, and fill in some ReTweeds where you promote other peoples content
I don’t feel self promo is a bad thing, but that could because I am in the fitness field. I feel if you want something you have to go for it, so if that means shouting here I am then go for that. However if you have or give no value, your “own pat on the back” won’t last too long. Promote on!
It depends on what you call self-promotion.
If you want to build a brand around your site/service, self- promotion won’t be felt bad, because it becomes marketing and reaching out to people.
If self-promoting self is needed to gain expert status, it might seem wrong and many don’t like it. If you are really that good, you could self promote to make people understand it. Personally…. I fear doing this hwevr good my expertise is…
You mean there’s actually a difference?!
Well ideally you would not have to “sell” the content of your blog, people would come by automatically. But in reality we can choose from many blogs, and therefore some marketing and selling is necessary, if you want at least some visitors.
In the beginning all blogs need marketing or self promoting depending how you look at it.
I market & promote my blog daily.I also am learning a lot by reading other blogs.
Really a wonderful way to promote & get post ideas.
Sales is a bit of a fine line. Sales is vital to everyone at all times but if it isn’t a genuine exchange then it starts to smell off.
Offer value from yourself and those who relate will want a part of you.
When I sold cars (yes I did) I sold best when I was just me, spiky hair, yellow shoes and passion for getting the best solution. I felt like a con-man wearing a tie and trying to sound like a proper salesman and my results suffered.
It is all about creating a natural flow: Sales Flow