How to Promote Your Blog

During the beginning of the month, we discussed “Your Blog and You”. In said post, we noted how your blog is an extension of you, your ideas and/or products. Once you are confident that your blog represents you, it is time to market your blog.

There are many ways to market your blog, both online and off. In fact, both are necessary if you wish to grow your subscribers and stats (blog ranking). I’ve listed a few below that I’ve found to be helpful or have seen others use to promote themselves.

Online

• Social Media (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Bebo)

Social media is a great way to connect and build relationships with others. I find each site reaches a different audience, for example MySpace is great with the individuals interested in entertainment, Facebook is huge with Moms, Twitter is the best way to reach savvy consumers, companies, and individuals with higher incomes, while Bebo appeals to the younger crowd).

• Entrecards

Join Entrecards. Entrecards uses a credit system called EC.  The more active you are within the Entrecard community the more EC points you receive.   EC points can than be redeemed for advertisements on other blogs, or requests for comments and/or subscribers; thereby raising your stats.

• Blogroll

Switch links with other bloggers within your niche. This promotes your blog with their readers/subscribers.

• Blog Directories 

Join blog directories within your niche. I’ve joined several that have worked wonders for me, including but not limited to Blogadera and The Mommy Blogger Directory.

• Youtube

Youtube helps you reach an audience who may not normally read blogs. I find this is especially beneficial for review blogs.

• Social bookmarking sites (i.e. Digg, Stumble Upon, Technorati) 

Submit your posts to social bookmarking sites. By joining and submitting your posts on these sites, it puts your posts before readers you may not have had an opportunity to reach otherwise.

• Blogs within your niche 

Leave intelligent comments on blogs within your niche, with a link back to your website. Leaving a link, will give other readers of that blog an opportunity to visit your blog!   

• Guest posts

Guests posts are a wonderful way to show another blogger’s audience your expertise. Carolyn Gonzalez of  Carolyn in Carolina, was one of my first guest bloggers. Her wit and writing style went over well with my readers and was a huge success! See Carolyn’s post HERE. I’ve also had the opportunity to write a guest post for Jaime Farkas of For His Glory who I admire greatly. My guest post can be seen HERE. I would like to note that neither of these guest posts were instigated as a way to promote our blogs, however, because they were such great fits they did just that!

Offline

• Printed Media

Business Cards, Postcards, Brochures are wonderful marketing tools.

NOTE: Enter my Business card giveaway HERE (Ends 1/20) or my Postcard giveaway HERE (Ends 1/25 ) to get yourself started!

• Community Functions

As a Mommy Blogger, I promote myself at my sons’ schools, afterschools/daycares, and neighborhood gatherings since it brings me into contact with my niche, other trendy Moms. Knowing your niche, allows you to promote yourself offline at community functions.  

• Blog/Networking Events

Blog events are a great place to network and promote your blog! Some that I like and hope to attend this year are BlogHer and Blogalicious.

• Friends/Family

 My family and friends are my biggest cheerleaders! My Mom reads my blog everyday (Hola Mami!), as do most of my friends. Not only do they read but they offer constructive criticism, giving me a double bang for my buck!

I think this is a good starting point yet am sure there are a slew of other ways to promote your blog that I’ve missed. If you’ve done something not noted here, please share your ideas in a comment below.  We’ll love to hear about it! 

In the end, remember it’s important to market your blog, if you want to monetize it. Sponsors and advertisers review a blog’s reach when considering a blog for giveaways, sponsorship and/or advertising. With that in mind, promote yourself, just don’t forget to enjoy the connections along the way!