Let’s face it, some people are dense; some need that nudge to do things. So, unless you want to limit your blog exposure to those with above-average IQ levels – and they’re not many, mind you – you have to compensate subtle blog promotional efforts with blunt, salesy, you-would-like-to-read-me kind of promotions. The best sales people are never shy; they’re annoyingly repetitive and exceedingly aggressive, yes, but they’re never shy.
So take your blog’s exposure to higher levels and embark on blunt promotional strategies to reach more of your target audience. Here are a few tips to get you started:
1. Include aggressive calls to action on your landing pages and on individual entries itself. Does any of the following sound familiar to you?
a. Call us today at 800-123-4567!
b. For more information, visit www.myblog.com
c. Why wait? Call us right now! At 888-123-4567
These promotional lines are often seen on sales pages or product description pages of online stores. But hey, you can use the same aggressiveness in promoting your blog. Simply direct your readers to related articles. For example, at the end of this entry, I can put something that says,
You may also want to read Five Subtle Ways to Promote Your Blog for more information.
There’s nothing wrong with inserting a line or two in an entry specifically directed toward encouraging your readers to read related articles. Besides building your blog’s internal links, you’re promoting your own entries to your visitors.
2. Share your entries on Facebook. Depending on your privacy settings, your wall posts on Facebook can be viewed by your friends, your network or anyone of Facebook’s 300 million action users. That’s a fantastic width and breadth. Hey, if you share Youtube videos you like, why not your blog, too? Remember, enthusiasm is contagious, even if it’s for your own work.
3. Tweet your entries. People won’t read your entries unless they become visible online. And by that you should know visibility means your entries need to be Google-able. Twitter, being the most popular micro-blogging site on the face of the WWW, is a fantastic way to share your blog with the world. So, just do it. Tweet your own blog posts.
4. Refer to your posts when responding to comments and participating in online forums. If you’re blogging about cars, you would most likely participate in car-related forums. And you’d most likely have a sensible thing to say or share that you’ve certainly written about in your blog. It’s a service that increases the wealth of knowledge in the world if you share your knowledge in forums. And if that knowledge is in a blog post, then, by all means, direct them to it. If it’s done in context, you won’t be flagged by mods.
5. Exchange links with other bloggers. Yes, bloggers in the blogosphere help each other out. Look up exchange link programs run by other bloggers and ask how you can participate in them. Some websites also have exchange link programs so look into that as well. It’s only a matter of dropping these webmasters an email introducing yourself and your blog. That should be easy enough to do.
6. Become a guest writer for another blog. At the bottom of your entry, the owner would be more than happy to put an acknowledgement line and a link back to your blog. That works to promote your brand and build your off-site links, which of course, is excellent for SEO purposes.
These are all I can think of off the top of my head. But there’s definitely plenty of other ways to bluntly promote your blog. The best way to learn more ways to improve your online presence is to network with other bloggers and learn from their experiences. No, you don’t have to pay for anything. You can start by commenting on other blogs and building a relationship with fellow bloggers. Being nice pays off. Big time.
