How to Be Selective about Promoting Your Blog
I admit it. When I first started blogging, I was naive. I thought that blogging really just involved writing stuff and making friends with other bloggers. I had no clue there was so much extra “stuff.”
Any blogger will tell you that actually writing posts is only part of the blogging world. You also need to promote your blog… respond to comments, comment on other blogs, create a Facebook fan page, start a Twitter account, get a Blog Frog community, tell everyone your location using FourSquare, join groups like SITS and Lady Bloggers Society, join StumbleUpon, create an AdSense account, go to some conferences, open a Digg account, set up an Entrecard, post in communities like Mom Bloggers Club and Social Moms, solicit votes with Top Mom Blogs, sign up with…
STOP! {insert your best screeching record sound here}
Now take a deep breath. Blogging was supposed to be fun, not a 24/7 job of trying to gain followers and pimp yourself out at any and every place because you’re afraid to miss out.
So how do you choose where to promote your blog?
Jump Off the Bandwagon…
Staying on top of the latest newfangled way for bloggers to gain traffic or make money can be exhausting. While it does no harm to be aware of the hundreds of ways to promote your blog, remember this: we can’t be everywhere… and we can’t be all things to all people.
I’ve done it too. Sometimes it was the right choice- I made connections, brought traffic, etc. Other times, it was just one more place to stress about visiting enough (or one more badge to clutter up my home page). For example, don’t try to get votes for Top Mom Blogs because you think everyone else is doing it and you don’t want to miss out. Do it for the right reasons (which I’ll get to in a second).
… and onto the Intention Train
Maybe that sounds kinda dumb but let me explain what I mean. Promote your blog with intent, with purpose. Select less stuff to be involved in and kick ass at it. Spend less time signing up for things and more time improving your writing, tweaking your blog design or creating something that improves your blog. After all, if you bring readers to your blog and your content is weak or your design is cluttered or hard to read then all that work promoting yourself won’t bring those visitors back again.
Questions to Ask Yourself
When deciding where to promote your blog or earn money, think about these sorts of questions:
– Is this just for fun? (ex. I use Instagram for the iPhone but it’s purely for fun.)
– Does joining this community/social media platform/carnival/whatever help me work toward reaching one of my goals?
– Am I already a part of a similar community? If so, how many do I want to fully participate in?
– Do I have the time to devote to this (some take more time than others)?
– Will this bring in long term traffic or short term (and what are you going for)?
Don’t Just Join It; Learn It
If you decide to join a group, social media platform, etc, don’t just sign up and then when it doesn’t work wonder what all the fuss was about. Learn how to properly use it. For example, while I’m not a StumbleUpon expert, I decided that being active in StumbleUpon was one tactic I wanted to use to meet a goal of mine.
I read articles about how SU works and I got a feel for the types of posts that are stumble-worthy (aka a post about Little Bobbie’s birthday probably isn’t but your killer crock pot chicken is).
Learn it, use it and by golly analyze your results to make sure the time you’re investing is worth the effort.
It’s Okay to Let Go
I’m sure we’ve all joined things only to find out it wasn’t what we thought it was. Maybe it was too complicated, too clunky, too popular that you’re lost in a sea of other bloggers… whatever the case, if it’s not working, cut ties and redirect your efforts into what IS working.
Sure, join another blogging group if you really think it will bring you traffic. But if it doesn’t, you don’t need to stick with it to prove anything. Focus intently on those areas that bring you closer to your goal. What’s right for one blogger may not be right for you. And you may find hidden glory is a place others aren’t using.
Pick and choose then forget about the rest… even if everyone else is all over it.
So, have you ever signed up for a way to promote your blog or make money only to decide it wasn’t worth the effort? Or vice versa?
This article was originally posted on my other site, Adventuroo, where it racked up over 30 comments. To see the great conversations within those comments, visit this post on Adventuroo.
