Are you so busy you don’t have time to read articles about how to deal with being so busy?
What if I told you there is only one instrumental task to blogging success that you absolutely have to find the time to take care of? For many reasons, I feel networking is that answer.
I interviewed twenty blogging experts and asked, What is the #1 secret to blog promotion?
Did they agree with me that networking is key? Did they agree with my guest speaker Lysa Wilds about all that successful blogging entails? Did they agree with each other? Did they echo the voices in my previous expert interview? Let’s find out.
Welcome to My Expert Roundup!
What is the #1 secret to blog promotion?
The Experts Weigh In
The Content
Blog good stuff. Everything else follows… Guy Kawasaki, meerkatapp.co/guykawasaki
It’s to have something that’s worth promoting. Promotion alone only gets it seen. Something useful and unique and relevant and well done? That gets it into the cycle where other people do the promotion for you. Julie Joyce, linkfishmedia.com
Keep making good contents and RTs are going to come! Guillermo Paz, Author of the RV Blog Series, seriesandtv.com
Salesman walks up to me with the mindset that his money is in my wallet, which is okay, since I see he has something of value in his hand. 🙂, Mike Whataker, theperfectbusinessforyou.com/4023/everybody…
The Readers
Ask a question: Who will help me promote/share my content and why? Rand Fishkin, moz.com
Building a network of strong & loyal audience who love your past stuff and will gleefully share your new stuff. Mark Traphagen, stonetemple.com
Knowing whom you are trying to reach and what they are trying to do. Yaro Starak, Entrepreneurs-Journey
The secret to blogging is Soylent Green*. (*It’s people.) Chris Garrett, ProBloggerBook.com
The Bloggers
The #1 secret to blog promotion is consistent persistance… Each social share or email blast by itself may not do very much, but brand awareness is cumulative. In time, it adds up! John Meese, JohnMeese.me
Responding to your readers’ problems and issues in an effective manner. Bill Slawski, seobythesea.com
The #1 blog promotion secret is building social relationships in your niche and delivering what your target reader or client wants. Sylviane Nuccio, sylvianenuccio.com
A detail many bloggers miss when it comes to blog promotion is consistency. You can promote one blog post effectively and generate a few shares and inbound links as a result. However, continuing to consistently do that for every blog post you publish will help you break the seal of consistent results. Matt Banner, OnBlastBlog.com
After you include or link to influencers, send them an email or a tweet that you have done so and, most of the time, they will share your post with their followers. This will get you more traffic than if you just shared your post to your own social media channels.
You will also start to build a relationship with influential bloggers by doing this. Continue that relationship by sharing and commenting on their posts. Once you have done so for at least 3 weeks, you could ask them if you could guest blog for them. Sue Anne Dunlevie, SuccessfulBlogging.com
Syndicate, syndicate, syndicate… share your content via all social channels always including Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn, which also makes it easy for others to share. And don’t be afraid to do it more than once periodically sharing old posts via your social channels, especially those that were well received. Also let others freely repost your content with a link back to the original post.Welcome to the ‘Age of Influence,’ where anyone can build an audience and effect change, advocate brands, build relationships
A Combination of Factors
Truth is, there are no secrets. Give your readers value, network with other bloggers and be consistent. Ileane Smith, Basic Blog Tips
There are many. No number ones. Having others share your stuff is helpful, especially if they have a huge following. Justretweet.com helps too. Lorraine Reguly, http://lorrainereguly.com
When sharing on social media, make sure your posts have value and visibility. Explain what readers will get out of checking out the post and use custom images to make sure it will stand out on people’s newsfeeds. Bold, bright colors such as red typically work well as it creates a sense of urgency. Vladimir Gendelman, Founder & CEO at CompanyFolders
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The Results
The experts have spoken!
Their answers fall into four categories, and that is how they are grouped. They feel the responsibility lies with the blogger, the blog reader, the content that is produced, or a combination.
The success of blog promotion lies in the blogger who should work hard and put in the time to network.
Others felt the onus lies with the blog readers who should share content they find valuable.
Other experts felt the above is irrelevant; if the content is strong, it will promote itself.
The final bloggers felt many factors matter.
Experts Reveal Their Secrets to Blogging Promotion
Now that the strategies for getting your content exposed have been laid out by the blogging experts, it is apparent that you, too, can experience the blogging success they have. So, what are you waiting for? Go implement their ideas!
Readers, if you feel others could benefit from these tips, please share.
What is your opinion of the experts’ answers? Are there any you agree or disagee with? What have you found to be your biggest asset to blog promotion? I can’t wait to hear your views.
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Really useful Janice 🙂
Hey Lucy,
Thanks! Hopefully, with 20 experts’ advice, there’s something everyone can come away with.
Thanks Janice! This has been really helpful!
HI Bianca, Thank you so much. With 20 different experts, and the 4 groupings I made, hopefully everyone can come away with something valuable to help their blogging.
Thanks for coming to read what I wrote and comment.
Janice
This is great. I’ve been having trouble finding my audience because my blog is fairly specialized. But my reviews are excellent, it’s just finding the audience! But, honestly, I enjoy writing it more than I can say, so there’s that! I’ll be reading and rereading this over and over again!
J
http://itsabeautifultree.com/2015/03/28/suffragettes-and-bffs/
Hi Julie,
You said you were having trouble finding your audience due to the specialized nature of the theme. What do you blog about?
Have you tried networking at my latest Meet and Greet? Perhaps there are some bloggers looking to network there that share your theme There are about 60 comments on it, so it might be worth a look. I got you the link if you are interested. http://wp.me/p5jxvv-Gh
Janice
Thanks! I’ll take a look when I get home. I blog about various historical things, all of which have their roots in genealogy, but are all interesting to those who don’t happen to be related. I talk about people within their historical context and the relevance of their contributions today. It’s not for everyone, but those who have reviewed it have gotten sucked into the drama of it! Like this month’s focus is from a feminist perspective. I’ll take a look at the meet and greet from my desktop later– my laptop was murdered, so I’m chained to a desk for the time being.
Hi Julie,
If you haven’t already been to my Meet and Greet, you should go to try to network with people interested in historical blogs. You could just copy paste this information on there. I got you the link, so you wouldn’t have to look it up. http://wp.me/p5jxvv-Gh
I visited your site. I teach world history in the Middle Ages. I used to teach ancient world history. Some of my earlier posts referenced the Crusades, but not so much anymore.
Janice
Thank you so much. Hopefully, there are so many tips here that everyone can find something useful.
Janice
Nice one, I like the words “Consistent Persistance” by John Meese. As a new blogger with hundreds of questions and uncertainties revolving around my blogging passion, these two words are the best dose of inspiration for me…
Hi! I agree. We need to be driven to succeed. My blog’s theme is offering blogging tips to new bloggers. Please feel free to send me any questions you might have. I will try to answer them. I am thinking of starting a frequently answered questions page and that way other bloggers can benefit from the answers too.
Thank you for coming to my site today. Nice to meet you. Janice
So glad you found that inspirational, Ahmad! Keep it up, make consistent persistence your anthem. Endure.
There is wonderful information on this post
Thanks!
Great roundup, Janice. I like the reminder to cross-promote on different social media platforms.
Hi Linda,
I got reminded of something myself. Lorraine Reguly said to use justretweetit.com. I made a note this week when I’m home for spring break to check it out. I tried once, but thanks to her comment, I will pursue it.
Thanks for coming over from New York (LOL), reading what I wrote, and commenting.
Janice
Great roundup, Janice. Some great tips in here. Very useful stuff for new bloggers. Thanks for including me. I shared this post with my followers.
Neil
Hi Neil,
I am honored that you were able to participate. Thank you again, so much. I believe we have some traction going this morning, and people are writing and sharing what they are finding valuable. I, myself, am learning from all of you.
Thank you again for your participation, and your help with the promotion.
Janice
Reblogged this on saneteachers and commented:
I completely agree with some of this advice and completely disagree with others. But very worthwhile reading. Thanks to Reflections by Janice Ward for sharing.
One thing I disagree with is that long content is better. Of course, that writer went on to say that comments count in content. I write less than 500 words because I won’t read more than that myself. A longer post is almost immediately discounted by me. Personal preference….succinct and funny.
Hi,
I’ve heard other bloggers, who agree with you, say that 500 or fewer words is best. However, I heard that search engines can’t find you if your post is shorter than 800 or even 1000 words. Also, the more tips I have, the greater the potential that someone will find something of value to come away with. I hope I haven’t sounded defensive. I think it’s great we’re discussing the merit of blogging strategies.
Janice
Useful advice! Thanks for linking up with us at Idea Box link party. I hope you’ll join us again this week!
Thank you for having me. Keep me on your mailing list. [email protected] so I get apprised about it. Thanks,
Janice
Janice, thanks for including me in this round-up! Promotion is something most bloggers struggle with. I’m surprised you didn’t ask Jon Morrow and Ana Hoffman for their opinions, though, as they are the king and queen of blog promotion! 😉
Hi,
Thank you so much for your participation.
I had not heard of Ana Hoffman. I have since looked her up on Twitter. Thank you for the suggestion.
Janice
Tell her Lorraine Reguly sent you. She knows me. 😉
And Jon Morrow? Find him at Boost Blog Traffic. But good luck getting ahold of him. He’s nearly unattainable. Of course, he’s paralyzed from the neck down and requires round-the-clock care, but he’s a genius and has A LOT to offer. He’s been giving to the blogosphere for years, and helps bloggers in every niche.
His story is quite a fascinating one, really. I’d advise you to look him up, too.
Thanks, I wrote her on Twitter and told her.
Janice
I think there are a lot of truths in this post. Personally, I think that writing quality content people want to read is the most important. You can do all of those steps, but if you are writing about one species of bug (something not many people care about!) it is hard to build an audience.
Hi
Thank you for writing. I know some bloggers that have weak content, but due to networking have a massive following.
Janice
Great advice. Thank you . I’ll be making sure I implement these!
Hi Ingrid,
Thanks. Which did you find the most valuable? My husband says content and I say networking.
Janice
“Include or link to influencers in your posts and then ask them to share your post is my #1 promotion key for beginning bloggers.” Brilliant- it’s mine. Thanks so much for the list! #SITSBlogging
Hi,
I find them hit and miss. When it’s miss, and they don’t share it out despite my asking them, I don’t know what to do. Advice? Thanks,
Janice
Thank you for compiling these tips and suggestions!
It took a week, but it was worth it. Thanks for reading what I wrote and writing me.
Janice
Another great post Janice! You already know where I stand by I’ll repeat it for those who may not have read my guest post. Networking and Marketing go hand in hand. Promoting is Marketing. Networking is building relationships. They all work together in harmony when done right. No big secret just a lot of hard work!
Thanks for the mention and I hope you have a great day!
Much love,
Lysa xx
Any time Lysa, you deserve it!
Thanks for elaborating on your point for some of my newer followers that may not have read the original.
Janice
Awww! You are so very sweet thank you. That totally made my day! xoxo Lysa
Love the advice! So glad you invited me over to your blog, it is very helpful and informative!!
Lindsey recently posted…When Your Faith Falters
Hi Lindsey,
Thank you for the kind words about my expert interview and my blog. Thank you for subscribing to my blog as well. I invited you to pin to our blog’s group board. Welcome!
Janice
Janice Wald recently posted…Blogger’s Pit Stop #28
Hey,
These are really great tips to know about blog promotion.Networking is the key. More you grow your network, more you grow your opportunities.
Thanks for the great post!
My pleasure JITENDRA,
Where did you find the post? It’s rather old now. I always wonder where people find the older articles. Thank you for reading what I published and commenting.
Janice
Great post, thanks for share it.
Thanks for your comments and praise. It’s an old post now. Where did you find it?
Janice
Hi Janice,
Great roundup of experts to learn from. I hear it all the time, it’s all about being consistent and doing those tasks every day.
The challenging part is continuing to do those tasks when you’re not getting the traffic you want. I love reading these types of roundups, it makes me realize that I am doing everything I am supposed to keep growing.
Thanks for putting this together for people who want to know what it takes to grow a blog.
Have a great day 🙂
Susan
wow…. your site fulfil my all requirements..thanks for this amazing information….
These are really great tips to know about blog promotion. I bookmarked your blog for future references.
Thanks for sharing the list of blogging expert. great tips to know about blog promotion, more networking get more promotion with more relation.