The Bloggers With The Most To Say
Do you promote your blog? Or just let things play out naturally?
I've been on all sides - promoting blogs to get followers, not promoting blogs and not getting many followers, and not promoting blogs and getting a lot of followers.
Do you blatantly promote your blog? And if so, how? (I realize this site could be considered promotion, but to me it's just more of a community of people who love blogging).
Do you blatantly promote your blog? And if so, how? (I realize this site could be considered promotion, but to me it's just more of a community of people who love blogging).
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kat K on -
I don't do any kind of promoting.... I'll comment on other people's blogs and leave my link in case they're interested, but I'm sort of fine with not having a ton of readers, or with only having ones that are actually there because they like my blog. I'm not doing the giveaways etc kind of blog.
I have a short attention span and don't stick with reading many blogs, so I try not to be pushy about mine :)
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Permalink Reply by Think GoHard on -
I'm not a fan of promoting. I feel like if something is of quality it will spread. The question is just how patient you are to let your work speak for its self. If you don't have a large social circle you need to promote to get your self out there in the beginning but if your the "cool kid on the block" you shouldn't really have much of a problem creating a following.
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Permalink Reply by Sebastian on -
I don't promote at all, other than occasionally on Twitter, and sometimes some creative forums I belong to -- but only if it's of interest.
I'm British though. We're awful at self-promotion/branding. We HATE getting in the way. We hate PRESUPPOSING that people actually want to read/hear what we gotta say.
I've been told I should promote more though -- because seemingly, I do have something worth reading (or looking at, in the case of my photos -- so I've been trying to promote myself a bit.
It doesn't come easy tho' :)
When starting off, commenting other blogs is all you need to do -- if you belong to any other long-term community (forum), you should plug your blog there too.
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Permalink Reply by Stephen on -
"I'm British though... We hate PRESUPPOSING that people actually want to read/hear what we gotta say."
Haha, too right! There's always that initial element of "Ooh, who's to say whether I'll be considered worthy or just poo-pooed for writing tripe?" What I've been doing is, I suppose some would call, passive organic promotion. That is, I don't plaster my blog address everywhere (though I did join the 'I love comments' group on here!) but I leave comments on the blogs I like and try and start a rapport :)
p.s. on a sycophantic note, your pictures ARE awesome Seb, if you're trying to be a pro photographer of any description (you're at least thinking about it, right?) then advertise! Maybe even print up some business cards or something.
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Permalink Reply by Allison on -
I have a fairly organic way of promoting my blog. I write often (step number 1), I comment as much as I can (usually not enough, but I try), I am on Twitter and I tweet and I @reply people, I also am active in the diabetes community so I often meet people IRL at events where I hand out my biz cards. I have gone to a couple 20something events, and do the same there. I don't have a fan page on FB because I don't want to come off as if I think I'm some kind of celebrity. I'm just a person who likes to talk to people.
I am also against the idea that I'm a "brand." I'm not a brand, I'm a person.
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Permalink Reply by Kelvin on -
I really don't like promoting. I'm not good at it either. I try my best to get the word out on my blog posts and other things I read that should be shared.
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Permalink Reply by Patty Harayda on -
I started blogging for me and then people started following me. I do link to my twitter and sometimes my FB account, but other than that, I don't really advertise! I'd feel too pressured to keep up with blog postings all the time!
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Permalink Reply by Ashley R on -
I don't really promote my blog. I'd rather have people find it that will really love it, rather than just go to it because I'm pushing them. It does get annoying when someone keeps pushing their posts at you -- it turns me off, and even if I do go to the blog, I'm immediately feeling negative towards it. I do have the occasional tweet when I think I have a post worth reading (rare, but it happens), but my Twitter is protected so it's just for my Followers. I try mostly through comments or communities, but I'm rather poor at being active in both so it's been slow going.
I don't believe it a bad thing for those who do promote - as someone previously wrote, they do have to eat! As long as you do it in a reasonable fashion, I'm open to reading and commenting. It's those people who constantly put their links on your pages or pick the most trivial things to comment on just for the sake of linking their blog that bug me (i.e. "I see you wrote about eating, I do it to so you should check out my blog!").
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Permalink Reply by NNL on -
Hey. The truth is...I've never promoted my blog. But-my latest post is all about patience which I think all 20 somethings need an extra dose of. So drop by :-)
relentlesslyreal.blogspot.com
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Permalink Reply by Doniree on -
I think the best and most genuine form of 'promotion' is building relationships with other people in the blogging community. It's been said here already, but finding like-minded friends or even ones that challenge you to think differently and interacting with them through comments, emails, Twitter, etc., I think that's the best way to network. It happens naturally out of those relationships without anyone having to self-promote. Which, judging by this thread, we're not that comfortable doing.
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Permalink Reply by Oats on -
We all know the typical places people promote their blogs: Twitter, Facebook, Brazen Careerist, and here at 20 SB with the occasional other networks people are in. However, the biggest part of promoting your blog is content. It has to be good enough to make the reader want to come back. If not, you're wasting your time shamelessly promoting a blog no one wants to read.
I typically put up a line on twitter for the morning crowd and the afternoon crowd after I've posted a blog. Other than that, most of my readers are people I have networked with via 20sb. I have a few outsiders and I'd love to know how they found my blog.
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