After a phenomenal response from last week series regarding social media for beginners, I thought I’d take the next step to help usher you along to success in social media. Today, I’d like to touch base on next steps for blogging.
You set up your blog, added some photos to your posts, and are in the midst of linking appropriately throughout your blog. Now for the fun part – getting a steady readership. Here are some tips:
- Add comments with links back to your blog on leading trade publications: Start with some research. Conduct a Google search on your topic of interest – in my case “Social Media” and review all leading publications. Start to read all of the content and start to add comments. This is a tricky one. Try not to add vague commentary like “great post”…this could potentially be viewed as spam, and will generally be frowned upon. Really think through your response. Read the post, and add your own angle on the topic. This way your link isn’t only solicitous, it’s also useful for the reader.
- Contact thought leaders to guest blog on your site, or visa versa: I have yet to do this, however if you’re looking for critical mass, and you have interest in monetizing your blog, it may be a good play. There are bloggers out there that may have a different rub on certain topics, and if you’re interested in creating an environment for true learning for your readers, it can’t hurt.
- Review Google “Trends” daily and find an angle on your content based on trending stories. This is a new one that I’ve just begun to investigate. Recently I’ve been reviewing trends, and adding a social media angle to each story. Chances are that there will be traffic to your blog based on the trend. Make sure that you’re not reaching for content however. If the topic doesn’t dove tail with your voice, it will be obvious. I discovered the Chipotle story this way, and received 6 comments on my blog post regarding the pitfalls that brands need to be aware of when engaging in social media. I also came across the dramatic events that led up to Clay Dukes suicide this way. At first it didn’t seem like there was a social media aspect to the story, however the further I read the more I realized what a powerful part social media played in the story – Mr. Duke left his suicide note on his Facebook page. Just speaking about hot trending stories will assist in the traffic to your site. Today a hot trending topic is the weather in the New York metropolitan area. If I wanted to jump on this wave of traffic I could blog about the different ways people are leveraging social media to get updates on the weather via widgets, Twitter feeds, Weather.com Facebook page wall statuses etc. Get it?
- Link your blog to your Facebook page, and your Twitter feed: I mentioned this one a few times, but for the busy professional it’s key. Leverage a service like Networkedblogs to push your content out to all of your social places when you publish. This will expedite the sharing of your content an insure that you don’ t miss anything. Blog regularly and your readers will begin to trust your content, and share your blog posts – re-tweet etc.
I hope you find this content helpful – please contact me at christopher.dessi@driveactiondigital.com or add a comment below (hopefully by now you’ll add a link to you blog as well) 
Over and Out.
Chris Dessi
View More PostsChief Revenue Officer, Diamond Standard, Co.