By Reese Jones
A lot of creative people often suffer from the problem of failing to market themselves efficiently, and by extension, the work they create. This is especially true when it comes to any content that makes its home on the internet, as quite frequently people are not fully aware of the options available to them.
Sure, thereâs the more obvious choices â linking your WordPress account to Twitter or Facebook to ensure that all your content is appearing on the relevant social media platforms. But are you reaching out and actually offering your content to people in subtle or more proactive ways? Do you engage with other bloggers, network at events, reach out for interviews and go on blog tours? If not, youâre not doing your hard work enough justice.
Itâs also arguable you might not be working hard enough, either, but thatâs only the case about half of the time â some people simply arenât aware of other techniques and assume that just writing posts and hitting âpublishâ will do the job. So hereâs five ideas to get you started when it comes to getting your work out there and ensuring it receives the attention it deserves.
Blogger outreach.
Itâs not often that people blog about a specific topic on a regular basis without being aware of the community that surrounds that topic. Social media, mental health, videogames â there are no niches devoid of discussion on the internet, so take advantage of this, and get involved with debates and conversations. Try commenting on blogs with similar topics and engaging with their writers â even offering them a guest post on your blog, should they be interested.
Engaging with the community.
Following on from the previous point, itâs also worth thinking about what you could be doing to better engage with the community. Connect with those who enjoy the topic and are deeply involved in and/or knowledgeable about it, but who donât write about it themselves. These are your readers, and in order to appeal to them, there are many simple steps you can take. These include getting involved in your own comments threads, in forums, and also taking on suggestions for topics from readers whoâd like to read your take on something.
Mix up your media.
Donât just stick to writing unless youâre really not keen on doing anything else. These days, successful blogs are a balanced mix of text, images, video, and even audio. No one says you have to become a jack of all trades, but even using images to bolster a blog post with a little visual aid isnât going to hurt â neither is looking up relevant YouTube videos and embedding them into the post. After all, itâs content for both you and the video producer, so your blog looks more enticing, and they receive more plays.
Go on tour!
If youâre not sure what a âblog tourâ is, itâs pretty simple to get the hang of. You simply do a series of guest posts on various other blogs, in essence, touring the blogosphere and offering people your hard work – ie content – usually for free. Why for free? Because itâs an incredible way of making the audiences of ten sites aware of you in one big tour, and if youâve got an article going up every weekday at a different site with a by-line that points them over to your blog, things will get busy for you, in a good way.
Keep improving.
Donât just assume that youâre at the top of your game â there is no point in your career where that should be your mindset, and even if youâre blogging casually, itâs a bad attitude to have. Think about how you can improve your writing, your variety of content, the blogâs overall aesthetic â donât give it 50%. People will always enjoy what youâve got going on already, but by never evolving youâre damaging your chances of growing your audience.
Blogging isnât easy. It requires hard work, commitment, scheduling, imagination, talent and intelligence. But after all that, if youâre not receiving any attention, something is wrong. Donât be afraid to self-analyse and use these tips to improve things â you can only get better if youâve got the right attitude. Happy blogging!