In the first part of this series I suggested that writers start a blog as a virtual shop window for their writing services. If you’ve done that, then you are now part of the blogosphere, and there’s more to participating in it than simply having a blog. Blogging is all about conversations with your readers and with the writers of the blogs you read – and joining in with those conversations can bring huge promotional benefit.
To get started, use Technorati or a blog search engine (Ask Blog Search and Google Blog Search are my favorites) to find out which blogs are publishing in areas that you’re interested in. These may be writing blogs or blogs in your area of expertise. Technorati displays an authority ranking which tells you which blogs are most linked to by others. Visit these blogs and leave useful or relevant comments on any posts that interest you. When you do this, you can include a link to your blog in the appropriate field on the comment form. This doesn’t always give you Google juice, but it does bring you traffic.
When those visitors arrive at your blog, have something of quality to show them. Respond to comments left on your blog and, if appropriate, point readers to other useful resources you have published. This will build your readership, increase traffic to your blog and make your blog rise up the search engine rankings.The reason that this works for your writing business is because clients read blogs too. More and more of my clients are coming to me through this blog. When they search for ‘online freelance writers’ my blog appears in the top 20. (I’m working on moving to the top 10.) This can happen for your chosen keywords, too.
Thank you for pointing this out. I’ve read this on other sites about marketing such as Marketing-Mentor.com. And I’ve seen it’s affect on my blog. I have made some great connections with people who have seen my comments on other blogs and who have come to visit my blog. I agree with you and the other sites that this can be a good way to promote for free.
It really works, Melissa and I agree, you make some great connections. Some of my best writing friends are people I met through blogging.
Sharon, I have really enjoyed this series. Tons of great tips. I have not used Ask Blog Search but will give that one a try too. I am also finding that FriendFeed is a great way to make connections and distribute content efficiently. My favorite tool to spread the love is Shareaholic – one right click of the mouse and you can digg, stumble, mix, and bookmark to your heart’s content.
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These days more and more blogs are enabling the ‘dofollow’ attribute so it’s also helping in getting Google juice while commenting on other blogs.
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Glad you’ve enjoyed it, Karen. There are so many social bookmarking tools that it’s difficult to know which one to pick. At different times I have used Socialize me, Share This and Add This.