How to benefit from blogging – even if you don’t have a blog
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I’ve recommended blogging for business for many years, and these blogging statistics reported by Scott McKelvey confirm that it is indeed an effective marketing strategy. But if you don’t think blogging is for you, or you’re not ready to commit to maintaining your own blog, there are still a number of ways you can increase your online presence through other people’s blogs.
Answer Questions
Many bloggers occasionally post a question, and compile the answers in a future post. This is a great way to put your name out there! I’ve participated in a number of such posts, answering the following questions:
- What is your single best PROVEN strategy for attracting targeted traffic to your blog, and what makes it so effective?
- How do you organize business cards so that you can do the right follow up?
- What one piece of technology empowers you to conduct your business better?
- What are your favorite dos and don’ts for successful time management?
Keep your eyes open for opportunities like this on Twitter and Facebook, and sign up for HARO to become a source for bloggers and other media.
Leave Comments
Locate and read the blogs that are likely to interest the people in your target market, and leave comments. Most blogs allow you to include a link to your website so other readers who may be interested in knowing more about you can easily do so. Make sure that your comments are insightful, not just self-promotional or something vague like “Great post!”
Become a Guest Blogger
I’ve been invited by a number of people to write guest posts for their blogs. Here are just a few:
If you don’t have a blog yourself, your chances of being approached are slim, but there’s no reason you can’t make the first move. Contact someone whose blog is read by the people in your target market and let them know that you’re interested in writing about [your topic]. It could even be a colleague in your own industry, as many bloggers welcome the opportunity to take a break from writing and to give their readers another point of view once in a while.
Get Mentioned
If you treat your clients well, they’ll be happy to recommend you. I was just thrilled to see my name in these posts:
Most bloggers promote their posts on one or more social media sites, and readers also share them with their networks, so the potential for exposure is more than you might think. What’s especially great about being mentioned on a blog, whether it’s as a commenter, a topic expert, a guest blogger, or a recommended service provider, is that it stays there forever (or at least until the blog is taken offline), so you can continue to get noticed for many years to come.
Have you received any exposure through a blog other than your own? Feel free to brag about it here!
This post was originally published onΒ From the Desk of Janet Barclay in 2011 and has been updated for Your Organizing Business.
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Great post! Couldn’t resist saying that! Very useful advice for people who say they can’t blog. I will be sharing this with my Social Media for Newbies Page tomorrow.
Thanks, Nicky – I appreciate it. I’m a fan of your page myself!
Janet, for a beginner in blogs like me, these little steps are always are reminder of both, what I can do to improve and of how much is to be learned! π
I love your postings. I’m always learning.
Thank you!
Helena, your comment made my day! It is so gratifying to know that doing something I enjoy so much is also benefitting others. I hope your blog brings you just as much satisfaction!
Like your advice … really .. I am a web developer and still not that much in blogging.
I mean how is that even possible π
Ibrahim, try out some of these steps and let me know how you make out. Who knows, it might even make you want to start your own blog? π
Janet – Excellent tips for people that are new to blogging or don’t have one. Back before I had my blog I used these exact strategies and they worked just as you suggest.
That’s good to hear, Stephanie – though I can’t imagine a time before you were blogging! π
Great advice, thanks! I struggle with knowing where to put my “best stuff”, though. On other blogs to attract new readers, or on my own blog with a small readership at this point. Any tips?
Excellent question, Christa! I would recommend putting your best stuff on your own blog, because you have full control over that. I actually had to change some of the links I was going to include in this post, because a couple of people who had included my content on their blogs ended up removing it later.
That being said, anything you submit to other blogs should also be awesome. Otherwise, they may decide not to publish it, and even if they do, it won’t entice new readers and may hurt you more than it helps.
Take a look around here; you’ll find lots more tips on guest blogging and blogging in general that I hope you’ll also find helpful.
Off to check out your blog now…
What a helpful post, Janet. I’ve sent it to a friend who’s starting to think she should be more active in social media, but isn’t interested in committing to blogging. There are good reminders here for me, too, as to how I could be extending my reach beyond my own blog. I really appreciated Christa’s question and your response to it.
Thanks, Kathy! I hope your friend finds it as helpful as you did.
Great info. I’ve used a few of these techniques myself, and even though I now have my own blog, I still think they’re important. However, I was surprised and disappointed to learn just recently that Google is cracking down on guest post articles, even when the content is relevant. Apparently, misuse has ruined it for the rest of us. Would love to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks.
I’ve been following this trend as well, but I don’t think it’s something that most of us need to worry about. The problem seems to be the practice of inserting “unnatural” links in blog posts for the purposes of SEO.
So far, I have not noticed any decline in my SEO ranking or traffic, and I publish a guest post every week.