Today’s challenge involves promoting a post of our blog. What’s interesting about this task is that Darren points out that sometimes as blogger we fail to realize that promoting the whole blog, or the front page of our blog might be counterproductive, as possibly it is too vague. So he recommends selecting one or two posts a week to which you can give an extra push. In his post on the theoretical aspect of this lesson, Darren suggests a variety of ways in which we can promote our blog post. Here are a few that I think I can do:
- Putting your post on Twitter or Facebeook – I use both of these social networking tools, so this is something I can do.
- Promoting the post on Digg or Stumbleupon – I have registered accounts with both, so I can do this too.
- Comment on other people’s blogs – in this case I would not actually insert a link into the post, but I would get an automatic link by leaving the comment. And if the blog uses Commentluv (a Wordpress plugin that automatically displays the most recent post the commenter published, but which allows them to also choose a different post) then I can select the post in question for display. If people like the title, they will click on it.
- Using your Newsletter – I have a newsletter, so I can send out my newsletter with a plug of that post so people will click on the link.
This is about all I can handle. I mention in the title of this post that this task is especially challenging for me. I am not very good at self-promotion. I would rather just do my thing and wait for people to pick up on it on their own. This blog is slowly climbing the Google Page Rank ladder. I already have a Page Rank of 3 (for those who don’t know what this means, Google has a complicated system based on incoming links and pages loads and a bunch of other things, that it uses to rank websites. It takes some time usually to just get a Page Rank of 1. The highest is 10). But I find it hard to say: hey, look at me, I’m so great, my blog is so entertaining and interesting and informative, you have to read everything I write, and subscribe and get the newsletter and give me lots of money through different channels… But I have to get over that to a certain extent, because I am trying to build an internet business. Turtle^haus may not be “it.” I may end up building another blog entirely (I’ve been thinking of a cooking blog lately, because I’m on a diet and can’t eat anything. When I’m on a diet I get the urge to cook like crazy, so I can have at least the vicarious pleasure of seeing my family and friends enjoy the food I make. And I love food so much, just handling it… well, you understand why I’m fat, don’t you?)
Oh, my post of choice… let me select one. Hang on, I’ll be right back.
Okay, the post I am going to promote is the first segment of my 3-part interview with my friend Amanda Ackroyd, of Leeds, Yorkshire, England. Amanda and I went to boarding school together and have recently found each other again. We are as close today as we were then, in fact I would daresay that we are closer now. She is a writer and I very much want to help her publish her novel. So, here goes, the post I am promoting is: Author Interview: Amanda Ackroyd – part I.
(By the way, a suggestion that is frequently given by Darren and other blogging gurus is to occasionally link to your own posts inside newer posts so as to lead your readers back into your archives.)
I will report back in a bit. Off I go!
Okay, I’ve done three of the four tasks for both blogs (this one and Life+Web), and the Newsletter will have to wait until after the family Easter get-together, for which I’m leaving right now! Happy Easter everyone (or happy whatever you celebrate)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=947c71a7-e66c-4294-b592-b4a70004640b)
If you're new here, get free updates via RSS or email and subscribe to our free Newsletter.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Ilaria,
Have a nice Eastern meal! I get hungry when I look at the photo.
Ciao,
Mario
I too have struggled with my weight, my blog came about because I had gastric bypass surgery last October and I wanted to write about it.
I am going to do some shameless self promotion and say come read all about me at my blog!
Yesterday I also did some reading of the blog posts darren had given us to read and one which describes why we read blogs then don`t leave comments has inspired me to always make an effort to leave a comment.
http://midwifeblogger.blogspot.com/2008/10/welcome.html
This was my first blog post and my blog talks about all aspects of my life.
I already subscribe to your blog and have done for some time maybe you could do a guest writing spot on my blog.
Hi Pam, and thanks for the comment. I’m so glad you’re already a subscriber of mine. And yes, I agree with you that we have to commit to leaving comments. I have come to your same conclusion, and I try to leave a comment every time I read a post I like on someone’s blog.
I’ll check yours out and you can be sure I’ll leave a comment! Let me know how the challenge continues for you. I’m a bit behind because of Easter, but I’m trying to catch up. I love Darren and his advice is always very valuable. Cheers!
Hello,
Good to see another person in on the blogging challenge. How did you find it in the end? Did you do more of the tasks?
I too have a very modest nature and often find it hard to promote my blog to its full potential. I’ve found internal links very valuable though, as long as they are relevant (I seem to have two or three every new post I do without really trying).
This is my first time visiting here and I like what you have. I’m about to have a browse around
All the best,
Sam
Hi Sam,
thanks for visiting and leaving so many comments! I found the challenge very interesting. I love Darren Rowse and I think he really contributes a lot to the blogging community of the English speaking world.
I have written a long post recapping what the challenge is all about in my other blog, lifeplusweb, so that I and/or others can use it as a resource, there is a link to every post in the article. I am going to write another one for the last few days of the challenge, so that the whole thing will be there. The challenge lasts 31 days but most of the tasks should be done over and over again periodically. This will guarantee a steady growth of your blog and the community around it. Good luck with your endeavors!