How do you market your blog?
As I mentioned last week, I’m going to start a series of interviews with other bloggers looking at how they go about promoting their websites, using social media etc. First up, we have Trey Meier a 24yo Writer from Calgary, Canada.
Ok, let’s get to it, it’s time for a blogger interview.
Alright Trey, tell our readers a little about your blog, where is it, what’s it about?
My current blog-home is TWKM Blog. At TWKM I blog about the things that interest me and thoughts that run rampaging through my head. Sometimes I post about personal lessons I am working through, other times about new toys, websites and tools I’m interested in and still other times I post creative writings or music or graphic pieces. TWKM is a mixture of the pursuit of passions, creativity and personal growth.
When did you start blogging? Why then - what prompted you to write that first post?
I started blogging in February, 2007, just over a year ago.
I’ve always enjoyed writing and decided to share some of my thoughts and interests with others. I thought blogging would be a good way to communicate my thoughts for later review and open lines of communication with others I wouldn’t normally meet or communicate with. It’s been a great outlet for my creative endeavours and analytical thought processes as well as networking and communicating with others and learning about them.
Are you an active member on any social networking/bookmarking sites? Which ones?
I’m active on Twitter and Facebook. Much too active on Twitter I think.
Which social networking/bookmarking sites would you recommend to bloggers who haven’t been active in social media previously?
I would definitely recommend Twitter, it seems to be saturated with bloggers, writers, SEO experts and other creative types. It’s easy to use, you can communicate with others from all over the world and do it in manageable little chunks. You can also receive a lot of breaking news, before you would be able to see it on a blog or other news outlets.
How much time do you spend each week on building your social networking profiles?
I have Twitter running on my computer all day at work, and when I’m done with that I usually load it up on my Blackberry or home computer. I am pretty much on Twitter all day most of the week, but I often take a break on weekends. Weekends I decompress and unplug as much as possible.
Do you think the time you spend social networking is worth it in terms of attracting new readers to your blog?
Absolutely! Finding people with the same interests is easy to do with social networking. The conversations you have will direct people to your blog who are more interested in what you have to say than people who simply get a search result for your blog. With social networking you can develop personal connections with others to help elevate the value that people place on your posts.
What’s your #1 tip for a new blogger promoting their first blog?
Twitter is great for promoting your blog. You will find a lot of like-minded people, get topic ideas from the tweets of others, and you can use TwitterFeed to post to your Twitter profile when your blog is updated. And all that happens while you are communicating with interesting people from all over the place.
How much time each week do you spend actively promoting your blog posts?
I don’t really spend a great deal of time actively promoting my blog. I leave comments on others’ blogs when I’m interested in being a part of the conversation rather than for the sole purpose of getting people to check out my blog. The type of posts I comment on are usually the types of posts that I write about myself because I find the topic interesting, not because I have targeted them.
I also don’t post my own items to social bookmarking services like Digg. I have provided readers with that option at the bottom of each post and I would rather see someone promote a post of mine than promote it myself.
What do you consider to be the best post you have ever written?
I think my best post so far is “Pleasure and Pain”
It is a very personal post and I think it is a great conversation starter and food for thought. It was also the first post that I got a comment on since starting this new blog.
How did you promote that post? Did you do anything different than usual?
I only promoted it through Twitter and TwitterFeed. Less than 30 minutes after I posted to my blog a link went to my Twitter profile and someone found the title catchy, found the article interesting and left a comment.
What’s the best headline you have written for one of your posts?
I think this is the best because it is almost a paradoxical title, contrary to the thought that “things can’t bring you happiness”. Reading the post you realize that it has nothing to do with materialism but finding your passion in life based on what you’ve surrounded yourself with, and I think it draws people in to see what the post is about.
Is there anything else about promoting your sites that you’d like to mention? The spotlight is on you…
If you are writing a blog for more personal reasons, don’t worry too much about analytics, the amount of comments or the ‘popularity’ of your blog.
Personally, my blog is more of a writing exercise and communication tool than it is an income generator, so every comment or trackback is treated like a bonus. That being said, you still need to market yourself and your blog to get exposure. Using an optimized blog template will help greatly as will networking with other bloggers and people throughout the Internet. Enjoy communicating with others and you may find one day that success and comments and popularity have come to you without strenuous amounts of effort to get there.
Just to finish up, what’s the best way for like-minded people to connect with you online?
You can contact me via my Twitter profile, or find more info about how to contact me on the ‘About Me‘ page of my blog.
I’d like to thank Trey for taking the time to do this interview, I really do appreciate it. I’m always on the lookout for more people to be interviewed on Marketing-SEO.com, as long as you’ve been blogging for at least a month, then chances are you’ve got something interesting to say. Head on over to this post about how to be Interviewed on Marketing-SEO.com for more information.
If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.
Follow me on Twitter
...or on Friend Feed
Here are my latest updates:
There are now thousands of social networks that cater to a whole variety of subjects. These smaller, focused sites allow users to connect with like-minded people and give advertisers targeted demographics. Niche social networks are also good for marketers who have a product or service they want to promote that relates to a particular interest. A good place to find such sites is a search engine that caters specifically to social networks such as http://findasocialnetwork.com