How to Promote your new blog Post

So you have finally written that killer blog post and you are jumping up and down your seat? You are possibly thinking of the traffic it is going to bring to your site. You are looking for ways to promote your post and make it go viral. After all this could finally pitch your blog up there with the giants. Where do you start then?
I would start with social media. So should you. Nowadays it is so easy to get thousands of free visitors just by sharing content on Facebook, twitter and the rest.  Humans are social. Social media helps you get recommended by friends to other friends and it is so easy to build mutual trust. You are going to need that if you are serios about internet money. You should however be careful on how you share your posts. Most people follow you because you are interesting. If you keep tweeting or updating uninteresting things, you are giving them a reason to unfollow you or unlike your page. Be on the look out for things that go viral to 'get it' when it comes to social media marketing.

Ping your post. This is a great way to update the search engines and many other services about new content on your blog. You can use Pingomatic.com, they provide great services. Some people may argue that it does add no value but I would say there is no harm in informing the slow search engines that you are churning out great content.

Let other bloggers know about your blog post. This may prove a bit difficult if you have not done your networking very well, but it is worth the effort. If a blogger likes your post and recommends it to their readers you could get lots of traffic. A fellow blogger is also more likely to link to your post.

Deliver it to the inbox. A mailing list is one great way to promote your posts. Recommending a post to your subscribers tells them that you feel it is important they read it. You should however go slow on the number of times you email your readers. If you blast my in box with emails every day, the best thing I could ever do for myself would be to unsubscribe from your list.

Forum commenting. If you have joined forums where you can include your recent post in your signature, other people will easily know about what you are posting. There are also forums that show your recent post automatically. You will have to provide them with your feed URL though.

So there are five ways you can use to promote your blog post. Used effectively, they will not only promote your posts, but your blog too.

PATIENCE AND PERSISTENCE: THE KEY TO BLOG SUCCESS

Many people come online hoping to make insane amounts of cash in zero time. One of the best ways to earn money online is definitely blogging. The potential here is seemingly endless. But people come and go, mostly disappointed. Why?
It is always good to have dreams. But it is good to remember that without effort a dream is just that, a dream. Somebody thinking that a blog with only two posts should be making him money is simply lost. Rewards from blogging come last, the work first. You must learn to persist and keeping writing killer posts even if your blog gets 50 hits a day.
If you are in this business strictly for the cash, then you shouldn't consider leaving your day job. The most successful bloggers like John Chow and Problogger will tell you that blogging to them is first an hobby, then a way to make a living. If you love what you are doing you will do it regardless of how many people appreciate your efforts. Have patience. Good things come to those who wait.
One should also realize that getting readership for your blog takes time. Gaining authority in your niche is even harder. One should consider blogging just for the love of it, before worrying about rewards.
I know that sometimes we have high expectations and we want things to happen overnight. But remember we are not living in utopia. Blogging just like your run-of-the-mill day job requires effort, patience and persistence. A blogger should possess enough energy to keep going even when the going is getting tougher and tougher. The difference between success and failure is acceptance. If you give up, you accept failure. The opposite is definitely true.
Persistence is definitely better than talent. Combine it with patience and you will realize success beyond your wildest dreams.

BLOG WRITING: WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL BLOG.

I have been dreaming big of lately. I honestly want to move this blog to higher heights. They say that a man without a dream is poor, a man whose dream never becomes a reality becomes frustrated. I know that I am not poor- I have a dream. I want to transform this dream into reality and that is why for a long time now i have been doing research on what makes a blog successful. Why do the Probloggers of this world rake in more money than they have a right to, while some guy somewhere doesn't make enough to buy tea at a local restaurant?
If you want to make your blog a success, then engage me reader and find out what makes a blog go.
Be passionate about your topic. Blogging is like sharing experiences and giving on time news about what is happening in your niche. You have to like what you write about. This means you read articles about what you write like everyday. You have to keep posting something that tells your readers you are in touch with what you are writing about. Regular posting is also very important. Writing at least two articles every week would be a good idea to keep your readers hooked to your blog.
You should be a good writer. Though it is very obvious that blogging is not about the next Shakespeare, you still have to be good at getting your ideas accross in a way that your readers understand. Most bloggers read for information,If you want them to stick to your blog, improving your writing skills is of paramount importance.
Keep in touch with successful blogs in your niche. I regularly read top blogs like Copyblogger, Problogger and the rest. There are so many things to learn from the top bloggers in any field. It is always a good idea to follow the leader.
Branding your blog. You want your visitors to turn into subscribers. This only happens if they can understand what you are talking about. They know what to expect from your blog in the future. If you confuse your readers by writing about a thousand and one things in one blog trust me you are helping your blog die. Branding also helps readers recommend your blog to others as they can trust you.
Lastly, interacting with your blog readers is always a good idea. Answer reader emails and comments. If they ask for help feel free to do so. This will mostly make them feel like they are talking to somebody, not some demigod who has no time for mere mortals. Remember readers out there want a human voice. Somebody they can talk to.

GOOGLE ALERTS: HOW CAN THEY HELP ME BUILD A BETTER BLOG

Google offers you a great way to monitor what is happening in the world wide web by offering a content monitoring service; Google Alerts. You are automatically notified about content from news, videos, blogs, groups or just about anything. Once an new item meets a certain set of search terms you are notified via email, feed or in your Igoogle page.
You get to choose the frequency of the alerts. It could be from once a day, once a week or as-it-happens. Choosing as-it-happens may mean you get lots of emails delivered to your inbox everyday. I would reccomend one to choose at least once a day. You also get to choose the Email lengths of the alerts. You can choose from up to 20 rtesults per email or even up to 50 results per email.
Google alerts will help you remain posted on what is happening in your niche. You definitely want your blog to always deliver on time content. You want to be on top of things. This is definitely one way to make your blog popular. Being the one that delivers the news first.
You might also want to know what people are saying about you. You definitely don't  want people creating a negative image of you out there. You will want to know when content about you is posted somewhere on the net so you can correct it. Reputation in this business is very important and protecting your blog and its content is of paramount importance.
Google Alerts can also help you generate content for your blog. You can set a search term in your niche so you get content about such. When you get to read what others are writing you will get an idea of what you can post.
Google Alerts is free and you can set it up in a minute and be getting notifications on the next. For any serious blogger out there who wants to retain his popularity and make his blog authoritative, it is definitely a must. So go on to your Google account and set up Google Alerts. You will definitely love it.

6 STEPS TO A SUCCESSFUL BLOG

Blogging is slowly turning into a movement. The numbers are increasing everyday. It is not only fun, its an interesting way to make money online. With so many blogs out there, everyone is competing for attention. Every serious blogger out there wants his blog to be noticed, not some useless one that nobody cares to visit. Or if they do, they never come back.
With thousands of blogs out there, you must be asking yourself how you are going to make yours stand out, gain some popularity and readership.
It is a world filled with average people. Blogging is not in any way an exception. With a bit of hard work and great content you can move your blog to higher heights and gain popularity by the day. I have listed some ways that I think will go a long way in making your blog a success story.
Step 1. Choose a topic you have authority in. There is no good reason you should talk about cars when you only own a bicycle. There are so many experts out there and competing with them when you know nothing won't make you look bright. Stick to what you know, the entire blogosphere and beyond will thank you for that.
Step 2. It would be a good idea if you choose a good blogging platform. It is even better for you if you are self hosted. You can have your blog on Tumblr, Blogger, Typepad, Wordpress and the rest. However blogger has a higher popularity, as it is easier to use.
Step 3. Launch your blog with at least ten articles. You don't want people to think you are just starting out. You want them thinking that you have established some authority in your niche. A blog that looks like you are still building it is not attractive at all. Everyone looks for experience, and with one post  you don't exactly look like you know much.
Step 4. Blog Promotion is a must. You have to get people coming to your blog. You can do both online and offline promotion. Join communities at Mybloglog , Blogged and the rest. Make sure all outgoing emails have your blog URL in the signature. Use word of mouth. Include your URL in your business cards. All in all make sure somebody is reading your blog.
Step 5. Search engine optimization is very  Important. The best free and targeted traffic will always come from the search engines, full stop. No matter what anybody says, SEO will never die. Build back links, they are the most important part of SEO. Just make sure your blog is performing very well in Google, Yahoo and Bing.
Step 6. The last important thing is building a mailing list. The good thing is that it keeps your readers coming back. Also note that regular readers are more likely to comment. Comments are one way a blog shows its authority.
The above methods will prove very useful as you build your blog. Just keep writing great content and you will get your readers addicted. And that is a good thing!

WHERE TO GET FREE BACKLINKS FOR YOUR SITE

Back links today are the backbone of search engine optimization.Coupled with proper use of anchor text, link building will see you move to the top of the Search engine results pages(SERPs). We all know what that means. Lots of free targeted traffic from the search engines. Traffic on the other hand means more sells or clicks and as a result we end up smiling all the way to the bank.
So if back links are going to guarantee me a top spot with the search engines, where can i get them?
I have listed below various sources where one can get free back links.

1.  Do follow social bookmarking sites-You only need to open an account with this sites and bookmark your sites and voila! there is a free back link. I stumbled on a list of do follow social bookmarking sites.  Do check it out, it will go a long way in optimizing your site for the search engines.
2. Website Evaluation sites- There are some sites that help you know the value of your website or blog. They then create a page for your site that links back. If you can evaluate your site in several such sites you could build several back links for your blog or website.
3. Directories- You can submit your site to directories. There are several sites that offer auto and semi automatic submissions. You may check out their services and submit your blog.
4. Commenting- This is another way one can build back links. Learn to comment on popular blogs (make sure they are do follow). You can leave your link where it seems appropriate to do so. Avoid spam comments as they will most likely be deleted. Always observe netiquette. 
5. Articles submission sites- The likes of Ezine articles, Go articles, Isnare and the rest give you an opportunity to submit your articles free to them. In exchange they will provide you with a resource box where you can leave your link. This not only build links but also generates traffic for your site.

The bottom line with link building is to do it slowly. Build  at most 20 back links in a week. Getting too many back links in a short time may attract penalties from the search engines.

How to get traffic to your website

Traffic is very important for the success of any blog or website. Whether you are selling a product, run a corporate blog or blogging to you is just a hobby, many real visitors coming to your site makes you feel like you are really talking to the world. Of course you can keep a small community however if you want to be rich and famous, you’ve got to get your name out there. Get everybody taking about you. That only happens if your content gets read by many people who will share with friends and friends of friends.

 There are many ways to make people visit your website or blog. The first thing you have to do is ensure that you have quality content. People don’t share crap. People don’t subscribe to substandard blogs. If you have no mastery of the subject, people will find a better alternative. That is what search engines are for. To get your visitors spoilt for choice. Make sure that you have something that grabs and keeps their attention.

The first place to find lots of free traffic is social media. Say Facebook. You can even go viral in a week and have thousands of free visitors coming to your site. If you are selling a product, friend recommendations work best. A person is more likely to buy a product if a friend of theirs can vouches for it. Social media is the best place to encourage and drive friend recommendations.

Another way to get highly targeted traffic comes from the search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing. You need to optimize your site for the search engines so that you can reap this free traffic. If your site appears at the top of the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) you could be getting lots of relevant visitors every day. Most of Search Engine Optimization is about building links. While most people will tell you to build as many links as possible, I would advise you to take your time to build links on pages that rank. Links should be a way of helping people navigate around the web and not a way of manipulating a search engine. If you build a links towards your money site by writing blog posts on web 2.0 sites like wordpress.com ensure they are quality enough to rank. You will get more traffic towards the money site this way.

You can also get traffic by guest blogging. If you know a friend or someone with a blog that gets decent traffic, you can offer to write them a quality post.  They will of course leave a link to their readers explaining who wrote the posts. That way the readers of the blog you guest post to will become interested and visit your blog.

When everything fails, advertising will never go wrong. By choosing good targeted advertising, you can drive people to your site or blog. A good advertising program is Google Ad words. You are however free to choose one that suits you or is best suited to fit your situation.

Commenting on related blogs is also another way of getting traffic for your site. If somebody likes your comment they might like to visit your site. The bottom line here is that you should never spam. If you do your comments might be deleted or worse, nobody will take you seriously. Nobody likes spammers you know.

Last, you can try forums. Join a fairly busy forum and be a good productive member. People will always follow people they think have something of use. Always present yourself as a useful person and you will go far.

5 WAYS TO PROMOTE A BLOG

Blogging is fun. Some of us write because it is an hobby. We share our ideas with our friends and relatives. This type of blogging does not require you to make your blog very popular. We only need to ensure the right people are reading our posts and we are happy.

However there are those of us that blog so that we can earn money online. This is commercial blogging. If you fall into this category you might want to promote your blog so that it is very popular. Search engine optimization (SEO) might also come in handy. Getting to the top of a search engine like Google can give you lots of free targeted traffic. That however is a story for another day.

Today lets talk about how you can promote your blog. There are several ways to do this and make your blog popular or even make it go viral.

1. Social Networking sites – Everyone is definitely on Facebook and Twitter. If you are not, you must be living under a rock. You can turn your followers on Twitter or Friends on Facebook into active readers of your blog. The bottom line here is do not spam. If you keep posting links nobody cares about they are bound to stop following you or unfriend you.
2. Commenting – When reading other blogs in your niche you might want to leave your thoughtful comments at the end of the post. Make sure your comment is relevant to the post. You can leave your link if it feels appropriate. This will bring readers to your blog.
3. Article Marketing – Article submission sites like Ezine articles, Articlebase, GoArticles and the rest give you a chance to submit articles to them for free. For this you get to link back to your site. This not only brings you highly targeted traffic, it also helps you in building backlinks.
4. Email signatures – Include you URL in your outgoing emails. Nearly every site owner out there does it. You can also include your URL in your business cards. This is a very effective way of offline blog promotion.
5. Contacting other bloggers – Talk to other bloggers and ask them to consider linking to your post. There are more likely to, than the reader who just stumbled on your blog.

These five ways are very effective in increasing your blogs visibility out there. There are many other ways you can use to promote your blog. You can even use word of mouth. Just make sure somebody is reading what you are writing.

Do you have a blog? What ways have you been using to promote it? Do leave me a comment.