Photo by Saksham Gangwar on Unsplash
This is the second of five ways that I’d promote a new blog to new readers if i was starting out again.
Today I want to turn our attention to Networking as a great way to promote a blog.
If I were starting out in blogging today knowing what I now know I’d invest significant time each day into connecting with others online. The old adage of ‘it’s not what you know it’s who you know’ rings true in blogging.
By networking I mean doing all of those things that I regularly write about here at ProBlogger. Commenting on others blogs, answering comments that others leave on yours, emailing other bloggers when you write something that you think will interest them, making helpful suggestions to other bloggers, connecting with people via social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, emailing people to introduce yourself, linking up to others in your niche…. the list could go on… and on…. when it comes to ways to network but today I’d like to put forward a few more general suggestions.
A number of suggestions that I’d make in networking with bloggers:
- Be generous – a lot of the networking that I see going on between bloggers is fairly much about ‘taking’ rather than ‘giving’. One way to make a real impression on another person is to be generous with them. Help them achieve their goals – highlight their best work – encourage them – go out of your way to work on their terms. While you do need to have good boundaries (otherwise people will abuse your generosity) I think a spirit of generosity is the right attitude to go into networking with.
- Don’t Expect too much too quick – the most fruitful relationships that I’ve been a part of in blogging have emerged over time. Let the relationship grow naturally as you build trust and a mutual understanding of who the other person is and how you can work together.
- Look for the B-listers – many so called ‘A-lister’ bloggers are approached all day long with requests to connect. While you might get lucky – I’ve found that approaching slightly less know blogs can have more chance of working out (and they can still drive a lot of traffic).
- Prove Yourself First – if you’re brand new to your niche it could take time to make an impression. This isn’t necessarily because people are being cliquey – it’s often because they’re waiting to see if you’re going to stick with it and if you know what you’re talking about. There’s nothing more frustrating that networking with someone who disappears a couple of weeks later. Show you’re in it for the long haul and that your blog is making a contribution to the niche and you’ll find people more willing to connect.
- Persist But Don’t Annoy – some bloggers will take a few emails or conversations before they’ll warm up to you. There’s a lot of noise around the blogosphere so don’t be offended if people don’t respond – try again in a little while – but don’t stalk them :-)
- Look in Neighboring Niches – it is important with blog networking to interact with other bloggers in your own niche – however don’t close yourself to relationships with bloggers outside of your niche – particularly in those that neighbor yours. When you limit yourself just to other bloggers exactly like yours you will end up dealing mainly with people who could see you as a direct competitor. While some will be open to interacting with you I’ve found networking with people outside my niche can be fruitful. Another way to be strategic is to not look for networking opportunities just with other bloggers on your topic – but with bloggers who share a similar demographic of reader.
- Ask Questions – one key that I’ve found to work in networking is to ask a lot of questions of those around you. Some bloggers go into networking with obvious agendas and goals but fail to listen to the other party. When you become a person who asks others about their goals and objectives, where you know what their strengths and weaknesses are and where you know their dreams you not only create a good impression on them but you’ll be in a great position to know where your situation aligns with another person’s – this is where networking becomes most effective.
- Become a Go-To Person and a Connector – as you network with others don’t just focus upon you and the other person – but attempt to draw others into the relationships you have. I find that people are particularly grateful to me when I can’t help them but point them to someone else who can. This creates a good impression upon both of the parties that you connect which can lead them to come to you again with opportunities (ie you become the ‘go to’ person because they know you’ll either help them personally or point them to someone who can).
- Have an Elevator Pitch – a lot has been written about business people being able to articulate what they do in a concise statement (having your elevator pitch). I think being able to do this is important with blog networking too. I get many emails every day from people wanting tow work together in some way and in many cases it’s a few minutes into an email that I even work out who they are and what they are on about. Develop a few key sentences that describe who you are, what you do and what you offer others. Another good elevator pitch is on what your blog is about. Having thought through these things will help others understand what you can bring to a relationship – but they will also help you understand that too.
- Look for Points of Synergy – perhaps this says more about my personality type, but I’ve found the most profitable relationships to be ones where there was a ‘spark’ or ‘energy’ around our interaction – particularly where there was some sort of synergy around goals and objectives but also some sort of a connection when it comes to personality. My style has always been to look for points of ‘energy’ or ‘synergy’ and going with them. Perhaps someone else has a more technical description of this but it’s worked well for me.
Looking forward to hearing more about your own experience of blog networking and how it’s helped your blogging grow.
If you’re serious about building an audience for your blog and want to supercharge your traffic ProBlogger’s Find Readers Course will give you the roadmap and guide you through 6 clear steps to find readers.
This article was first published on Mar 13, 2008 and updated Feb 10, 2022.
I have recently started commenting on other blogs, and have made a few friends in the blogging world, it is a great way of connecting with people.
I also like to email other bloggers, when I write something that could interest them, in the hope that they might link back to me.
Another Great Post Well Done.
In my case, I always try to extend my help whenever a fellow blogger is having a technical issue. Although there were instances that I was not able to resolve their problems, still, they appreciated my efforts. As a result, they become my friends and turned out to be regular readers..
Anyway, thanks Darren for the information you provided. This could really me as a newbie in the blogosphere..
@Protycoon.
You’re doing great already, I’ve already checked out your blog. :)
Social networking sites have not been that successful for me, but commenting on other blogs like i do here have helped me in some promotion and traffic ;)
Good post and suggestions btw..
I think evangelism ties in nicely to networking. By building evangelists, they carry your message, thus you do less work and get more promotion.
Really great points all around, Darren. I think this is something a LOT of new bloggers could be doing better. It’s interesting how your perspective changes once you get on the receiving end of networking requests.
All too often I’ll get emails from new bloggers in my niche who want to network with me… but they do it completely wrong. It’s usually something along the lines of wanting me to link to their site in my blogroll or in an article. I usually just send an email back stating that I don’t have a blogroll, and I never hear from them again.
Seriously, Darren’s points about being generous and proving yourself first are right on the money. If I don’t know who you are, I’ve never seen your site before, you’ve never even left a comment on my site, and you cold contact me about linking to you… chances are, I’m going to blow you off. Not to be mean, but I really don’t have the time or energy to give handouts to every new blogger that sends me a 2 sentence email out of the blue.
My advice if you’re looking to connect with other bloggers: become a part of their community first, then approach the blogger about what you can do for them, then (once the relationship becomes more personal) you can start to ask for small favors or exchanges (helping to promote a project of yours, exchanging guest posts, etc). Don’t just cold-contact somebody asking them to give, give, give — it comes off like spam.
Knowing what your blog is about and being able to describe it in a few sentences is *great* advice. It will really help people clarify things. For example, someone may say “I blog about how to make money online.” To which I’d want to hear how they are different that all the other money-making blogs out there. :)
And me? I blog about WordPressMU. How to use it, how to tweak it and how to make an awesome network with it. ;)Also, your em tag needs closing. ;)
I find it’s beast to build a reputation in your niche as a respected blogger by collaborating with others and that the end result can build a substantial amount of link-backs between the two.
Every now and then you can e-mail someone with help for something which gives you the idea of writing a post about it since it’s obviously not “that” easy.
Commenting on other blogs is just as important as they’re community might visit your site and since your already a “friendly comment guy” it makes it feel a lot more semi-familiar.
I’ve said in my posts many times before that the vast majority of my traffic comes from other people / other sites and so networking is vital. One excellent way of getting started with this is to help promote others in social media.
Get on StumbleUpon and stumble other bloggers sites, if you are first to submit they will surely notice you. This works on all sorts of social media sites. If you are in the IM / make money online niche then try Sphinn and submit and vote for other people’s posts.
This has a direct benefit for you first because the other users of those social media sites appreciate the content you are submitting (assuming it’s good!) and you can widen your own friend network that way as well as getting in the good books of those people who you are submitting. It’s win-win-win all around.
Great post! For me the point that is most frustrating is ‘prove yourself first’. I know that I will still be blogging months down the line, but it’s frustrating to try and give this impression to other people. People can be very cynical due to the large number of bloggers who aren’t for real. (They ruin it for the rest of us)
In the past a strategy I’ve used successfully both for building network goodwill as well as getting my sites noticed by other blogs is creating a complete digital product (in my case a sales quality ebook) and then offering to give it to several leaders in my market for them to sell or give away (depending on the ebook.) I don’t make it available to everyone, just to leaders in my market.
Not only have I never been turned down, almost all of them developed a long-term relationship with me and became my affiliates.
Great points all around, Darren. Posting comments on other blogs in your niche and outside (if it makes sense) is key, but make sure you’re being sincere and not just fawning to get yourself noticed. I’ve seen that too many times.
I’ve made a lot of good blog-based relationship from people posting and adding “you should check out my blog too.” I have no problem with that, it only takes a minute or two to look at another site and read a post or two.
Once you find a blog you like, give them a little shout or two in a post (not just your blog roll). Chances are, they check their stats (came from) as often as you do (i might have a problem with that :)) and will appreciate the nod.
Also, subscribe to email updates (as well as the RSS) of sites you like. I use Feedburner for my daily email blasts and check my email list daily to see where people come from.
thanks again, Darren.
“a lot of the networking that I see going on between bloggers is fairly much about ‘taking’ rather than ‘giving’.” This is a very true statement.
Most bloggers tend to think that they don’t have anything to offer a popular or an A lister. We all do need to realize that we are all different and we all have different views and opinion. Offering a different way to look at thing or sharing your ideas with someone who might be able to act on it alone is something you can give. Never underestimate yourself. You have much to offer as the blogger you are trying to take from.
I have been reading so many posts about networking. I have also tried those tips on the popular blogs, however, most of pro bloggers are too busy and they just ignore small bloggers.
I don’t remember where I saw the topic. Some bloggers also mentioned that a great blogger should also networking with non-bloggers.
In most of the case, the readers reading your blog don’t even have a web site. They were just looking for something solving their issues.
I like that you brought up the elevator pitch. Being able to describe what you and your blog are about in an intelligent and concise manner definitely makes it easier to on the person you’re reaching out to – but it also makes it easier on you, the message typer. Thanks Darren, making bloggers more business savvy is fun.
This is something I don’t do nearly enough. Not really a social guy, so it’s hard, but I am trying to talk to other bloggers a bit more often.
Twitter links to your posts (how I ended up here):
http://twitter.com/problogger/statuses/770486572
I comment on other blogs and I’ve started using StumbleUpon, but I need to try something different that I haven’t tried before.
I think this post has given me the push to give it a go.
Well done. Might I suggest on the giving side, don’t contact someone with the offer “if you do X then I’ll do Y” how about being more sincere? “I love your work and have linked to your post on XXX and I also added you to my blogroll some time ago.”
Leave it at that. Let it sit for a while. Maybe do it again.
Later good things might just happen, or maybe you’ll need to ask. But you will have a far more receptive audience.
Great advice. I think building relationships is one of the best ways to grow any kind of business. Networking is really about building relationships with people. It’s a two-way street — if you can find a way to help them they’ll likely return the favor. Maybe not now, but when you need it most.
BTW, great meeting you at SXSW. Seems appropriate that this should be the first post on ProBlogger that I reply to I guess…
Great article. Going to try it out.
http://www.nela.in/
Those are excellent points.
One part of my strategy is interviewing those around me with similar interests. While there are many bloggers out there adding incredible value to the community, I’m also interested in knowing more about that person, what brought them to this point in their professional blogging career and how they want to make an impact. It is a way to connect, but also give back.
Scott- that’s a plugin for WordPress, so I think he knows, as he had to activate it. :)
Good info but I will hoping to get some info regard promoting a blog on social media like myspace and facebook.
Anthony – “…promoting a blog on social media…”
We need to consider whether or not social media is to be used as a promotional tool. Social media is about interacting, communicating, and listening.
Rather than focusing on promoting your blog (why are you promoting: To get more visitors to make more money on ads or other?), focus on building a community that gives back.
Do you think that SM should be used to promote? If so, why and how?
Anthony – stay tuned, we’ll cover ‘social media’ later in the series.
Yes I would love to make some money with my blog but my objective is to create a community of entrepreneurs from all over the world where they would share business ideas and anyone can received answer to business related queston in hours. Myspace and Facebook are the type of people I would like to be involve, so my question is. How can I reach out to those young individuals without spamming or taking any type of disadvantage of the system?
I think this is the first post on social networking that hasn’t annoyed me. Even the comments (“focus on building a community that gives back”, “If you can find a way to help them”, “give back”) are so refreshing compared to the typical selfish grasping and clawing.. I honestly have been feeling very negative about “networking” and while I still feel somewhat disinclined to participate, this tells me that there may indeed be hope.. thanks!
Never too young to start networking.
My 6 year old son started his own blog after watching me and began networking by giving out business cards with the website name to his friends in school and neighbors. His goal..making money online:
Check it out:
http://startraveling.blogspot.com
Great, valid points all of them. You have a great blog and I have happened across it several times. I think one way to make a great blog that I don’t see here is having it be do-follow rather than no-follow. Is there a reason you have kept the no-follow?
Commenting on other blogs, give me more traffic..true :)
http://onlinehardware.blogspot.com
Well said. Building relationships is an important aspect of blogging. I have been branding myself and sharing resources for years through my own networking resources site, http://www.jacobsohn.com, and through a newsletter. I started blogging as another way to share my knowledge and to help others. Here are ways that I have generated interest in my blog: 1) I tell people who I meet about my blog, 2) I include my blog link in my email signature, 3) I comment on other blogs, 4) I respond to comments on my blog, 5) I contact people who have visited my site via MyBlogLog and ask them to subscribe, 6) I post articles on eZineArticles and include my blog link, 7) I inlcude my blog link in my LinkedIn and Facebook profiles.
A great post, Darren
But I would also like to share a couple things with you guys.
1) Use LinkedIN Answer.
There are lots of people in LinkedIN with questions which you might have answer to it. So by helping them, you are building your credibility and letting people know where your expertise is. Furthermore, there is a feature in LinkedIN Answer where the person who post the question, can award your answer with a “Best answer” tag if its help them a lot. Therefore if you get quite a few “Best answer”, people will more likely recognise your expertise.
2) Networking event
Networking doesnt stop at the online world. Networking event, trade fair, and in this case, event like SXSW are also great places to network and also learn some new stuffs. And the impression is stronger with face to face meeting.
All the best to all bloggers!
Thanks for your suggestion!by it’s different in china for personal blogger!we have set up a blogger team so as to service for the company who wish to promote their brands and products through the networking.
A great article Darren, as usual.
I really like the idea of improving my networking with other bloggers, but I find that the approach needed is often quite piecemeal… I have lots of little requests and emails flying all over the place, without a coherent strategy or way of tracking requests.
My next planned step is to combine all Darrens ideas and suggestions into a batch-style strategic implementation that I can do twice a week, as a one-hour networking blitz…
My only worry is that by batching up my networking tasks, I am going to be losing some of the immediacy of instant feedback and that I might lose out on certain benefits by not being able to respond within hours.
I’d love to hear about a strategic implementation for blog networking, that doesn’t require always-on attention…
Building a following takes hard work and dedication. I am slowly trying to build my site as a gateway for Independent publishers in Kenya.
But as you maybe aware… ICT is still lagging and hopefully when Kenya connects to The East African Marine System(TEAMS)-project will involve the construction of a 4 887-km submarine telecoms cable linking the Kenyan coast with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which will substantially lower the cost of Internet connectivity and also bring affordable broadband connection which will enable more people to start blogging and hopefully make a money via Adsense and other monetization portals.
Great series Darren, Keep em’ coming.
hello,
i’m quite interested with your article. i did several of the suggestion before. i does attract people to come to see my blog. but the problems is how to maintain or built their readership? i try to post at least 1 entry per day so that they will have something to read. of course i try to post a quality entry but it seems like i can’t maintain their readership. Any suggestion?
Networking is really an important keyword to promote our blog. Yes, we need to do a lot of efforts rather than waiting for the miracle will come :-)
Great tips, thanks darren!
Thanks for the information, just started out blogging, I really benefit from it.
great list, oh ya how about make an interview for success other bloggers in same niche
Thank you for the useful advice
I join meme’s and comment when I go through stumbleupon but I think my blog just sucks.
Excellent tips! sounds simple enough.
I really like today tips. The most point that I learn most is “Don’t Expect too much too quick ” — That true from my own experience.
Well, people always feel curiosity about you if you are new in certain niche. But, if you can stick to what you are doing, it’s make they impressed from your determination and generosity of sharing the knowledge.
Thanks everyone for all these great points! I have been doing many of them instinctively and now I realize I was on the right track :-)
I love writing all my articles, and I certainly hope to get a bigger and bigger audience for them.
Thanks for the tip! Your blog is incredible!
Thanks for the excellent post, Darren.
These are juicy and easy to do promoting tips – I love how you stress natural, selfless communicating and relationship building.
To address your last point of synergy, do you mean you look for people who share your perspective? As in, you hook up with people who have a similar view of the world?
Or do you mean more specifically, common core values, morals and ethics?
Darren,
This is just a case in point that giving before you ask for anything is a good strategy. I recently saw this on many top blog sites. You can ALWAYS see the folks who are out for something right away. No real contribution is made to the discussion, leaving hints to visit a website that they own which may not relate to the conversation at all, and pushing their own agenda.
I see this a lot on ducttapemarketing.com blog. Amateur bloggers are what they are: amatuers. There is a reason you are one of the most well-known bloggers. You give a huge amount of time and energy to others who want to learn from what you know.
The only thing I would add to this article is donations. I give about $50/mo. to different bloggers. Even is this isn’t a lot of money I send a personal thank you card, handwritten to the blogger letting them know I appreciate their time, energy and input in helping grow other’s readership through their experience.
As always, thanks for what you do.
mike
Thank you for the infos, just right for newbie like me ^_^