Part Three of Our Five Part Series - How to Quit Your Job & Become a Full-time Blogger Series - Part Three: Promote that Content
Hey Everyday Made Fresh Readers, today we are stepping into part three of our series: How to Quit Your Job and Become a Full Time Blogger. Today is all about content promotion - Part Three of Our Five Part Series - How to Quit Your Job & Become a Full-time Blogger Series - Part Three: Promote that Content
If you missed part one and two, you can check them out here:
Start Your Blog Today
Consistent Quality Content
You've been blogging now for however long, and your seeing traffic on your posts, just not a whole lot. You may be wondering when your big break is coming.
You really wanted this to work, but apparently it's a lot harder than you thought. Well my first question to you is: are you promoting that post? You can make a big difference in your traffic when your marketing through social media.
Once you write a killer post, even if it's got the latest recipe for dark chocolate cake, or whatever, you shared it on Facebook, Tweeted it, and pinned it, and then waited. You waited and waited, and only crickets. Yep, that's usually what happens.
Promotion 101
I didn't take marketing, but I do know that when a new restaurant or store is coming to your city, they start advertising it MONTHS ahead of time. You'll see the stream of commercials, it will be for the best steak ever, at the restaurant 5 hours from where you are.
WHY, you're wondering. Most likely they are headed your way very soon. They are creating buzz around their business. You want to do the same to your posts. Since you can’t promote your posts before you post them…..wait, you can! You can totally promote that post, and create buzz around it by sharing snippets of what it's about!
You can share photos and information about what is coming soon to your blog. Mentioning to your followers/fans on social media to be watching out for it. When the post finally goes live, you want to make sure and share your post EVERYWHERE, and get this, MORE than once, twice, and even five times!
Your blog isn't like the field in Field of Dreams. There is no build it and they will come. They have to know it's there! You have to tell them. The best way to do this is social media. Do it, and do it often. But don't overkill it.
Are you enjoying Part Three of Our Five Part Series - How to Quit Your Job & Become a Full-time Blogger Series - Part Three: Promote that Content so far?
Social Media Schedule
Grab yourself a social media scheduling tool to do the work for you. I LOVE CoSchedule and Tailwind. (if you decide to purchase Tailwind through that link, it’s an affiliate, and I’ll receive a small percentage) Both are my right hand when it comes to behind the scenes social media.
This is exactly what I do for every.single.post that I write:
CoSchedule:
Share on Facebook Page, Twitter, and Pinterest the same time and day that it posts.
Share on Facebook Page and Twitter, next day, at best time. (best time will go out based on your own audience..see CoSchedule is genius!)
Share on Facebook and Twitter one week later, at best time.
Share on Facebook and Twitter one month, at best time.
I then set the days up to share on the same day every month for the next six months, at the best time. You've just written one post, but guaranteed it to be shared for HALF A YEAR, or however long you have scheduled it!
I love how easy it is to use too. This is at the bottom of this post right now. You just hit the plus signs, select where you want to share it, and set the dates/time, and you're all set. It's how I schedule like I mentioned above. I don't even have to leave WordPress or my post!
Tailwind:
On the day the pin goes live, I head over to my post and click the Pinterest icon on my sidebar, and hit the schedule button, and schedule that pin to all of my group boards, and then to all of my boards that are relevant.
I then hop over into Tailwind, and shuffle it, so that the pins aren't all going at once. As you can see right now, I have over one thousand pins scheduled out to all of my boards.
Now, look at where my one post is being shared at! Lot's of eyes. I also will share the post on my personal Facebook page as well. And Instagram too. Just in case. Instagram is slow growing for me, and it is crazy to me that if you aren't posting 5 times a day that people unfollow you!! But that is for another day, for another blogger to tackle, because I am not going to even try and understand Instagram.
If you do not have any group boards, start looking! Go to your favorite bloggers, check through their boards, and if you see any group boards you like, click on them, see if they are accepting contributors, and follow the directions. They all require you to follow the board and the creator of the board. They will show up in your Tailwind once you accept the board on Pinterest. Easy peasy. There are also Facebook groups to help you locate group boards for Pinterest.
If you like Part Three of Our Five Part Series - How to Quit Your Job & Become a Full-time Blogger Series - Part Three: Promote that Content, consider reading the other posts, linked above.
Promoting with Facebook Groups
Ahhh, Facebook groups, where the heck were you when I started blogging? I really wished I would have known about these in the beginning. When I first started blogging I spent all of my time promoting my posts on blog parties.
It was a lot more trouble than what it was worth. While it brought me a lot of traffic, I didn't take off to where I'm at now until I discovered, and started utilizing Facebook groups. *I am not knocking blog link parties. If they work for you, great, I just felt that my time is better spent using Facebook groups.*
Facebook groups are groups on Facebook that are run by other bloggers (usually). They can range from certain types like food, lifestyle, fashion, or a combination of whatever. They can also vary by Instagram sharing and Pinterest sharing. I belong to some of those too.
Most of them though will have threads where you drop a link (post link, Facebook link, pin link, etc) and then you will comment, like, repin, tweet, or whatever the directions in the thread call for, on the links that others shared. So if 50 people have shared links this means that at least those 50 will be doing whatever the directions say! That could be 50 comments - 50 Facebook likes - 50 repins - etc. This is where things can really set a post into viral mode! I’ve had several viral posts happen thanks to these groups. A viral post is something that is very good and something that you want to happen very much, in case you didn't know.
Are you finding this post, Part Three of Our Five Part Series - How to Quit Your Job & Become a Full-time Blogger Series - Part Three: Promote that Content useful?
Here is an example of one of the groups I belong too. They are all set up differently, but this one has a pinned post at the top of the group, which makes it super simple to keep up with the days posts.
To find Facebook groups that do this sort of sharing, just start searching the groups area on Facebook. There are all sorts. Most of them require you to have a blog, and you'll need to provide the URL for that.
Keep in mind that I am only covering promoting on what I consider the major social media outlets; Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. My posts automatically post to Twitter when they go live. And then I set up Tailwind to post to Twitter for me every time they post on my behalf. I don’t really use Twitter. My Twitter account dates back to my first blog in 2007. I do hop over and follow companies that I like, and when I’m on a blog that I like, I will click their Twitter link and go follow them, to help their numbers grow, but as far as organic tweets and retweeting it’s just not something I do.
IF YOU JOIN GROUPS LIKE THIS, PLEASE FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS, AND PLEASE RECIPROCATE. WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.
If you like Part Three of Our Five Part Series - How to Quit Your Job & Become a Full-time Blogger Series - Part Three: Promote that Content, consider reading the other posts, linked above.
Organic Promotion vs Scheduled
There has been a lot of information floating around regarding organic promotion and scheduled. Thanks to the constant changing algorithms, organic promotion is far superior, I believe. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t schedule anything.
I make sure to schedule posts because I want a presence on social media when I’m not there. I use Tailwind because it would take me at least an hour to go through and pin one post to every single group board on Pinterest. I just make sure to go through my Pinterest feed at least once a day pinning 20 or so of others pins, on top of any that I may be repinning from those Facebook groups.
I’ll be completely honest about my Facebook, I’ve always scheduled my posts. I think I’ve shared a handful of posts in real time. I use Tailwind to promote my own posts, and I sit down once a week and use the Facebook scheduler and post twice a day, other bloggers posts.
If you do these things, you will see your pageviews start to grow. There is so much more I have to add to promoting your content, but for now, this is a big start. Look for part four of our series How to Quit Your Job and Become a Full Time Blogger: Media Kits and Pricing Guides. Since there is so much to cover when it comes to promoting, I am also working on a second post all about promoting content.
What promotions do you find work the best? I've never spent my own money on an ad for gaining followers. Have you? How did that work out for you? Are you already using Tailwind or CoSchedule? Did you enjoy Part Three of Our Five Part Series - How to Quit Your Job & Become a Full-time Blogger Series - Part Three: Promote that Content?
robin rue says
Love it. Why write content if you are not going to promote it? Promoting it is just as important as writing good content for your site.
Alli Smith says
This is great info for the up and coming blogger! It's certainly a gamechanger when a post or video goes viral. Increased page views, more email signups, etc. are always exciting.
candy says
Seems like tons of people especially women have this dream of blogging full time. Takes tons of hard work and have to remember it is a full time job.
Jenn @ EngineerMommy says
Being a full time blogger is totally possible but it's a lot of hard work. These are some good tips for new bloggers. Being able to promote one's content is essential.
Amber Myers says
Yes, a schedule is SO important. If I don't have one, I'm lost. I also make sure to promote on social media on a daily basis. I'm a member of many Facebook groups.
Heidi says
I think this is an important aspect of blogging that people don't realize they have to do when they start a blog. There's so much more to blogging than just publishing great content. I think promoting your content is one of the most time consuming parts of blogging. I'll admit, I don't love it, but it has to be done! Thanks for the tips.
Jen Walker says
I've been getting so frustrated with social media lately. I'm not reaching my own audience with the new algorithms and "too much" seems to be any more than 2 posts. That just seems so few in a 24 hour period!
Anvita Bhatnagar Mistry says
I couldn't agree with you more. writing is post is just part one of blogging, the second most important sure is promotion.
Melissa Chapman says
I think that promotion is probably the most important part of blogging but you do need good content too. I think your tips help old and new bloggers so thank you for these .
Kris Palouda says
That was a great read, thank you! Promotion is key! One of the things I love about facebook post promotion is how you can select your audience. There are so many levels of targeting available, you can get your message in front of the right people.
I haven't tried tailwind, but now I'm going to check it out!
Bonnie G says
I have been blogging for 5 years and still waiting for my big break. I will have to try these other tips.
Sandy N Vyjay says
Promotion is so important. One needs to build as much visibility as possible across the channels. Also there is so much content available on the net, efforts need to be made to differentiate from the others and project a unique front.
Glamamom says
Great analysis. I basically did this!
Sapphire Kharyzma says
I have truly loved this series. This series is going to help so many make informed decisions.
Andrea says
This is all great info for bloggers who are starting off and even for bloggers who have been in the game, that fresh perspective is always nice. Thank you so much for sharing this with all of us.
reesa says
These are some great tips, even for a seasoned blogger. It's a big step to leave your full time job to become a boss of your own!
Pam says
These are great insights for managing blog and social media promotion. I agree that organic promotion is better than scheduled.
Krystal Butherus says
I think content is extremely vital, if you're wanting to make any money from blogging. Great post!
Terri Steffes says
I just want to sit down with you and discuss this face to face. I know you know a lot and I am seeing that there is benefit to what you say but just reading something doesn't do it for me.
Milton Goh says
I like the advice about promoting the same blog post multiple times. I have not been doing that as I feel like I’m spamming people. But yes, they may not have seen it the first time I shared it.
Claudia Krusch says
Making sure you promote your content is so important, This has been a great series of posts. I will have to share this with my friends. She is just starting out.
Melissa says
Promoting is so important! And definitely social media is the best way to do it nowadays. Thanks for sharing this blog series, really helpful information!
Rachel says
I have been blogging on a personal blog for over 10 years but I have never tried to make it a career or even a money maker. Maybe I will revive it.
Agnes Dela CRuz says
For now, as a working Mom and a part-time blogger, I enjoy my time doing both. But, also considering a future career as a full-time blogger when the time calls for it.
Anne Murphy says
The promotions are so important! And I started the way you did - a couple of blogging link parties did well for me, but not really well enough, and it was so good when I fund groups! (Which also helped me find other bloggers in my niche!)
Liz Mays says
The scheduled sharing is something I really have to start working on. I feel like I kind of forget about things I've written too easily.
May says
Amazing suggestions. I think the scheduled promotions are extremely helpful, even as a part time blogger.
Kim says
I've been seriously thinking about Tailwind for some time now. My schedule is really not allowing me to manually pin as much as I need to. Thanks for the tips!
Sondra Barker says
I've had great results promoting my blog through tailwind and facebook groups! Many people don't know about facebook groups and how effective they can be to promote your content, so I always like to keep it my little secret haha
Sondra xx
prettyfitfoodie.com
Chubskulit Rose says
I haven't paid attention to the reach or algorithm of my posts on social media. I need to take a look at that.
Kita Bryant says
Promotion is super important. If you din't stay consistent and up to date with the algorithms, you can kiss that traffic goodbye.
Cindy Ingalls says
I use Latr to schedule my Instagram posts. I really like it because I can do in and do everything on my laptop and then it sends me an alert to my phone. It saves so much time and helps me promote my blog. I also find FB Groups helpful as long as the people in them and running them are kind. There are a few groups where they continue to change rules and then rudely kick people out without much of warning and notice.
Hey Sharonoox says
I've been bloging for awhile now and hoping for a break through. I haven't tried tailwind or coschedule before but I've heard many people raved about it.This sounds good, I'm going to look into this more.
Angela @marathonsandmotivation.com says
I really enjoy blogging! These are great tips, I would love to make my blog my career some day!
Jessica Joachim says
This is wonderful advice on scheduling! So many people don't realize that you need to really promote promote promote to get your words out there. I love the Field of Drams reference lol I wish it was that easy
Dana Peller says
What a great series for new bloggers or even bloggers looking to turn their website into a business.
Anosa says
Been blogging for sometime now and I am still in the process of learning. Reading tips form other bloggers are such a big help. Also I tried joining groups that supports bloggers too and its a big help for me.
Aishwarya Shenolikar says
Creating a hype before publishing is really necessary I suppose! I don't use any app yo schedule posts, or follow up on already published posts either. I guess I should now!! Great advice.
Our Family World says
Great advice. I do not post articles everyday, for the reason that I want my posts to be well thought of, well researched and would be of value to my readers. It is not easy to come up with great content. For me, it takes days! I will be heeding your advice and see where this takes me. Thanks for sharing!
Aditi says
Promoting the content is as important as creating it. I'm glad you touched upon this topic. I agree with organic growth and reach. I'll look into parts 1 and 2 of the series too. Cheers!!
Roxanne says
I agree marketing is key. Having a plan helps and I love the set it and forget it approach with automated systems.
Anosa says
I need to go back here and check out those sites/apps that are great for blogging. I wanna learn more about it and try on how it works. So glad I found your article. Very informative.
Kaity | With Kids and Coffee says
Oh my goodness, promoting content is SO important!! I'm trying to stay on top of it (all I ever want to do is write, hahaha), but to make your blogging truly profitable, promoting is essential.
Angela Milnes says
People are going to love this. As long as they put in the hard work they will be just fine.
Brittany says
This series of posts is filled with such valuable information for those wanting to start a blog! Thank you so much for going into detail on what you have learned!
LaToyia Dennis says
I needed this content. I have been blogging for a year and I'm still learning.
Heather says
Promotion is so so important! Sometimes you get really lucky and things just go viral on their own but we all know that is so rare. It takes consistency and a plan too.
Yasmin Ali says
So true! When you have a cute outfit, you show your friends before showing the rest of the world right?? Love the tips!
Hannah Rooks says
I've really been wanting to try a social media scheduler. It would be so helpful with ny busy life. I wish all platforms would have their own private scheduling like Facebook does! Since they don't, these options sound awesome!!
http://www.therookiewife.com
Nayantara Hegde says
There is so much new to learn every day about blogging. Promotion of the blog is as important as writing that blog and I am bookmarking your blogs here to follow these tips.
Tara Holland says
The big mistake a lot of us make is coming up with great content and then not getting it out there. I love your reference to Field Of Dreams, because people won't just come if they don't know it is there. I have to try Tailwind because Pinterest is such a great platform!
Rebecca Swenor says
This is a great post for those wanting to quit their jobs and blogger full time. It is so important to you to know what you are getting into before you make a live changing decision. Having the right tools to be successful is one of the major things you need to research. Thanks for sharing the information.
Kiwi says
Im a fulltime blogger and I definitely thinkthese are all great tips to be full time. It can be a lot of work but I love it.
Christiana says
Thank you so much for this, I have learnt a lot. I'm looking forward to the next post on this series.
Jack richel says
i really love your posts , everytime i read your posts you change my thoughts about marketing and how i can turn my hobby to a business a grow it much more
Thanks again for sharing This Post , hope hire from you ASAP.
jams diles says
Amazing suggestions. I think the scheduled promotions are extremely helpful ,
jams diles posted .... Find your series !!