Millions of blogs are created every day, and they offer many ways to promote
your business.
Be forewarned, however: Getting publicity in blogs is very different than
getting publicity in traditional media.
In traditional media, a story is portrayed objectively. In the blogging
world, the blog owner writes blog entries that reflect his or her personal
opinions and outlook. So, a pitch for a blog is totally different than one for
traditional media. Bloggers don't even like the word "pitch."
The first step in getting publicity in blogs is to read them and study them,
just as you would do if you were interested in getting publicity in traditional
media.
If you're not sure which ones to read, you can always check out the top 100
blogs at
Technorati.com. Many of the blogs are technology-related. There are also
some top business and consumer blogs.
Once you've studied them, you'll likely be eager to promote your own business
through blogs. Since traditional pitches don't work in the blogging world, here
are some ways to promote your business in the blogosphere:
Create your own blog. This will enable you to create an additional
online presence and make you visible to other bloggers. To start, you can get a
free, hosted blog at Wordpress.com. Make sure you have a link to your website.
At the minimum, here are the Top 5 things every blog needs, from Neil Patel
of ACS:
- Great content, so that other people want to read it;
- A good, clean design. Content should be easy to read. Text should
be clear and big enough to read;
- An RSS feed, so your blog content can be sent to others
automatically;
- Navigation, including search, archives and categories, so readers
can find specific content; and
- Comments and trackbacks, so readers can interact.
The next step is to comment on other blogs. Blogging is about creating
and joining conversations, and that includes reading what others in your
industry are saying and joining the discussion. While it takes time, it's free.
When you comment, you can include your name and URL, which will also create a
link and traffic to your site.
After you do this for a while, you may be inspired to write a guest post
on someone else's blog. This gives you and your business even more exposure, as
your name, URL and often your picture will be included in the post. Some
bloggers even ask for guest bloggers when they are away or on vacation. Be sure
to raise your hand when this opportunity arises.
As you become known as an expert, someone may ask for an interview, or
you can suggest that a blogger interview you on a topic of interest. That is how
I got featured in
Guy Kawasaki's blog, which led to incredible business opportunities, traffic
and links.
Next, send an e-mail to a blogger about your new product or your book.
Bloggers often are looking for things to write about, and they may be happy to
review your book or product, assuming it's along the lines of things they write
about. Remember that there is no guarantee they'll say something positive.
You can also cross-promote with other bloggers. If you have a blog,
you can "make friends" with other bloggers, by mentioning them in your blog
posts or putting them on your blogroll. Then you can remind them to promote
posts that you're particularly proud of or vote for your submissions on
Digg or your social bookmarking
site of choice. And you can reciprocate. The benefits of this kind of networking
include more mentions on other blogs, more requests for interviews and more
partnerships in future deals.
Getting mentioned in a blog creates great exposure, and ultimately links and
business for you. So jump into the blogosphere and jump-start your business.