Working for a network is great. Everything you need by way of support is there for you. Your editors and fellow bloggers can always be counted on to come by and comment and link to your posts. If you’re part of a large network, the support of your peers is invaluable, so don’t get me wrong…but wouldn’t you like to expand your readership beyond that of your network?
Spread the word
Don’t be afraid to spread the word about your blog and blog posts. There are ways to do this without being spammy.
- Twitter – I love Twitter for social networking but it’s also a great way to advertise your blog posts. As long as you participate in the conversations and don’t just use it as a way to advertise your posts, people will respond.
- Blogs - If you want to expand outside your network, you’ll have to visit blogs outside your network. See what else is going on in your niche, and participate in conversations.
- Social Media Sites – There no denying sites like Digg, Stumble Upon, Fark, Reddit and others can bring in a surge of traffic, but they can also help with the backlinks and give you a few new daily readers. That’s not to say you should submit every single post to these sites, but if you have a good one, don’t be afraid to toot your horn.
- Email - No, don’t spam people. A link in the signature of email might bring in readers you didn’t expect. My vet is now a regular reader of one of my blogs because I had a link in my email signature.
- Forums – Do visit forums in your niche and participate in the conversations. You don’t have to promote every blog post, but a link in your signature will bring over the curious. In fact, that’s how most of my early blogs began to receive traffic.
- Offer up the link love – If you refer to other blogs in your posts, they’re sure to do the same. Besides, it’s good blog karma. On most of my blogs, I like to offer a weekly roundup featuring different blogs and articles of interest to my niche.
Go ahead and look outside of your network for traffic. Since many networks offer bonuses for traffic and revenue, I’ll even go as far as to say it’s within your best interests to do so.
Image: stock.xchnge
