This is Part 3 of my series on do-it-yourself promotion for your coaching blog. Part 1 covers getting your writing onto other sites that your market reads, and Part 2 talks about using social networking to help build your audience.
If you’re not using social networking for your coaching business yet, you can still leverage your network, and your online presence, to promote your blog. This post covers some simple moves to do that.
Link to Your Blog
Just about anything you are already doing online can be tweaked to help promote your blog. Take a tour of every place your name appears online, and ask yourself –
How could I use this to help publicize my blog?
Some examples:
- Include a link to your blog in your email signature block.
- If you also have a static website, or you control a page anywhere else on the Web, use that space to promote your blog.
- If you use an online service that offers you a profile, like YouTube, Blog Talk Radio or Plaxo, update your profile to feature a link to your blog.
- If you do speaking gigs or guest expert appearances, highlight your blog in the copy you provide to event sponsors. Keep an up to date bio ready (in various lengths) that promotes your blog’s value to your market.
- If you republish your content on article marketing sites like IdeaMarketers, update your author “resource box” copy so it effectively promotes your blog.
- Do you have a Google profile yet? If not, put one up now. There’s a good chance it will show up high on Google when anyone searches your name. Include your blog’s url there, along with some streamlined promotional copy aimed at your market. When you set up your profile, make sure you select to display your full name.
You get the idea. Whatever you do that is published online, update it to feature your blog. Whenever you create a new online presence, keep the opportunity to promote your blog in the front of your mind.
If you do face-to-face networking or speaking, you probably have a business card. Feature your blog’s url there. Or print up some cards to pass around, that just have your name, your tagline or Unique Benefit Statement, and your blog’s url. To minimize the cost, use Vistaprint.
Use Your Words
Whenever you write promotional copy (anything beyond just your blog’s name and url), use some of your market’s favorite keywords for search engine optimization. When you can, to get the maximum SEO punch, link the keywords themselves to your blog.
Get People to Recommend Your Blog
Whatever you do in the realm of promotion, remember this: A recommendation from a friend or colleague is more powerful than any other kind of promotional message.
Make sure your blog is designed to make sharing it easy. That’s what the “Retweet” button at the top of this blog post and the “Pass This on to a Friend” icons at the bottom are all about.
Then, ask people to share it.
Ask For a Favor
It’s amazing how reluctant most people are to ask for help. Don’t be like most people.
Ask for a favor from your friends and family, your clients, and your business network. First, show them how valuable your content is for people in your market, then ask for their help getting the word out. Tell them specifically what they can do:
- Subscribe.
- Introduce your blog to anyone they know who is in your market.
- Comment on your posts from time to time (if they are in your market).
- Link to your blog posts in their status updates on social networks, to let their friends know they are reading your stuff.
Make this request to all of your contacts. You never know who will jump at the chance to lend a hand. If you do this by email, put it out twice. Let a few weeks go by after the first email, then tweak it and send it again, making clear that this one is for those who haven’t already responded.
Do Me A Favor?
If you think my blog is useful for coaches, please help me spread the word. Here’s how you could do me a favor:
- Subscribe (if you haven’t already).
- Whenever you see a post you really like, link to it on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social network you’re on.
- Pass a link to this post, or any other favorite post, on to any coaches you know who could benefit from it. Suggest that they subscribe.
And thanks! Whether you do any of that or not, thanks for reading all the way to the end of this post.
So there you have my suggestions for “hand made” ways to publicize your blog. Does this get your creative juices flowing? What have I left out? Share your thoughts in the comments.
