Promoting the content you create is a crucial step that many overlook when you start a blog.

Think about it this way:

You’ve probably heard the old adage, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”

Similarly, if you create an epic post on your blog, but no one is around to read it, was it really epic?

Maybe…

Maybe not.

We don’t know because no one was there to “hear” it (or read it).

We create because we want to share our ideas and help others. In order to attract others we need to do more than just create.

We need to promote like crazy.

If you want to build an audience and gain followers then getting your content in front of your dream readers is essential.

No one enjoys shouting into the void that is the internet.

We want to connect with people and we want readers to find our content.

The most obvious way to do this is by using social media, but there are other ways too!

Your goal with any and all traffic you gain is to ultimately convert that traffic into traffic you own.

Traffic that you “own” means subscribers to your email list, members of your Facebook or LinkedIn group, etc.

So we’re building a funnel here – a funnel of traffic by promoting your blog content in the places where your dream readers are hanging out.

One time when I was talking with my friend Drew, we were talking about a sales call we were on together and I was concerned about how much I’d been promoting the awards that we’ve done and the huge projects we’ve delivered and he told me, “it’s a sorry frog who doesn’t holler in his own pond.”

Took me a minute or two to figure out what he meant, but once I did I lol’d and it stuck with me.

If you’re not promoting your content and telling the world about it, who’s going to do it?

Short answer: no one.

No one is going to stumble onto your blog and have this amazing revelation that you’re an unknown genius and start vigorously sharing it with the world.

Or to use Drew’s words, you have to holler about your stuff, because no one else is going to do it for you.
Tell your friends and family about your new blog

Bryan Harris from Growth Tools calls these the “eager sneezers”.

An “eager sneezer” he says is someone you already have a relationship with that’s more than willing to support you and knows others who fit your target audience.

Share your new blog on your social media platforms

Things have changed so much over the last few years when it comes to promoting your blog content.

It used to be that you could share your new content and you’d see a wave of traffic come to your site.

Things have changed though, so you have to be a lot more strategic about how you share it in order to get the results you want to see.

The first thing to take note of is that each platform you share your content on has a different approach.

Gary Vaynerchuk pointed this out in his book, “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook”.

Your message to each platform needs to be unique and appropriate to that platform.

As an example, the kinds of things that will perform well on Facebook are different than what will perform well on Instagram. And what will do well on Instagram will be different than what will do well on TikTok.

So each piece of content you create to promote your content on social media needs to be appropriately designed and developed for maximum impact on that platform.

This assumes, of course, that you’re already active and participating in the places where your dream customers and readers are already hanging out, and that you’re a valued member of the community, and not just coming in to spam the community with links to your content.

Here’s something I’ve learned that’s crucial:

Facebook and Twitter are virtually useless when it comes to sharing plain links to content.

Facebook’s algorithm will suppress your reach for that post because your intent is to take people away from their site and they don’t like you don’t that unless you’re paying them via a paid Facebook ads campaign.

Plus, even the exposure that it does get won’t result in a lot of click-throughs because unless it’s enormously click-baity the kind of content people engage with on Facebook is not usually links to external sites.

Twitter is so transient, and the stuff that you publish is there one second, then gone the next so it’s hard to even get eyes on a quality link that you’re promoting. I still share my stuff out on Twitter, but only because I want to maintain a presence there. I don’t expect, nor do I see, much in the way of results from what I do on Twitter.

The best places I’m seeing for social media these days are Pinterest and TikTok.

Pinterest lends itself more naturally to the kind of content that bloggers are creating. But also be warned, the same principles that keep Facebook from getting you traffic on your post exist on Pinterest too, so you have to be really deliberate and tactical about the kinds of pins you create on Pinterest, but you can still do well and get traffic there.

TikTok is great because the short video concept is very alluring naturally on its own, and you get a chance to send your followers to a link to go deeper.

There’s a lot less conflict with TikTok and leaving the platform (although, just like all other social media platforms they don’t want you to leave) because the content format of the platform is different than the content you’re creating on your blog so they’re more naturally complementary.

Mention the people you reference in your blog posts

Most people love seeing their work quoted and used to help others, so reaching out to these people to let them know you’ve included them in a new post for your blog is a no-brainer.

They may not share it, but then again, they just might.

I’ve had a couple posts go viral just by having one person share it with their audience.

The encouragement and enthusiasm this generates can’t be overestimated – it’s absolutely thrilling!

Send it to your email list

If you’re just getting started you may not even have an email list – yet.

But if you have even a small list, you can share it with them and help draw them in to your new content, build a relationship with you, and come to know and trust you.

And when you do email them, ask them to share it if they found it useful. Ask them for feedback and comments. Ask them what they think of the post.

Solicit their opinions and this will not only help you to grow your new blog, but it will also deepen your relationship with the people on your list.