If You Build It, They Will Come~Or Will They?

If you are into Instant Gratification when you build a blog or site, I can pretty much guarantee that won't happen.  But do not fear!  Blogging takes time and effort.  The odds that I have seen show that it takes a couple of months before you see any return on your hard work.

Once you start your blog and start networking, you will begin to find like-minded people you didn't know existed.  These people will now become your contacts.

Now here is where the excitement comes in:  One day you will get an opportunity the comes up via your blog in a way you didn't see coming.  This happens to everyone who blogs out there.

Here are a few Strategies to Help you build a better Blog:

• Offline Promotion~Use your existing newsletter.  Do you have in-store signage?  Within your industry is there a publication that you can place a small ad in?  If you let people know you have a Blog they will check it out.
• Contributions~Do a google search for "Blog Carnival" and you will find a lot of info.  Submit your stories/articles to something along these lines or Ezine Articles.  The more you get your name out there, the more people will see that you are a serious person with great advice and content to offer.  These are great tools for finding new readers (and new writers to follow).
• Collaborations~Collaborate with someone you know on a story.  What do they say about two minds being better than one?  If you both are advertising the same article, it can only lead to twice as much traffic.
• Existing Site~Do you have an existing site?  Add a link on the home page to your new blog.
• Guest Writing~Offer to fill in for a Vacationing Blogger.  You will be exposed to a whole new audience.
• Comments~Post comments at other sites.  Do this a LOT!  Make sure that they are intelligent, relevant comments.  You can leave your site's address or URL.  This will link back to your own site.  People will click your name to find out more about you.
• Forums~Post a note in a forum (search in Google for your industry~i.e.  Gardening Forums) and tell everyone about your new blog.  Don't abuse their rules, though.
• E-mail~Best way to promote yourself:  include a link to your blog in your signature.  Send an email to bloggers you like when you write something relevant.  Do NOT spam them with every single post you make.  No one likes this!  They may even link back to you if they like your content well enough.  Be sure to go back and thank anyone who links back to your site.
• Link, Link and more Links~Ask politely to exchange links.  The more relevant inbound links to your site, the more you get noticed by the Search Engines.  You get traffic from the links and increase your search engine status.
• Join Networks~Join blog networks.  You get your name out there, others see that you have value-added content and this will result in people seeking out out.  Do a search to find networks to join.
• Social Bookmarking Sites~There are so many that you can join but here are a few:  www.digg.com, www.reddit.com, www.del.ico.us.com.  They will send massive amount of traffic your way.  Be sure to study the "submitting" rules before joining.

Everyone is looking for quality content that they can trust.  Submit this type of content and you will be followed.  Submit "crappy" content and nothing in this world will save you Internet career.

Hope this helps!

Also filed at:  www.ultimate-guide-to-network-marketing.com