Social Media, Promotion, and Relationships
Episode #7 of the course Build a website and online brand quickly and cheaply by Rob Cubbon
Today we’re talking about how you can promote your website and its content. You not only have to promote it but also hopefully have other people promoting it for you as well.
Social media
So even at this early stage, you should think about engaging with an audience, not just creating content on your site. But I don’t want to suggest you spend hours and hours of your time on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.
Social media can be a huge time-killer. If you enjoy spending hours on these social networks, then don’t let me stop you. However, I wouldn’t recommend social media as a sustainable traffic source or a great place to promote your content.
Get active around the web
Try to think of as many places as possible where you can link to your website and blog posts, but don’t put links where they’re not wanted! Maybe you’re active in forums, and if so, see if you can add a link in your forum signature.
Also, perhaps you can write for well-established blogs in your niche (guest blogging). At the very least, you’ll be able to add your link in the author box, and maybe another one in the body of the article if it’s relevant.
Relationships
But the best way to promote your content is through relationships.
Identify people who are on the same business journey as you are but are slightly ahead or a little behind. Who really resonates with you online? Who do you admire? Who has a similar business outlook to you?
You should be connecting with these people. Leave comments on their blog, email them, and yes, connect with them on social media.
Engage with them in an interesting and real way; don’t just say, “Hey dude, love your stuff!” Say something authentic and add value to the discussion. Then pretty soon, the emails, Skype conversations, and mutual respect will flow between you two, and your new friend will share and promote your content. They may even link to you—and quality, relevant links are what Google loves.
A better way to forge these win-win business relationships is offline. Try to go to as many meetups, co-working spaces, and conferences that are relevant to your business as you can. This depends on where you are in the world, but I find that Meetup.com is very useful for this.
I have seen some bloggers catapult their businesses by attending just one conference. John Lee Dumas from Entrepreneur On Fire attended a conference to kick-start his fledgling podcast and get the first few guests. It would have taken him years to get started otherwise, and now he’s earning over $200,000 a month from the podcast and associated video courses.
We’re all social animals. Enjoy your business relationships, talk about subjects you’re passionate about, offer quality advice to your contacts, and do everything you can for other people. You’ll be repaid many times over.
Don’t only try to meet people who are so fabulously successful that you think you’ll benefit from them. As I said, these relationships should be win-win. Always be thinking of how you can help these people.
Meet as many people as you can with the idea of helping them and you will develop a network of like-minded entrepreneurs who will grow alongside you.
Business relationships will make or break your website and business.
Recommended book by Highbrow
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