The Power of Other People’s Audiences

12 Tips to Build Your Blog With Other People’s Audiences

What blogger isn’t on the prowl for new ways to expand their readership? Sound like you? If so, one of the best and fastest ways to grow your audience is to leverage other people’s audiences. The reason: they’ve already done the hard work of aggregating readers around a topic related to your blog. Their audience can be for a blog, other online content, related activities or associated products.

This approach requires you provide value for both the audience owner and his audience. The bottom line: if the prospective audience doesn’t find your blog interesting and/or useful, they’re not going to read your posts. This value exchange between a blogger and an entity with a larger audience is why bloggers share their content on Huffington Post. It’s all about building your following cost effectively with limited work and/or expense.

Here are twelve tips to leverage other people’s audiences to promote your blog.

  1. Write guest blog posts. This is a classic way to leverage other people’s audiences. Provide fresh quality content that’s in line with the existing blog or media entity.  What’s required: Deliver your best material in return for a short blurb and a link back to your blog.
  2. Share blog posts with another organization’s email list. This option’s a win-win. You provide content for the list owner and your content is distributed via email with a short blurb causing readers to click-through to your blog. What’s required: Find a firm or an organization with a regular emailing and persuade them to include your content.
  3. Participate in Twitter chats. The beauty of Twitter chats, especially Blog Chat (which happens on Sundays at 9.00pm New York time), is that you’re engaged with people on a social media platform. I’m known for my “12 Step Twitter Chat Intro” because I always say, “Hi! I’m Heidi and I blog at https://heidicohen.com.” I recommend this type of introduction to get your name and blog link out.  What’s required: Participate in Twitter chats related to your area of interest. At a minimum, introduce yourself, even if you lurk the rest of the chat.
  4. Advertise on another relevant blog. Advertising on another blog provides a good opportunity reach a broader blog reading audience with a short message. What’s required: Requires an advertising budget. Additionally must use a blog advertising service like BlogAds or contact other blogs directly. If you’re doing the work yourself and your blog is of a similar audience size, you can try cross promoting each other at no cost.
  5. Sponsor a blog or a series of articles. This works for businesses looking to leverage the power of a blog without doing the work of building their own reader-base. What’s required: Unlike blog advertising, this option may not be something many blogs do. Therefore contact the blog directly and explain what you have in mind.
  6. Develop an e-book. Create an e-book or compile a series of articles to distribute on your own or through another blog or company’s email file. If you’re working with a company, consider negotiating for a fee. What’s required: Develop the e-book, illustrate the e-book, and put in the additional time to develop distribution partnership.
  7. Use presentation to promote your blog. Use a conference or other talk to publicize your blog. Integrate your blog’s branding into your presentation slides and place your URL at the bottom. Also, ask for a blog mention in the event’s catalog and other promotional materials. What’s required: Find appropriate paid and unpaid speaking opportunities. Develop your talk.
  8. Advertise your blog on nametags. Leverage real life events to promote your blog by including your blog’s name and/or URL on your badge. This helps people associate you with your blog. What’s required: Bring a marker with you to modify name badges.
  9. License your blog content to a company. If your blog targets a niche where there’s a business without its own blog, offer them the opportunity to use your blog content to sell their products. This implies a strong endorsement of their product. So make sure you can support their offering. You may be able to negotiate getting paid or at least get free merchandise to test. What’s required: Be willing to endorse their products. This option requires thinking about how to integrate your blog and their products so it’s a win-win without hurting your blog’s brand.
  10. Share your posts with content aggregators in your niche. This encompasses a wide variety of options, from individual publishers using Paper.lito to content aggregators like Smart Brief for Social Media or Who’s Blogging What. What’s required: Build your network and blog so people recognize your name. It’s helpful to contact the editorial staff directly to see what they’re looking for.
  11. Use old-fashioned PR to get your name out. If you’ve got a special series of posts, run useful research or have a new e-book, write an online press release. Make the press release interesting to grab journalists’ attention. Your goal is to get your release picked up. What’s required: Develop and pay for the press release and its distribution. Also, create a great hook and integrate it into your content.
  12. Become a resource. Register for Help A Reporter Out, a free resource matching journalists and bloggers with experts for their articles. Scan HARO’s emails daily emails for requests pertinent to your blog. What’s required: Register for HARO’s emailings, scan them for requests, and reach out to writers where appropriate.

Regardless of which of these options you follow, it’s important to continually expand your blog’s reach. Be creative to get your blog posts in front of other people’s audiences.

Do you have any other suggestions to add to this list?  If so, please include them in the comment section below.

Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen


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