How to Promote Your Blog Posts for Absolutely Free

Small business marketing is not easy. There are so many tools, tips, and tactics it's difficult to know where to start. It's not uncommon for small business owners to move from tactic to tactic with little success and finally throw their hands up in frustration.

One of the most successful marketing strategies for many small businesses today is  Content Marketing, and the first tactic most people turn to is blogging. Why?

Blogging has been around for a long time and it's fairly easy to get started, which is why I think most people turn to this content marketing tactic first. There are a host of benefits to blogging and if you'd like to learn why you should be blogging for your small business check out THIS ARTICLE  from Corey Wainwright. 

"If you build it, they will come." - Field of Dreams

If only this were true. Creating blog posts without promoting them is a recipe for failure and a mistake many small businesses make. You should spend more time promoting your blog posts than you do writing them. The importance of promoting your blog posts can't be understated.

There are a ton of ways to pay to promote your blog, but you can also successfully promote your blog for free. Below you'll find a comprehensive list of some awesome free ways to promote your small business blog.

Note: Some of these strategies will work better for certain types of businesses depending on whether you are selling to consumers or businesses.

1. Email List

If you have an email list (which I hope you do), then promoting your blog posts to your email list is the first place you should start. Your email list is a warm audience that has a higher likelihood of responding well to your blog posts.

If you need to start building an email list we recommend Mailerlite. It's easy to use and they have a great free plan to get you started. If you need help getting started don't hesitate in reaching out to us, we'd be happy to help.

Other popular email marketing software you might want to consider is Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Active Campaign, and AWeber.

2. Post to Social Media Pages

What are social media channels your small business active with? You should create posts for every social media channel you use for each blog post you create. If the social media channel uses hashtags, create a description for your post with hashtags on keywords that will help your post show up in searches.

Here's a sample of a recent Facebook post we had to promote a blog article:

Check out our FREE cheat sheet to help you catapult your marketing to the next level.  CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR COPY.        

3. Answer Forum Questions

There are a plethora of online forums. Find ones that apply to your business niche and use your blog posts to answer questions. This is a great way to promote your blog posts and build credibility. Your blog posts will be much more detailed than a lot of other forum answers and help set you apart from the pack.

For our business,  Quora and Alignable are great places to help others by answering questions with blog post articles we've written. Check out one of our Quora answers HERE for a sample. 

4. Syndication, Social Bookmarking & Content Curation Sites

Sites like these can be great for republishing and promoting your content. Here is a list of 5 sites you should check out for promoting your blog posts.

1. Reddit This is a very popular site where people find answers to their questions and help others in the community. If you choose to syndicate content here I would highly recommend spending a little time to understand how it works. There are some nuances to using Reddit and it can be a bit confusing. Check out Neil Patel's epic article about Reddit HERE for more in-depth information.
2. Linkedin Publishing If you serve the B2B market this is a fantastic site to use. You can publish your articles in their entirety and share to your audience and relevant LinkedIn groups. CLICK HERE for a recent example of an article we published on Linkedin.
3. Medium Medium is a great website to discover content on a number of interests and connect with like-minded people. You'll find publishing articles on the site fairly similar to publishing an article on Linkedin. CLICK HERE for a recent example of an article we published on Medium.
4. BizSugar This is a site for small business news, tips, and networking. You can submit articles you've written to the network. If the audience is a good fit for your business this is an easy site to get involved with.
5. Bloglovin This is a website for following your favorite blogs and discovering new ones. Once you set up your account you can "claim" your blog on the site. Once you claim your blog, all your posts will be available on the site.

5. Reach Out

It's very common and recommended to link to other resources within your blog posts. If you link to someone else's article it's a great practice to reach out to them and let them know. Here's a sample of a message I sent a few months ago. 

You won't always get a reply or a share, but this can be a great way to connect with other people and gain some exposure to their audience if they choose to share your content.

If you are not well versed in how to find someones email address (so you can reach out) this will help - How to Easily Find Email Addresses for Prospects in No Time Flat.

I hope you found at least one of these 5 tips helpful. Create a blog promotion strategy that works for you and stick with it. Content marketing is not a sprint, it's a marathon. Everything you put out there is a little digital breadcrumb that helps people find you. Be consistent and be patient.

Did you find this helpful? Feel free to comment below and share.

About The Author

Tim Fitzpatrick is the President & Founder of Rialto Mobile Marketing. At Rialto Mobile Marketing, we help small businesses grow & thrive with our comprehensive marketing packages. If you'd like to learn more about what we do CLICK HERE.

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