A new, weekly discussion began on Twitter yesterday. Tagged #kaizenblog, the aim of the participants is to be more effective in our blogging through continuous, small improvements in all areas. I learned of this new chat during my one of my daily visits to ConversationAgent and was further excited to discover one of my most respected automotive cohorts, Tino Rossini, participating as well. Let’s talk about self-promotion.
The “Golden Rule” is nothing new.
But it seems many trying to implement a social media plan today are at risk of forgetting it. Tino and I briefly discussed amping in the social media space last week on his Stradablog. Now that everyone is a player in the media game, there is a great deal of competition for readership. We’d all be well advised to engage in a little self-promotion, but where do we draw the line? How do we keep ourselves from turning into the disinterested corporate shills we so despise? To put it into blogging terms, participate on other blogs the way you would like others to participate on yours.
My take on self-promotion.
We all do it to some extent. We have to. If I don’t feel my opinions are worth reading, why should anyone else? The bulk of my self-promo comes from commenting on other sites. Comments mean conversation. I feel that the comment space beneath a post on someone’s blog should be dedicated to conversations relating to their post. The conversation can lead where it may, but this is another author’s backyard and it would be rude of me to stick a sign in it pointing to mine.
What if I want to blog about it too?
From time to time, I’ll read something on another site, become thoroughly inspired, and my comment grows long enough that it just makes more sense to copy and paste it into a post here. When that happens, I feel it’s critical to make sure credit goes where it is due. After all, I would not have a new post on my site on subject about which I am passionate, were it not for the insight and effort of another author. I’ll not leave a comment on the other site with a brazen link to my own, but I will be sure to mention the source of my inspiration and set up the trackback to reflect the other author’s credibility and influence on their site.
IMHO: Self-promotion means promoting others.
Commenting on other sites is a fun, simple way to get your name out there in front of like-minded people and generate some traffic to your site. It’s a great way to discuss topics which are important to you with others of differing backgrounds in order to expand your perspective on a mutually intriguing subject. Show another author’s readers that the content is worth discussing!
Be the reader you wish you had.
Don’t just comment for the sake of commenting. Make sure your comments add value! Encourage that conversation on someone else’s blog and build lasting relationships with other authors through comments that demonstrate genuine interest in the subject matter. Help those authors whom you respect build communities around their sites and you can’t help but end up having one around yours in the process. Don’t forget the Golden Rule!
