Blog Promotion, Marketing

BlogCatalog Groups are here. BlogCatalog.com recently released “Groups” as part of their ongoing effort to bring bloggers together and create value among the blogging community. BlogCatalog is already a very active community of bloggers, so before you get confused about what’s going on, let’s review three reasons why you want to join a group and three things you should do once you have joined the discussion.

BlogCatalog’s Groups are another way for bloggers to connect, build relationship (maybe even joint venture partnerships), and learn from each other according to their topics of interest. BlogCatalog Groups are forming right now so this is a great time to get in and be active. You will get definite exposure and blog traffic by contributing now.

Here are three reasons why you should consider getting involved in a BlogCatalog Group.

1. Writing Rearch – Keep your blog full of fresh content can be challenge sometimes. Often times bloggers don’t run out of things to write about, they simply get into a mental rut. One of the best ways to extend our focus and expose ourselves to new topics is to talk with other people. When we ask questions or get involved in conversations, then all types of content comes flowing into our brains. Being involved in a focus group is a great way to research writing content and get things moving.




2. Off Blog Promotion – Writing on your blog is a great way to keep people interested in what you have to say, but sometimes that’s only good for the people who are already reading your blog. A good way to bring in new readers is to write outside of your blog. Contributing to conversations outside of your blog is a great way to leverage your writing skills on popular sites. When people read what you have to say, they will be encouraged to learn more and this will draw them to click through to your blog. Remember to leave informed writings that add value to the discussion. This is a long term technique that will get you some initial traffic, but it is more of a long term activity that will continue to produce results for a long time after you’ve spent the time and effort.




3. Building Community – Associating yourself with group of interest helps you to understand what particular groups of people are interested in. It also helps people to see you in a certain frame of reference. If they see you as a contributor on a particular topic, then when they read your blog they will transfer that frame of reference to your writings. They will see you as someone who knows what they are talking about. They will see you as someone they can reference for information about their shared topic of interest. This is the same effect that interviewers get when they interview “expert” speakers. Some of the credibility of the expert is transfered to the interviewer just by association. If you are a solid contributor in an informative group then you will be viewed as someone to listen to.

Here are three things to do after you have selected a group to join.

1. Be active – Get involved and let your voice be heard. Become known as an expert within the group by sharing what you have experienced or read about the topic of interests. Try to contribute real value to the discussion. Remember that being an expert is not the same as having an big ego. An expert is someone who contributes to the discussion on a regular basis and is knowledge about the topic. There is a fine line between expert and know it all. Just focus on being helpful and you will be viewed in the right list. If the conversations slow down, ask questions of the other group members to keep things going.




2. Share Resources – Share links to resources when you have something valuable to contribute to the group. This resource might be your own blog posts or some other resource that it relevant to the group discussion. One of the most powerful aspects of social media is that it brings together the exponential knowledge of a collection of people. If you aren’t sharing with someone, then you are potentially depriving them of a resource that might solve a problem they are dealing with.




3. Be social – Don’t be afraid to be the first person to say hello. The only way to draw people out in a group is to walk right up to them and say hello. Extend a greeting and let the conversation take root from there. Not all interaction will result in a full conversation, but the great thing about group discussion is they tend to feed on themselves once they get started.

Remember, all of our activities come back to living, learning, and promoting our blogs. When we contribute to others in a meaningful way we are investing in our own success. BlogCatalog’s Groups are new so now is the time to get in on the ground floor of the activity. Step out and start a group, join an existing discussion, or just go through and contact bloggers who have expressed an interest in a certain topic. By doing so you will be drawing new readers into your blog and you will be building relationships with other bloggers that will help you to grow your online business in ways you may never have imagined.

Directing Traffic,

Charles McKeever
OpenSourceMarketer.com

P.S. Check out my BlogCatalog Group, Social Media Marketing And Blog Monetization. Join the discussion!