Blogging is a fantastic strategy for promoting your book, yet it can turn into a nightmare, especially if you hold onto outdated blogging ‘rules.’ Here are the new blogging rules you should use to blog for book promotion. [div class=’content-3-col-left’]
Don’t post too often.
It just doesn’t pay to up your output unless it’s very high quality. And even then, high-profile bloggers like Michael Hyatt now blog two or three times a week instead of five. He recommends you blog at the minimum effective level. It will free your valuable time.
That may require a little experimentation at the outset, yet you’ll discover after about three months what’s required to grow and keep your readership. If three times a week isn’t getting results, then try a short run at weekly blogs.
Once you find out what works, stick with that level for a month or so. Then back off. See what happens. If all goes well, then commit to that frequency.[/div] [div class=’content-3-col-left’]
Get Serious About Images.
People loves pictures, especially when you add captions. Derek Halpern states, “You should never run an image without an interesting, persuasive caption. I know this sounds crazy…it’s just a silly caption. But, as Drew Eric Whitman points out in Ca$hvertising, ‘Studies have shown that up to twice as many people read captions as body copy.'”
Add pictures to every post. Come up with a catchy caption. (It may be imbedded in the picture or added below like in a newspaper.) Add alt text so Google knows what’s in the picture.[/div] [div class=’content-3-col-right’]
Avoid Outsourcing.
It’s much better to write your own content, especially if you’re promoting a novel. Your job as a blogger is to prove that you write material that’s difficult to put down.
Even when the work is non-fiction, it’s rare to find someone who can write with your perspective. You also have the job of proving you are worth reading.
If you received considerable coaching during the writing process, consider working with your coach/editor to develop your blog writing skills. Collaborative work still feels genuine to readers—something outsourced work rarely does. [/div] [div class=’clear-cols’] [/div] [div class=’content-3-col-left’]
Curate and Repurpose.
Gather inspiration from the work of others. Refer to it. Give credit to the source. Interweave your ideas with theirs.
Take a second look at some of your previous work. There may an older blog that needs to be updated with new information. Rather than editing the old blog, revise and jazz up the content into a new blog.[/div] [div class=’content-3-col-left’]
Don’t waste your time commenting.
It’s much better to write your own blog in response to someone else’s content which you have found interesting. If you were going to write a thoughtful comment on a topic, it was already worth writing your own thought on your blog anyway.Link to the source that inspired you.[/div] [div class=’content-3-col-right’]
Mix Up Your Formats
There are so many formats available today. Use as many as possible. Add audio files, picture galleries and videos. Enable chat sessions. Engage your audience in as many ways as you feel comfortable with.
With WordPress there’s a plugin to enable site integration with every format available. [/div]
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Two other myths are still hanging around. There’s the myth of the perfect blog length. Anything over 200 words is acceptable as well as it is well written and puts your point across clearly!
And finally, there’s the myth that double publishing is very bad! It’s where you double publish that matters. have you written a post that’s worth of LinkedIn? Then publish it on their new blog platform. If the site upon which your duplicate content resides is reputable and links back to you as the original source, you’ll benefit from increased traffic and credibility.
Thank you Salma Jafri for the inspiration for this blog. Read her post here.
