Emailing other bloggers can be a pretty good way to boost your site’s traffic and/or get your new blog known in its niche as quickly as possible.
Just a quick note to inform the owners of other blogs that you have either started a new blog or written a post that might be of interest to them is something you should make a part of your regular blog promotion strategy.
The only problem is that you don’t want to be accused of SPAM and that is how some people seem to regard this technique of blog promotion.
So how do you avoid that? Well, I have put together a few things you might like to think about before you send out those emails.
1) Personalise the email - nobody likes receiving emails to “Dear Friend” or “Hi there” so you need to find out who you are sending the email to! First name is fine and if you cannot find it on their blog, then do a little research. You can usually find out who the owner of a blog is by checking out DNSstuff.com or using your research skills on Google.
2) Mention their blog by name - by letting them know that you are familiar with their blog, you are also letting them know that the email they are reading isn’t SPAM. You also make it clear to them in which capacity you are contacting them as many good bloggers have more than a single blog and if you call it “your blog” they may not know which one you are referring to.
3) Tell them who you are (if they don’t already know) - many bloggers receive a lot of email and it’s pretty easy to simply forget who is who (everyone looks the same on email). So tell them who you are!!
4) Mention your own blog by name - again, this might seem obvious and well.. it is! But it still needs to be said!
5) Call to action - letting the blogger know what you want them to do seems pretty obvious but it is amazing how many emails I receive that don’t actually ask me to do anything (when that seems to have been the intention). It doesn’t have to be a command - just a relaxed “I thought you might like to mention to your readers…” type of call to action is fine.
6) Give them a benefit - what is in it for them? Usually, the answer will be that you are offering some type of content that their readers might find of value. You need to spell out why they should mention your site or link to you and what the exact benefit is to them.
7) Follow up - dropping a quick thankyou note to the bloggers who are kind enough to link to you is a good way to build rapore. Blogging is about building community too and sending a follow up email helps build relationships.
Following a few simple guidelines like that won’t guarantee you success. You need a bit a luck, a good blog and content and a well written email too, but these ideas might help you snag a few mentions.
Good luck!
Technorati Tags: spam, blogging
Monday, March 12, 2007
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