Promoting Tips & Tricks Part VI: Promoting your Blog

I could easily to a ten- or twenty-part series just on how to promote your blog, but that would be beyond the scope of this article series, and others have covered it far more comprehensively elsewhere. So I'll just do a single post, focussing on the needs of the online shop owner.

Much like your shop, your blog will benefit by being listed in directories. I'm in several -- some limited to crafty blogs, others listing blogs in general.

Our Craft Directory is small and tightly focused. The owner checks every link before posting it, so you can be sure you're in good company. As with most directories, they'll ask you to put a link to their directory in your blog in return.

Blog Catalog is a much larger, more general listing broken down into nested categories. Again, they check every link before posting it. BlogCatalog also has a nice little feature which you can put in your sidebar, displaying the last five BlogCatalog folks who've stopped by.

BlogSearch is similar to BlogCatalog though I think somewhat smaller.

Technorati is the king of blog listings -- in addition to a simple listing you get statistics on who's reading your blog, what they're typing into search engines to find you, and who's linking to you. They'll also supply a searchbox for your blog if you like.

VerveEarth lists and sorts blogs by physical location -- offering a map of sorts of the earth as expressed on the internet.

RingSurf gives a slightly different perspective on the blog directory -- instead of simple categories it provides hosting for blog rings. These are groups of blogs on a similar topic. I'm a member of several, as you can see in the first sidebar to the right.

As with shop directories, there are a lot out there. Some are worth it and others less so. It's just a matter of looking.

Once you've signed up to a directory, treat it the same way you do a shop directory listing -- upload an avatar, write up a profile, post pictures if it allows you to. Use it every way you can to get the word out.

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Entering blog carnivals is another good way to get people looking at your blog -- I talk more about them here, so I shan't repeat much. Do note, though, that this is one of the advantages to doing those little personal posts from time to time -- you'll have a lot more fodder for carnivals.

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On a more personal level there's your blogroll. This is a listing of blogs you like and read frequently. It's useful for you -- they're all right there in one place. It's also a way of getting those you list interested enough to take a look at your blog -- and perhaps put it in their blogroll in return. Remember the unspoken contract I mentioned in my first post on blogging? This is another part of it. You list me, I'll list you, we both benefit.

Chances are you'll also wind up making some friends this way. I have -- hi Ruthie, Mary, Jill! From a hard-headed business perspective these are all great potential customers, and from a personal perspective it's great to have friends who understand what you're doing because they do something similar.

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Even more personal are comments. Once people are reading your blog, they're going to start commenting. This is great! The first comment someone leaves on your blog will feel almost as good as the first sale you make. People are reading, and they're finding something they care enough about to take the time to comment.

Take a moment to savour the feeling. Then, reply.

Every comment left in your blog should get some sort of reply. The people who comment want to know you've read what they say just as much as you want to know they're reading you. If a post gets a lot of comments it's perfectly okay to reply to several of them in a group -- but do reply.

If someone comments in your blog for the first time, thank them for reading. If they leave a link to their blog, follow it back, and if you see something there you want to comment on, do it! It's entirely possible you'll find a friend.

Encourage discussion between your commenters. If people start to disagree and it looks to get ugly, ask them politely to agree to disagree, or take it elsewhere. You don't need controversy in your shop blog any more than you need a couple of people in a shouting match in your booth.

Speaking of commenting and blogrolls, check the blogs in your blogroll every once in a while. I try to do this once a week and usually fail -- many people manage to do it daily. Comment anywhere you find something interesting. Check out their blogrolls to find other blogs of interest, and comment there too.

That said, don't just comment with 'Great post!' and your blog address. Write something with some substance. If you're blatantly commenting just to get people to look, it'll backfire.

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Looks like this is about long enough for the day -- in my next post I'll continue to talk about promoting your blog, using features, interviews, and reviews.