This guest post is by Steff Green of Grymm & Epic Copywriting and Illustration.
Blogging isn’t a case of “If you post it, they will come.” Your role as a blogger doesn’t end as soon as you hit Publish. In fact, that’s only the beginning.
If you’re anything like me, most posts take you between one and our hours to write, maybe even more. For all that time and energy, you’ll want each post to do a lot of work for you after it’s gone live.
You want that post to:
demonstrate your writing and blogging skills to potential clientsattract new readers to your site, and encourage them to staysolve issues faced by your regular readersbe linked and shared on social mediaattract commenters to keep the discussion goingbring your blog to the attention of advertisers, companies and other opportunitiesmake you some money!To get anything out of your blog post, you’ve got to put in extra effort, even after you’ve hit Publish.
Here, I’ve tried to make it easy for you—I’ve come up with 40 different things you can do to help give your blog post the best chance of success after it’s gone live.
If your topic is an evergreen one, you could wait a few months, then republish your post with updated information. Getting your best content back in front of the eyes of your readers can be a great way to encourage sharing and point them toward the other great content on your site.Do you write posts filled with personal stories and the lessons you learn throughout your life? With a bit of editing, these posts could make great personal essays, which you could sell to freelance markets that accept these.You could combine pillar posts with additional content to create free, downloadable ebooks that you can promote through your site, or sell on Amazon.If you used a particular format for a post that was effective—like a 20 questions interview with an expert, or a particular set of subheadings on a review—you could turn that one-off post into the first instalment of a regular column.You could create a new page on your site called Free Resources or Start Here, and link back to some of your most popular articles.If you notice another blogger asking a question that you’ve answered on your blog, send them a link to the article.You could write Part 2 of a popular post and address another aspect of the topic.Turn ideas from your blog posts into pitches for magazine articles. Print publications won’t want articles that read like blog posts—the tone of the writing is very different—so you can often pitch an idea you’ve already written about. For example, I wrote a post on my Gothic Wedding blog on Wedding Advice for Shy Couples. I was then able to pitch the same topic to a bridal magazine. The article I wrote for them was much shorter, with a different tone, and I included quotes from real couples.Depending on the topic of your blog, you could turn old posts into short non-fiction pieces for children’s magazines. By simplifying the language and adding lots of interesting detail, you could sell 200-800 word info-snippets to help teach children about the world around them.Go back to your old posts and interlink them with newer posts on your blog, or to your Products or Service pages. A good internal link structure keeps readers on your site longer.Use your favorite blog posts as writing samples when you pitch articles to print publications. Most editors want to see a sample of your writing, and using a blog post has the added bonus of demonstrating your expertise in your niche.If you’ve created any tutorial posts, go back and check they contain sufficient photographs, diagrams, and screen captures. If not, spend some time drawing up, editing or inserting visual imagery, then announce the update to your audience.Do you write short, sharp, humorous posts? Why not contact a publisher about creating a gift book?If you’re looking for freelance blogging work, contact local companies who have non-existent or inactive blogs and ask if they’d like to hire a blogger. Use your post on a similar topic to demonstrate what you can do.If you wrote about someone’s product, service or resource, email them, or send them a tweet letting them know the post is up. Who knows, it might even lead to a brand collaboration in the future.Look for print magazines that accept “reprints”—these are articles that have been previously published, and can include blog posts. You’ll probably need to edit your post before you send it, to fit with the magazine’s format, culture, and content, but this can be a very successful way to get your brand in front of a wider audience.You can use old posts as springboards for guest post ideas—I struggle to think of ideas for guest posts, and I find looking back through my blog’s archives reveals ideas and themes I can jazz up and send off.You could create a photo essay, video, or cartoon to explore ideas from an old post, and link back to the old post when you release your creative project.You could create a press release based on a newsworthy story you wrote about one your blog, and use it to contact local and national press.You could approach the owners of a magazine or other popular site about syndicating your blog to their readers.If you want something physical to give potential clients, you could print out text or screen shots of your most popular posts and compile a print portfolio.Or, of course, you can put together an online portfolio for your web-based clients, showcasing your best work on yours—and others’—blogs.You could gather together blog content to form the basis of a workshop or seminar you could offer up to conferences in your niche.Or, if you prefer to teach online, you could use your blog content as a basis for creating a short autoresponder course or email workshop.You can embed links to your relevant posts in your Youtube videos.Send a few relevant links out to potential freelancing clients as examples of your skills.You could use your posts to pitch a newspaper column.Email your friends with a link to your post and encourage them to share it among their friends and acquaintances. As long as you don’t do this all the time, most friends are happy to share awesome things that are relevant to their interests.Advertise your post on social media. Don’t forget to track the results!Create a funky infographic that demonstrates the information used in your post, and either share it with other bloggers or use it on social media.Submit your link to sites like Digg, StumbleUpon, or Reddit.Create a Pinterest board based around the topic of your post—and make sure you link back to your blog!Create a poll based on a question from your article and place it prominently in your sidebar, with a link back to your post.Send a note out on your blog’s newsletter or mailing list, letting them know about the article. Depending on what your audience is happy reading, you could republish the whole thing to their inboxes.Start a discussion about your topic on a forum and use your article to back up your argument. But remember—you should only occasionally add links to forums and only when they add value.Add a link to your post in your email signature, so everyone you email has the chance to click through.You could create a competition to encourage comments, whereby one commenter on your post wins a prize. I do this with CDs, books and apparel on my blog sometimes and it’s always a great success.Turn your best-looking blog post into an artistic poster and stick it up all over town.Add some well-placed text ads or affiliate links to your post, and earn a little extra cash.Get a tattoo of your blog post URL!There are plenty of ways you can extend the life of a blog post beyond the post-and-forget approach. If you put the extra work in to ensure each of your posts does as much as possible to generate new readers and new contracts, you’ll see your traffic—and your bank balance—will soon begin to reflect your efforts.
What do you do with a post after you’ve published it?
Steff Green is a creative copywriter, professional blogger and heavy metal maiden at Grymm & Epic Copywriting and Illustration (http://grymmandepic.com). Get her free ebook, Unleash the Beast: Release Your Inner Creative Monster (http://www.grymmandepic.com/blog/subscribe/).
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