Doing something new is always uncomfortable. It elicits a whole range of emotions from fear and anxiety to being excited and enthusiastic. Starting a blog for your business is no walk in the park, so acknowledge yourself for creating something very valuable. Content marketing (of which blogging is a cornerstone) is the BEST way to improve your visibility in search, increase valuable organic traffic to your site and grow your business. Ok, you started a blog, now what?

Many business owners think that all you have to do is write a blog post and publish it. To the contrary, you’ve only just begun. Think of it like a car. Having a car is great but if you don’t put gas in it, you won’t be going too far.

Your blog is a very effective way to build a web presence and engage your target customers. Think of yourself as the gas station attendant. Keep your car running smoothly with regular fill-ups.

Your blog is the car. Content promotion is the gasoline.

Now, I don’t mean promotion in the “blast it to the masses” sense. I’m talking about establishing a solid strategy for getting your great content out in the world so that it reaches those who want to hear from you because they buy what you sell.

Distribution and promotion allows your blog content to work for you.

You started a blog, now what? Focus on the proven strategies that get your content seen. Follow these next steps for maximum results:

1. Optimize for Search (SEO)
In-depth understanding of your customers’ needs goes a long way toward attracting them. Knowing what they search for while considering a purchase helps you learn what keywords and phrases they choose.

Keyword research is crucial in optimizing your content for search engines. Ideally you want your chosen keyword or phrase included in the title and first paragraph of your post.

If your blog is built on WordPress, there’s a really cool tool that takes the guesswork out of optimizing your posts. It’s called WordPress SEO by Yoast. This plug-in takes you step-by-step through the optimization process. Over 25 million users have downloaded it and I use it every single time I write a blog post.

2. Email Your Posts to Your Customer Database

• Create an RSS feed campaign through your Email software. Every time you hit publish, your post is automatically set up to send to your list.
• Create a Newsletter that includes a few of your posts each month or bi-monthly.

I need to take a moment and mention how important it is to grow your email list. You’ve most likely got an ongoing list of your current customers (people who have purchased from you). But your blog content can do a great job of attracting new prospects to add to your list.

3. Post on Social Media Channels
By now, you should have created a presence on social media. Posting your content on social media gets it seen by your fans/followers.

Facebook is where most people start because that’s where most customers spend their time. But also consider Twitter, Linkedin, and any Facebook or LinkedIn Groups you’re a member of.

It’s perfectly ok to post your content more than once. In fact, it’s best to set up a schedule to post your content at specific intervals over the following 2-3 weeks after you publish.

4. Promote Your Content via Facebook Ads
Here’s where your blog’s gasoline turns into rocket fuel. Promoting your great content with Facebook ads gets more people to click the link back to your website. In Google’s world (where we all live), this is called Social Signals. Those clicks tell Google that your content is helpful and relevant because people are engaging with it on social media.

Start with $5-10 per day. Make sure to promote those posts that are already getting organic engagement – they are the most valuable content your customers are interested in.

5. Join Triberr
Triberr is a social networking tool that allows you to supercharge your blog’s reach and visibility. It’s a great blog amplification tool and I’ve been a member of Triberr since its inception.

Your blog feeds into Triberr and is displayed in the feeds of your “tribes.” With one simple action, your tribemate can share your post to Twitter (and manually to Facebook, LinkedIn and other social channels). There are a lot of cool things on Triberr so check it out.

Just this weekend, Dino (the founder of Triberr and all-round awesome dude) sold Triberr to 99robots. I’m excited to see where this takes us. I see more focus on improvements in user experience and influencer marketing.

6. Re-purpose Your Posts

• Video. Can you take the subject of your post and re-tool it for video? Perhaps include an employee or customer to illustrate your point.
• Audio. Read your blog post into a mic and include it on your post.
• Podcast. You might have been thinking about starting a podcast. Leverage the points you’ve made in your post by telling stories of customers and employees. Invite employees, customers, vendors and community thought leaders to join you.
• Slideshare. Slideshare is the 112th most-visited site on the web. Create slides from your blog post’s bullet points.
• Convert a few posts into a Free Ebook. Want a fast way to grow your email list? Offer your subscribers a free Ebook. Publish your Ebook on Amazon to establish authority and increase visibility.

You Started a Blog, Now What?
Promote your content and grow your business. In order to attract, engage and sell to today’s modern, hyper-connected buyers, every business must become a publisher of information. That information needs to be seen and heard. Develop a solid content promotion strategy for your business so that those who need your information know where to find it.