BUT!
This one is so fun because it has links and pictures and stuff :)
Seriously though - I learned a bunch in this session at the Blogger's Conference and really want to share all the pretties with you.
Here we go!
Extending the Reach of Your Blog Online
Speakers:Mandy Boles, The Well-Read Wife
Malle Vallik, Harlequin
Eric Smith, Quirk Books
Robert Mooney, Blogads
*The speakers started by highlighting what they believed to be the most important social media venues for bloggers. They then went on to talk about some of their favorites.
*Robert pointed out the fact that, as bloggers, you can't put your post up and expect everything to happen. You have to work at promoting yourself and your ideas.
So, what exactly did they talk about?
Let's start with the big guns:
Not everyone uses it but a lot of people do. Lots of third party programs and apps to choose from.
Don't think I need to go too much into this one ;)
I personally don't love Facebook but so many people use it. Even if you aren't that active, you can create a page for your blog and have your posts feed to it.
Again, it's all about options. Even if you aren't a heavy Facebook user, your followers (or potential followers) might be.
App based - iOS and now Android supported. I'm on the fence about this one. It's apparently VERY big with tech and mommy bloggers and Mandy believes it will become just as huge for book bloggers in the future.
It uses hashtags in the same way Twitter does and Mandy mentioned 1 blog that hosts a monthly 'gram a day' type meme -- The Estella Society (here's June's #EstellaGram list).
If I get an iPhone I'm sure I'll use it more. It's very (completely?) visual and I do like that.
Now some more fun goodies:
Pinterest -- pinterest.comLove this site! It can be a total time suck but it's also pretty awesome. I've been using it to link up my review posts (which link to my blog) and also to link up books I've read (which link to Goodreads). Again - it's a very visual place and I think that helps a lot when talking about books. Publishers are using it more and more to promote and I love logging into my account and seeing tons of pretty covers :)
Vine is a app that lets users post 6 second video clips. It started with iOS devices and recently released for Android.
BBC was the first time I had heard of this app! Since then it seems to be creeping up everywhere - even my library is considering setting up an account. I can totally see this becoming very very big and loads of fun to use.
Taken directly from their website: "StumbleUpon is a giant collection of the best pages on the Internet". I honestly have no idea what this is all about except for the fact that views or readership or whatever you want to call it can grow over time so something you post today could be viewed by others months from now if it becomes popular? Maybe? Maybe you don't actually post things yourself...again - NO IDEA! (I'll probably check it out soon though ;)
A type of "blog amplification" platform where you become part of a tribe and promote the works of other tribe members. The only experience I've had with this has been negative. It very much feels like spam - group organized and focused but still spam.
Another site I don't fully understand. It's user generated where people can submit links or text and others can vote to promote stories. I hear it all the time about something becoming big after being posted to Reddit or someone finding out something because someone posted it to Reddit.
No idea how you could use this to promote your blog...would love to hear your ideas if you're a Reddit user!
Other sites mentioned:
Tweetreach -- tweetreach.com
A tool for measuring the reach of your tweets. (Really tried hard to come up with a better explanation for this one :)
Google+ -- www.google.com
I have a Google+ account and I know people who are heavy users and love it. It's growing in popularity...just slowly I think. I do want to figure out how to add a Google+ share link to my blog posts.
Blogad products mentioned by speaker Robert Mooney
Distillry -- www.distillry.net
A website that can fiter your Twitter stream for you.
Twiangulate -- twiangulate.com
Another Twitter using device - it can help you find all the ways everything and everyone on Twitter is connected.
Pullquote -- pullquote.com
You can use Pullquote to "create a link to a paragraph on a web page" (like your blog). Great for "tweeting, micro-bookmarking and sharing key ideas".
I would love to know what social media sites you guys love!
I'm glad you're still posting these! Good info here, and I'm especially interested in looking into those last three. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteDang, I behind the times, that's all I can say. *sigh* I'm sure those things are awesome, but they also seem exhausting. Thanks so much for sharing though!
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