Promotion Commotion

If you've just been published with the Yahoo! Contributor Network, you're probably wondering how you can maximize your page view bonuses. Of course, the first step to making money on the Yahoo! Contributor Network is creating an article that is discoverable, useful and well-written, but once you've done that, what's next?

Sharing with Your Social Networks

A social network is a web of interconnected people tied together by one or more uniting factors. In general, people interested in your articles will be part of social networks in one of two categories:

• People connected by their association with you personally
• People who are connected by their mutual interest in the topics that you write about through the Yahoo! Contributor Network.

Start by reaching out to people who are part of your personal network. Your friends and family can subscribe to your content to receive email notifications every time you publish a new piece. You can also use social networking websites like Facebook, Myspace and Twitter to let your contacts know when you're published on a Yahoo! site.

Building a Following

If you're already using online social networking to share your content with your personal networks, it's easy to expand your reach to include people who aren't already connected to you but who are interested in reading your articles.

There are thriving, friendly groups of Yahoo! contributors on both Twitter and Facebook. If you need help finding and following or friending your fellow contributors on those sites, feel free to ask for assistance through our Contributor Forum. You may also want to refer to our community tutorials, such as "Getting Started with Twitter."

Once you've connected with other contributors, take some time to observe how they reach out and communicate to their networks of followers and/or friends. You'll notice that successful social networkers practice engagement. Instead of shouting from the rooftops about their content, they sustain conversations and build relationships.

Use that winning strategy to engage with influencers in your niche. If you write about pet care, for example, you might start by following or befriending your favorite bloggers who also write about pets. Cultivate an interest in what your contacts are discussing. Just like in the offline world, the best way to have a friend is to be a friend.

Being Real

Promoting your content is neither fun nor effective if it feels forced. Here's a quick test to check whether or not you're practicing authentic participation: Ask yourself, "Would I say this to an influential colleague, face to face?"

If the answer is yes, you're doing well. If you'd be embarrassed to share your Tweets or Facebook posts with people you know professionally, you may need to work on your tone and message.

Right: "Yesterday, @TwitterName asked about my experiences training a toy #poodle. I've published some tips: (link)"

Wrong: "Everyone, please read all of my latest articles! Make sure you click the thumbs up button!"

About Social Bookmarking

Sites including Digg, Yahoo! Buzz, StumbleUpon, Propeller, Mixx, Reddit and more allow users to submit links and vote on links submitted by others. Submissions that get lots of votes will be visible to many of the site's users. If a link gets few votes, it'll sink to the bottom of the heap and will get few, if any, visitors.

If you're interested in using a social bookmarking site, make an account and view content submitted by others. Comment on submissions that resonate with you. Review the site's Terms of Use and Community Guidelines and adhere to these rules carefully.

The bottom line is: If you want to get value from a social bookmarking site, you'll need to bring value to the community. For example, an article about linoleum flooring is probably not valuable to a community based on a shared interest in professional hockey. Share only your most relevant, compelling and timely content Make sure to spread the love by submitting your favorite content from outside the Yahoo! network, too.

Never, ever participate in "vote sharing" or any type of underground exchange that involves circumventing the rules of a community. If you're invited to trade votes with someone else, ignore the request or report it to community moderators. Spam rings that promise to help you get thousands of page views sound tempting, but in the end all you're likely to get is a banned account and a lot of spam sent to you.

Becoming an Influencer

With time and effort, you can get recognized as a top writer in your niche. I'll leave you with some tips on taking it to the next level.

• Specialize. You don't need to confine yourself to a single topic area, but if you're looking for recognition and a consistent audience, stick to a maximum of two or three subjects.
• Share your credentials. Readers are more likely to come back if they know you've got education and experience in the subjects you write about.
• Keep up with trends. Use Google Alerts and social media sites to make sure you're aware of any big news in your topic area(s).
• Comment, comment, comment. Be part of the conversation on blogs, social media sites, forums and more.
• Give some props. When you love something that someone else has created, share it with your network. Same goes for news items important to people interested in your specialties.
• Have a voice. If you want to be known as the next great humor writer, be funny in all of your interactions with others. If you want to be known for insightful political commentary, take time to share your unique perspective on current events.
• Bring something new to the table. There are already thousands of bloggers who summarize news stories. Find an angle that nobody else has. For example, instead of just writing about a celebrity diagnosed with cancer, interview people in your community who survived the same condition and ask them to share tips for the newly diagnosed.