Using a Blog to Promote Yourself

While media hype about blogging over the last several years continues to ebb and flow, the blog remains a great way for writers and artists to promote their work and network. But just how can a blog or online journal, often derided as a daily account of salad one had for lunch, help you get your work noticed?

One of the significant cultural changes the Internet has wrought is that it's now possible for anyone to be a celebrity in their niche interests. Despite this vast expansion of the ranks of who is a celebrity so somebody, human nature hasn't changed and people still want to hobnob, even virtually, with those they consider to be part of an elite class. This phenomena is something your blog, regardless of its subject, should try to take advantage of.

But setting yourself up to be an Internet expert or celebrity can be tricky, and there are key things you should remember as you work on your blog:

If you lie in your blog, or anywhere else, someone on the Internet will catch you. You don't want to be caught. Don't lie in your blog.

In your blog be sure to balance professional content with personal content. Many people when starting a blog to promote their creative or professional efforts make the mistake of being all business all the time. While your business is what you want to promote, it is critical that you provide not just a human face to your endeavors, but a persona that people can feel privileged to know a little bit about in a "behind the scenes" fashion. Always think of your blog as the DVD extras disk. Your blog may focus on your writing, art or other endeavor, but it must also reveal glimpses of you and your process to get and keep a loyal following.

Remember that the Internet is forever. Be judicious about the type of personal information you share on your blog. If you don't want to have to explain it to your mom, your boss or your spouse next week, next year or next decade, don't blog about it.

Develop community. If you want your blog to help promote your work, it's important to have a regular audience that will help evangelize for you. The best way to cultivate a regular audience for your blog is to get them active in discussions that will keep them coming back for more. Ask questions, respond graciously to compliments, debate civilly.

Your blog should be more than a one-note advertisement. The company you keep online says a lot about you. It can also help generate hits for your blog. Talk about other artists and writers whose work you enjoy. That might get new faces to your blog who want to read about them, and it helps associate you and your blog with the work you admire.

Try to develop multiple blog opportunities for yourself. Search Craigslist and other similar sites for paid blogging opportunities in your area of expertise and interest, thus giving you another avenue to promote your own blog and a way to strengthen your credentials and make your home on the Internet a destination site.

Be yourself. All blogs develop differently; this is the organic nature of the Internet in action. Trying to imitate the success formula for another popular blog won't work. Go with your gut.