Top bloggers reveal how to build traffic off-blog without spending a dime
by Jonathan Fields | 10/17/07
Simple question –
“If you had 2-hours a day to devote to no-cost, off-blog (even off-line) marketing for your blog, what would you do?”
I posed this very question to a collection of some of the world’s top bloggers and social network marketers…and here’s what they revealed:
- Darren Rowse | ProBlogger.net - Guest Posting - I’d identify a handful of other blogs in my niche (or surrounding niches) to offer to write some guest posts for. Networking - I’d spend a lot of time interacting with other bloggers and their readers - commenting on their blogs, emailing them and exploring ways of working together in win-win ways. (When I read Darren’s original e-mail to me, I misread it and thought he said to write guest posts in exchange for advertising, not payment. Turns out, that’s not what he said, but I’ve used that very strategy to break into print magazines and wonder if it would work for blogs, too)
- Maki | doshdosh.com - Building relationships with influential people is my favorite off-blog marketing method because it gives the greatest amount of returns for all your efforts. Promote the content of other people, send emails, chat on IM, do favors, connect people together, help them achieve their goals. This is a great way to brand yourself or your site and makes it so much easier to get support or publicity in turn when you need it.
- Cyan Ta’eed | FreelanceSwitch.com - I would pick 5 top-100 blogs that I felt worked well with my target market, then I would read each of their articles and spend time coming up with interesting and constructive comments for any I felt I was qualified to write about. I would also scour the web for any gems I felt would relate to them, and send them over immediately. In that way I would position myself as a valuable resource and hopefully befriend them too (if we naturally clicked). When the time came for me to send them a special article I had written, I would have a far better chance of getting it profiled with them, and I would have valuable contacts for any future collaborations….OR…I would spend one hour a day reading every Digg top story that day, then spend the other hour finding and submitting great articles to Digg. In that way I would hopefully get a good eye for classic Digg stories, and move up the ranks as a popular Digger (for those that don’t know, Digg has unofficial “Star Diggers” who develop a following. If they post one of your stories, you can be guaranteed up to hundreds of Diggs from the get-go, and a very real shot of being on the Digg popular list that day). I’d also contact every blogger I know, and ask them to give me a heads-up when they had a special article coming out. That way I could Digg those articles before anyone else – which as I rose in popularity would benefit the traffic of the blogs in question also. Once I was a popular Digger (which is pretty hard from what I’ve heard – but probably possible in two hours a day for an extended period of time), I would be able to on occasion submit my own flagship articles, easily get them Dugg, and get thousands upon thousands of readers coming to my site on a regular basis.
- Penelope Trunk | Brazen Careerist - Here are two offline things that are great for promoting my blog: Being interesting at a party - if people like talking to you they’ll check out your blog. Doing public speaking. Sort of a like a party, right? But it’s a party where everyone is listening to you
- Leo Babuata | ZenHabits.net - Write guest posts. To me, there’s no better form of advertising, free or otherwise. If you can get a good blog with a medium to fairly large audience to run a guest post of yours, take that opportunity! It’s worth the time investment. Why? Not only is it free, but you’re exposing yourself to a new audience. And if you write your best stuff, there’s no better advertisement — how else can a reader know the kind of quality writing you’ll put out on your own blog except by reading it on another blog? Always do your best stuff when writing a guest post for another blog, and you’ll get lots of new readers.
- Anita Campbell | SmallBizTrends.com - I’d engage in social media marketing campaigns using a variety of content sharing sites, social networking and community based sites. So many sites, so little time…. With two hours a day, you could rock the house and make a huge difference.
- Liz Strauss | Successful-Blog.com - Two hours a day. I’d hang on StumbleUpon. I’d comment on blogs I’d read. I’d talk on the telephone with bloggers about what they were reading. I’d have a professional expert profile where the media looks for experts to interview. I’d speak at the local rotary and at every conference I could find. I’d know the editors and the editorial calendars of the op-ed and lifestyle press and be sure they knew when I was publishing something that correlated with their usual interests. I might even go as far a buying a weekly hour of live radio time and hosting a show in the suburbs of Chicago on the same topic as my blog.
- Muhammad Saleem | MuhammadSaleem.com - I would go socialize with other bloggers. This can entail guest writing on their blogs, commenting elsewhere and so on.
- Henrik Edberg | PositivityBlog.com - I´d probably use those two hours over time to build power user profiles for the biggest social media sites like Digg, Reddit and Stumbleupon. This would not only give me more connections, friends and opportunities out in the world. It would also enable me to increase my own readership pretty quickly by using those sites as a power user.
- Cory Miller | CoryMiller.com - Study the great blogs and learn what makes them great. Then force myself to read great blogs outside of my niche, passion and even interest for the same reason. Start email conversations with other bloggers. Develop relationships with journalists in my niche. I’ve been quoted and featured in four stories published in our state newspaper simply because I was blogging in my niche. And then, simply, get some rest. Blogging takes a ton of energy. I think more bloggers could use more rest times of simply sitting on the couch.
- Donald Latumahina | LifeOptimizer.org - For me, I will get involved in social media sites. This way I will know what the social media audience likes while also building my network there.
- Chris Garrett | Chrisg.com - For me it is guest-posting. It’s great marketing for your blog plus you can get paid for it!
- Cameron Olthius | CameronOlthuis.com - I’d participate by leaving thoughtful comments that contribute to the conversation on other relevant blogs.
- Alister Cameron | AlisterCameron.com -
- Create the next killer Wordpress plugin or theme
- Build relationships with top stumblers (and diggers)
- Write guest posts for [big blogs in your niche]
- Plan/research for next link-baity post
- Comment like crazy on other key blogs and some lesser-known ones
- Design a theme for csszengarden.com (Gets you a PR9 link)
Amazing insights…
While there was a bit of crossover between our various experts, I was amazed at how many different ideas were offered. And, a number of people brought off-line initiatives into the mix, too.
As someone who’s entrepreneurial efforts have been largely off-line until recently, I learned the power of networking and mainstream media publicity very early on. So, I would add these off-line strategies to the mix as well:
- Attend blogging/tech conferences where you know a ton of other bloggers will congregate, stay at the hotel where the conference is even it’s a bit more expensive and spend every extra minute connecting with everyone. Don’t just focus on the superstars, welcome any conversation..and, most importantly, like Maki said, when you meet people get into the “what can I do for you” mindset, not the other way around.
- Attend non-blog/tech conferences, events and trade-shows that focus on the content area of your blog. Get out and talk to people who actually earn their living in the big, scary face-to-face world….you might even have fun!
- Write “print” guest columns in old-fashioned newsletters, magazine and newspapers or even the online analogue of print outlets that either share the targeted readership with an interest in what you blog about or have massive reach. In fact, a friend of mine, Marci Alboher, began freelancing for The New York Times a few years ago and that eventually led to a gig as a regular columnist and career blogger with them. The nice thing here is you get exposure and you actually get paid, either in cash or I’ve even negotiated ad-space in lieu of greenbacks, which can be a real win-win with the right publication.
- Hit the radio-waves - Terrestrial or satellite, shows of all sizes are constantly on the hunt for entertaining guests, provocative topics and informative spots. I’ve done a bunch of radio and actually, through connections developed over time in print media, ended up doing a regular radio spot on Sirius (click podcast link on right column to listen) that turned into a recurring 1-hour segment. And now that I blog, guess what gets promoted at the end of every segment?
I’ll detail a bunch of ways to get you and your blog on the radio, featured in magazines and newspapers and writing for them, too, in a future post, so stay tuned.
What was interesting to me, too, was the absence of some oft-touted strategies like blog carnivals, and article-directories. Food for thought.
…so, how do you choose what to do?
Fact is, each strategy has its own unique benefits and they are all highly-effective at growing traffic. But, clearly, to implement them all would take far more than two hours a day. So, you need to make some choices.
For me, it comes down to bang for your buck. These days, time is our most precious asset, even more treasured than money. And, time well spent can take the place of money well spent in launching and growing a blog.
So, rather than trying to do it all on a low level, hone your efforts, choose the strategies that resonate most with you, the ones you feel most comfortable pursuing, and invest your energy in those.
Do this for 30-days and then if you have the inclination and the time, begin to add more, one at a time. This will allow you to adapt to the workload and also be able to more effectively measure the additive affect of each strategy.
And, remember, too, this nugget:
- Jay White | DumbLittleMan.com - This is going to sound VERY generic but there is no better marketing than writing great articles. I would simply use that time to write.
No amount of off-blog effort can make up for poor content or design. So, step one is to make your blog rock. Once that’s taken care of, step two is to set the off-blog marketing wheels in motion.
If you’ve got more ideas, thoughts or questions, share them now in the Comment section below.
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October 17th, 2007 | 2:42 pm
Hello Jonathan,
thanks for the great insight! I not only discovered some blogs I haven’t heard of (image!), but got also
some excellent ideas how to build up my own blog…
October 17th, 2007 | 5:27 pm
Great article with amazing insight! Just when you think you have some of it figured out, you can always learn more, especially from some big names!
I have written guest articles, used the social networking sites and I read a lot of different types of blogs and other sites each day. I can say from my experience that most of my traffic comes from the social networking sites, and search engine traffic.
So, two hours a day… I think I would spend an hour with my family and then an hour reading some great articles.
October 17th, 2007 | 5:53 pm
[...] Jonathan Fields, just asked a bunch of great bloggers (including me) this question for a post on blog marketing: “If you had 2-hours a day to devote to no-cost, off-blog (even off-line) marketing for your [...]
October 17th, 2007 | 5:59 pm
I would spend the time just browsing on many other sites, trying to find comparisons, new ideas, and the continuation of my niche development.
October 18th, 2007 | 12:56 am
[...] Fields asked a number of bloggers how they’d build traffic through off-blog activities without spending any money - an interesting array of [...]
October 18th, 2007 | 1:14 am
Great compilation! But what it boils down to is actually not blogging or anything internet related - it’s about cooperation instead of competition.
Get your ego aside and work together - build friendship and business associates.
October 18th, 2007 | 2:53 am
Thanks for the great article. I am just beginning to blog and I need all the ideas that I can come up with to get off of the ground and get some readers and then try and make a online business out of it.
October 18th, 2007 | 3:06 am
[...] pumping in money to promote and market their blogs. Jonathan on his blog has an insightful post on how the top bloggers promote their blogs whenever they get time to promote them. He tried to find out what these bloggers would do if they [...]
October 18th, 2007 | 3:44 am
This is really useful information for bloggers. Thanks for sharing this excellent post!
October 18th, 2007 | 3:49 am
I think a lot of building an audience is doing things other blogs are not doing. Everyone has top 10 lists, how to’s, and things like that, but do they have videos of this? Do they go out and take real pictures, do interviews on the street, etc?
Creative, unique content will get an audience.
October 18th, 2007 | 3:55 am
Nice multiple interview! Personally I would also try to build traditional backlinks like we do with standard websites. It helps SEO to have permanent backlinks on other websites’s homepages. Probably a link exchange with my blogroll or a third ways link exchange, I link to his site with another site of mine and he links to my blog with his site, that way the backlink will have more importance.
October 18th, 2007 | 4:01 am
I think blogs are like reading diaries of opinions.
October 18th, 2007 | 4:33 am
[...] Traffic! Traffic! Traffic! 2 overwhelming tips: [...]
October 18th, 2007 | 6:00 am
I am a blogger beginner. Thank you for sharing the useful information..
October 18th, 2007 | 6:52 am
Well many of the bloggers in the article think that putting comments on worthy blogs is a valuable use of time, so I thought I might start here with this one
October 18th, 2007 | 7:12 am
[...] info… [...]
October 18th, 2007 | 7:19 am
Not only articles, but some times comments are also very nice!
October 18th, 2007 | 7:29 am
Thanks Jonathan - for a newbie like me, this information is pure gold. The biggest ‘take-away’ I received here is “how can my contribution genuinely add value to someone else’s blog” - credibility.
October 18th, 2007 | 7:37 am
Now you have heard how the top bloggers do it. But have you heard about the Blogmandments? read more on my blog. thank you, jonathan great post i mentioned you in my last article the Ten Blogmandments!
October 18th, 2007 | 8:15 am
I think you have compiled a great collection here. I personally found the tips very useful to apply to my site.
October 18th, 2007 | 8:21 am
Hey Gang,
Thanks for sticking with me throughout a crazy night of server-madness. This story hit Digg, SU and del.icio.us all at once, wow!
I’ll write about that experience as a new-ish blogger real soon. But it’s all good and your comments and support, along with the help of a few very cool super-bloggers who came to my aid, were great!
Probably the biggest thing I learned was not only to guest post, which I already do, but to offer up your best stuff in guest posts and get past the urge to save it for your own blog.
Share what you do best and, in the end, all ships rise.
October 18th, 2007 | 9:14 am
Thank you for this great post! Building relationships through blogging is what keeps the blogosphere growing by the second!
October 18th, 2007 | 9:25 am
This is ALL great stuff.
Thanks for putting this together. Will start right away for my site !!
October 18th, 2007 | 9:52 am
Thank you for sharing this great information. I found this article very useful to apply to my site
October 18th, 2007 | 9:58 am
Jonathan, thanks for an excellent piece. I’ve recently started popping my head out of my little shell and done some nice little networking with other bloggers and building up a profile on some of the social sites (in fact, that’s how I got to know you when you added me as a friend on Digg!) and it’s reaping good rewards…traffic wise as well as getting some nice help on content creation and I’m sure there’s opportunities for us to work together and network! …
But no matter which to use, Jay’s right, nothing beats having great content …
And thanks for having done that! Else, I wouldn’t have subscribed to your blog! Keep up the great work…
Cheers,
Ellesse
October 18th, 2007 | 10:25 am
When you’re starting off like me, the best thing to do is to visit other sites and build up a list of contacts through commenting. It helps to visit other sites too in order to learn more about whats happening within your particular niche.
October 18th, 2007 | 10:29 am
Jonathan, thanks for a very interesting article.
My best tips for creating large traffic flows within hours is as follows, which worked wonders for my free movie site NSR, and continues until today.
[1] approach your blog’s niche ie: the audience that will consider looking at your blog and its subject. In my case free movies, I left comments in all the movie blog sites referring to my site.
[2] I answered questions in Yahoo questions and Answers forums referring to my site.
[3] I commented in all the movie forums, which have thousands of members, referring to my site.
[4] I left comments on Stumble Upon referring to my site.
Within hours, i recorded hundreds of clicks. I use Google search a lot and look for anything pertaining to movies and new sites, and pass comments.
Keep commenting and referring to your site on a daily basis.
I hope that these small tips will help other sites
gather the clicks and traffic flows.
best Regards
Norman Roberts
webmaster NSR
October 18th, 2007 | 10:35 am
Wow, this is a great article, man. You’re like revealing a marketing secret for blogging. I’m newbie actually, so I really need this to manage my blog. Building network to build traffic is an important thing to do, that I just realized after read this. Thanks, you’ve post a great article for blog owners like me.
October 18th, 2007 | 11:21 am
These are some great tips, I have a lot of work to do to gain rank in the blog world I guess.
October 18th, 2007 | 12:17 pm
[...] Sfaturi de la cei mai tari in domeniu: Cum sa-ti faci cunoscut blogul dedicandu-i 2 ore pe zi. [...]
October 18th, 2007 | 12:49 pm
Thanks for this insightful post. I’ll definitely be getting it linked to from my site!
October 18th, 2007 | 1:26 pm
[...] An interview of top bloggers who answered a question about how they would promote their blog off line. Lots of great info in the top bloggers answers. [...]
October 18th, 2007 | 2:37 pm
You’d think most of these would be common sense, but sometimes we get so involved actually blogging on our own sites, we forget about reading, posting, and commenting on other ones. There are some great tips here that I hadn’t thought about in a very long time.
thx!
October 18th, 2007 | 3:02 pm
Yeah, you definitely need to make sure you are reading other blogs and not just writing your own.
October 18th, 2007 | 3:52 pm
Fantastic insights, definitely worth doing. Some are a definitely for the hardcore blogger and others are something every blogger should be doing.
Time to get cracking!
October 18th, 2007 | 6:40 pm
Thanks for all the free tips bloggers. All of us newbies need all the help we can get.
October 18th, 2007 | 6:41 pm
Here’s an idea. Why not use those two hours to go do something _interesting_, that someone might actually want to, you know, read?
This posting reminds me of my time in the dot.com days, when “social” events were nothing but putting with blue-shirt-and-dockers biz-dev schmucks.
Want your blog read? Be interesting. Wasting your time on traffic maximizing “strategy” is soulless.
October 18th, 2007 | 7:19 pm
[...] Top bloggers reveal how to build traffic off-blog without spending a dime (tags: blogging) [...]
October 18th, 2007 | 7:32 pm
[...] Top bloggers reveal how to build traffic off-blog without spending a dime | Jonathan Fields | Awake … (tags: blogging marketing blog promotion blogs tips web2.0 branding buzz traffic **) [...]
October 18th, 2007 | 9:13 pm
I don’t really see the point in “upping” readership, unless you’re making money on your blog. And then hopefully one is an interesting enough writer with interesting topics to have return readership.
Finding a niche is key, as I see in design blogs or there are some triathlon blogs…unfortunately, mine is somewhat random, but I feel that by doing pretty much nothing but writing and commenting on other blogs of interest on occasion, I get a decent amount of comments. The weird thing is seeing a blog for the first time ever and then seeing yourself on their blogroll.
I see blogging more of an outlet for me and a networking thing as well…if I were to be making money at it, then well, by all means, I would be trying to get more readers!
I DO find that I get more readers if I comment on other blogs, blogs I read often enough…and then a percentage of those come back to me and read.
Hopefully it is because it is interesting.
October 18th, 2007 | 9:59 pm
I agree with Scalzi, this isn’t anything but glorified star***, wrapped up in marketing speak.
October 18th, 2007 | 11:14 pm
I would love for you to write on how to get articles in print. I have tried but many magazines have their own writers. I try and help other bloggers out whenever I can and I totally agree with the comment that it is cooperation instead of competiton. If someone comments on my site, I try and comment on theirs. There is enough room at the table!
Amazing post!
October 19th, 2007 | 12:32 am
If I had two extra hours left over every day… I’d use them to actually blog.
October 19th, 2007 | 1:29 am
it is a really good article!comprehensive but very detailed
October 19th, 2007 | 1:30 am
[...] Top bloggers reveal how to build traffic off-blog without spending a dime | Jonathan Fields | Awake …"If you had 2-hours a day to devote to no-cost, off-blog (even off-line) marketing for your blog, what would you do?" Bill Hicks on MarketingBill Hicks on Marketingrichselfdestruct3 min - Sep 5, 2006Bill Hicks [...]
October 19th, 2007 | 2:21 am
I have to agree with fishbane. The dangers of the N00b blogger reading this will push them just to create posts that are “traffic maximizing” and create boring looking regurgitations without soul. Nobody will keep reading a blog that is based just to suck out top keyword search queries from Google.
Heres an idea, instead of reading articles on how to maximise your blog. Spend those two hours actually posting every day. Something most all of us amateur bloggers could use on our blogs.
October 19th, 2007 | 6:30 am
Hey gang,
A couple of thoughts on the comments.
First, thanks for the incredible reception this article has received, it’s really blown me away.
Two, while the bloggers in the article shared their answers to my specific question, I believe they would also all be very quick to tell you that, while these strategies can have a nice impact on your readership, it is very likely not the greatest idea to undertake them purely for the sake of marketing. They’ve got to be motivated, first and foremost, by genuine interest.
For example, if you are genuinely interested in an article or blog, go ahead and comment, say something thoughtful because the article inspired you to want to join in the conversation. Knowing that it might have a secondary marketing impact in addition to joining in the conversation is more the icing on the cake. Maybe that will inspire you to share more or read more blogs. But you need to start from a place of genuine interest/authenticity. If it’s purely about marketing, people will sense that…and you will get bored of doing it pretty quickly, making a less than stellar long-term approach.
Same thing applies to things like guest posting. Sure, there is a marketing impact, it can be very substantial. But underlying that, your prime reason for wanting to do it should still be a genuine interest in the community and a desire to share something of value with that community.
Networking, too. You can call it networking, hanging out, kicking around ideas, whatever you choose. That’s really just semantics. The long-term marketing impact can be powerful, definitely a strategy to explore…BUT, just like above, the marketing affect should always take a back seat to you sense of genuine connection to a person, their voice, ideas and personality. Lead with your desire to meet someone because you’d love to learn more about them, share ideas, have a drink and then, if it turns out you can help them in some way beyond the conversation, great. But, never lose the thread of authentic interest.
And, this applies to social networking and bookmarking, too. Whether you’re on Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, whatever your chosen network, submit and vote for articles, be-friend people because you genuinely like the articles or connect with what other people have submitted or voted for. And, if one of the net results is increased marketing impact or readership, that’s nice, too.
In the end the point is, make sure your marketing efforts are built upon a deeper, genuine interest in the relationships and content.
Have a great weekend!
Thanks for an amazing week of comments (and sever crashes)!
October 19th, 2007 | 6:46 am
[...] Top bloggers reveal how to build traffic off-blog without spending a dime - Jonathan Fields @ eponymous blog [...]
October 19th, 2007 | 8:00 am
Good tips but nothing new under the sun.
October 19th, 2007 | 8:43 am
Yeah, what she said. If you’re interesting and interested, your blog will grow whether you like it or not. Much more challenging: See my post “Top five secrets to keeping your blog obscure”.
October 19th, 2007 | 9:17 am
[...] diffondere il proprio nome in Rete. Insomma, una sorta di prontuario al successo nella blogosfera. Molteplici le soluzioni suggerite dagli autori, che molto altruisticamente hanno dispensato consigli e strategie da attuare [...]
October 19th, 2007 | 9:54 am
I’m proud NOT to be on wordpress most growing blogs!
…but I’d like to?!?!
October 19th, 2007 | 10:15 am
Guest blogging is hard to get. I have a hard time getting people to respond to my e-mails, even when I include several sample articles that I know are on target.
October 19th, 2007 | 10:25 am
Having spent the last 2 weeks scouring the internet for useful articles - this is the best one I have come across in the terms of content and presentation. Thanks
October 19th, 2007 | 11:04 am
Matt,
Two quick ways to increase your opportunity to guest blog. First, write great content on your own site/blog. Second, write really solid, thoughtful comments, on a regular basis, on the blogs you’d like to eventually guest post on. And, again, not just for the marketing value, but as a genuine contribution to the discussion.
October 19th, 2007 | 11:04 am
Although I am a published writer, just four months old as a blogger so all these tips are great information to me.
You did not stress Carnivals. Wondering why. I was advised this is a great way to build readership. I have entered 14 and was chosen by all.
Will you expand on this? Or will some of you pros commenting here answer?
Also have 17 articles on Ezine. What’s your thought on that?
Thanks from a newbie!
October 19th, 2007 | 7:21 pm
Thanks a lot for this post mate. It is a good way to learn something and also to know such popular blogs from US.
Take care
Luca
……from Italy
October 20th, 2007 | 12:08 am
[...] Top bloggers reveal how to build traffic off-blog without spending a dime - “If you had 2-hours a day to devote to no-cost, off-blog (even off-line) marketing for your blog, what would you do?” I posed this very question to a collection of some of the world’s top bloggers and social network marketers… and here’s what they revealed:” the most stunning conclusion, they all said something completely different. [...]
October 20th, 2007 | 12:24 am
Here’s all you do.
1) Have interesting interests.
2) Follow those interests, and the writers who write about them.
2) Write quotable posts about those interests.
3) Source and link others. Do that a lot.
4) Keep it up.
That’s it. No need to suck up to stars that really aren’t. No need to attend events, unless you’re really interested in the subject. No need to do SEO or UGC or any other three or four letter acronyms.
No need to take advertising, either. Use your blog to make yourself valuable, and sell *that*. I’ve never taken a dime of advertising on my blog, and I’ve made a lot more money *because of* my blog than I’ve ever made *with* it.
Don’t watch your traffic numbers. Some of the most effective posts I’ve ever had were on days with the fewest visitors.
Blogging is a great way to have fun, enlarge your life and add value to the world. Do it for love and the money will follow. And if it doesn’t, you’ll still have the love.
Doc
October 20th, 2007 | 4:37 am
[...] Jonathan Fields [...]
October 20th, 2007 | 7:56 am
Jonathan!
First off - fantastic post.
I found that doing team blogging – not guest posting but sharing experiences and experiments - is super productive in terms of research for any aspect of blogging like theme, niche, content, content structure, frequency, and many other. I think another suggestion would be teaming up with another blogger of your rank and doing experiments, failing and succeeding and then sharing results.
October 20th, 2007 | 9:47 am
[...] Top bloggers reveal how to build traffic off-blog without spending a dime | Jonathan Fields | Awake … “If you had 2-hours a day to devote to no-cost, off-blog (even off-line) marketing for your blog, what would you do?” [...]
October 20th, 2007 | 12:19 pm
[...] [BLOGGING] Top bloggers reveal how to build traffic off-blog without spending a dime [...]
October 20th, 2007 | 12:21 pm
Wow this is a great article, Thanks for compiling this information. It seems the biggest traffic maker mentioned is Social Media and guest articles. Do people not find traffic from commenting on peoples posts anymore? Our is this a still a viable way of maintaining traffic.
October 20th, 2007 | 7:59 pm
[...] Also, Jonathan Fields asked some bloggers including yours truly a question on blog marketing. The article is an interesting read, especially if you are a blogger: Top bloggers reveal how to build traffic off-blog without spending a dime. [...]
October 21st, 2007 | 7:19 am
[...] Top bloggers reveal how to build traffic off-blog without spending a dime | Jonathan Fields | Awake … “If you had 2-hours a day to devote to no-cost, off-blog (even off-line) marketing for your blog, what would you do?” I posed this very question to a collection of some of the world’s top bloggers and social network marketers…and here’s what the (tags: blogging marketing blog tips promotion Blogs traffic) [...]
October 22nd, 2007 | 5:25 am
[...]
October 22nd, 2007 | 8:09 am
[...] Jonathan Fields came up with the great idea of mailing top bloggers and asking them this: “If you had 2-hours a day to devote to no-cost, off-blog (even off-line) marketing for your blog, what would you do?” [...]
October 22nd, 2007 | 12:27 pm
[...] Read there answers here: Top bloggers reveal how to build traffic off-blog without spending a dime [...]
October 24th, 2007 | 2:58 pm
[...] after reading the article Top bloggers reveal how to build traffic off-blog without spending a dime,one of the bloggers interviewed was Liz Strauss, who said she would “hang on [...]
October 25th, 2007 | 12:26 am
Thanks for the great insights. I’m not new to blogging, but I am new to blogging in a niche that has a greater reach than the one I currently blog in.
Looking forward to where this adventure leads!
October 25th, 2007 | 11:35 am
[...] some great recommendations on how to build traffic without spending any money, check out my recent roundtable article (which Cyan contributed some awesome ideas [...]
October 25th, 2007 | 12:08 pm
[...] some great recommendations on how to build traffic without spending any money, check out my recent roundtable article (which Cyan contributed some awesome ideas [...]
October 26th, 2007 | 11:53 pm
Hey
This is an excellent posting, look like commenting and commenting is the most productive active an active blogger neeed to do everyday!
Great effort great interview!
Regards,
Jack Lan
http://www.moneyfromblog.com
October 27th, 2007 | 5:13 pm
Hi,
This is such a fantastic article. I love all the tips from each blogger. The one I loved most is Maki’s. He talks about this point in his articles: “What Can I do for you?” attitude. I love it.
Designing a theme for csszengarden is a great idea for SEO, I hadn’t thought of that.
One thing I’d like to add is to spend part of that 2 hours for the first few day looking for outsource help. Multiplying yourself is one of the best strategies found in successful people. Besides, we all have limited amount of time in a day… the question to as is “What’s the BEST use of my time right now?” Some tasks cannot be outsourced, so focus on those.
Anyways, very enlightening article. Thank you!
Tina
Think Simple. Be Decisive.
Productivity, Motivation & Happiness
October 28th, 2007 | 5:47 pm
[...] Top bloggers reveal how to build traffic off-blog without spending a dime [...]
October 28th, 2007 | 9:53 pm
[...] Top bloggers reveal how to build traffic off-blog without spending a dime (Jonathan Fields) [...]
October 29th, 2007 | 5:31 am
[...] -How Top Bloggers Really Promote their Websites Simple question: “If you had 2-hours a day to devote to no-cost, off-blog (even off-line) marketing for your blog, what would you do?” I posed this very question to a collection of some of the world’s top bloggers and social network marketers…and here’s what they revealed. Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
November 3rd, 2007 | 5:32 am
[...] Top bloggers reveal how to build traffic off-blog without spending a dime [...]
November 4th, 2007 | 11:24 am
Great article. Will use it as a guideline to promote my website and also my company (in the future :D)
November 9th, 2007 | 6:39 am
[...] few weeks back, I posted a roundtable article on my blog that shared some marketing advice from 15 top-bloggers. In it, I asked each [...]
November 9th, 2007 | 7:07 am
[...] few weeks back, I posted a roundtable article on my blog that shared some marketing advice from 15 top-bloggers. In it, I asked each [...]
November 9th, 2007 | 8:22 am
Jonathan, thank you for taking the time to compile such great material. I often wonder what others do outside of sitting behind the computer screen to market themself along with their websites.
November 9th, 2007 | 6:47 pm
Most excellent post. Few other ways I found fruitful.. get into groups, meetups that is of your interest.
November 16th, 2007 | 4:05 am
[...] Jonathan asked an interesting question to the top bloggers: If you had 2-hours a day to devote to no-cost, off-blog (even off-line) marketing for your blog, what would you do? [...]
November 17th, 2007 | 5:49 pm
[...] How Top Bloggers Really Promote their Websites [...]
November 20th, 2007 | 6:52 am
[...] Wanting to share with you these bloggers’ wisdom I picked those that represented most of the answers. For the full list of answers from today’s A-list bloggers please visit Jonathan Field’s Blog. [...]
November 20th, 2007 | 6:04 pm
[...] and use cost-free methods of marketing such as guest [...]
November 25th, 2007 | 12:59 am
[...] Fields se zeptal A-list blogerů, co by dělali, kdyby měli věnovat dvě hodiny denně marketingu svého blogu, to [...]
November 26th, 2007 | 1:35 pm
This was very helpful. Thank you for putting this together!
November 28th, 2007 | 2:18 pm
Yeah, this is a very very cool blog.
I just added you to my favorites.
Thanx,
Mikey
December 2nd, 2007 | 5:20 am
Great information for bloggers! The one common denominator was building the relationship. What the top bloggers know is social networking is a vital tool. With the internet community in so called competition I think this article brings it to light. Its not about being in competition but working with people that have common goals and desires to bring the results together.
Thanks so much for this. I think the networking community needs this reminder
MEGAN
December 16th, 2007 | 3:14 am
[...] to use cost-free methods of marketing such as guest [...]
December 16th, 2007 | 7:17 pm
[...] force myself to read great blogs outside of my niche, passion and even interest for the same reason….. But a fair amount of bloggers are just out in the field - right? C’mon, Barcamp Scotland [...]
December 27th, 2007 | 3:20 am
[...] through the no-cost marketing options recommended by top bloggers, [...]
December 28th, 2007 | 10:45 pm
I must say that this is one of the best articles I have read regarding the topic. I, myself, am in the process of launching a website. The site I am launching is a social bookmarking website / visual launchpad with a different more mainstream perspective. If anyone would like to discuss a way that I can help you out or vice versa, please feel free to email me at quickieclick@aol.com. I am open to ideas on ways we can help each other out.
Have a Happy New Year!
George
http://www.QuickieClick.com
December 29th, 2007 | 5:40 pm
[...] post and they seem to have a fairly similar theme to my most popular post. One was called, Top Bloggers Reveal How To Build Traffic Offline Without Spending A Dime and the other one I felt needed a mention was Top 10 Ways to Use Facebook to Promote Your Business [...]
December 29th, 2007 | 6:09 pm
This was a great post not just because of the content but the fact you brought experienced bloggers and experts together. I have given a mention to this post on my own blog as a resource for my web clients in Greenville and the Upstate of South Carolina.
December 31st, 2007 | 9:51 pm
Great tips.
January 7th, 2008 | 5:25 pm
Building relationships best way!
January 8th, 2008 | 1:41 pm
[...] Top bloggers reveal how to build traffic off-blog without spending a dime - Jonathan Fields wrote this post, but the title was changed to: How Top Bloggers Really Promote their Websites. [...]
February 16th, 2008 | 10:08 am
[...] or niches with a lot of traffic potential 2) Constantly add quality, fresh content to your blog 3) Get lots of free traffic to your blog 4) Monetize the resulting [...]
February 20th, 2008 | 3:36 pm
WOW, this was a powerhouse to me since I would rather stick a fork in my hand than blog. I think I’ll dip my toe in the blog water now.
March 2nd, 2008 | 6:28 pm
Thanks for the reminder of things I can do to promote my blogs. Now I need to plan how I am going to use my 2 hours and focus…
March 8th, 2008 | 5:13 am
Thanks a lot for the great and real insights .. this should defintely wake everybody up that popularity of own blog does not grow by comment spamming in high pr blogs … Cheers Joakim
March 8th, 2008 | 3:29 pm
[...] I was only a few weeks into my blogging adventure when I took my first very public thrashing at the feet of another much more established blogger. I’d written a round-up column, featuring insights from a wide variety of top bloggers on off-blog marketing. [...]
March 9th, 2008 | 12:53 am
[...] I was only a few weeks into my blogging adventure when I took my first very public thrashing at the feet of another much more established blogger. I’d written a round-up column, featuring insights from a wide variety of top bloggers on off-blog marketing. [...]
March 9th, 2008 | 1:00 pm
Great article. Really insightful. Thanks a ton.
http://www.nela.in/
March 9th, 2008 | 6:23 pm
Great information here. It is very useful.
Thanks!
March 10th, 2008 | 9:44 am
[...] I was only a few weeks into my blogging adventure when I took my first very public thrashing at the feet of another much more established blogger. I’d written a round-up column, featuring insights from a wide variety of top bloggers on off-blog marketing. [...]
March 16th, 2008 | 7:03 am
Great post and glad to have found your blog. I am new to the blogging world and any information on how to promote without spenidng a dime is an absolute saviour. Many thanks!
March 16th, 2008 | 8:27 pm
[...] I was only a few weeks into my blogging adventure when I took my first very public thrashing at the feet of another much more established blogger. I’d written a round-up column, featuring insights from a wide variety of top bloggers on off-blog marketing. [...]
April 25th, 2008 | 8:25 am
inspirational..seems like guest posting was mentioned by quite a few of them compared to the other methods..thanks for the great post!
April 28th, 2008 | 9:14 pm
Top bloggers reveal how to build traffic off-blog without spending a dime | Awake At The Wheel | Personal Growth | caree…
If you had 2-hours a day to devote to no-cost, off-blog (even off-line) marketing for your blog, what would you do?…
April 28th, 2008 | 9:16 pm
STUMBLED!
Awesome post and tips.
VOTED for this post at:
http://www.newsdots.com/tutorials/top-bloggers-reveal-how-to-build-traffic-off-blog-without-spending-a-dime-awake-at-the-wheel-personal-growth-caree/
May 1st, 2008 | 3:32 pm
[...] Invite Guest Blogging: Inviting well known bloggers can contribute to your blog’s growth. You can ask a well known personality in your subject to [...]
June 10th, 2008 | 10:39 am
I can’t believe I just found this post. Great thoughts, great comments. For me, it goes back to Ray Kroc: “Persistence, Persistence, Persistence.” As often as I tell my clients that their traffic will build through these strategies, one of the biggest mountains to climb is not getting discouraged when — after two weeks of work — you’re not knocking down 1,000 uniques a day. Building traffic is one thing. Building traffic that is substantive and sustainable is something completely different.
June 10th, 2008 | 3:52 pm
Some great stuff in this article. Very interesting post. No wonder it’s so popular. We all need something for nothing, don’t we.
June 19th, 2008 | 5:32 pm
Johathan thanks for the great ideas! You have given out some very powerful information and got my head thinking big. Blogging to the top! Hope to read more from you soon. Chandler BLuesoul- Alabama
June 25th, 2008 | 2:09 am
a very interesting post with great ideas! added your blog in my reader!
June 27th, 2008 | 12:02 am
Very useful information. I am new to the blogging world and this article surely helped me out alot.
June 28th, 2008 | 6:27 pm
Thanks for the tips. I started my college planning site http://www.CollegeTidbits.com in January of 2008 and I am struggling to grow my traffic beyond 200 viewers a day.
5,000 to 10,000 visitors a day seems so far away. I will try some of the above tips.
June 30th, 2008 | 10:01 pm
I agree with Darren. Not too long ago I started leaveing comments on other blogs simmilar to mine and sure enough it brought some trafic.
July 10th, 2008 | 9:19 am
Good collection of a LOT of info here! I’ve added my 2 cent…er maybe 1 cent’s worth here: http://natespost.com/index.php/blogging-for-traffic/
July 12th, 2008 | 4:39 am
Well, all the above comments are pretty good ideas for a new blogger who want to gets popular in the hot market. Well, what I would do is get a lot of attention. This can be done by writing some really good articles at ezine and other best sites. Also, commenting naturally about other blogs will seek attention.
August 5th, 2008 | 10:59 am
the thing is, that if you don’t have quality content, all this SEO stuff and link building, is useless.I think that, if you want to have a visited blog, you have to be preoccupied mostly, by the content you give for the visitors.
August 6th, 2008 | 12:14 am
[...] Top bloggers reveal how to build traffic off-blog without spending a dime [...]
August 10th, 2008 | 2:58 am
[...] year Jonathan asked an interesting question to the top bloggers: If you had 2-hours a day to devote to no-cost, [...]
August 17th, 2008 | 8:51 am
Thanks for your nice information, This article surely helped me
August 17th, 2008 | 2:18 pm
This:
Liz Strauss | Successful-Blog.com
has a very good ideas!
Thanks for
August 26th, 2008 | 12:46 am
When I started my movie blog three months ago I made the mental commitment to stay at it for at least two year and follow all these points. Lets see what happens.
August 28th, 2008 | 3:51 am
ill try to do some tips that I’ve read here. Thanks for the post, this is so helpful!
August 28th, 2008 | 3:53 am
im trying very hard to have quality contents, thats important, right?
September 5th, 2008 | 10:28 am
Amazing blog post you got here. I just realized it now how important getting a good PR and traffic is. For the newbies, don’t waste time, start building up your traffic as early as you can. You be ripping the fruits of your work later on and believe me, it feels really good.
September 14th, 2008 | 10:48 am
Hello Jonathan,
Thanks for the good job that you did here.I find it very informative.
Not only was I given chance to meet with some of top bloggers on the bloggosphere.I have an opportunity to tap into their mind.
I’ll start implementing what they exposed right now.
Thanks
September 19th, 2008 | 4:45 pm
I would pick 5 top-100 blogs that I felt worked well with my target market, then I would read each of their articles and spend time coming up with interesting and constructive comments
September 30th, 2008 | 8:30 pm
Johnathan,
Thanks for getting so many top bloggers to provide their tips. Great info I can use that I would not have found otherwise. I was only familiar with one of them.
October 5th, 2008 | 9:29 am
This is priceless! Thank you so much.
I never really thought of guest posting before. I will definitly use my two hours better in the future! Thanks again!
October 7th, 2008 | 12:55 pm
Great tips, thanks for putting it together. will be using these techniques soon.
November 4th, 2008 | 12:52 pm