Anyone who creates on a regular basis knows writing a compelling article or producing an amazing video you are happy and proud of is not enough. Wait, what am I saying? Writing anything at all that is worth publishing and reading is simply not enough.
This might sound extremely disappointing. You probably spent hours, maybe even days, coming up with an idea, nurturing it, putting pen to paper, walking away frustrated, returning to try again and refine it until it’s just right. You know, the normal writing process. Once your idea is finally in written form, spelt out on paper, you can relish in that wonderful, accomplished feeling. No longer is it just a thought you play around with, as a cat does with a mouse. You did your research, and you used the right keywords. You spent outrageous amounts of time on different websites to find the right images to go along with your text, eventually deciding which ones to use and determining the best placement on the page.
At long last, the piece of content you worked so hard on is ready and uploaded to your blog. You hit “publish,” and ta-da! The moment you waited for and worked so incredibly hard for is here. Now it is out there for everyone to read, like, and share.
You wait. And you wait and wait, and check every minute to see how many people read it, like it, and comment on it. You keep refreshing the page every two minutes, again and again, waiting to see the results of your hard work.
Sound familiar? Well, I admit I do it, too.
The disappointment comes when nothing happens, or almost nothing happens. You start questioning yourself: what did I do wrong?
Well, you did everything right, but the thing is your job is not done. You see, this whole affair of writing and creating content, no matter the purpose of the content (to promote your business, have a passion for writing, share your knowledge, etc.), doesn’t stop when you push the “publish” bottom. Actually, the distribution of your content is equally as important.
You will argue that you spend so much time looking for keywords and inserting them in the article so that all your audience needs to do is type relevant strings into the Google search query and your article will appear. I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but everyone follows that same practice. Now, wait just a moment. Don’t despair and say everything you did was for nothing.
All you need to do now is to make sure your content reaches your audience. You can do that through your distribution channels. The following social media platforms are the most frequently used:
- Google+
- YouTube
You can be present on all of them, or alternatively, just the ones where your audience is active. However, you need to be on all of the platforms where your readers are.
Is your audience more active on Facebook Groups, or maybe they prefer LinkedIn Groups? You need to make sure you are sharing your content there and have an engaging blurb to make them click through and read it.
Your new article can be an excellent medium to mention an older post. Do you see the hyperlink I included above? If you click it, you are directed to another article I wrote last month. Reference is an easy and handy way to distribute content.
Are you already using content aggregation apps? If not, don’t wait a moment longer. This is a great way to reach a new audience without any cost or effort. Be aware, though, that you need to work and build your presence there, just like on any other platform.
Another great distribution channel is your newsletter. You already know with certainty that the people who subscribed to your newsletter are your audience, and better yet they gave you consent to email them. Thus, use it!
We all have a network of experts in our industries where you already share ideas. Why not share content, as well? Guest posts are widely used and very effective tools when it comes to reaching new audiences and sharing information.
If you can allocate some of your budgets, you can promote and share your content on different media platforms where your audience is based. This is a very effective tool, as long as you do your homework beforehand and know the media’s audience is relevant to you.
The more people you reach, the higher the chance is they will read your article, share it, like it, and comment on it. Now, after following these steps and tips, you should start to see results when you refresh the analytics page.
I would like to hear from you! Which of the above distribution tools do you use already? Which one works best for you? Do you not use one or all of these? Which ones do you plan to try out if any?
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