Maintaining a Presence in the Blogosphere

While posting is the most important thing you can do to establish and maintain a presence in the blogosphere, there are many other options available that can help create or maintain a high profile for you and your business on the Web.

Commenting like crazy on posts that others write, especially on popular sites not only reminds the big-time bloggers of your existence, but can also get other commenters to drop by and check out your blog.

Online discussions aren’t just happening between bloggers. Discussion and community sites such as Yahoo! Groups and Google Groups provide good focused venues for raising awareness about your writing. Contribute to the dialog in these groups, and tactfully mention your blog at the same time.

Link out to other blogs. The blogs most bloggers use inform them immediately when people link to their site. There is probably no better way to remind or “notify” influencers of your existence. You can also use Google Alerts to setup alerts on any number of subjects.

Go out there and talk to real, live people. Attending industry conferences are a great way to both spread the word and gather new information for your own posting efforts. Conferences today offer more and more opportunities to network, and as many tech bloggers will tell you, these gatherings provide a treasure trove of information and allow you to evangelize your efforts. Your blog is part of your business; treat it as such. Checkout Darrens post on this subject, How to Promote Yourself at Conferences.

In general, get your blog’s web address out there as much as possible. Put the link in your signature that appears at the bottom of emails, and try to include it in all your marketing and collateral. See my recent article, Online Marketing Techniques for more information on promoting your blog.

If you’re passionate about your topic, enthusiastic and polite to others, and responsive to comments and feedback on your own site, then you can consider yourself to be engaged with the blogosphere. And the longer you remain firmly engaged, the more your readership will grow. In time with work and luck you’ll see other bloggers using these same strategies to engage you in conversation.