You Wrote a Blog Post. Now What?

You just wrote the best blog post ever.

Congratulations.

But really, you're just getting started, unless you don't want anyone to read it. Thankfully, there are lots of tricks to getting people to pay attention to what you have to say, and to bring them along as prospects, customers, partners, champions, etc.

So why is it so many of us write a blog post, and then just tweet it once and maybe also post it to LinkedIn once.

It makes no sense.

To get the most out of every post, below are some recommendations – for what to do as you write it, and what to do after you post it.

Any other ideas?

Let me know and I’ll update this post – I’ll even give you complete credit!

1. Post Early and Often

When we post a new article to our blog, for the first month or so we try to do two or three tweets and one or two LinkedIn shares for that post each week. Some times we’ll actually use the exact same copy each time we share.

We’re ok with that repetition because we are active enough on Twitter to keep folks from thinking the repetition is a bit too much like Jack Nicholson in The Shining (All work and no play...).

But an even better way to do this is to create four or five different tweets for the same piece, with each one referencing one element or another of the post. That way, even if the tweets do run close together, it won’t look robotic or spammy.

So post those tweets and share on LinkedIn frequently over the first month, and then – if your content isn’t too time-sensitive – keep doing so once a week for at least the next several months. Should you find that a tweeted article does particularly well, keep tweeting – why walk away from success?

To schedule them out, use a tool like Buffer or Hootsuite.

THAT SAID: Social media guru Gary Vee feels scheduling tweets is a bad idea, as a tweet that runs as a tragedy is playing out on Twitter will reflect very poorly on you. We fall somewhere in the middle – go ahead and schedule in advance, but mind the store and be ready to hit pause.

2. Find Ways to Bring In Other People and Companies

Whatever the topic, there’s probably a way to mention or spotlight another company or thought-leader, preferably one who is active on social media (see the end of the section above). Then, in some of the tweets or LinkedIn posts you share, include their names so they see that you’ve done so. Hopefully they’ll reciprocate the call-out by retweeting or sharing what you’ve posted.

In addition, if there’s someone outside of your company who has shared in a public forum an interesting take on the topic of your blog post, you should quote that person, and then let him or her know.

And then use that quote in the tweet when you share the article – along with his or her Twitter handle.

3. Rally the Troops

If you have employees, they should be sharing your posts through their own social networks. Not everyone has a big network, but sharing to their Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook crowd – especially to relevant pages or groups – can have a significant impact.

One platform built to help companies do this is Dynamic Signal (check it out with a free trial).

Outside of your own company, you probably have a wealth of contacts who would be interested in what you have to say – and whose networks would also be interested. Get all of those contacts organized – in Gmail, Salesforce, MailChimp, whatever – and segment them by interest. Then, whenever you post, find the right segment, draft a quick email and send it out. Here’s what it can say:

“Hey, I just wrote this amazingly great article about something I’m very passionate about – and that I think is up your alley. I’d love to hear what you think. And while you’re at it, if I’m right and you would like what you see, please share it!”

4. Don’t Just Hope the Right People Find It – Take It to Them

Sites like Reddit, industry-vertical news aggregators like SmartBriefs, and interest-specific LinkedIn Groups can all be great ways to put your best content in front of the right people.

Be careful though: Don’t put in posts that are too promotional – save this tactic for your more instructional posts that share your wisdom and insights.

5. Pitch It to Reporters!

Everyone should be paying attention to the media that cover their space – whether that’s startups, healthcare, marketing, education, big data, whatever. And chances are that if you feel a subject is suitable enough to spend the time on a blog post, it’s probably of interest to reporters.

So find (and keep) that reporter’s email address and send them a personal note. Something like this:

“I’ve been a reader of yours and your publication for quite some time. A lot of what you write is really thought provoking, so I figured perhaps something I’ve written could be interesting to you. Below is a link to my latest blog post – I wrote it because …’’

Or if you don’t know the reporters but you know the outlets, go to their sites, search for relevant keywords, and find which reporters are covering that topic. A suitable email in this case would be:

“I just saw your piece on (insert topic here). I happen to have just written a piece about this on my blog. The link’s below – I’d love to hear what you think or to talk to you more about this. Keep up the great work!”

There – your blog post is now a pitch. Whether or not it becomes a story isn’t important, not all of them will. But at the very least, that reporter now sees you as a thought-leader, and someone they can go to on relevant topics (and who knows – hopefully they’ll share it with their followers, too!).

As we learned in issue 15 of Spider-Man, with great power comes great responsibility. And with great content comes great responsibility to make sure as many people see it as possible.

The five steps above may not be superhero-level stuff, but they’re certainly good for a sidekick.