As a refresher from Chapter 1, please see disclaimers here.
Let’s talk about about getting your virtual toe in the door before you launch. Next up, you need to claim your social media sites…right away. It’s really important that your social media site names match your domain and make a logical connection. You don’t want someone finding you on Pinterest but having no idea how to find you on the web, or on Instagram. Facebook is great for some of your audience, but you don’t want to miss the Twitter folks. And what about email? Do you want your blog-specific email getting lost in your personal email?
Dedicated to the (Email) I Love
O.k…I probably dated myself with that headline (it’s from an old Mamas & Papas song for you young folks – google it!). The point is, having a dedicated email will give you a central spot for sending and receiving everything related to your blog. I chose to use Gmail, and once set up, built a file structure within Gmail to hold 1) affiliates; 2) receipts; 3) tips & tricks; 4) partnerships; 5) contributors; 6) service providers, etc. When I get an email that I want to save, I immediately move into its appropriate folder. Quick, easy and paperless.
No Rest for Pinterest
If you already have a personal Pinterest account, consider converting it to a business account. I really thought twice about doing this, but my personal account was getting over 6,000 views every month. I had a ton of re-pin activity going on already; why wouldn’t I take advantage of that? It’s simple to convert to a business account.
1) Log on to business.pinterest.com
2) Click “Convert existing account” button
3) update your name to your blog name
4) update your information as necessary.
If you have boards you want to keep private, simply edit those boards to make them private. Easy-peasy.
Meanwhile, take a scan through your board names and make sure they make sense. I had some cutesy names on mine that I thought were funny, but people may or may not be able to find, or understand, them. I simply added a clarifying word to them. I also added boards that were specific to my blog, and began pinning items that were relevant to my blog. All this can be done before you ever have a post on your blog. It’s a great way to pre-build traffic.
Start following pinners and boards that tie to your blog’s theme. They’re a great source for ideas, you’ll cross-market, and you’ll draw awareness from their audience, too. Believe me, there’s more than enough audience to go around on Pinterest!
Here’s a really important step, once you have your blog site started….CLAIM YOUR WEBSITE ON PINTEREST! The key is you need to have your blog up and running, even if you’re just using a “coming soon” page. Pinterest will ping your site to make sure it’s legit. Doing this enables you to get data on what folks are saving from your boards. This in turn helps you develop more and better content on your blog. By converting my personal Pinterest to business, I’ve increased from about 3,000 monthly views to over 28,000 views…in just under a month! The steps are super simple
Instagram in an Instant
Here’s where I waffled (I know; waffles are for breakfast…unless they’re served with chicken!). I already had a personal account, and I couldn’t decide whether to add another account specific to my blog or simply add to my personal account. I kept them separate. Now, the good news is you’re able to link the accounts and easily switch between them without having to log in and out each time. My jury is still out if this was the right thing to do.
Here’s what you need to know about target audiences and social media… Research shows “old folks” like me (the over 45 crowd) tend to hang out on Facebook. We see it as a way of staying in touch with people. But the youngers have shifted their allegiance to Instagram. Supposedly it’s the difference between passive (info “pulled” to me via Facebook) versus active (info “pushed” from me via Instagram). Anyway, ask “the google” if you’d like more on that. Bottom line, you need multiple social media routes and you don’t want to miss one.
Once you’re set up, start pushing out on Instagram. Even if it’s a nice photo of something cool, and a simple statement like “I can’t wait to introduce you to (blog name)….coming soon!” Tuck your domain name in your profile. Start hashtagging everything with your domain name (for example, I use #untamedparody or @untamedparody on everything). Post a couple times a week…at least.
And other thing…find people and follow them. Especially find other bloggers to follow. You’ll make some friends, get some ideas, and support others like you. They’ll do the same in return. This is definitely a “scratch each other’s backs” kind of thing, and you want to get as many followers as possible.
All the Little Birdies go Tweet, Tweet, Tweet
So I have to add a disclaimer to my list…. Disclaimer #5 – I am totally CLUELESS to Twitter, but I’m out there as UntamedParody. I push tweets out via an auto-scheduler…and I don’t worry about it. Sounds silly, but I totally don’t understand Twitter. When I say clueless, I mean “can’t find my way out of a wet paper bag” clueless. Am I supposed to just fill my feed up with hashtags and emojis? Do I need to say something witty? Is it supposed to tie to my website? How do I even know who to follow beyond celebrities?? Unless you’re tweeting in full sentences, I don’t even understand what the hell you’re trying to say. Because of my constant state of confusion, I simply started by posting pictures with a few words and my hashtags. I’m out there…Enough said….
Love Your Face…book
Set up a Facebook business page and start posting to build traffic. Invite everyone from your personal (if you have one…I hope you do!) to your business page. If you find articles, websites, Pinterest pins that align with your blog, start sending them out on your Facebook business page. Post teasers about your upcoming blog launch, start a count-down. Post daily. You’ll want to start driving traffic and followers on Facebook as soon as you can. Again, according to research Facebook is trending toward the older crowd. So….at this point I’ll remind you that Baby Boomers (me) number some 76 million….read that again…..76 million in the US alone. That’s a lot of eyeballs to capture, and we Baby Boomers like to spend time where our eyeballs land. Just sayin’….
There are certainly a lot more social media outlets available, but this is a good start. Get your feet wet with these, and start driving traffic before your blog launches. Imagine how much fun it will be on the day you officially go LIVE and all your followers celebrate with you!
Now that we’ve got the front wheels rolling, we’ve gotta start cooking on our actual blog. Head on over to WordPress, Themes and Losing My Mind. Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and even Twitter are a piece of cake….then comes the real work. You’re not going to want to miss this next chapter….See you there!
Here are links to my other Blogging 101 posts…enjoy!
So You Want To Blog!
Hosts and Platforms – And I’m Not Talking Martha Stewart in Great Shoes!
WordPress, Themes and Losing Your Mind
