Guest post by Corrine from Frock & Roll.

”But your name isn’t Perez Hilton or anything, what could YOU possibly have to teach ME about blogging?!” an imaginary person might ask. At which point I would smile, shrug and say hey, pipe down, imaginary person! Sure, Perez Hilton my name might not be, but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t collected my own thoughts on blogging and the inevitable hustling, networking and promoting process that’s so closely tied into it all if you actually DO want to get your blog or website out there, no, no, no!

How To Build An Audience, No, We’ve-Established-That-My-Name-Isn’t-Perez-,But-Hey,-I’ve-Still-Learned-Stuff Style!

Create A Facebook Page For Your Blog/Website

And send invitations to your real life friends to join it! Now, I know that this is scary. It is. Because regardless of how comfortable you are with putting yourself out there or not worrying about what other people think, sharing your writing with people you know is a completely different ball game because it’s just so personal! But don’t let that deter you – why not just invite your closest friends, family members or anyone else that you think could be interested? (For example, if your website is largely written for females, then why not send it to all of the females that you know?) You don’t have to inform Bill from Accounts about it!

Have Business Cards Designed

”What? BUSINESS cards?!”

Oh, jeez – there’s that indignant imaginary person again! But seriously, having a set of business cards with your name and website information on a piece of cardboard isn’t a ridiculous practice, because as soon as you start telling people about what you’re working on (and it will come up in more conversations than you might think!), they will usually ask for the name of your project so that they can look it up at a later date; which is lovely! But, being only human, it’s natural that they will probably forget what it’s called or to do so. Not with a business card, they won’t!

Written About A Product/Restaurant/Cafe`/Clothing Brand? TELL Them!

While studying Media & Communications last year, my Marketing teacher asked if he could take a peek at my website, and after reading this post, his immediate response was ”have you contacted any of these companies to tell them about what you’ve written?” My reply was eloquent and intelligent: ”Um, uh.. wha – no?” ‘‘But WHY?” He asked. ”If somebody wrote about you or your website, wouldn’t you want to know? You should definitely contact them, they’d be thrilled to see that you’re talking about their products, and it will help to get the word out there about your blog!” Well thank-you, Mr. Mera. While for some reason I didn’t end up contacting the companies behind the products featured in that particular post, I did while writing about this product, and the outcome proved that he had definitely known what he was talking about: after e-mailing Trilogy, a woman contacted me from their head office saying how DELIGHTED she was to see what I had written, and that she had promptly e-mailed everybody in her office a link to the post to show them and that also, if I ever needed any products from them or anything, would I please let her know? (Now how sweet is that?!) EXCELLENT. The bottom line? Typed up a piece about a great mascara? Eaten a delicious meal somewhere? Get in touch with the company, and let them know. Who knows where it could take you?! (A potential advertising campaign? A lifetime discount at their stores?!)

Sch-Sch-Sch-mooze!

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned recently about blogging, it’s that you can’t really be all shy and reclusive about what you’re doing, yet secretly hopeful that your website’s traffic is going to explode and your name’s going to start popping up left, right and centre everywhere: you have to get out there! Search for social opportunities in your city by typing ‘‘____ (for example, Sydney) blogger meet-ups” or ”Sydney networking events”, and attend them! ”But I’m shy!” You might say. Well hey, guess what? At some stage we ALL are, and that’s okay! Unless your blog is titled ‘I Never Get Shy’ or ‘Confidence Is My Middle Name After Anne’, don’t fret: a slight case of butterflies-in-the-stomach is to be expected, and there’s nothing wrong with that!\!

Create A Twitter Account, & USE IT

(And while you’re there, add me!)

I feel like I could devote an entire post to the magnificence that is Twitter alone, because honestly, it has helped me ENORMOUSLY. From finding work experience last year as a part of passing my studies to hearing about a stack of interesting events, Twitter has allowed me to connect with other people and companies that I otherwise might not have been able to: the spectrum of people that are on Twitter is truly incredible!

What’s that? You’re ALREADY using Twitter, but feel as though no extraordinary occurrences have transpired for you? Try a different approach to your interactions! Seek out the people, brands or companies that you admire or would like to be involved with and aim to communicate with them regularly, whether that’s by simply replying to something that they’ve written, sending them a link to something that you think that they could be interested in, or re-tweeting their ”tweets” (140 character or less statements).

To read the final installment of The Blogger’s Guide To Hustling: Networking, Promoting & Getting Your Blog OUT THERE! , please click here, or read the full version of Parts One and Two! Thanks for reading!

About the author:

Today’s post comes to us courtesy of Corrine from Frock & Roll. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, Corrine!

If you’re a Nuffnang blogger with some great blogging tips to share, why not write a guest post for our blog? Contact us with your idea for a guest post today! :)