Email Newsletter
Having a space on your blog to collect emails for newsletters and announcements is a great way to let your community know when a post is complete, or a weeks worth of posts are complete. You can share as much or as little information as you like and ask your fanbase to share if they feel so inclined.
Relevant Facebook Groups
There are so many Facebook groups out there, so it would definitely been in your interest to find as many as you can to join. Once you get to know the community and their rules, you can publish to the group.
Reddit is basically a glorified message board where users submit links of interest. If your post is good, it might be a good idea to promote it to your friends and suggest they submit it to Reddit. Once your post is loaded the community will either upvote or downvote the the post. Reddit has a large audience and the exposure there has a lot of potential to increase readership if your blog post is good.
Commenting on other blogs
This aspect of networking should not be overlooked as it is one of the most critical parts of promoting and growing your blog. If you are participating in a community it is important to add value to that community by commenting and responding to those who share the community with you. You’ll be surprised as the reciprocation.
Pinterest Boards and Groups
This especially true if your blog has great photos. People are visual creatures and having a great image or photo posted can lead to many repins that will increase traffic to your blog. Join some Pinterest groups that of similar subject matter and start pinning those images! Pinterest is a fast-paced community and the word gets spread around quickly.
Business Cards
I know this one may sound a little odd since you are trying to promote your online presence, but if you are out and about and meet a few new people it would be great if you handed them a card with your contact information and blog address. Make sure your cards match your blog design and that both have a very strong design.
Susan Sullivan
Susan lives in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex area with her husband and children. She is an avid distance runner, environmentalist, part-time beekeeper, chicken farmer and amateur photographer.