Self-Promotion on Blogs and Web Sites

Image of spam delivered to this blog.

When I saw the topic posted on the Book Blog, I had to laugh. Self promotion through customized blog comments and web pages. This topic sounded familiar… Oh, yes. That’s because I recently gave the same advice to a family member who published a book.

I find it funny (and simultaneously annoying) when I log into my WordPress blog to find half a dozen spam comments, all of which are clearly unrelated to this blog. I can’t help thinking, “if you’re going to try to spread your web address through blogs, at least personalize the message to give it a chance!”

Most blog owners delete spam comments without a second though. Why not be effective with your work? In my opinion, it is better to get a few comments approved with customized messages than sending out mass messages that inevitably gets deleted.

Here are the four guidelines the Book Blog outlines:

1. Don’t cut and paste the same comment everywhere. Personalize it. Bloggers like to be flattered…

2. Once you have my attention, make sure that what you’re saying is relevant to the post you’re commenting on…

3. Read the post and say something original about it. Then–and only then–should you bring up your own book…

4. To give your comment an even better chance of being published, read the blog for a few days before you comment. Perhaps make a comment on something that doesn’t relate to your book, to better lay the groundwork for your eventual, self-promoting comment…

Read more…

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