5 things you can do right now to promote your blog on twitter

Writing a blog is only part of the blogging journey. The other part is finding readers to read it and frankly that can be the most difficult part of all…at least at first. As a blogger you have jobs beyond writing and one of those is connecting with people who may be interested in reading your blog. This is why as a blogger I am so grateful for the free social media tools out there. Below are 5 tips on how to promote your blog on twitter.

#1 Make your profile an attention-getter

Your Twitter profile is often the first thing they see, so put it to work. and update it often. Don’t overdo hashtags in your profile. Use the URL of your most popular or relevant post, if you want. Use clever writing. Beginner’s Tip: To make changes, you will need to log in to your Twitter account and go to settings > profile. If you are a member of I Teach Blogging’s Blogging Mafia, then log in and go to the Twitter 101 section for a video on how to do this. If you would like to sign up for membership go here:

#2 Make your DMs valuable & engaging

Set up an auto direct message that asks followers to let you know what they think of your blog. It is common to receive an auto DM that says something along the lines of “like me on Facebook” or “stop by my website” but asking questions and requesting feedback is always more engaging than making demands.”What do you think of the color palette that I chose for my blog design?” Be specific, make sure you provide the correct URLs. And don’t forget to check your DMs to address questions or comments.

There are two tools that I use for auto direct messages and they both serve great purposes.

Social Oomph I use this one for automatic direct messages to my followers. The goal with an auto direct message is to offer value and not to be annoying.

TweetAdder – With this tool I can send a strategic direct message to my twitter followers, not just the new ones. This is a great way to promote a special event, discount, big news or changes to your social media.

#3 Search hashtags on your blog theme

The main reason that you are blogging is to help solve a problem or provide a point of view, right? So don’t be shy about jumping into the conversation. Do a Twitter search on your blog theme topic and see who else is talking about it. If you find someone asking a question or talking about a topic that one of your blog post answers, link them to it. Or take the opportunity to write a blog post that answers a specific question. You’ve been helpful, and your blog post sticks. Win-win.

#4 Ask for help

Ask a Twitter influencer you respect, admire and engage with to share your blog post through Twitter. They may not but it never hurts to ask on the rare occasion for a bit of exposure if you have been engaged with them. Use those DMs instead of mentions if you are making a lot of requests so you don’t look like a spammer.

#5 Be direct and beg. Nicely, of course.

Ask people directly to read your blog post. If you have just released a new blog post, mention someone to ask their opinion of the post. For example:

@funcityawesome What did you think of my blog post Be ready to fail at blogging…Podcast #9 http://bit.ly/1eUyiNl? I would love your thoughts.

These are just a few quick ideas on how to promote your blog on Twitter. I would love to hear your ideas. Do you find success from promoting your blog on Twitter or does some other social media platform serve you better?