PB009: Join a Forum or Social Media Group [Day 9 of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog] - a podcast by Darren Rowse: Blogger, Speaker, Author and Online Entrepreneur

How to Build Your Profile and Drive Traffic to your Blog Through Forums and Social Media Groups
In todays episode I challenge you to focus a little attention today on joining an online forum and/or social media'group'as a way of growing your blog's profile, finding readers and learning more about your niche.



You can listen to todays episode above or in iTunes or Stitcher (where we'd also LOVE to get your reviews on those platforms if you have a moment).
In this EpisodeIn this short episode I share:

3 questions to ask to help you find new readers for your blog3 reasons why joining a forum or group can help grow your blog
Some tips on how to find and participate in a forum or social media group in a way that helps your blog improveFurther Reading Relevant to this Podcast

How to create a reader profile, avatar or personal for your blogEpisode 3 of our Podcast: 11 ways to Promote Your Blog
Finding Readers Week: Corinne Talks Commenting, Engagement, and Are Forums Right for Your Blog?How to Use Online Forums to Promote Your Website - Shout Me Loud
7 Ways to Benefit from Facebook Groups over at Socially SortedLinkedIn Groups: Getting Started

How did You Find this ChallengeAre you already a regular contributor to forums and/or social media groups? What tips would you add to those in this episode? What do you find works best? What would you avoid doing?

I'm looking forward to learning from your experience in comments below!

I'd also love to hear your feedback on this podcast if you could spare a moment to leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher.

UPDATE: please scroll down to the comments section and check out the amazing and generous advice of Paul who shares some meaty tips on getting the most out of forums. It's great stuff!Full TranscriptExpand to view full transcript
Compress to smaller transcript viewWelcome to the ProBlogger Podcast episode 9 and day 9 of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog. Today, your challenge is all about building your blog’s profile and finding some new readers by doing one of a couple of things, either joining a forum relevant to your blog or a social media group, either a Facebook or LinkedIn group, perhaps. Today’s show notes are found at problogger.com/podcast/9.

But first, a quick word from our sponsor, 99designs, the best place for new business or blog to build their brand. If you’re looking to launch a new blog or project and need some high quality but affordable design work done, then 99designs is where you should head. Start your next design project at 99designs.com/problogger and get a $99 upgrade for free.Hi and welcome to day 9 of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog, a ProBlogger podcast that gives you 31 different ways to improve your blog over a month. Today, I want to challenge you to join a forum that relates to your niche and then to start participating. One of the most common questions that I’m asked by bloggers is how do I find readers for my blog. It’s the number one question we get asked. There’s a lot of potential answers on a micro level, lots of different techniques that we could suggest, but what I generally start with is some bigger picture answers. 

Ask yourselves these three questions: Who are you trying to reach? What type of person are you trying to reach? The more you can get clarity around that question, the better. Ultimately, creating an avatar or a persona or a reader profile is a good thing to do. Once you know who you’re trying to reach, ask where are they gathering already? Are there blogs, are there forums, are there social networks that they’re already gathering? The more you know about that, the better position you’re in to go and participate in those places.

That’s the third question. How can I participate in those places? So, who am I trying to reach, where are they already gathering,

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