Learning to promote your new blog and/or YouTube without coming across as the most annoying person on earth is pretty difficult. I certainly haven’t mastered the art myself and am still taking things as they come. I’m by no means an expert and am definitely guilty of some of the sins I’m listing here. Also included are a few tips I’ve learned along the way.
1. Don’t say you’ve subscribed to someone or watch their videos/read their blog if you don’t mean it. Seriously, that is my number one pet peeve. Sure, finding like-sized bloggers and YouTubers is a great way to expand your audience, but you need to be willing to read and watch what they are doing if you expect them to do the same for you.
2. Take it seriously. If you want to be a blogger or YouTuber casually, then this step isn’t necessary for you. But if you intend to use it as a career or a stepping stone to a career, taking it seriously is a must. Set it as a priority and plan your posts and videos well in advance.
3. Set up a small advertising budget. It doesn’t need to be huge, but a small one is necessary. Advertise with bloggers who have a bigger following than you do to attract more views.
4. Host giveaways and/or participate in group giveaways. Although it may create what some people call “dead” or “inactive” subs, it also gives people a chance to discover you. You may get a bunch of inactive followers, but you will most certainly get some people that are genuinely interested in your blog or YouTube.
5. Get involved in online communities about your topic. Don’t just post about your blog or YouTube, but truly get involved in the community.
6. Advertise on Reddit, but do it strategically. Don’t post on forums that explicitly say links to blogs or YouTubes are not allowed. Remember that if you do post on Reddit, self-promotion is often looked down upon so you may deal with some “haters” or “backlash.” But as long as you’re following the rules, you’ll get some increased traffic.
7. Be consistent. Upload new content often. If you’re going to be away, YouTube and Blogger make it very easy to schedule content so that it goes up whenever you want it to.
8. Be sure to thank people for their support and do it genuinely. They are the reason your blog or YouTube channel is growing!
9. Write about what you truly love. If you aren’t, it will show and blogging and YouTubing will start to feel like work.
10. Be patient. Very rarely do blogs and/or channels take off overnight.
11. Have fun! If you aren’t enjoying what you’re doing, then it becomes work and work is lame.
12. Set goals, both for the long term and short term. Do you want your blog to attract 500,000 visitors a month and 700,000 YouTube subscribers? Cool, that can be a long term goal…but focus on attainable milestones along the way like 100 YouTube subscribers within the week or month (depending on how fast your channel is growing).
