How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond, Step 11; Join a Network

Step 11 to getting to 100,000 visitors and beyond: Join a blog network.

One of the first true marketing efforts I made was to join a start-up personal finance network where I double-posted the entries from my main site (I know there are other network models where your main site IS part of the network, but I'll cover those types in a later post.) It allowed me to get my posts out to a wider audience, drive traffic back to my main site, and keep an eye on what was happening in the personal finance blogosphere. Early on, this site was responsible for a good chunk of Free Money Finance's traffic and the relationship was mutually beneficial (as I got bigger and the network became less active, it got to be worth less and less).

If you're thinking about joining a network, there are a few things to consider including:

• Know the rules. Who owns the content? What can and can't be posted? Can you link to your main site? Do you get part of the site's revenue? If so, how much and how are you paid? Basically, know what you're getting yourself into.
• Consider the company. You want to be associated with the best (or at least good) bloggers, so don't get into a network with sub-par bloggers. It won't get the traffic you'd like to see and as such won't send very many people your way.
• Factor in time. Do you have the time to post to your site and to another one? It's a big consideration as many bloggers barely have enough time to do all they want on their sites -- much less add the extra commitment of another site.
• Know when it's time to leave. If you do things right, at some point you'll probably outgrow the network (or at a minimum it will be much less important to you to be a part of it). When this happens, decide when and how you want to cut back/leave and then execute the plan to maximize traffic to your site (based on your agreement with the network, of course).

Click here to read part 12 of this series.

Free Money Finance recommends Emigrant Direct.