Guest post by Jaclyn Mullen

The Inspiration for this series of steps.

Four years ago, when I first started learning about content marketing, I participated in a series of 30 day blog bootcamps as well as Hubspot’s Inbound Marketing program. That said, the ideas, and tactics to promote your blog are a result of my experience and what I learned.

So you’ve hit publish on your WordPress, blogger, perhaps your Tumblr blog post. You have a link, now what do you do?

1)     Input your link in bit.ly Not only does this super tool shorten the amount of characters, but you also get some analytics built in to help you track clicks, date and time info, etc.

2)     Repurpose. Before we start scheduling your posts, take a look at the title. Take a look at the body. Come up with 6-8 ways to repurpose the post over the course of the week and in the future to come. As an example. Your first post would likely be the title and the link. Your second could be a snippet from the post with the link. The third could be a question the post explores with a link, etc. I think it’s important to create these first so the next step, scheduling them, is more streamlined.

3)     Hootsuite. Make sure your social profiles are synched up to Hootsuite (or Sprout social/other aggregators) for streamlining and time saving purposes. Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, (Google+ if you prefer—I prefer to post to Google+ manually and will explain why). Schedule your post and the repurposed posts you created over the course of the day and the week. *It is a best practice to share a blog post more than once per day on Twitter since the stream moves so fast but, be sure to do so in between OTHER content. A little self promotion on Twitter is ok. A lot of self promotion starts to lose it’s luster. LINKEDIN/FACEBOOK BIZ PAGE best practice: posting the blog 1-2 times is fine. As for the repurposed posts you created in step two, you will want to spread these out even further on Linkedin and Facebook over the course of a month to even the year on Linkedin and Facebook.

4)     Google+ Copy and paste your original post into Google+ and use 3-4 corresponding hashtags including your name. Why? Hashtags in essence are becoming like key words as far as search and you want to be positioned and found for your expertise.

5)     Pinterest. Here’s why I like having Google+ be separate from Hootsuite (this is totally personal and not one size fits all). I copy and paste the post from Google+. Then I click on the blog link so I am redirected back to the original post, I hit my “Pin It” button, Pinterest posts up and then I pin the blog image and paste the Google+ posting onto one of my Pinterest boards. Easy enough?

6)     StumbleUpon is alive and well. It’s been awhile since I used it personally, but I was with a client the other day checking their analytics and it’s STILL a top traffic generator for them.  Join for free and submit your blog posts here: https://www.stumbleupon.com/login

7)     Instagram. It is not uncommon for folks to share their blog posts on Instagram. In fact, visit instagram.com/theeverygirl_ to see how The Everygirl does a great job of this. Again, you will want your bit.ly link, the image and a “sound byte” from the blog. *Tip. The best practice is to have your bit.ly be clickable and hyperlinked by having it under your description. Your Instagram post would include the text <link in profile>

8)     Newsletter. How does this post fit into your newsletter content? Perhaps you can highlight it along with other tips and updates OR you can feature it as a stand alone message, similar to what MarieForleo.com subscribers receive every Tuesday. The choice is yours. And it all depends on the frequency of your blogging. Just make sure to share with your email list as it is safe to assume that not everyone has the flexibility or time to keep up with you socially.

BONUS: Blog directories. Have you submitted your blog to any of the following directories to help you increase reader base? Here are a few to consider:

http://www.blogher.com/publishing-network/application

http://www.networkedblogs.com/blog

http://www.bloggingfusion.com/submit.php

http://www.bloglovin.com/join

The beauty of content marketing is that it’s not a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Each of us has our own strategies and techniques. Is there a blog promotion strategy I didn’t cover? Add it in the comments below!

Jaclyn-MullenThis is a guest post from Jaclyn Mullen. Often referred to as “the Jaclyn of All Trades”, Jaclyn is based out of sunny Los Angeles, California. She is a performing artist turned business coach+entrepreneur+writer+speaker helping female entrepreneurs grow their businesses creatively, strategically and consciously. Armed with an expertise in marketing, personal development+storytelling, on any given day you will find her fueled by Starbucks coffee, keeping up with online marketing trends & inspiring women to step out of their comfort zones as they create their own careers. In 2014, she was selected as a Tory Burch Foundation Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Scholar. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @jaclynmullen or join her community at Facebook.com/jaclynmullenmedia