Do you remember the song I Get Around by the Beach Boys? The person in that song was making the point that they ran in a lot of circles and thus were well known. Imagine if that person was a small business owner; do you think they would be doing well? You betcha!
This is the same strategy you should be applying to your online marketing efforts. Posting your original content to as many places as possible is effectively networking your reputation, which is a key ingredient in establishing your credibility as an expert in your field, as well as someone that others want to work with.
Posting content to other sites is a win-win strategy, since it benefits both the site to which you’re posting as well as your own website and, in turn, your business.
The site you post to benefits in two ways: first, it’s getting quality content for its core readers and users by boosting its credibility and second, your post (if promoted by you) will bring additional users and/or followers to that site, helping to increase its revenue and search engine rankings because of a larger user base and expanding and evolving content.
Of course, the point is not to help that platform, but to help your website and ultimately your business, right? And you are.
Try an exercise. Google any successful business or business owner you can think of, and odds are you’re going to see at least 5 or more listings come up from different sources. This illustrates that this business (or the face of that business) has a presence in multiple online places, increasing their exposure so more people see them, learn about them and ultimately think of them if and when they have a need for their services.
The more places you post content, the more exposure you get and the more leads you will generate on your own website. Since it’s your original content, you can post it as many places as you like.
Now that you know why you should be in multiple places online, in which places should you have a presence? That depends on your type of business.
You may think that the places that you should frequent are social media sites. That used to be the case, but aside from LinkedIn, most social media sites are literally social sites, and the only business gained from them is through a paid marketing campaign.
Below are some places to go that will be worth your content — and time:
1) LinkedIn. Still primarily a professional networking site, LinkedIn is chock full of C-level peers, meaning many decision makers may see your content. Posting to LinkedIn Pulse is an ideal place to build your credibility as an expert in your industry.
2) Quora. A robust question and answer forum, Quora users can post both questions as well as answers to questions that cover just about every subject on the planet, so look for opportunities to share your knowledge and expertise, while gaining followers in the process. You can also publish blogs as long as they’re not too promotional.
3) Medium. An online publishing platform that’s essentially a blogging site, Medium is an example of social journalism, offering both amateur and professional publications for everyone. Far more people may see your professional posts on this site than your own (unless you’re doing aggressive SEO), but some of them may end up on your site later.
4) Forbes/Entrepreneur/Inc. These three publications cover a variety of topics including lifestyle, personal finance, the stock market, technology and small business, and will most likely offer information that includes your industry and expertise. The challenge, however, is to write well enough to get your article published on these sites, as you can imagine many people want the same thing. If you can pull it off, your exposure could very well explode!
There are various other platforms out there for you to strut your stuff, but these are some of the most well known and well traveled.
If you have written blogs or any kind of informative articles, there’s no reason not to expand your audience through other sites or platforms that are turnkey in the sense that millions of visitors are already there, waiting for experts to educate and inform them.
Grow your readership and your business by sharing your wealth of knowledge and it just may lead to another kind of wealth. It’s time for you to Get Around!
