by Tope Olofin

I learnt to ignore that “it’s too much” voice in my head that holds me back from trying out new ways to promote my blog.

I want to do a quick shout out to Obafemi. He has been a very loyal reader of Toperants and I don’t see why I can’t honor him today. I promised last week to address some of his concern, but it looked like a juicy topic for a Wednesday, that’s why I left it off until right now. Be sure to show him some love by visiting his blog.

So shortly after I did the Let the World Know you Exist piece, Femi sent this question

As if I would know. My dear, that was way over my head, but I had some help from a great blogger, one which I will refuse to mention because she has threatened to sue me if I don’t. Right now, calling her bluff is top priority because nobody threatens me!

So let’s get to work.
I learnt to ignore that “it’s too much” voice in my head that holds me back from trying out new ways to promote my blog. Once it’s really too much, you get into tweet jail, or you will get a nasty mention or better still you will get blocked. But it’s not the end of the world, that’s why you modify once you get burnt.  Get it…time to stop chickening out once you hit a road block.

However, for some time, there is a strategy that I’ve watched my friend apply over and over again and each time it worked. At first, I condemned it, because I was looking for that magical day when cupid will shoot love arrows in the heart of at least 12 million Nigerians and compel them to go and look at the crappy stuff I write on this blog. Chai, girls can like to live in world fantasia. Guess what, me and a zillion other bloggers out secretly nurse this hogwash dream. Omo you better let all those magical stunts remain in the movies, because in real life the Jackie work has to be done.

You have to take the time to spread your links, irrespective of the social media platform you decide to use. So Obafemi, for sharing your links on twitter, I got my awesome blogger chic to share her strategy, which I frown at initially, but now use, because it really works. She says

When promoting my blog post on twitter, I don’t know or understand the phrase “too much”. I only think it’s “too much” when I mention a tweet handle more than once on a particular topic. Notwithstanding, it happens only once in a very long while when I really didn’t pay attention to the handles I have mentioned

But there is a technique to it. She says

You should pay me (but I’ll let it slide because of Tope (ok I added that bit)) for this information. Something I do whenever I publish a blog post is this, for example if my topic is centered on PHCN (Power Holding Corporation, Nigeria), I’ll search Twitter for tweets about PHCN. Even if they are not my followers, once they have tweets about PHCN, it indicates that they are interested in the topic. I simply tweet my link at them and just watch my views climb up. Works like magic for my blog traffic. Whether they are already pissed at PHCN or in the PHCN blasting mood…whatever, it’s pure psychology. If they respond, I try to start a conversation, follow them and slip in a request for a follow back. So I have killed two birds with one stone thereby growing your followers and your readership, but it doesn’t end here. Be sure to keep interacting with your followers on a regular basis.

See why I am keeping her so close?

I modified her technique a bit. Apart from using twitter search, I prefer to tweet my links at my followers that have interest in the topic I blog on for that particular day.

Still there is a concern about being seen as spam. Here is how I address that.

Usually, when a tweep sees you as a bother, they will either tell you or just tweet about it on their own timeline (sub tweet). I advocate ignoring it all together.

My madam feels otherwise. She says

Be very vigilant to find such tweets and reply in the sweetest way possible. If you feel you shouldn’t reply their own sub tweet directly, you can always reply with a sub tweet of your own. If you get the stubborn annoying ones that decide to insult you directly, DO NOT insult back. Try as much as possible to learn sarcasm, or you reply with a smile, or just ignore

Now for question two, there are some answers in this article How to Increase Your Twitter Followers [READ HERE] …, but I will oblige you and give an answer…once again my lady says

The peak period on twitter has got to be the early hours of the day and evening when people are free from work. It doesn’t mean there won’t be readers on at other hours of the day, it just means the online presence is more at the peak hour. Finally, every business has its bad days. You don’t expect to get maximum results everyday but keep at it. Even the follower that doesn’t care about your blog yet will be forced to go there one day because of your consistency

I hope this addresses all concerns Mr. Obafemi.

Hmmmn, this was a long one, but I still won’t mention your name…#youknowyourself.

 

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Tope Olofin loves to rant. She is a boisterous and hilarious English graduate from the University of Lagos. She believes life’s experiences are priceless and the best way to capture it is by writing. She blogs atwww.toperants.com and tweets @toperants

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.