Get the most out of your publication: free tools to extend the reach of your content

Maybe a blogger just posted an interview with you that you’d love the whole world to read, or maybe you’ve created some great content for your own website. Here are some ideas you can experiment with to help increase the chances of your link achieving the wide distribution you’d like it to receive.

Sometimes it’s easy to miss what’s most obvious, so I’ll say what almost goes without saying: start with your own social networks. Share the link on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, LinkedIn, or any other networking site you use to connect with family, friends, and colleagues. If the link points to something that isn’t hosted on your own site (such as a guest post or an article you wrote for another site), be sure to post it on your own blog as well.

When you use Twitter to share your link, use relevant hashtags so that people you don’t know personally but who have an interest in your topic area can find you. Do a quick Twitter search for keywords you think might be relevant to your topic and pick two or three to include in your tweet along with the URL.

Don’t forget about email as a promotional tool. Many of us are used to sharing good news through Facebook, etc., and forget two important facts: not everyone is glued to social networks, and a personalized email can sometimes attract more attention than a post similar to a streaming on a website.

When you don’t send mass emails very often, people usually don’t mind the occasional one, especially if you use BCC to avoid sending a long list of addresses. If you choose to send your link via email, another option is to write a template with the information about the link you want to share and then copy and paste it into the individual emails you send, beginning each email with a personal greeting and another sentence or two. written specifically for each person you’re emailing.

If you feel like spamming to email your link, why not just add the link to your email signature for a week or two? We get used to people using the same old email signatures, and it can be good to change them.

Two other free tools you can try to share your link on the web are Craigslist and reddit. While Craigslist has a local focus, you can (carefully) use it more widely and share your link on multi-city Craigslist sites if you think your link matters to people in different geographic communities – just be careful not to overdo it. . post as this can cause your posts to be blocked.

You’ve probably used Craigslist for jobs, furniture, or whatever else, but have you used the “community” section, located at the top left of the screen? This area of ​​Craigslist is a good place to share a link in a short post, possibly also including an image. If none of the specific sections for community posts fit your content, you can use the “general” section.

On reddit, users submit links related to various topics called subreddits. You can usually find a subreddit related to the topic of your link; use reddit’s search tool to find subreddits where your content might fit. The reddit community is sensitive to spam, so please read and follow the user guidelines on any subreddit you choose to post to, and add your link sparingly, being careful to use the tags requested by moderators (often there is a tag to indicate that you are sharing your own content).

I have only mentioned a few ideas; there is always more. The more you search the web for places where people are discussing your subject area and sharing content, ideas, and links, the more avenues you can find for others to learn about your work. As a result, you’ll have more opportunities to get the most out of your post when you have something special to share.