Last Updated on by Michael Brockbank
The Internet is filling up rather quickly. Professionals from all walks of life are flocking to cyberspace to make networking connections and find opportunities. As more and more people flood the world-wide-web, you need vigilance to promote yourself.
Otherwise, the competition will surely consume you. So, what can be done to make sure your name becomes relevant?
How to Promote Yourself Online
It’s not all that difficult to promote yourself as a writer on the Internet. All it takes is for you to get out there and start making a name for yourself. Many of these methods are free allowing you to get started right now.
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1. Start a Professional Blog
Blogging is a great way to flex your writing muscles while giving you a platform to use as a resume. It demonstrates your knowledge in the preferred niche, your handle of literacy and may even provide a residual income through monetizing.
Many writers prefer a specific niche when helping clients. Creating the blog around that niche is a great way to promote yourself. After all, most clients want someone who knows their specific industry.
Another thing you could do is create a blog centered around “you” as the brand. For example, I have WriterSanctuary.com, but I also have MichaelBrockbank.com. On the latter, I cover all of the things that are related to me online.
In this case, I am using my name as my brand.
And don’t forget to add a contact form to your blog. You want potential clients to contact you directly if they like what they see.
2. Create Social Pages
Social media is an incredible influence on the Internet. Luckily, it doesn’t cost anything but time to take advantage of sites like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. However, it takes more than just creating a profile to get noticed by the masses.
Be engaging on social sites.
Try to reply to comments and be consistent with updates. It’s all about being approachable and connecting with others. Because more employers and clients are turning to social hubs for professionals, it’s important that your profile shines.
The best way to do this is to have separate professional accounts from your personal ones. For instance, Facebook lets you create free professional pages. This keeps your personal comments apart from the professional.
I have separate accounts for Facebook and Twitter for WriterSanctuary.com.
3. Join Social Groups
You can find social media groups for just about anything today. Join some of those groups and be interactive. This could lead to collaborations, introductions and overall excellent personal networking.
It’s not just your skills that will drive clients but your personality as well.
While social groups are great for networking, don’t jump into one and start advertising yourself. That’s a good way to get removed or banned from the group. Instead, work more on getting to know others and create personal connections.
You can promote yourself without seeming salesy.
4. Attend Workshops and Events
Speaking of networking, attend workshops and events that are connected with your writing. This means anything connected to being an author, reader or anything else in your industrial niche.
I know this isn’t exactly working online, but it will influence your Internet connections considering most people share email and social profiles as often as phone numbers.
You can build relationships with those who may use your services or build a fan-base for your work.
Either way, get out and mingle.
For example, I met a lot of people when attending WordCamps in Kansas City, Omaha and Denver. Many of those people are now following me on Twitter and engage with my blog and YouTube content.
The reason I add niche-related events is because knowledge is power. Anything that will expand what you know regarding what you write about is going to be helpful. This gives you power behind client projects as well as content for your own promotional blog.
5. Write Content for Third-Party Sites
Sometimes a simple unpaid piece on the right website can work wonders to promote yourself. It’s not always about making money. Getting your name out there in the world is a good way to strengthen an online reputation.
A good place to start is at Vocal.media. This company has a collection of sites spanning across many different industries. You can submit your work with the possibility of being paid.
You can also check out Hub Pages. It’s a system much like Vocal Media in that you can create content, build a brand and possibly make a few bucks on the side.
Although you don’t make a lot of money, it’s worth the effort to expand your marketing.
6. Comment On Other Sites
One thing that has helped me over the past couple of years is commenting on other websites. In a way, it’s like networking through the use of someone’s work. And some sites will let you link back to your own blog in the comment section.
When commenting, make sure it’s relevant to your expertise. This is especially true if you’re doing it to get a backlink. Be insightful and offer relevant commentary on the post.
If you don’t, the owner could simply choose not to display your comment. You don’t want to be labeled as “spam.”
7. Promote You’re “For Hire.”
In your profiles, always make sure everyone knows you’re “for hire.” This method to promote yourself shows others you are willing to work. I don’t use this method much simply because I have too much on my plate at the moment.
I am not able to take on a lot of extra projects at this point in time.
In many ways, adding “for hire” in your profile is a call-to-action. It plays a part in influencing others to contact you about writing content for them. Just make sure you’re easy to contact and offer a form of some kind on your blog – if you have one.
8. Always Provide Quality Service
Quality service is perhaps the most important aspect to consider to promote yourself. Not only does this help create residual work from specific clients, but it also helps in the event of being suggested by others.
In fact, a couple of my greatest opportunities in the past eight years were from being suggested by other clients.
Word of mouth advertising works exceptionally well, especially on the Internet. Providing quality services makes you appear professional and makes others want to work with you.
I’ve seen a lot of freelance writers lose jobs simply because they were arrogant or more difficult to work with.
9. Consider Podcasting
Podcasting, like blogging, is a good way to share your knowledge. It’s another method to promote yourself that has potential to engage an audience and creates a personal representation of who you are.
Not to mention, it’s also another venue that can easily become monetized. Many people make quite a bit of money off the podcasts alone thanks to ad networks and sponsorships.
Every industry can easily have a podcast. All it takes is a bit of imagination and knowing your target audience. If you’ve already created a blog to promote yourself, you probably already have a good idea about who your target market is.
Have fun with it, and make sure your audience knows who you are.
10. Always Be Consistent
One thing I lack is consistency in many things. However, I can say with 100% certainty that it plays a huge role in creating an online reputation. Whether it’s blogging, social media engagement, creating YouTube videos or writing for a client, it’s all about delivering on time.
The times I am more consistent, I see a rise in search results as well as client activity. When I slow down, so does everything else.
If you want consistent success, you need to be active. Before you know it, you could be an influencer in your specific market. And this is effective whether you’re setting up a blog or running a YouTube channel.
11. BONUS – Set Up a YouTube Channel
Video content is one of the most utilized on the Internet. And YouTube is the biggest platform for that material.
The biggest point with YouTube is that potential clients and employers see more about the personality you promote as well as your expertise. Not only that, but you can also monetize a YouTube channel much like you can a blog.
You can also embed your videos on blogs, share them on social media and promote yourself even further.
Case in point, I’ve noticed a huge increase in visitor traffic to WriterSanctuary.com since launching the channel at the end of 2018. I’ve had several collaboration offers, clients wanting me to write content and more professional networking.
Imagine if you could do the same to your own branded website.
Don’t Be Stagnant
It takes a degree of effort to elevate your online reputation as a writer. Whether you’re a professional ghostwriter such as myself or looking to sell a book, promoting your name is vital to success.
You can’t assume that clients and offers will come flooding to your inbox because you wrote a couple of good pieces as a guest blogger.
Promote yourself as much as possible.
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