How To Grow Your Blog With A Zero-Dollar Marketing Budget
January 15, 2009 by Jason
I am a big proponent of running a debt-free business. I haven’t always practiced what I preached though, and in the past started a couple home-based businesses with credit cards. Big mistake. The businesses eventually flopped while the credit card debt lingered. Nothing worse than continuing to pay for a dream that burned out a long time ago.
When I started blogging I vowed to run a debt free business. That meant my marketing budget was zero, and my operating budget consisted of the $50 or so I had available for logo design, hosting, domain registration, etc. As you can see, it was going to be tight. Still, I was a big believer in guerrilla marketing, and finding ways to promote my blog without spending a lot of money.
Here are a six strategies I used with some success at building FrugalDad.com without spending a penny on marketing.
1. Comment on relevant blogs in your niche. This suggestion is probably overused in “how to blog” articles, but it really is the cheapest way to get your name out there fast. As a blogger, I can tell you that nothing is more fulfilling than reading a well thought-out comment left by a fellow blogger. “Great article!” just doesn’t cut it. Most blogging software allows commenters to add their name and URL, which is then clickable by other readers. It is a good idea not to include links within the comment text itself, unless it is relevant to the discussion.
Task: Leave relevant comments on at least 10 blogs every single day
2. Write a weekly roundup post, and include links to medium-sized blogs. One of the best ways to get noticed by other bloggers is to include them in your link roundups. Pick five or six articles from your favorite medium-sized (not the largest in your niche, but bigger blogs than your own) blogs, and write a weekly roundup promoting their posts. Bloggers receive a pingback letting them know when someone has posted an article about them, and they will likely come to your blog to check out what you had to say. Eventually, a few of them will begin to reciprocate with links to your site and that will lead to more visits to your site.
Task: Write a round-up post each week with at least five links to fellow bloggers
3. Participate in forums, but careful not to spam. I was a member of several forums before I even got into blogging. A couple of them were related to my niche (the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover forums, for example), and a few were not (college football). When I began blogging I updated the signature line of my profile to include a simple link to FrugalDad.com. Then I simply continued to participate in the forums. If you present yourself as professional, and helpful, people will want to click through to check out your blog.
Task: Join two forums in your niche and update your signature/profile to include your blog
4. Form your own network with other new bloggers. In the early days of blogging at FrugalDad.com, I virtually bumped into Ron at TheWisdomJournal.com and through him met Jeff at MySuperChargedLife.com. They had an idea to start up a blogging network and I was eager to join. Today, the Life Skills Network has grown to seven member blogs, and all of us have grown together through promoting each others work and sharing tips learned along the way.
Later, I also joined The Money Writers, a seasoned group of veteran bloggers who have really taught me a lot about the ins and out of blogging, particularly some of the more technical tips. I attribute most of my success to these two networks and their find members.
Task: Join forces with fellow bloggers who started around the same time you did.
5. Yahoo Answers can drive traffic. I am by no means an expert at personal finances, but I’ve learned a lot of lessons over the years. One way I attracted new subscribers was by creating a Yahoo account and answering questions related to my niche (frugal living, credit cards, paying off debt, etc.). I used relevant posts at my site to link in the “Reference” area when answering questions. On a couple occasions mine was voted the “best answer” and people looking for the answer to a similar question found mine on top, and then clicked over to FrugalDad.com.
Task: Sign up for a Yahoo Answers account and answer 10-20 questions a day
6. Participate in blogging carnivals. Carnivals abound for nearly every topic imaginable. Find a few carnivals in your niche and submit what you feel is the best article for that particular category. Often times editors will select your post as an “editor’s pick” and place your article at the top of the carnival post.
Task: Check out blogcarnival.com and find two or three carnivals to participate in on a regular basis.
As you can see, the old addage, “It takes money to make money” doesn’t necessarily apply to blogging. Sure, had I had a few thousand dollars I could have done things like hire virtual assistants, a PR person, had a custom theme designed, etc. But I found more frugal ways to get my side hustle off the ground.
Photo courtesy of PopTopRanks.com: Subscriber growth at FrugalDad.com (Jan. 2008 – December 2008)
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Just wanted to say HI. I found your blog a few days ago on Technorati and have been reading it over the past few days.
What a great article! I’m not new to blogging, but I learned a lot from this post. I’m going to implement a few of these suggestions over the next few days. I look forward to reading more on your new site.
I wanted to add that I am gradually finding success through social networking. Twitter and Stumble Upon are sending me some traffic and I know that those numbers will continue to grow.
Thanks!
Nice tips!
I would also add being part of the social media. Join sites like Twitter and StumbleUpon, find your target audience there and try to create value for them by helping out / providing useful links.
Also find bigger blogger in your field, get in touch with them and offer them a guest post you have written. Pitch it to them and explain why it will be useful to their readers. Guest posts are a great way of getting your blog/name out to a targeted audience and a great way of getting new readers / RSS subscribers.
Marko
http://www.howtomakemyblog.com
Thanks for starting this–ever since I found your blog a few months ago, I’ve been a faithful reader. Your writing (& references) are, at many times, needed daily reminders that our conservative spending will someday pay off (we are both 24).
I’m excited to see what you come up with next! (no pressure…!!)
I found this post intruiging & full of great insight…but it left me with a few questions. My blog originally started out as a personal “writing” site with no readers. After I started medical school it became a place for me to share what was going on in my life with friends & family. Now that I’m in the midst of my clinical years in medical school, I’m seeing patients, hearing stories, & treating pathologies…and writing about them in the meantime. In turn, my blog has become a place of reflection, a bit of a glimpse into the world of medicine–the death, joy, sorrow, tragedy, etc.–that most of the population doesn’t hear about. And subsequently, my audience has (slowly) grown to include more people. My site meter says I get 20+ hits per day.
So…here is my question: You recommended ways to network in areas that are similar to what you are blogging about. But what if my blog is unique?? I am certain there are other blogs that are similar but am a bit lost on how to find them…The truth is that I’m not looking to make an income on my blog, I’d just like to get it “out there”
Thanks, as always, for your help!
@jpritchard: The networking aspects of such a tightly focused niche might be difficult, unless you could hook up with people offline that did something similar–and the chances of that are admittedly slim. I would focus on something Kate mentions above, and that is social media. Build a profile on sites such as Stumbleupon and Twitter and search for others in the medical field, or peripheral, closely related fields. As you “stumble upon” a profile that matches your interests, find out if the individual blogs. Look for a blogroll on their site to discover other blogs. It could grow from there.
Another tip you may already be aware of is to try a Google Blog Search. Go to http://blogsearch.google.com/ and try looking up related search terms in your industry. The results are filtered to display related blog articles. As an example, I searched “medicine” and found a blog at http://www.mothersinmedicine.com/. Looks like a group blog of doctors who write a “behind-the-scenes” blog about the medical field. Could be of interest to you.
These are all techniques I am doing with my blog, and am looking to start a new blog as a hobby.
One tip I feel should be added to your list is to make connections and try to act as a guest author on a more popular blog. This not only good for networking, but your post will link back to your blog, so if you bring A material in the post, you will attract new users that way. A few guest posts can go a big way.
I whole heartedly agree with you on carefully managing the cashflow on a new blog ( or any new venture ). When I first started freebestdeals.com, I went all out and hired programmers to build a custom app. Now, I’m several thousand dollars in the hole and it will take me years to recoup that amount. I could have just as easily launched with a more basic version using the free tools available. Heck, I could have just as easily started with just a Wordpress blog and comments!
Great advice here. Option 5 – Yahoo Answers had never occurred to me!
Congratulations on your new venture. It looks great! I look forward to reading what you have say about blogging, as well as keeping up with Frugal Dad.
Thanks for your help…I’ve been blogging for 3 weeks and am looking for ways to attract more traffic….I’m going to follow through on your suggestions. This is great information.
What do you think about adding our blog to all those various directories …
Is it worth the time and effort?
And how do you add your blog url to the signature line??
(I am so non-techy … it’s embarrassing!)
Thanks,
dawn
http://iowahippiechick.today.com/
@Dawn: I’m not a huge fan of those directory submissions. I suppose they couldn’t hurt, but I would rather focus efforts on optimizing for the larger search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.).
As for the signature line, try something like this (minus the spaces in the opening and closing tags–it was the only way to get it to display as text without converting to HTML):
< a href="http://iowahippiechick.today.com/">Iowa Hippie Chick < / a >
I really like the concept of a zero dollar marketing budget. I started my site out that way, but ended up purchasing the Thesis Wordpress theme after a lot of investigation. Other than that, the only expenses I have are my hosting fees.
What do you consider a mid-sized blog? I use this step each week and write a roundup post of other blogs my size or larger, but I am curious what a mid-sized blog would be?
In regards to starting a blogging network – I have been trying to do this for a couple of months but have had no interest from fellow bloggers. Any advice?
Wow! Thanks, I appreciate your insight. I have been blogging for a little of over a year, and I want to utilize my blog to its greatest potential.
Thanks again, and I appreciate your great tips!
I am motivated now…
Hi, cool site, good writing
I love the new site. I can’t wait until I have time to catch up on all the content as I am sure I could use the wisdom.
Thanks.