So you have created a blog. A wonderful, action packed blog. You have poured much time, effort and probably a bit of cash in it to take it live. So now you sit back and wait for the traffic to flood in, right? “Build it and they will come” and all that.

Unfortunately not.

Well, that isn’t always the case. Especially if you are a SUPER high profile person or company, some of the traffic you have built into your brand. But like many of us, that is not the case and we need to build this traffic from scratch.

What is the first step? Make sure that you have a killer product (aka blog).

Is the design easy to navigate?
Is your content valuable and well-written?
Are you using pictures to flesh out your ideas?
Are you using links in each article and keywords?

These four questions will truly help you understand if you need to do any retooling. Remember, you want a sporty dependable vehicle not a Porsche. Although Porsches look nice, they can be expensive and a luxury…not a necessity.

Now promotion. Like any new product or service, you need to create a promotional strategy for your blog. How do you do it? Well think about how you market your company. What marketing channels do you use? Did you create a launch campaign for your product or service? When thinking about promoting your blog, this is the train of thought you need to jump onto.

Remember: it takes work to earn readers….that’s right, I said EARN readers.

With that in mind, let’s share some tips to getting people to read your blog!

Email Blast: Send an announcement to your database of contacts telling them about your blog. Then whenever you send out email blasts to this database add a link to your blog or to the RSS feed so they can easily subscribe.
Email Signature: Make sure that you have a link to your blog and/or the RSS feed in your email signature. If you have other employees, make sure that it appears on their signatures as well.
Blog Tour: Choose a handful of blogs of people whom you respect and of whom you share a common audience. Subscribe to their RSS feeds and every morning leave a comment on one of their articles. When you do this, make sure to share the link to your blog. Note: always make your comments meaningful, sharing your expertise. It works a heck of a lot better than just agreeing with them.
Social Media Profiles: Make sure that your blog appears prominently in all of your social media presences (such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc).
Social Media Groups and Pages: LinkedIn in particular has the option of joining/creating groups. Make sure to share links to your articles in relevant groups from time to time (not everyday) and when commenting, mention or reference a blog article your wrote (if relevant and adds value).
Exchange Links: Another great way to build traffic is to exchange links with those whom you admire. My only advice is to not take part in “link farming” and only ask those whom you could benefit from linking with.
Google Adwords: This is a “worst case scenario” in terms of blog promotion, but if your blog is out to make money from advertising or product sales, these highly visible Pay Per Click campaigns can bring you new traffic you wouldn’t receive elsewhere. Make sure to read through the guidelines to ensure you create the perfect ad.

This is a good starter list to get you on your way. But remember, there are many other different methods that you can use from advertising to direct mail.