People around me seem to be asking the following question a lot.
I figured I may as well share it here, along with my reply, since the topic is clearly in increasing demand (as we continue to value online branding)
“Can I recycle my website’s blog posts? How does it help me?”
You can. And you should. And it definitely helps.
First of all, if you’re putting in all of your effort into writing a really tight, polished piece (which I hope you’re doing for YOUR OWN blog), then you’ve already hit the jackpot. Your own work should reside in a space that you own! Don’t let social media own it for you.
Once that post is published, and sent out to those who follow you, you can use various existing online ventures to get added circulation and eyeballs.
It helps spread the word about what you’re good at (assuming what you wrote is great), generate interest in what you do, and furthermore, generate interest in following you, for future posts and offers.
Social media is a straightforward way to do this.
Share on your account, in any – or ideally all! – of the platforms you have presence in. This is what I like to call “free advertising space”. Use it, or you’ll lose it (you’re not really losing anything substantive, but the potential of the people who would otherwise see your work.
You can also pitch your work to online ventures – like SoMeDocs!! – that offer “syndication”.
What does syndication mean, you may ask.
Syndication means having your content republished by another website. Pretty straightforward.
You do all of the work upfront, and then you pitch it to these sites so that your great work can be seen by their readers.
Why would you do that, you may be thinking. It’s your work, after all. Why share your entire pie when you’ve worked so hard to bake it?
You’re thinking of this wrong, my friends.
Your gut reaction is telling you they’re using you.
But turn that thought around. Think outside the box.
You could be, likewise, using them!
You may have, for example, not yet reached a level where you’re enticing to a large crowd.
Specifically, you may be sporting low numbers, followers-wise.
Even if you’re God’s gift to writing, no one yet knows. Someone needs to vouch for you!
This technique – using a syndicate – helps you leverage that syndicate’s following, in order to drive traffic to your own space.
Some examples of well-known syndicates include Huff Post, Thrive Global, and Slate.
But there are also more exciting up-and-coming ventures, like SoMeDocs, that not only work hard to circulate your “stuff” but give your work an edge where it comes to coolness factor and visuals.
“Even if you’re God’s gift to writing, no one yet knows. Someone needs to vouch for you!”
Think of it like a partnership.
You could be promoting your work by yourself – kind of tooting your own work to the tune of “Hey, did you see the piece that I wrote?”
Or you could have someone else do it for you, but bigger and more grandiose.
A la “Hey, did you see the incredibly inspiring piece that Dr. Incredible Writer wrote?” Can you imagine if you said that about yourself??
Of course, you could also forego writing it on your own blog altogether, and simply publish on a large site (maybe even one that pays you!). Think big, like The New York Times, or Wall Street Journal.
Even People Magazine has a great reach! (You can knock it ’till you actually make it in..)
But you’ll need to compete with the other extraordinary writers of today, wait to be told whether your piece has been accepted, and got through a whole rigamarole that just doesn’t always work in the Speedy-Gonzales world of today.
So there you have it, a few little tidbits about recycling blog posts.
Ready to submit to a syndication site? Do it with us, here. Want to see our magazine? Take a look, here!
