The Internet is a wonderful tool if you know how to leverage it. It provides each of us with the opportunity to reach most of the world’s population.
That is kind of a staggering thought. I could have BILLIONS of people reading my blog, hearing about my books and interacting with me on a daily basis. If I were to have billions (or even millions) of people following me, I’m pretty confident I could make writing and blogging my full-time job. Heck, I would probably have to hire staff to keep on top of everything.
That is the potential audience. The reality is MUCH different.
I don’t know about you, but my audience is currently in the thousands. It starts in the one’s, then then’s and eventually hundred’s. All of that took time and more than a little luck.
So, the question we are all trying to answer is, “What is the secret to growing that audience?”
I think if I knew that, I WOULD already be retired and doing nothing but blogging. Since I don’t, let’s talk about one method that has helped grow my audience thus far.
In a pair of words, Cross Promotion.
Cross promotion can mean a lot of different things. Perhaps you are going to do a blog tour where you arrange to write a post on other people’s blogs. Maybe you are getting other people to play in your universe and you in theirs.
Whatever you do, the point of cross promotion is to get access to a larger audience. It may very well be that some of those people who drop by your website to see what their favorite author did or who read something by you on their favorite author’s site will like what they see and come back for more.
Cross promotion also has another benefit that you may or may not see – it forces you to work on your networking skills. I know that frightens a lot of people but it really is a necessary skill to develop. By doing so, you will build your group of friends and go-to people. That can do nothing but help you build your career.
