It’s important freelance writers market their writing if they’re to make money. First, this broadly expands the audience of their writing. Whereas their writing may be hosted on one particular site, it can be bookmarked or marketed on several sites. When someone enters a search term the author has entered for their article, it is likely it will show up in a search engine. Likewise, that person will visit the article and may pass it on to someone else.
Furthermore, the diverse amount of social marketing websites allows writers to find their niche. This may be any genre of writing, but the writer is able to call it their own. These various websites may expand their ideas for articles as well, such as Stumbleupon, which allows people to browse their interests. Likewise, there are search engine optimization websites which will put your website in dozens, if not hundreds, search engines.
However, the downfall to this, as with all marketing sites, is that you need to bookmark your articles frequently. The articles on the marketing sites are easily buried and the more you market your articles, then the more you will be visible to other visitors. In fact, the more specific you are with your key words then the more your articles will arise in more searches. For instance, if your article is about 401k planning, you might include “retirement funds” in your search terms for your article.
1. stumbleupon.com
Stumbleupon is one of my top marketing websites for my writing. It’s free to join and once you set up your account, you’re able to bookmark websites. Then, other members of StumbleUpon ideally will “stumble” onto your website. This could produce more traffic to your articles and help you more money. In fact, visitors to your article on StumbleUpon have the ability to click on your user name. This will bring them to the rest of your articles you have posted on there, which could generate more income. Another great feature of StumbleUpon is it tells you how many views a website has had through its site. This might be useful for your writing if you are tracking that information.
2. http://www.submitexpress.com/free-submission.html
Submit Express is one of my favorite marketing websites for content. It allows you to add the main url of your website and it will find the remaining pages through the search engines. It allows you to submit your url to 70 search engines throughout the internet. Some of the major search engines they submit your url to include Google, AOL, MetaSpider, Webcrawler and Dogpile. They encourage you to use specific key words when submitting your link so you will obtain the best results. I usually submit each article separately and it works better that way, but you may have your own ideas.
3. digg.com
Digg is specifically a social bookmarking site, but there are tricks to having your content found by its users. First, sign up for your free account or log in via your Facebook account. Then, choose one of the popular topics at the topic that most resembles your article. The idea of digg is that people like or “digg” your articles. This will give you more hits to your content if it’s placed in the correct category and very descriptive. The more you update your digg, the more people are going to respond to your work.
4. delicious.com/
Delicious.com used to be similar to Digg, but now they have improved their website by users creating “stacks.” A stack is specifically a niched group of links viewers can look at on Delicious. For instance, Yahoo! Contributors can create a stack about all their home improvement articles. Three articles or more are required for each stack and you can add pictures to attract people to the collection. Furthermore, Delicious members are able to follow and share stacks. This may increase the exposure of your articles to a larger, more broader audience.
5. google.com/bookmarks/
Google offers a basic service to bookmark your articles in a list. Users have the option to make the list private or public, but it’s not as sophisticated as the other services. For more views to your articles, it would be beneficial to keep your bookmarks public. Users also have the option have the option to export or import bookmarks into Google bookmarks. However, there aren’t any bells or whistles here–if you want features, then look elsewhere.
6. http://www.buddymarks.com/
Buddymarks works the same as most the social marketing websites. Users are able to store their bookmarks via the internet and access them from any computer while using this free service. In addition, users can add new bookmarks to their collection at any time. Those who are users of buddymarks have the ability to vote and comment on the bookmarks that you post. Users can also tag their content with keywords to make their content more accessible to more people. Furthermore, you’re able to tell your friends you posted the link on their social bookmarking website. This will help you increase your views and your earnings.
7. reddit.com/
Reddit is a free website where users are able to submit links and share their content. Respectively, if they post their articles they are more than likely going to receive more page views and more earning. Reddit users also have the ability to comment on the links which are posted. This could give the author more exposure, but there is not an easy way to track where these articles go throughout the feed. While the author can specifically categorize the article, there are still several pages to search through. Users on the site also have the ability to vote for your content, whether its good or bad.
8. twitter.com
Twitter is a basic social marketing website, but it can be effective if you’re willing to keep posting your articles. It has a limit of a few hundred characters per post, but this shouldn’t be any concern. This has the ability to include the title of your article, the link and a blurb. It’s more about how many people you have following your twitter feed and if they see your post. With Twitter always updating, it may be hard to be recognized on this active social network. Those who are loyal to your writing will look for your feed, however. Don’t forget, too, that you can link Twitter to other social media sites such as Twitter, Triond and many others.
9. blogger.com
If you have a blog, then what great a great way to showcase your portfolio! However, I would be very professional with the blog. I would use specific keywords for your articles. For instance, if you write education articles on Yahoo! network, you might include primary education and secondary education in your keywords. Be careful, however, because too many keywords can cause your blog to look cramped and bulky. Another idea is to take a screenshot of your article and place it as an image on your blog. Then, provide the title as a link and give basic information. Best of all, blogger is free!
10. bebo.com
Finally, Bebo is a regular search engine that spiders all its links. All you’re able to do on their site is submit your link, but its homepage has a feel of a social network. For instance, all Bebo users have their own profile and can upload a profile picture. Users are able to add friends and photos; it even shows you how many times your profile has been visited. It looks to be better than Facebook. In fact, users are able to check into their Bebo account with either their Facebook or Bebo account. Then, they will be on their way to marketing their writing and earning revenue!