Blogging like a Pro

So, you’ve got your WordPress blog and you’ve been blogging, building a following, and wondering what else you could do to enhance your blog. The answer is expansion. Joining a growing website like Tumblr.com give you the opportunity to publish your content on another website. You can rely on syndication and your visitors to share your content, or you can do things PLUS adding your content to growing social sites which will let you reach a wider audience quicker.

What is Tumblr?

Imagine WordPress and Twitter having a romantic evening with a candle lit dinner and maybe a little wine. Then, nine months later they celebrate the arrival of their new bundle of joy, Tumblr. Ok, so obviously great websites aren’t born that way but it’s probably something close or at least I like to think so. :)

Tumblr takes the power of blogging and simplicity of simplicity and give its user an awesome short-form blogging platform. Unlike Twitter, Tumbr allows its user to publish media content directly within their posts and doesn’t have a character limit.

Why I joined Tumblr

Lately, I have been doing some research looking for new ways to expand my reach and attract more people to my blog and WordPress tutorials. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have been very effective for me but my interest is in finding younger sites that are growing rapidly so I can get establish my presence with early on. Tumblr is one of them.

Although I have only recently created my account, I feel like I already know a lot about the microblogging site and ways it will be able to help me. So, I am going to share my findings with you and you can do the same.

I want to expand

Everyday less and less people are relying on automated systems like RSS Feeds to receive information. They are relying on their friends on Twitter, Facebook, and even SMS (text messaging) to let them know what is going on in the world and recommend what’s important to know. Using Tumblr makes it easy for users to reblog content (a function similar to retweet on Twitter) and consume the recommended posts. Since their launch in 2007, Tumblr has reached over 1 Billion posts. I think you get the idea.

The art of making money

You may have 10,000 fans on Facebook and 100,000 followers on Twitter but the advertisements that run beside your content on those sites are only putting money into their pockets and not yours. Tumblr lets you place your own advertisements and affiliate links with your content. Now, YOU keep the money from the ads and it doesn’t cost your a dime. Instead of fattening FB and TW bank accounts, fatten up yours. I like that.

WordPress Tumblr Plugins

Tumblrize is a WordPress plugin that will make things a little easier for you if you are already publishing content to your WordPress blog. Simply put, it ports your posts to your Tumblr blog. Although this makes it easy to share your blog’s content on Tumblr, I recommend writing unique content if you have the time <–SEO Ninja Move.

Final Thought

Using younger sites like Tumblr will definitely help your chance of becoming a Rockstar. The downside to trying to publish and maintain content across multiple sites is pretty obvious, time and effort. My plan of attack…outsourcing. If that isn’t an option for you right now but you are ready to expand your reach to more people and have the time to put into the efforts of making that happen then think about creating a Tumblr blog.

About Clifton Hatfield

I am a family man. My wife and I are both web developers and parents to our beautiful boys. I have been working with social networks since 2004 and blogging even longer. After building niche networks of over 400,000 members, I have genuinely gained knowledge of how they have grown over the years and have influenced the way people interact on the internet. My hobbies include writing Facebook Applications and Wordpress Plugins. In my free time, I love a glass of wine with my wife or playing in the yard our boys. Nothing means more to me than my family.

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