Promoting A Guide for links

[purpleindigo]

Hi everyone,

I'm formulating a content idea to provide the Internet's most comprehensive guide for our related field and wanted to know how people would promote a guide if they were producing one.

Really the topic of choice doesn't need to be mentioned, so I'll leave that out so answers are open and can help a range of people attempting to do a similar thing.

One of the goals is to of course produce more unique and useful content for our site (helping our ranking), which will help people out who have an interest or question related to our topic, but once the content is on the site, how would you go about getting links towards to guide?

Would you contact websites that have written about similar content in the past and ask if they would add a link to the guide in their already existing content? Or would you ask them to bear it in mind for reference purposes in future content? Would you visit guest posting?

Obviously one of the goals of the content is for links, and that will be the driver behind whether or not the content is produced. I firstly need to show that there are potential links we can gain almost immediately after the content is ready. From there, I'm hoping the content will promote itself, with people referencing the content on forums and articles when questions are raised. However, for the content to get in front of the influencers (those who would answers the questions on forums or write articles about the subject) the content needs to be visible - i.e rank or be mentioned from a highly visible source.

Any ideas or comments from people who have promoted guides successfully before will be extremely welcome.

Note: This is more the promoting of content and not really related to the research to find out which content to produce.

Thanks.

[EEE3]

A few ideas:

1. Do you have an email subscriber list? I'm a big fan of many companies who've sent me requests to give my information for awesome guides by submitting my information. HubSpot and Optify are two great examples of companies who are doing this right. It's not necessarily links, but you do get customer leads and customer leads bring sales. I've also shared links from some of these guides on G+ and Twitter, because I've found them so useful.

2. SlideShare - Another great place to get the word out about your guide.

3. Twitter/FollowerWonk - I've heard many times of excellent ways to search Twitter (using FollowerWonk, for example) to find qualified people specializing in your topic. Check out Will Reynolds presentation at MozCon2012 http://www.slideshare.net/wilreynolds/do-real-company-stuff-mozcon-2012-version

4. Search/Guest Blogging - This SEOMoz post by  Pratik Dholakiya is filled with tons of techniques to get guest blogs and attention. Check out the "Guest Posting Query List" http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-advanced-guest-blogging

Hope that helps.

[TheeDigital]

Purple Indigo,

I'd look to see reach out to the " thought leaders" in your field.  Talk to them and get them involved.  Become friends and slowly promote their work, and then let them know that you think you have something that would be of interest tot he community if they can help promote it, it would be beneficial to everyone in the industry.

[purpleindigo]

Hi EEE3,

Unfortunately email marketing isn't something we've really taken to. Mostly based ont he service we offer being a one-time only thing, with little need for customers to revisit us (but it is something we're looking into).

Guest Blogging is also something I think could work. However, it will be a case of pretty much regurgitating some of the content in the guide for the hosting site. Maybe with some research with the aid of the host, we could find the question that most of their readers/followers have and target that - which certainly makes it useful.

Twitter is a funny one for us. We're active on there, but there aren't really thought leaders in our industry. To let you know what we do, it's a service for unlocking phones. No news sites cover this topic, and I struggle to see where thought leaders could come from. We do produce related news and are one of the strongest brands in the field, but as for who we could target, that's a mystery.

Some great ideas there, and exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks.

[purpleindigo]

Hey TDS,

EEE3 had a similar suggestion with 'Twitter" but as I mentioned to them, because of the industry we serve (phone unlocking) I struggle to see where "thought leaders" could come from.

In a not so obvious industry (I'm sure others have websites that are focused on similarly obscure subjects) how would you go about finding them? We are currently a leading brand in the field and news provider ourselves, which leads me to think, essentially, are we one the "thought leaders" and our competitors the others??

Thanks.

[EEE3]

Hi purpleindigo:

Reddit? If it's a service for unlocking phones, maybe you'll find something there?

One of the guest blogging services we use that we like is Ann Smarty's My Guest Blog. Just be careful to choose carefully. There are some spammy things in there but you can sort through and find some good ones. Cathy Stucker also has an email list for guest blogging that's good.

Anyway, best of luck to you.

[seowoody]

Hey Purple Indigo,

Sounds to me like you are one of the few thought leaders in your niche which is why you're struggling to find others, and perhaps "others" are "competitors", where your not going to get a mention/link from in a million years.

If you're still struggling with this, my suggestion would be slightly different and approach thought leaders of CLOSELY RELATED niches, and introduce yourself as the thought leader in your niche. You'll need to put a spin on the introduction and how phone unlocking is linked to their niche.

Think niches like...

gadgets/tech
mobile/app developers
PC repairs/over-clockers etc
Money saving tips

I'm sure you could find some middle ground with thought leaders in these niches? You just need to get creative and be prepared to share their content first.

Hope this helps

Woody