As with static websites, the success of a blog depends on attracting a steady stream of new and return traffic. It is just that the tools for blog promotion are slightly different, a bit more diverse and on the whole much more effective.

Blogs are designed with interactivity and social networking ability built in. They are ideal both for developing relationships and marketing your brand.

However, this doesn’t mean you should neglect standard promotion techniques in favor of blog only techniques. In fact, traditional marketing activities can become even more potent with a blog due to its nature.

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A member on my copywriters forum (now my blog) started a thread on what makes my forum so popular. Everyone chimed in with some great answers, and I appreciate the feedback.

(The cool thing about it is, that very thread also reached an important milestone. It was the 10,000th one! Talk about a coincidence, eh?)

But then someone asked:

“Michel, can I ask how you initially got the word out about your forum?”

My answer revealed a bit more than what the member anticipated. Instead of talking about how my forum became so popular, I went on a tangent and explained the step-by-step process I used to book copywriting projects.

The answer was so well received that I decided to reprint it here.

Now, you may be wondering what promoting a forum (or a blog, for that matter) has to do with promoting my copywriting services. Keep reading because you’ll soon understand why…

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An interesting question was recently asked of me in a discussion forum: “I agree with the idea of submitting articles [in order to get] a lot of targeted visitors to a site, however, I was wondering, ‘What keeps Michel Fortin writing?’ I mean, Michel, what is your 3-, 5- or 7-point formula to get an article on paper? What are [some of the specific] steps you follow?”

Here’s my answer.

1. I’m subscribed to a ton of ezines and blogs.

As an “expert” (if I dare call myself that) in my field, I must keep abreast of my industry — so should you. But the wonderful byproduct is that something I’ve read will stir a few ideas in my mind about something worth writing.

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Search engines change all the time and many of them now charge for the privilege of including your website. So, people often ask me how to generate traffic, beyond the search engines and with little to no cost.

Let me be candid by saying that I am not a search engine expert, nor do I play one on TV. But there are two methods that I’ve used consistently to attract thousands of qualified hits to my website at virtually no cost and with very little effort.

Granted, everyone’s different. And these techniques may not be appropriate for all people. However, let me share what works for me and what I do.

The two biggest traffic builders I use are: 1) posting on message boards, forums, blogs and discussion lists; and 2) writing, syndicating, publishing and submitting articles to ezine publishers — including my own (such as my blog, my newsletter or my website’s archives).

Now, let’s take a closer look, shall we?

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I wrote this article ages ago. And I never published it on my website, but have had it published in ezines and such. And recently, certain events in my life have made me realized how much I do exactly what I taught many years ago, and probably even more so now.

And today, with the advent of blogs, I believe this article about keeping journals has even greater meaning and power. So I did a little search and dug it up. Today, I’ve decided to reprint it here for you.

It may sound a little too wacky or too metaphysical for some of you. And I respect that. But the essence of the message is important, and more important than how I chose to deliver that message.

So please read with an open mind, because keeping a personal success journal can be one of the most powerful marketing tools in your arsenal.

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The Copy Doctor’s Profit Pillâ„¢ is my free newsletter, which I’ve been publishing since 1998.

But noticing that there’s a trend towards RSS and blogs, that my time is becoming extremely tight, that my blog is growing in popularity, and that more and more people are merging the two — or using RSS/blogs to publish their newsletters — I’m seriously thinking of merging the two.

Take Jim Edwards for example. He converted his I Gotta Tell You newsletter into a blog.

What do you think? And if so, how should I do it?

For example, should I keep TheTheCopyDoctor.com domain and main page for signups? Or should I replace the front page of my blog with a signup form currently on The Profit Pill’s website?

Or should I just leave it altogether?

John Reese gave a fascinating talk in Los Angeles. His topic was how to create a profit network. A lightly different (and probably more marketing-related) version of Michael Campbell’s “Revenge of The Mininet.”

In essence, John talked about creating a series of specific, standalone websites for content only, based on categories. Search-engine-wise, it’s good for link pop, PR, rankings, etc. While I’m not too sure about that, the concept in and of itself makes total sense to me.

So here’s what I did…

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