Have you ever thought about getting some PR for your blog? PR stands for public relations, and this is an area most of us were not familiar with before coming online. These days I understand the importance of having my blog seen by as many people as possible, more specifically by my prospects.

You may already be familiar with my Book – Blog – Broadcast model, where we use our blog, books we write and publish, our podcast on iTunes, and our YouTube channel to cross reference who we are and what we have to offer. This is the beginning of providing value before you pitch. The idea is to show rather than tell others about your knowledge and expertise on your topic so they will want to approach you first. It’s similar to a film, where the characters show us who they are from the very first frame, rather than telling us about themselves in dialog.

The majority of the time we will need to go out and seek publicity for our blog rather than sitting back and waiting for it to happen. I was reading a guest post from Andreea Ayers over at Problogger on the topic of “How to Grow Your Audience By Getting PLR for Your Blog” and this is what she says:

After they make their list of, let’s say, 20 media outlets they want to be featured in, they should reach out and provide value, rather than reach out and “pitch” their expertise or blog. Here’s an example of what I did to get media attention when I launched a Pinterest course a few years ago. I created an infographic with 100+ Pinterest board ideas and I reached out to different types of blogs to see if they would be interested in using my infographic as a resource for their blog and to share with their readers. I included the infographic and in my pitch I mentioned that Pinterest is growing in popularity and many of their readers are probably still learning how to use Pinterest, but coming up with Pinterest board ideas is what holds a lot of people back from using it for business.

Instead of telling people she was a Pinterest expert, Andreea showed them how they could use this social site for their own business. This is far more effective, and will build long lasting relationships as well. This spurred interest in her Pinterest training and helped launch her as an expert in this area.

Increasing visibility in order to drive more traffic to your blog can be accomplished in various ways, including hosting a podcast on your topic, being interviewed by others, writing and publishing a book, and getting in front of the people who can best help you to achieve your goals. Andreea adds:

I think that bloggers should be proactive about publicity and cross promotions with other bloggers/companies whose readers are similar to theirs. When I look back at most of my “success stories”, they came as a result of me reaching out to the person who I wanted to connect with, not the other way around. Bloggers should also consider speaking at relevant industry events to build even more credibility for their blog and get in front of audiences in-person. Meeting someone in person or seeing them speak at an event can help to build credibility and a loyal following quickly.

This post is filled with great resources, including a four paragraph template to use when approaching others to get PR for your blog, as well as information on setting up your “About” page and thinking about SEO when adding content to help the media find your site. The bottom line is this: You must be proactive in getting PR for your blog, book, podcast, or anything else you are doing for your business.